I'm actually surprised that more TOTP audience have not appeared on this thread.
.
There was a lady on the Louis Theroux thread said she went along to one of the Pops episodes in the late 70s/early 80s when Jimmy Savile was presenting - I saw it the other day. Can't remember her name now.
While A Little Peace was playing there from 20th May 1982 I was just thinking about what was going on in the South Atlantic as that record topped the UK chart. The Falklands War was raging at the worst of it. Such poignancy I feel.
That's a really interesting point - we might be seeing (and hearing) what was in the charts at that moment, but forgetting what was going on in the world at the same time. Does anybody remember a programme called (I think) "The rock and roll years", where news footage from the sixties was soundtracked by contemporary music?
I've just noticed that The Number Of The Beast went all the way to No3 in the chart in January 2005. Was this a re-recording, a live version or the original back again?
As for that young boy in front of Powell, who looked more like 13 than at least 16, no it was not me. Honest.
I'm actually surprised that more TOTP audience have not appeared on this thread.
Just watching The People's History Of Pop right now. The chap, Kev Sutherland, at the start with his brilliant 1976 pop diary made me think of the kind of slightly older posters on here and how I imagine them to be. Loved his continued enthusiasm all this time later, and dyed black hair.
IIRC, all of Iron Maiden's 12" singles were re-issued on CD, which might account for this.
That Pauline Black show last night was poor. Just a bunch of reheated, over-familiar trite observations punctuated by fans showing off old concert tickets and posters. Weak beer indeed.
Great show tonight, probably the best since I started watching around March 1981 time... Rocky apart (and compared to some of the novelty songs and medleys from 1981 it isn't that bad), a string of songs that sound as good today as they did 34 years ago...
House of Fun, The Look of Love, even PHd sounded good tonight (wasn't as keen before, but it's a grower - liked the video too), and that excellent Goody Two Shoes performance... top notch!
Then Iron Maiden - 666 number of the beast - I don't think i've ever heard it before, sounded really good! Tight Fit with their top quality ABBA tribute song, and the wonderful 'A Little Peace' at number one...and playing out with the inspiration for Men in Black (Despite attempts to ruin it by the Zoo animals).
It almost makes up for the number of dire shows we've seen it recent weeks, when it all comes together like this! 9.5/10, and the 0.5 is for Rocky and Zoo... If they'd swapped out Rocky for Junior, it may have been 10/10!
Peter Powell looked suitably embarrassed by the Genisis nonsense... Got to love his energy though, and he comes across as a nice guy on there.
Goody Two Shoes - were the dancers from Zoo, or were they professionals - they looked too good to be from Zoo! Not sure if anyone else around at the time would've pulled that off as well as Adam Ant, and even if that was probably his last real hurrah, what a way to go out - one of the great TOTP performances!
So anyway, Iron Maiden... i've never really been that much into Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, ACDC, Motorhead and the like... for those who do like them, what songs would you recommend listening to first to give it a chance...?
Nicole - does anyone else find themselves involuntarily swaying along to the song when she's singing?
In addition to the previous suggestions, I recommend you hear this
The ABC track, ''The Look Of Love'' uses the lyric, 'Hip hip hooray aye Yippie aiy yippee yaye', which i have always found rather irritating, and very cheesy. I hate the choreography that the backing musicians are performing, too. Dare i say, i almost feel like ruffling up their hair, and maybe tearing a strip or two off their immaculately presented suits, to bring them a little more down to earth. I can't help but find everything connected to ''The Look Of Love'' a little too clean, and precise. How Peter Powell could compare them to Smokey Robinson and The Miracles is beyond me, unless it is the Motown styled choreography he is especially referring to. Yes, i would say ''All Of My Heart'' is their best single release. It is certainly a lot less irritating.
I have seen this era of music described as 'New Pop', but i did enjoy the sounds Adam Ant, and Madness were making a year or two before, much more. ''Goody Two Shoes'' isn't altogether bad, but i did prefer Adam before he went totally mainstream (remember 'Dog Eat Dog', ''Kings Of The Wild Frontier'' etc ?). Madness are a little similar too, in that their song lacks the rawness of their early period, despite ''House Of Fun's topic being a little less innocent than on first impressions. This show does seem rather too undemanding, with the addition also of Junior and Tight Fit. The exceptions being argubly, Iron Maiden, Patrice Rushen and Nicole.
I do agree with Boz, that ''Forget Me Nots'' is easily the best track.
The ABC track, ''The Look Of Love'' uses the lyric, 'Hip hip hooray aye Yippie aiy yippee yaye', which i have always found rather irritating, and very cheesy. I hate the choreography that the backing musicians are performing, too. Dare i say, i almost feel like ruffling up their hair, and maybe tearing a strip or two off their immaculately presented suits, to bring them a little more down to earth. I can't help but find everything connected to ''The Look Of Love'' a little too clean, and precise. How Peter Powell could compare them to Smokey Robinson and The Miracles is beyond me, unless it is the Motown styled choreography he is especially referring to. Yes, i would say ''All Of My Heart'' is their best single release. It is certainly a lot less irritating.
.
Yes I agree about ABC. Although their music is ok - their OTT glossy act & outfits would be better placed in a Motown group. The early 80s for me was all about being individuals & standing out, yet ABC were too samey & clean cut.
I remember someone on this forum a few weeks back saying something about Martin Fry probably sleeps in his suit too!! - Well it wouldn't surprise me at all. I wonder when he was out gigging in the pubs & clubs before he was famous, if he ever just wore jeans & a t shirt or did he have a glittery suit on then too?
That was quite nice. I remember when I was at Uni, this guy used to rave on about Steve Vai all the time - it was the first time I'd ever heard of him.
In response to Rich's post about Donna earlier (which I can't find!), her 1982 album was produced by Quincy Jones, so no surprise, given their work together with MJ, that Rod Temperton co-wrote a couple of tracks.
Looking on Wiki, I see that Donna's 1981 album was pulled by David Geffen (owner of her new label) and Girorgio and Pete Belotte were replaced as her producers by Quincy. Possibly not too much of a surprise since after the superb I Remember Yesterday album, although Donna subsequently had some great singles, plus the masterpiece album track MacArthur Park Suite, it was in many ways been quantity over quality and the 1980 The Wanderer album was a nadir in her career. Her self titled 1982 album was definitely a return to form. However, her very overlooked 1984 album, Cats Without Claws is for me her best of the 80s.
You have to feel for Donna in the early 80s. After the debacle you mention - which she wasn't happy about, not least because she allegedly found Quincy Jones too controlling - she got biffed back from Geffen to Mercury (who had bought her old label, Casablanca), for contractual reasons. She did one album for them - She Works Hard For The Money - then was returned to Geffen. Which would hardly have made her priority for either label. No wonder she was struggling - changes in music fashion aside.
Yes I agree about ABC. Although their music is ok - their OTT glossy act & outfits would be better placed in a Motown group. The early 80s for me was all about being individuals & standing out, yet ABC were too samey & clean cut.
I remember someone on this forum a few weeks back saying something about Martin Fry probably sleeps in his suit too!! - Well it wouldn't surprise me at all. I wonder when he was out gigging in the pubs & clubs before he was famous, if he ever just wore jeans & a t shirt or did he have a glittery suit on then too?
From The Story of 1982, from around 12:10 Martin Fry talks about that time, and how out of place they would feel walking into a Sheffield pub in those suits... Adam Ant talking about his performance is just before that too.
From The Story of 1982, from around 12:10 Martin Fry talks about that time, and how out of place they would feel walking into a Sheffield pub in those suits... Adam Ant talking about his performance is just before that too.
Yes I saw that earlier his year - I must've missed that bit! I'll have to watch it again.
2 episodes next week, on Thursday's TOTP it's a shortened version 25 minutes (early and late showing), They still managed to play nearly all of Soft Cell's "Torch" with only a minimal cut off on the fade out, well done BBC. ;-)
27-5-82: Presenter: John Peel
(21) GENESIS – Paperlate
(14) BLONDIE – Island Of Lost Souls (video)
(24) JAPAN – Cantonese Boy
(12) DURAN DURAN – Hungry Like The Wolf (video)
(16) SOFT CELL – Torch
(1) MADNESS – House Of Fun (video)
(28) FUN BOY THREE – The Telephone Always Rings (crowd dancing) (and credits)
Anyone else who was searching their Freeview for the Vintage channel, it's only on Freeview HD.
Shame as it sounds quite good.
Not really, it's mostly rubbish, logo's and adverts.
The best music channel in Europe is Dutch Cable Chanel 192, they use stock footage from programmes like TOTP, Blue Peter, Hits a Gogo, Beat Club, Musikladen, Toppop, Popside, Tienerklanken, in fact just about every European archive Bert Van Breda can get access to.
When you start looking you find stuff you'd forgotten though - like Deep Purple's Hush, which I think I first head as a cover by Kula Shaker years later!
In October 1968 the founder of Playboy magazine Hugh Hefner invited Deep Purple to perform on a TV show filmed at his Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills where they played a live rendition of Hush which had peaked at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 the previous month.
When the camera pulls back from the stage you can see the audience grooving in the foreground and it almost resembles a scene from the Russ Meyer film 'Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls'.
thanks for all the recommendations on the thread, I think i'm more likely to listen to ACDC and Led Zeppelin / Deep Purple than Black Sabbath or Motorhead, and Iron Maiden have some very good tracks too
I was introduced to heavy rock at the age of 11 by an older school friend in June 1973 and one of the albums he used to play to me was Budgie's second album Squawk, the bulk of which I still enjoy. Kid Jensen apparently played the whole LP on his radio show on its release in September 1972. If anyone is curious I'd say Hot As A Docker's Armpit could be worth a listen which among other things has some great drum fill in the verses.
Thursday's TOTP was a special one for me to watch as it was the chart of the week I left school back in '82 so brought a lot of memories back from that time. I actually left school on the Tuesday as the TOTP went out on the Thursday night. It was a good chart as well, though I was surprised by one thing, I was convinced that Madness House of Fun was no 1 the week we left school, to find it was Nicole was a bit of a shock! Must've buried the memories of that being no 1!
Thursday's TOTP was a special one for me to watch as it was the chart of the week I left school back in '82 so brought a lot of memories back from that time. I actually left school on the Tuesday as the TOTP went out on the Thursday night. It was a good chart as well, though I was surprised by one thing, I was convinced that Madness House of Fun was no 1 the week we left school, to find it was Nicole was a bit of a shock! Must've buried the memories of that being no 1!
Was the official May school leaving date in 1982 not Friday 28 May? Back then the May school leaving date was set in law as the Friday before the last Monday in May - and the number 1 that week was Madness...
Comments
There was a lady on the Louis Theroux thread said she went along to one of the Pops episodes in the late 70s/early 80s when Jimmy Savile was presenting - I saw it the other day. Can't remember her name now.
Sorry, but I don't think she sounds anything like Julianne Regan.
That's a really interesting point - we might be seeing (and hearing) what was in the charts at that moment, but forgetting what was going on in the world at the same time. Does anybody remember a programme called (I think) "The rock and roll years", where news footage from the sixties was soundtracked by contemporary music?
Better than Iron Maiden?!!!:)
By Soft Cell,perhaps?
IIRC, all of Iron Maiden's 12" singles were re-issued on CD, which might account for this.
I always thought of her as "Spaniel":D
That Pauline Black show last night was poor. Just a bunch of reheated, over-familiar trite observations punctuated by fans showing off old concert tickets and posters. Weak beer indeed.
In addition to the previous suggestions, I recommend you hear this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okLDkcexiVg
I have seen this era of music described as 'New Pop', but i did enjoy the sounds Adam Ant, and Madness were making a year or two before, much more. ''Goody Two Shoes'' isn't altogether bad, but i did prefer Adam before he went totally mainstream (remember 'Dog Eat Dog', ''Kings Of The Wild Frontier'' etc ?). Madness are a little similar too, in that their song lacks the rawness of their early period, despite ''House Of Fun's topic being a little less innocent than on first impressions. This show does seem rather too undemanding, with the addition also of Junior and Tight Fit. The exceptions being argubly, Iron Maiden, Patrice Rushen and Nicole.
I do agree with Boz, that ''Forget Me Nots'' is easily the best track.
Yes I agree about ABC. Although their music is ok - their OTT glossy act & outfits would be better placed in a Motown group. The early 80s for me was all about being individuals & standing out, yet ABC were too samey & clean cut.
I remember someone on this forum a few weeks back saying something about Martin Fry probably sleeps in his suit too!! - Well it wouldn't surprise me at all. I wonder when he was out gigging in the pubs & clubs before he was famous, if he ever just wore jeans & a t shirt or did he have a glittery suit on then too?
That was quite nice. I remember when I was at Uni, this guy used to rave on about Steve Vai all the time - it was the first time I'd ever heard of him.
You have to feel for Donna in the early 80s. After the debacle you mention - which she wasn't happy about, not least because she allegedly found Quincy Jones too controlling - she got biffed back from Geffen to Mercury (who had bought her old label, Casablanca), for contractual reasons. She did one album for them - She Works Hard For The Money - then was returned to Geffen. Which would hardly have made her priority for either label. No wonder she was struggling - changes in music fashion aside.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq73seyFvkU
From The Story of 1982, from around 12:10 Martin Fry talks about that time, and how out of place they would feel walking into a Sheffield pub in those suits...
Yes I saw that earlier his year - I must've missed that bit! I'll have to watch it again.
27-5-82: Presenter: John Peel
(21) GENESIS – Paperlate
(14) BLONDIE – Island Of Lost Souls (video)
(24) JAPAN – Cantonese Boy
(12) DURAN DURAN – Hungry Like The Wolf (video)
(16) SOFT CELL – Torch
(1) MADNESS – House Of Fun (video)
(28) FUN BOY THREE – The Telephone Always Rings (crowd dancing) (and credits)
Shame as it sounds quite good.
Not really, it's mostly rubbish, logo's and adverts.
The best music channel in Europe is Dutch Cable Chanel 192, they use stock footage from programmes like TOTP, Blue Peter, Hits a Gogo, Beat Club, Musikladen, Toppop, Popside, Tienerklanken, in fact just about every European archive Bert Van Breda can get access to.
http://www.192tv.tv/
In October 1968 the founder of Playboy magazine Hugh Hefner invited Deep Purple to perform on a TV show filmed at his Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills where they played a live rendition of Hush which had peaked at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 the previous month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiXcqxms3Bs
When the camera pulls back from the stage you can see the audience grooving in the foreground and it almost resembles a scene from the Russ Meyer film 'Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls'.
I was introduced to heavy rock at the age of 11 by an older school friend in June 1973 and one of the albums he used to play to me was Budgie's second album Squawk, the bulk of which I still enjoy. Kid Jensen apparently played the whole LP on his radio show on its release in September 1972. If anyone is curious I'd say Hot As A Docker's Armpit could be worth a listen which among other things has some great drum fill in the verses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDHBCFROn1k
Can you fill in the gaps?