Yes Martha's Harbour - knowing the editing team - they'd probably cut it out!!
I think by 2023 (1988) there will only be 2 or 3 bands that I still like in the charts! All About Eve being one of them!
Yes, the late eighties is a completely different scenario to 1980, although in its own way there were still some memorable songs about. I just think it is a shame so many of the songs are marred by the dominant use of synths that was applied pretty indiscriminately in almost every aspect of pop. Songs and acts that were good, pretty much all seemed to get watered down into a very disposable form of pop. I didn't especially like the fashions of the day either. I found it difficult to truly embrace anything in the late eighties, although from the perspective of today, when listening to pick of the pops at times, at least there was colour and a sense of fun, which is sorely lacking in music today. Pop, though, did become too corporate for my tastes (and a lot less subtle).
Or Imagination's infamous performance of 'Body talk' from 1981?:o
Is that the one featuring Sinitta as a backing dancer flirting with the lead singer? Or was that on a different show for a different song? If you were to believe Sinitta's tall tales about her age it would have made her approx 13yrs old at the time but if you are aware of Sinitta's real age it would make her approx 18yrs old at the time.
Is that the one featuring Sinitta as a backing dancer flirting with the lead singer? Or was that on a different show for a different song? If you were to believe Sinitta's tall tales about her age it would have made her approx 13yrs old at the time but if you are aware of Sinitta's real age it would make her approx 18yrs old at the time.
Comment about the attire worn by Paul Weller with his appearance on Top Of The Pops in late March 1980 with The Jam prompts me to relate this factual story that was doing the rounds of the BBC at that time. He was intending to wear an apron with a Heinz soup emblazoned over the front while performing Going Underground and was apparently told in no uncertain terms that he could not do so as it was the BBC and there could be no advertising brand name products. A compromise was reached and he was allowed to wear it the wrong way around. Knowing Robin Nash, the executive producer, I am surprised he compromised instead of simply insisting the item was not used during the appearance, especially as when I took a view of the show on the BBC player it is quite clear that it is Heinz Tomato Soup on his apron and by attempting to hide a brand name they actually made many viewers try hard to see what it said. The amusing aspect of this story is that it was only when the actual broadcast of that weeks Top Of The Pops went to air on the Thursday evening that it was suddenly noticed that Paul Weller's apron, although in reverse, could still clearly be viewed on TV screens, such is the visual immediacy of the Heinz branding. Come Friday lunchtime word was going around the studio's that an un-named person in the production of Top Of The Pops had been given a dressing down and warning from up top to avoid it happening ever again. One can only wonder if Mr Weller was ever aware of the fuss he caused.
watching the late night repeat. Wow... with that John Foxx appearance the 80s have officially arrived! I don't remember this one at all from my youth. But I can see where David Sylvian and Japan were about to steal their ideas from...
I think Mike Read's Top Of The Pops presenting has really become very good indeed in recent appearances, and that was reinforced even more when watching Peter Powell's performance this week, which i didn't feel was one of his best. Powell, generally had improved rather considerably on his early very cheesy appearances, but even by March 1980, he could appear a little cringe inducing at times. Anthea Turner wrote in her autobiography how dancing was one of Peter's pet hates, and here he is on Top Of The Pops attempting to 'swing' to the music (not that that is necessarily a crime in itself). Mike Read though, the week before, was pretty spot on in his role.
I think Mike Read's Top Of The Pops presenting has really become very good indeed in recent appearances, and that was reinforced even more when watching Peter Powell's performance this week, which i didn't feel was one of his best. Powell, generally had improved rather considerably on his early very cheesy appearances, but even by March 1980, he could appear a little cringe inducing at times. Anthea Turner wrote in her autobiography how dancing was one of Peter's pet hates, and here he is on Top Of The Pops attempting to 'swing' to the music (not that that is necessarily a crime in itself). Mike Read though, the week before, was pretty spot on in his role.
Yeah Mike Read, Kid Jenson & Noel Edmonds were the best TOTP presenters by far ( in no particular order) & later John Peel too RIP.
A compromise was reached and he was allowed to wear it the wrong way around. Knowing Robin Nash, the executive producer, I am surprised he compromised.
Robin Nash always comes across as a hard man to work for...
Yeah Mike Read, Kid Jenson & Noel Edmonds were the best TOTP presenters by far ( in no particular order) & later John Peel too RIP.
Yes. I'd certainly go along with that. Mike Read, at his best is the equal to Noel Edmonds and Kid Jensen. John Peel was great in a slightly more cynical/humorous way, which i think was a reaction to the excessive nature of some of the eighties pop sounds and visual styles, a view which i believe many of the viewers could empathise with.
I'm not sure that Robin Nash was anywhere near the taskmaster of his replacement Michael Hurll. It was interesting what i have been reading concerning the show's earlier period when producer Johnnie Stewart was unable to work on the show for a period in 1971, and during that time, his stand in, Stanley Dorfman introduced a slightly more serious feel to the show (which would be reflected in The Old Grey Whistle Test when it began later that year). The album tracks feature was one of the things introduced, but as soon as Johnnie Stewart returned, the show reverted back to a less serious singles chart show.
Yes, the late eighties is a completely different scenario to 1980, although in its own way there were still some memorable songs about. I just think it is a shame so many of the songs are marred by the dominant use of synths that was applied pretty indiscriminately in almost every aspect of pop. Songs and acts that were good, pretty much all seemed to get watered down into a very disposable form of pop. I didn't especially like the fashions of the day either. I found it difficult to truly embrace anything in the late eighties, although from the perspective of today, when listening to pick of the pops at times, at least there was colour and a sense of fun, which is sorely lacking in music today. Pop, though, did become too corporate for my tastes (and a lot less subtle).
The late eighties were a bit of a dead end for British music. You had PWL, acts like The Blow Monkeys playing off white soul and the start of the God awful rave scene in 1989. America was far better, new bands like Guns and Roses were moving metal forwards, Michael jackson and Prince were at their peak.
America was far better, new bands like Guns and Roses were moving metal forwards, Michael jackson and Prince were at their peak.
Prince peaked with his Sign O' The Times album in 1987. Lovesexy and the Batman soundtrack had their moments, but could not compare to his masterpiece, nor any of his albums from 1999 on wards.
Jackson peaked even earlier, with his 'Off The Wall' album (although commercially, obviously, his Thriller album was the highpoint).
G 'n' R never receive the credit they deserve for taking back popular metal from the poodle rock bands, IMHO. Without them, I'm not sure that grunge would have happened in the way it did.
I'm not sure that taking credit for the move towards grunge is that good a thing. And maybe some of that 'poodle rock' as you call it wasn't that bad.
I'm just glad I was in Britain at the time and spared most of this metal and grunge. Guns'n'Roses, Pearl Jam, 'hair metal'...just kill me now. I'd rather listen to SAW on a loop than that.
Some hair/power metal can have decent anthemic choruses, the evolution of metal was to more extreme stuff like death metal (though there had been earlier examples). The alt-rock in the 80s and beyond I don't think I normally get the point of, I don't care if they were the darlings of the critics most of it sounds pretty immature musically. Some things at the start of the 90s seem to have been short-lived styles that never showed much ability to continue and evolve, like grunge and shoegaze.
Prince peaked with his Sign O' The Times album in 1987. Lovesexy and the Batman soundtrack had their moments, but could not compare to his masterpiece, nor any of his albums from 1999 on wards.
Jackson peaked even earlier, with his 'Off The Wall' album (although commercially, obviously, his Thriller album was the highpoint).
Yes, i think you are spot on with both of those statements.
I always have had a preference for the more soulful "Off The Wall" over "Thriller", despite its record breaking sales enhancing its reputation. "Bad" wasn't as good as either, and i have always considered it a little more clinical sounding, production wise, too.
Prince became a little more subtle in around the mid eighties, as most everyone else piled on the production and became ever more bombastic. I remember thinking at the time of the release of "Sign Of The Times" (the single), that Prince was going for much more of an early seventies derived sound. It was very lean and potent. "Sign Of The Times" very much reminded me of Sly And The Family Stone.
Comment about the attire worn by Paul Weller with his appearance on Top Of The Pops in late March 1980 with The Jam prompts me to relate this factual story that was doing the rounds of the BBC at that time. He was intending to wear an apron with a Heinz soup emblazoned over the front while performing Going Underground and was apparently told in no uncertain terms that he could not do so as it was the BBC and there could be no advertising brand name products. A compromise was reached and he was allowed to wear it the wrong way around. Knowing Robin Nash, the executive producer, I am surprised he compromised instead of simply insisting the item was not used during the appearance, especially as when I took a view of the show on the BBC player it is quite clear that it is Heinz Tomato Soup on his apron....
Yeah, but why???. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and thought perhaps he'd come straight from appearing on some BBC cookery show having left his suit behind and without having time to change. Very odd.
That was a very poor edition of TOTP with almost every act doing some sort of 3rd rate disco track. And why did the Dooleys keep appearing on TOTP so much? A mediocre cabaret act. if ever there was one.
The late eighties were a bit of a dead end for British music. You had PWL, acts like The Blow Monkeys playing off white soul and the start of the God awful rave scene in 1989. America was far better, new bands like Guns and Roses were moving metal forwards, Michael jackson and Prince were at their peak.
Yes, i always rather liked the sort of infectious pop/soul the Blow Monkeys were releasing. I found them infinitely more palatable than some of the overblown power ballads and heavy rock sounds.
watching the late night repeat. Wow... with that John Foxx appearance the 80s have officially arrived! I don't remember this one at all from my youth. But I can see where David Sylvian and Japan were about to steal their ideas from...
Although to the mainstream public, Foxx probably looked like he was jumping on the Gary Numan bandwagon, the reverse was of course the case with Numan quite open about the influence of Ultravox's Systems Of Romance album. He even used Ultravox's Billy Currie in his group in 1979.
But I can't see anything but an extremely superficial comparison between Foxx and Japan. Japan's musical mutation had taken hold in 1979 with the Quiet Life album and their hybrid of electronic, ambient and funk is quite a long way from 'No-one Driving'. If Japan borrowed from anyone, it was the Yellow Magic Orchestra and Roxy Music.
I've ell and truly had enough of Turning Japanese now. I think it will be a while before I enjoy hearing it again. The same goes for Liquid Gold. I may be wrong but I'm sure that Ellie was wearing the same get up when they showed up a couple a years ago on the TOTP repeats.
Yes, it was good to see the full performance of Turn It Out. It shouldn't have been cut in the first showing.
Sexy Eyes is a good end-of-the disco smoochy track, and Dennis has got a good voice, but I heard him being a bit scathing about the banal lyrics in a radio interview.
Loved all the leather and campness with PP/Judas Priest. I've probably said before I can't wait to see them doing United later in the year.
Tune out time for me with Siouxsie and Banshees. Siouxsie does look quite masculine in this period.
Enjoyed another viewing of Love Patrol, though I'm glad it will be the last showing of it.
I've forgotten how that John Foxx song goes now - no amusing musheard lyrics in it like "underpants" to mae it stick in my mind - so will have to give it another listen.
I'm sure there'll have been a lot of people who'd have preferred a repeat of the Legs and Co routine to Working My Way Back To You rather than the video footage, but it was good to see for a change. Shame it's another (future) number one with no studio performance.
I've seen the Going Underground performance lots of times, I think it's funny if it's true that they didn't think the Heinz logo could be seen back to front. It's great to see this at number one during the election campaign.
Like Don't Push It Don't Force It, and I'm sure we'll be hearing it again,.
Comments
Or Imagination's infamous performance of 'Body talk' from 1981?:o
Is that the one featuring Sinitta as a backing dancer flirting with the lead singer? Or was that on a different show for a different song? If you were to believe Sinitta's tall tales about her age it would have made her approx 13yrs old at the time but if you are aware of Sinitta's real age it would make her approx 18yrs old at the time.
I think that was on 'The Tube'.
Yeah Mike Read, Kid Jenson & Noel Edmonds were the best TOTP presenters by far ( in no particular order) & later John Peel too RIP.
Robin Nash always comes across as a hard man to work for...
I'm not sure that Robin Nash was anywhere near the taskmaster of his replacement Michael Hurll. It was interesting what i have been reading concerning the show's earlier period when producer Johnnie Stewart was unable to work on the show for a period in 1971, and during that time, his stand in, Stanley Dorfman introduced a slightly more serious feel to the show (which would be reflected in The Old Grey Whistle Test when it began later that year). The album tracks feature was one of the things introduced, but as soon as Johnnie Stewart returned, the show reverted back to a less serious singles chart show.
Prince peaked with his Sign O' The Times album in 1987. Lovesexy and the Batman soundtrack had their moments, but could not compare to his masterpiece, nor any of his albums from 1999 on wards.
Jackson peaked even earlier, with his 'Off The Wall' album (although commercially, obviously, his Thriller album was the highpoint).
G 'n' R never receive the credit they deserve for taking back popular metal from the poodle rock bands, IMHO. Without them, I'm not sure that grunge would have happened in the way it did.
I'm just glad I was in Britain at the time and spared most of this metal and grunge. Guns'n'Roses, Pearl Jam, 'hair metal'...just kill me now. I'd rather listen to SAW on a loop than that.
I always have had a preference for the more soulful "Off The Wall" over "Thriller", despite its record breaking sales enhancing its reputation. "Bad" wasn't as good as either, and i have always considered it a little more clinical sounding, production wise, too.
Prince became a little more subtle in around the mid eighties, as most everyone else piled on the production and became ever more bombastic. I remember thinking at the time of the release of "Sign Of The Times" (the single), that Prince was going for much more of an early seventies derived sound. It was very lean and potent. "Sign Of The Times" very much reminded me of Sly And The Family Stone.
That was a very poor edition of TOTP with almost every act doing some sort of 3rd rate disco track. And why did the Dooleys keep appearing on TOTP so much? A mediocre cabaret act. if ever there was one.
I loved The Blow Monkeys, Dr. Robert was fab.
Yes, i always rather liked the sort of infectious pop/soul the Blow Monkeys were releasing. I found them infinitely more palatable than some of the overblown power ballads and heavy rock sounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF1UzT1k0po
Although to the mainstream public, Foxx probably looked like he was jumping on the Gary Numan bandwagon, the reverse was of course the case with Numan quite open about the influence of Ultravox's Systems Of Romance album. He even used Ultravox's Billy Currie in his group in 1979.
But I can't see anything but an extremely superficial comparison between Foxx and Japan. Japan's musical mutation had taken hold in 1979 with the Quiet Life album and their hybrid of electronic, ambient and funk is quite a long way from 'No-one Driving'. If Japan borrowed from anyone, it was the Yellow Magic Orchestra and Roxy Music.
As has 'Ladies' Night' by Kool & The Gang … ;-)
I've ell and truly had enough of Turning Japanese now. I think it will be a while before I enjoy hearing it again. The same goes for Liquid Gold. I may be wrong but I'm sure that Ellie was wearing the same get up when they showed up a couple a years ago on the TOTP repeats.
Yes, it was good to see the full performance of Turn It Out. It shouldn't have been cut in the first showing.
Sexy Eyes is a good end-of-the disco smoochy track, and Dennis has got a good voice, but I heard him being a bit scathing about the banal lyrics in a radio interview.
Loved all the leather and campness with PP/Judas Priest. I've probably said before I can't wait to see them doing United later in the year.
Tune out time for me with Siouxsie and Banshees. Siouxsie does look quite masculine in this period.
Enjoyed another viewing of Love Patrol, though I'm glad it will be the last showing of it.
I've forgotten how that John Foxx song goes now - no amusing musheard lyrics in it like "underpants" to mae it stick in my mind - so will have to give it another listen.
I'm sure there'll have been a lot of people who'd have preferred a repeat of the Legs and Co routine to Working My Way Back To You rather than the video footage, but it was good to see for a change. Shame it's another (future) number one with no studio performance.
I've seen the Going Underground performance lots of times, I think it's funny if it's true that they didn't think the Heinz logo could be seen back to front. It's great to see this at number one during the election campaign.
Like Don't Push It Don't Force It, and I'm sure we'll be hearing it again,.