Not forgetting an even bigger error. Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star" charted in.... 1979 :eek: Can't believe no-one else spotted that one
There's no problem playing something from 1979 as it would exist in 1983. It's when they play something from '84 and 85' like they have, when the show is set in 1983. You can't play something from the future.
Oh hang on I see your silly smiley thing... you're having us on aren't you!
Wasn't that in Alex's dream though, and since she is from the present time she would know of music / videos that were released later than the date the episode was actually set?
Yeah, up until the series finale when everything is explained, I think its fair to blame any anachronisms on this version of 1983 being the one that Alex has remembered/created in her mind, and therefore not necessarily wholly accurate.
Ken Bruce on Radio 2 has a quiz called Pop Master which often features an "In which year?" question. The number of contestants who are "One year out!" is so unbeliveably high it's practically Ken's catchphrase. (The number of times I'm one year out playing along is just irritating:mad:)
So it would be completely understandable if Alex gets her pop years wrong in her coma dream (if, indeed, it is a coma dream). Especially as she was only a little girl back in 1983.
First episode of series 3 in a clip of the clock counting down you hear Queen & David Bowie's Under Pressure. Now if it is set in 1983 wasn't that song released in 1981.
Wasn't that in Alex's dream though, and since she is from the present time she would know of music / videos that were released later than the date the episode was actually set?
An interesting idea, but I still think it's a bit if a cop out by the producers. There was plenty of great music in 82/83 they could have chosen from.
if it is set in 1983 wasn't that song released in 1981.
Maybe, but as pointed out earlier in the thread it wouldn't have sounded out of place as it was already a hit.
If you watched a contemporary drama containing extracts from "Mercy", "I kissed a girl" or "Sex on fire" you wouldn't really notice that they are almost 2 year old songs, I don't think.
Yeah, obviously if you were listening to a radio, or in a club in 1983, you'd hear songs that were a few years old. When they played Girls Just Want To Have Fun in Lugi's, however, you have to assume someone had brought a copy of the album for it to played, as the single wasn't out then, and everyone was dancing around as though they'd heard it loads of times before.
Of course, it may be in Alex's head, and she's getting years mixed up!
Slightly off-topic but something that really impressed me about Series 2 of Ashes to Ashes was when an old flame of Gene's said to him "You don't remember me, do you?". I thought, ooh that sounds like the Hot Chocolate song I wonder if it is deliberate , and lo and behold it was released in 1982 therefore being a definite tie-in.
hehehe have I opend up a hornets nest of pop trivia!
there are some interesting posts on how people see this!
I was personally going by what was played on the radio, and radio in those days was closey chart based, songs outside the Top 40 were played too as they actually would climb into the Top 40 in those days...I remember if a song entered high in the Top 40 in those days it was news worthy and something special..especially if a song went in at No1...now it's two a penny!
There's no problem playing something from 1979 as it would exist in 1983. It's when they play something from '84 and 85' like they have, when the show is set in 1983. You can't play something from the future.
Oh hang on I see your silly smiley thing... you're having us on aren't you!
Hehe! No. I just assumed that they only used music from the year in which the programme/epsiode is set. My mistake
Am not entirely sure about this but in episode two in the scene where they're driving to the dating agency, Public Image Limited's This Is Not A Love Song is playing - but it sounds to me like the re-recorded version from PiL's 1984 album This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get. The original single version is from 1983
In the first episode they played Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant. The original version was made in 1983, but they played the remixed version which didn't come out until 2001...
In the first episode they played Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant. The original version was made in 1983, but they played the remixed version which didn't come out until 2001...
Actually, it was a previously unreleased dubplate version from the original Electric Avenue sessions but you're quite right about it not being released until 2001 on the Avenue Électrique bootleg
I will just add that as in Life on Mars on the wall of the police station office was a photofit used when the Yorkshire Ripper murder hunt was taking place, which didn't commence until 1975 and LOM was set in 1973. It's all to do with alex and sam and their percieved memories of the times they were transported back to, which I suppose would include snippets of times after the times they went back to.
Never mind the musical error, when Gene and Alex were speeding to that dating agency last week, they passed a red Iveco van parked up which dates from the early noughties, plus i think there was a modern Transit behind it!
That said, little boo boos aside, it still blows everything else on telly out of the water!
Can I join in the anal comments please! Its not a music one but last week Gene made a comment and ended the sentence with "End of". I dont think this quirky (yes I do find it irritating), little phrase was in the English language that far back was it? Isnt it a kind of "chavvy" type thing which was much later. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
There are no errors and haven't been since the first time some smartie-pants saw a pair of jeans in a shade of blue that didn't exist in 1973 in the first episode of Life On Mars.
It's all a coma induced dream so anything can happen, even a Barry Manilow fan club.:)
Having just watched the first 2 new episodes of Ashes to Ashes I found some errors.. I gather it's set just before the General Election of May/June 1983 and yet I heard Katrina and the Waves, Walking on Sunshine a No8 hit from May 1985, and Cyndi Lauper's Girl Just Want To Have Fun a No2 hit in January 1984...come on BBC you know better than this...lololol!!
or am I being anal and thinking too much here...:D...:eek:
No i noticed the Katrina and the Waves one too and thought that the BBC were being flexible about 80s music!
Am not entirely sure about this but in episode two in the scene where they're driving to the dating agency, Public Image Limited's This Is Not A Love Song is playing - but it sounds to me like the re-recorded version from PiL's 1984 album This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get. The original single version is from 1983
Yes, the original version was from 1983, but even playing that would still be an anachronism, as the episode was set shortly before the June 1983 election, and PIL's This Is Not A Love Song wasn't a hit until the autumn.
Some people might have also taken issue with the usage of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Two Tribes over montage of 1983 election campaign coverage, as Two Tribes wasn't a hit until a year later, in 1984. Personally, I'm a bit more tolerant of that sort of anachronism, as this is background music that is superimposed over a scene by the programme makers, not music that is actually being played by some media within the scene. It is when you have a scene in which actual radios, televisions, stereo loudspeakers, tape players etc in a scene are shown or heard playing the music in question that I am more pedantic, as the piece of broadcasting equipment in question is purporting to play a musical recording that would have existed at the time.
Yes, I noticed that one. They've got it on the tape machine at the party, not just playing it as background music, so that's a definite cock-up-and on you're worrying about being 'anal' and 'thinking too much'-don't worry, you're not the only one. I always pointedly note anachronisms, or plot inconsistencies or improbabilties in things I'm watching, too.
Walking On Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves was indeed a hit from 1985.
However it was originally released in 1983 but everyone is more familiar with the 1985 version.
I was watching A2A 03.03 last night 16th April 2010 and after they arrested the Arsonist they took him away in a marked police car (complete with roof ident marker number), did they do that to vehicles in the early 80's ?
I thought that 2 Tribes was 1984, as it was a holiday song from that year, but when I looked it up, it was indeed 1983.
I would like to point out that the General Election was on 9th June 1983, as it was my birthday but I was too young to vote - but they showed the car going through Autumnal leaves
There are no errors and haven't been since the first time some smartie-pants saw a pair of jeans in a shade of blue that didn't exist in 1973 in the first episode of Life On Mars.
It's all a coma induced dream so anything can happen, even a Barry Manilow fan club.:)
Absolutely. I still have the copy of SFX when they stated that in LOM sam was in a coma, it was the original idea and they ended with it. Even the last episode gave the big nod, its just a TV show, go with it. Mind you, they wrote themselves into a corner there, A2A may have to fudge......
Comments
There's no problem playing something from 1979 as it would exist in 1983. It's when they play something from '84 and 85' like they have, when the show is set in 1983. You can't play something from the future.
Oh hang on I see your silly smiley thing... you're having us on aren't you!
Ken Bruce on Radio 2 has a quiz called Pop Master which often features an "In which year?" question. The number of contestants who are "One year out!" is so unbeliveably high it's practically Ken's catchphrase. (The number of times I'm one year out playing along is just irritating:mad:)
So it would be completely understandable if Alex gets her pop years wrong in her coma dream (if, indeed, it is a coma dream). Especially as she was only a little girl back in 1983.
An interesting idea, but I still think it's a bit if a cop out by the producers. There was plenty of great music in 82/83 they could have chosen from.
I know - what a travesty that cover was :eek: the things people buy in the name of "charidee".
I had the 12" of the original Uptown girl - what a fantastic sounding but of vinyl that was...
Maybe, but as pointed out earlier in the thread it wouldn't have sounded out of place as it was already a hit.
If you watched a contemporary drama containing extracts from "Mercy", "I kissed a girl" or "Sex on fire" you wouldn't really notice that they are almost 2 year old songs, I don't think.
Of course, it may be in Alex's head, and she's getting years mixed up!
there are some interesting posts on how people see this!
I was personally going by what was played on the radio, and radio in those days was closey chart based, songs outside the Top 40 were played too as they actually would climb into the Top 40 in those days...I remember if a song entered high in the Top 40 in those days it was news worthy and something special..especially if a song went in at No1...now it's two a penny!
That said, little boo boos aside, it still blows everything else on telly out of the water!
It's all a coma induced dream so anything can happen, even a Barry Manilow fan club.:)
No i noticed the Katrina and the Waves one too and thought that the BBC were being flexible about 80s music!
Yes, the original version was from 1983, but even playing that would still be an anachronism, as the episode was set shortly before the June 1983 election, and PIL's This Is Not A Love Song wasn't a hit until the autumn.
Some people might have also taken issue with the usage of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Two Tribes over montage of 1983 election campaign coverage, as Two Tribes wasn't a hit until a year later, in 1984. Personally, I'm a bit more tolerant of that sort of anachronism, as this is background music that is superimposed over a scene by the programme makers, not music that is actually being played by some media within the scene. It is when you have a scene in which actual radios, televisions, stereo loudspeakers, tape players etc in a scene are shown or heard playing the music in question that I am more pedantic, as the piece of broadcasting equipment in question is purporting to play a musical recording that would have existed at the time.
Walking On Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves was indeed a hit from 1985.
However it was originally released in 1983 but everyone is more familiar with the 1985 version.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_on_Sunshine_(song)
I was watching A2A 03.03 last night 16th April 2010 and after they arrested the Arsonist they took him away in a marked police car (complete with roof ident marker number), did they do that to vehicles in the early 80's ?
I thought that 2 Tribes was 1984, as it was a holiday song from that year, but when I looked it up, it was indeed 1983.
I would like to point out that the General Election was on 9th June 1983, as it was my birthday but I was too young to vote - but they showed the car going through Autumnal leaves
You didn't look up very well then- the single was released in May 1984!
Absolutely. I still have the copy of SFX when they stated that in LOM sam was in a coma, it was the original idea and they ended with it. Even the last episode gave the big nod, its just a TV show, go with it. Mind you, they wrote themselves into a corner there, A2A may have to fudge......