All the more shocking when they had songs like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OygMu9SS68
Maybe sounds a little bit dated now and very 80's high energy/club type music. But for me, one of Sparks best from any decade.
Just found the bonus track from the B side of the 12 inch of "Tryouts For The Human Race" available on YouTube - a classic if somewhat surreal piece of Peter Cook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAcfrYtOxA8
I just checked out these Sparks tracks, neither which I am familiar with. Certainly the 1985 track sounded typically dated in that unlikeable mid 80's tinny production that afflicted so much in that period. Not quite sure what to make of it after just one listen.
Just watched the late showing again which was down as 35 minutes but infact was the same TOTP as shown earlier with nothing added. One thing I did notice for a BBC show that was on 1st November, ten days before Remembrance Sunday on 11th November 1979 was that there was not a single poppy to be seen, and it was the 60th anniversary of the very first service of remembrance too. On Mike Read's lapel he instead had a guitar shaped badge instead. Contrast that to the BBC now who don't seem to allow anyone on screen without a poppy it seems in the 2 to 3 weeks before Remembrance Sunday.
I found tonight's edition to be one of the weakest ones of 1979.
One thing I did notice for a BBC show that was on 1st November, ten days before Remembrance Sunday on 11th November 1979 was that there was not a single poppy to be seen, and it was the 60th anniversary of the very first service of remembrance too. On Mike Read's lapel he instead had a guitar shaped badge instead. Contrast that to the BBC now who don't seem to allow anyone on screen without a poppy it seems in the 2 to 3 weeks before Remembrance Sunday..
Off-topic but yes I've always worn a poppy on Remembrance Day (i.e. 11th of Nov). These days it seems to have turned into Remembrance Fortnight.
Mind you, people seem to let off fireworks at least a week either side of Guy Fawkes' as well.
Back on topic...Sparks did seem to be a band 5 years ahead of their time. When electro-pop caught up with them they were ironically old hat and seemed to have run out of steam at that point. Also they may have been ignored because of the fact that they're American and 80s synthpop was very much a British affair. And probably too quirky among the serious and austere first wave of electronica (Ultravox, OMD, Numan, Foxx etc.) although I guess they could have slotted in ok among early Depeche Mode or Blancmange.
Never mind the Ramblers, just wait until about a year from now when we are in TOTP 1980 during the autumn for some real birds tweeting on record all the way up into the top five. No, I'm not talking about "that" well known instrumental, two autumns away yet, but the wonderful track Et Les Oiseaux Chantaient (And The Birds Were Singing) by Sweet People. I have it on my iPod!
Check it out. It brings a lump to my throat.....no really it does. Cuckoo, cuckoo! :cool:
I don't know whether the original edition of that show was shorter than usual for some reason, but there were a couple of songs fewer than normal this week - therefore nothing needed to be edited out of the early showing, so the late showing will be exactly the same.
According to twitter, tonight's show has seen the last TOTPs appearances from both Sparks and Suzi Quatro
true enough...decent enough offering from sparks but the third single off the album and not a patch on 'no.1 song in heaven' or 'beat the clock', still surprised it didn't at least scrape the top 40 after this appearance at no. 45 though...they wouldn't trouble the UK charts now till '94 with 'when do i get to sing my way' which i also bought at the time
pleasant enough song from suzi but to my ears sounds very dated amongst the other stuff in the charts and could have easily have come from her glam period 4-5 years before this
edit: sorry for posting same info as rich tea, guilty of not catching up on all the unread pages (again)!
Never mind the Ramblers, just wait until about a year from now when we are in TOTP 1980 during the autumn for some real birds tweeting on record all the way up into the top five. No, I'm not talking about "that" well known instrumental, two autumns away yet, but the wonderful track Et Les Oiseaux Chantaient (And The Birds Were Singing) by Sweet People. I have it on my iPod!
Check it out. It brings a lump to my throat.....no really it does. Cuckoo, cuckoo! :cool:
According to twitter, tonight's show has seen the last TOTPs appearances from both Sparks and Suzi Quatro
actually twitter's got it wrong, just looking through future totp's for 1980 and suzi appears on the 24th January episode singing 'mama's boy' (number 50 at the time) with mike read hosting !
actually twitter's got it wrong, just looking through future totp's for 1980 and suzi appears on the 24th January episode singing 'mama's boy' (number 50 at the time) with mike read hosting !
I could be wrong but I'd take a guess The Dooleys don't turn up on the show again?
I found tonight's edition to be one of the weakest ones of 1979.
I'm not sure i'd go that far. I thought this week's show was slightly better than the previous two weeks, but still fairly mediocre when put alongside the general standard of those episodes from late spring through to september. Taken in the context of the standard of 1979 overall, i'd say this week's show was fairly average, or maybe slightly below average. The Jam, Thin Lizzy, Suzi Quatro and even B A Robertson were pretty good in my opinion (i've always enjoyed ''Knocked It Off'' - just wait until you see B A cause havoc in the Kid Jensen edition with a football ! ). I believe the Sparks and Lene Lovich tracks lack some of the commercial appeal of their hits from earlier in the year, although both were very interesting (and in the case of Sparks, very good in its own way). I don't think Earth Wind And Fire's ''Star'', is quite of the standard of their hits from earlier in the year (''Boogie Wonderland'' or ''After The Love Has Gone''), although it wasn't bad. However, again i didn't particularly enjoy the Legs & Co routine, which accompanied the song. Yes, i could probably have done without the Ramblers ''The Sparrow'', and Darts, who were well below par with ''Can't Get Enough Of Your Love''. Admittedly, two mediocre songs in a row doesn't help matters. I really don't feel Darts were ever quite the same after Den Hegarty left the group, although their two previous hits were far better than this one. I'm really not surprised their career took a dive around the time of the release of this song.
There will be some much better episodes than this one in the weeks to come, but i think there will also be examples of more of these mediocre editions, too. I think the show may have peaked for the time being.
I could be wrong but I'd take a guess The Dooleys don't turn up on the show again?
nope, they turn up on the 13th March 1980 episode with 'love patrol' (no. 39 at the time), hosted by steve wright, then again two weeks later (number 29) on a peter powell hosted edition
Sparks did release "When I'm With You" as a single in 1980, but it failed to chart in the UK (but became their first hit in France since 1974).
I remember Radio 1 playing a single by them in May 1981 called 'Tips For Teens'. It was played a few times but like their other singles in the 1980s it failed to chart.
It sounds more like Queen than a Giorgio Moroder inspired track...
I'm not sure i'd go that far. I thought this week's show was slightly better than the previous two weeks, but still fairly mediocre when put alongside the general standard of those episodes from late spring through to september. Taken in the context of the standard of 1979 overall, i'd say this week's show was fairly average, or maybe slightly below.
I think the show may have peaked for the time being.
I still think the show peaked in Springtime 1978 - with the likes of Kate Bush, Blondie, Abba, Elvis Costello etc etc..and also again this year - when we had Gary Numan and all that New Wave stuff..;-)
Winter 1979- Spring 1980 is a great period to look forward to as well! ;-)
Sparks did release "When I'm With You" as a single in 1980, but it failed to chart in the UK (but became their first hit in France since 1974).
shame 'when i'm with you' wasn't ready to be released straight after 'no.1 song in heaven' and 'beat the clock', was a far better song than 'tryouts' and i'm sure it would have been a big hit at that time on the back of the first two singles and even if it wasn't ready, 'la dolce vita' should have been the 3rd single from the no.1 in heaven LP over 'tryouts' anyway
Didn't know the Sparks, Darts or Lene Lovich songs, so look forward to watching the show again to give them another listen. It is strange that this was only a 30 minute show in full, when there doesn't seem to be any reason for that, checking the schedule on the genome site.
I may have said this before, but whenever I see the Suzi Quatro performance I wonder if she was made to change the line from "when she's making love to you, she'll do what you want her to" to "when she's so in love with you..." Doesn't seem that controversial to me, but who knows with the BBC.
Knowing I was about the same age as the Ramblers kids, and then there's St Winifred's to come next year, makes me feel jealous that my school didn't write and record a cheesy record so I could've been on TOTP.
I know the general opinion on here would be that it was no surprise that Mike Read wasn't excatly enthusastic with his announcement that Lena Martell was still at No. 1, but I did wonder if this was the week there was that cock up with the chart, and it was annouced wrongly that Dr Hook was at number one - but that happened the following week, though we'll not see that show on BBC Four. I don't think it is mentioned, from what I can remember.
Rich
The TOTP studio performance "backing vocals" on Eton Rifles are by The Cards. They were a protege mod band of The Jam from Woking.
The Cards is the nickname of Woking FC due to their cardinal red shirts.
Tryouts For The Human Race - Sparks. This was sampled on Musak by Trisco... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoXOCOCxNk4 which I remember buying and playing a lot in the early noughties. Funny how a piece of general nostalgia can trigger a separate but totally related wave of personal nostalgia.
That Bloody Sparrow (that's the title, yeah?). I...I...well, anyway.
Legs & Co. Mike Read said something about the 6 of them dancing but Lulu was missing, meaning there were only 5 of them. Should the BBC be reprimanded for such misrepresentation?
Don't get the hate for Knocked It Out by BA Robertson/Inspector Gadget/80s Jeremy Clarkson. That was a genuine lost gem with smart lyrics. Especially funny as it was followed by Lena Martell. Proof, if enough people like it, anything can be a hit.
Noticed on the play out Mike Read signing autographs for the audience in the front row.
Mike Read is presenting tonight's latest edition of TOTP from 1st November 1979 and we should be thankful he hasn't been blacklisted too on grounds of potential racism by a reactionary BBC for his cringeworthy efforts. When I saw a clip of his UKIP Calypso with the lyrics and appalling faux Jamaican accent I could scarcely believe that he had descended into such a bad lack of judgement and taste. Plus putting out a plain embarrassingly bad record full stop. I say that as someone who has voted UKIP for years and intend to do so next May. I really did think Mike Read had a level head and was better than such nonsense.
This baffles me given that UKIP leader Nigel Farage endorsed the song. The party then lied that The Red Cross would miss out on a lot of money due to the withdrawal of the single in a bid to politically guilt-trip those who objected to it. The Red Cross released a statement to say it had not been approached at any time over any kind of donation by UKIP, although they would not have accepted the money even if they had.
I never got a chance to comment last night, so a few thoughts...
(3) SAD CAFÉ – Every Day Hurts (and charts)
As much as I like this track it just seems to have been around these TOTP repeats for a while now. Illusory, of course, since it isn't that long since the repeats returned after a summer break.
(45) SPARKS – Tryouts For The Human Race
I don't think i cared much for it at the time but it sounded OK last night.
(26) THE RAMBLERS – The Sparrow ®
Ye Gods, can music get any worse?
(50) DARTS – Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love
Very poor. It's hard to believe that the same act scored three consecutive number 2 hits the previous year.
(29) THE JAM – The Eton Rifles
Excellent! The single that saw The Jam cross over into the big time. A wonderful single.
(46) LENE LOVICH – Bird Song
This is my favourite Lene single. Loved it at the time and still do.
(16) EARTH, WIND & FIRE – Star (danced to by Legs & Co)
Decent, smooth disco funk. I loved the follow up, 'Can't Let Go' but that missed the top 40 and their time as a major chart force was almost up. They would strike gold again in 1981 with 'Let's Groove' but 1979 was their chart peak in the UK.
(43) THIN LIZZY – Sarah
I quite liked this track. 'Sarah' was written by Phil Lynott and Gary Moore about Lynott's newborn daughter. The track features Huey Lewis, of The News fame, on harmonica and the track was originally recorded for an intended Lynott solo album. I forgot to check - did the appearance of Thin Lizzy on TOTP feature Midge Ure? Gary Moore had quit the band not long after recording this track in early 1979 and Ure replaced him for all live appearances for the rest of 1979.
(20) SUZI QUATRO – She’s In Love With You
Never cared for this one - a very dull song.
(42) B.A. ROBERTSON – Knocked It Off
The only single by B.A. Robertson that I like. I remember his next TOTP appearance with the footballs.
(1) LENA MARTELL – One Day At A Time ®
Another awful song... As referred to by ClareB, when the new chart was unveiled 5 days after this edition of TOTP was broadcast 'One Day At A Time' was announced as the new number 2, replaced at the top by Dr Hook. 24 hours later the chart compilers announced they had in fact made a computation error (some of Martell's sales had erroneously been added to Dr Hook's total) and that Lena Martell was still at number 1. Martell's record label were up in arms about it (it was they who suspected an error had occurred and had asked the chart compiler to recheck their calculations), especially given that Music Week had already gone to press and the Top 75 chart pullout that the magazine published each week, and which most record shops displayed, had Dr Hook at the top. The label revealed that the error had cost them thousands of repeat orders of the single as dealers wrongly believed that the single was on the way down the charts.
(8) FLEETWOOD MAC – Tusk (and credits)
The album was quite patchy but this single still sounds good.
Comments
Sparks did release "When I'm With You" as a single in 1980, but it failed to chart in the UK (but became their first hit in France since 1974).
Just watched the late showing again which was down as 35 minutes but infact was the same TOTP as shown earlier with nothing added. One thing I did notice for a BBC show that was on 1st November, ten days before Remembrance Sunday on 11th November 1979 was that there was not a single poppy to be seen, and it was the 60th anniversary of the very first service of remembrance too. On Mike Read's lapel he instead had a guitar shaped badge instead. Contrast that to the BBC now who don't seem to allow anyone on screen without a poppy it seems in the 2 to 3 weeks before Remembrance Sunday.
I found tonight's edition to be one of the weakest ones of 1979.
Off-topic but yes I've always worn a poppy on Remembrance Day (i.e. 11th of Nov). These days it seems to have turned into Remembrance Fortnight.
Mind you, people seem to let off fireworks at least a week either side of Guy Fawkes' as well.
Back on topic...Sparks did seem to be a band 5 years ahead of their time. When electro-pop caught up with them they were ironically old hat and seemed to have run out of steam at that point. Also they may have been ignored because of the fact that they're American and 80s synthpop was very much a British affair. And probably too quirky among the serious and austere first wave of electronica (Ultravox, OMD, Numan, Foxx etc.) although I guess they could have slotted in ok among early Depeche Mode or Blancmange.
Not forgetting the Birdie Song!!!
true enough...decent enough offering from sparks but the third single off the album and not a patch on 'no.1 song in heaven' or 'beat the clock', still surprised it didn't at least scrape the top 40 after this appearance at no. 45 though...they wouldn't trouble the UK charts now till '94 with 'when do i get to sing my way' which i also bought at the time
pleasant enough song from suzi but to my ears sounds very dated amongst the other stuff in the charts and could have easily have come from her glam period 4-5 years before this
edit: sorry for posting same info as rich tea, guilty of not catching up on all the unread pages (again)!
I agree, in fact I've found what was featured in autumn 1979 a real drag to watch at times. Personally I can't wait for 1980 to start now!
Too make up for it Country will provide us with Kenny Rogers Coward of The County in february 1980 sorry february 2015 heh.
Not to mention Theres No one quite like Grandma next December
actually twitter's got it wrong, just looking through future totp's for 1980 and suzi appears on the 24th January episode singing 'mama's boy' (number 50 at the time) with mike read hosting !
I could be wrong but I'd take a guess The Dooleys don't turn up on the show again?
I'm not sure i'd go that far. I thought this week's show was slightly better than the previous two weeks, but still fairly mediocre when put alongside the general standard of those episodes from late spring through to september. Taken in the context of the standard of 1979 overall, i'd say this week's show was fairly average, or maybe slightly below average. The Jam, Thin Lizzy, Suzi Quatro and even B A Robertson were pretty good in my opinion (i've always enjoyed ''Knocked It Off'' - just wait until you see B A cause havoc in the Kid Jensen edition with a football ! ). I believe the Sparks and Lene Lovich tracks lack some of the commercial appeal of their hits from earlier in the year, although both were very interesting (and in the case of Sparks, very good in its own way). I don't think Earth Wind And Fire's ''Star'', is quite of the standard of their hits from earlier in the year (''Boogie Wonderland'' or ''After The Love Has Gone''), although it wasn't bad. However, again i didn't particularly enjoy the Legs & Co routine, which accompanied the song. Yes, i could probably have done without the Ramblers ''The Sparrow'', and Darts, who were well below par with ''Can't Get Enough Of Your Love''. Admittedly, two mediocre songs in a row doesn't help matters. I really don't feel Darts were ever quite the same after Den Hegarty left the group, although their two previous hits were far better than this one. I'm really not surprised their career took a dive around the time of the release of this song.
There will be some much better episodes than this one in the weeks to come, but i think there will also be examples of more of these mediocre editions, too. I think the show may have peaked for the time being.
nope, they turn up on the 13th March 1980 episode with 'love patrol' (no. 39 at the time), hosted by steve wright, then again two weeks later (number 29) on a peter powell hosted edition
It sounds more like Queen than a Giorgio Moroder inspired track...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3-6E3h--DA
Have we had 'Wanted' by them yet?
I still think the show peaked in Springtime 1978 - with the likes of Kate Bush, Blondie, Abba, Elvis Costello etc etc..and also again this year - when we had Gary Numan and all that New Wave stuff..;-)
Winter 1979- Spring 1980 is a great period to look forward to as well! ;-)
shame 'when i'm with you' wasn't ready to be released straight after 'no.1 song in heaven' and 'beat the clock', was a far better song than 'tryouts' and i'm sure it would have been a big hit at that time on the back of the first two singles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grhS_s7CMIk
I may have said this before, but whenever I see the Suzi Quatro performance I wonder if she was made to change the line from "when she's making love to you, she'll do what you want her to" to "when she's so in love with you..." Doesn't seem that controversial to me, but who knows with the BBC.
Knowing I was about the same age as the Ramblers kids, and then there's St Winifred's to come next year, makes me feel jealous that my school didn't write and record a cheesy record so I could've been on TOTP.
I know the general opinion on here would be that it was no surprise that Mike Read wasn't excatly enthusastic with his announcement that Lena Martell was still at No. 1, but I did wonder if this was the week there was that cock up with the chart, and it was annouced wrongly that Dr Hook was at number one - but that happened the following week, though we'll not see that show on BBC Four. I don't think it is mentioned, from what I can remember.
Half-cut would be more apt to describe Crowther. He was a recovering alcoholic.
The TOTP studio performance "backing vocals" on Eton Rifles are by The Cards. They were a protege mod band of The Jam from Woking.
The Cards is the nickname of Woking FC due to their cardinal red shirts.
Tryouts For The Human Race - Sparks. This was sampled on Musak by Trisco... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoXOCOCxNk4 which I remember buying and playing a lot in the early noughties. Funny how a piece of general nostalgia can trigger a separate but totally related wave of personal nostalgia.
That Bloody Sparrow (that's the title, yeah?). I...I...well, anyway.
Legs & Co. Mike Read said something about the 6 of them dancing but Lulu was missing, meaning there were only 5 of them. Should the BBC be reprimanded for such misrepresentation?
Don't get the hate for Knocked It Out by BA Robertson/Inspector Gadget/80s Jeremy Clarkson. That was a genuine lost gem with smart lyrics. Especially funny as it was followed by Lena Martell. Proof, if enough people like it, anything can be a hit.
Noticed on the play out Mike Read signing autographs for the audience in the front row.
This baffles me given that UKIP leader Nigel Farage endorsed the song. The party then lied that The Red Cross would miss out on a lot of money due to the withdrawal of the single in a bid to politically guilt-trip those who objected to it. The Red Cross released a statement to say it had not been approached at any time over any kind of donation by UKIP, although they would not have accepted the money even if they had.
(3) SAD CAFÉ – Every Day Hurts (and charts)
As much as I like this track it just seems to have been around these TOTP repeats for a while now. Illusory, of course, since it isn't that long since the repeats returned after a summer break.
(45) SPARKS – Tryouts For The Human Race
I don't think i cared much for it at the time but it sounded OK last night.
(26) THE RAMBLERS – The Sparrow ®
Ye Gods, can music get any worse?
(50) DARTS – Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love
Very poor. It's hard to believe that the same act scored three consecutive number 2 hits the previous year.
(29) THE JAM – The Eton Rifles
Excellent! The single that saw The Jam cross over into the big time. A wonderful single.
(46) LENE LOVICH – Bird Song
This is my favourite Lene single. Loved it at the time and still do.
(16) EARTH, WIND & FIRE – Star (danced to by Legs & Co)
Decent, smooth disco funk. I loved the follow up, 'Can't Let Go' but that missed the top 40 and their time as a major chart force was almost up. They would strike gold again in 1981 with 'Let's Groove' but 1979 was their chart peak in the UK.
(43) THIN LIZZY – Sarah
I quite liked this track. 'Sarah' was written by Phil Lynott and Gary Moore about Lynott's newborn daughter. The track features Huey Lewis, of The News fame, on harmonica and the track was originally recorded for an intended Lynott solo album. I forgot to check - did the appearance of Thin Lizzy on TOTP feature Midge Ure? Gary Moore had quit the band not long after recording this track in early 1979 and Ure replaced him for all live appearances for the rest of 1979.
(20) SUZI QUATRO – She’s In Love With You
Never cared for this one - a very dull song.
(42) B.A. ROBERTSON – Knocked It Off
The only single by B.A. Robertson that I like. I remember his next TOTP appearance with the footballs.
(1) LENA MARTELL – One Day At A Time ®
Another awful song... As referred to by ClareB, when the new chart was unveiled 5 days after this edition of TOTP was broadcast 'One Day At A Time' was announced as the new number 2, replaced at the top by Dr Hook. 24 hours later the chart compilers announced they had in fact made a computation error (some of Martell's sales had erroneously been added to Dr Hook's total) and that Lena Martell was still at number 1. Martell's record label were up in arms about it (it was they who suspected an error had occurred and had asked the chart compiler to recheck their calculations), especially given that Music Week had already gone to press and the Top 75 chart pullout that the magazine published each week, and which most record shops displayed, had Dr Hook at the top. The label revealed that the error had cost them thousands of repeat orders of the single as dealers wrongly believed that the single was on the way down the charts.
(8) FLEETWOOD MAC – Tusk (and credits)
The album was quite patchy but this single still sounds good.