Gill has come more to the fore, for me, in recent months, and i think she did begin to shine a little more as a personality, because previously i think her model looks had pretty much seen her through. Rosemary is my favourite though. She always seems to have a mischievous glint in her eyes.
We never get any good comedy records in today's charts unless they are comic relief songs which generally bad.
I was thinking that too - the other day! - Or rather comedy lyrics.
At least we will get Morrissey soon - who must have some of the best comedic/outspoken titles ever for singles! ;-)
Speaking of Morrissey & The Smiths - does anyone think they had a 1980s 'Stray Cats' kind of feel to their early hits? - Was this intentional I wonder?
How much did 2 pints of lager and a packet of crisps cost in 1980?
How much would they cost today? I'm a non drinker.
Prices have generally trebled / quadrupled.
£1 in 1980 is now equivalent to £3.83p today, according to the Bank Of England .
So I guess that buying a single in June 1980 was considerably more expensive than in June 1979.
I take it you don't have a drinkers beer belly then? ;-)
I remember my older sister had just started work as a secretary in 1980 & her weekly take home pay was about £40!! - No wonder she wouldn't buy me the Geno single!!
Mind you - apprentices don't get much more than that now!!
I was thinking that too - the other day! - Or rather comedy lyrics.
At least we will get Morrissey soon - who must have some of the best comedic/outspoken titles ever for singles! ;-)
Speaking of Morrissey & The Smiths - does anyone think they had a 1980s 'Stray Cats' kind of feel to their early hits? - Was this intentional I wonder?
Can't say I heard much of the Stray Cats in The Smiths, although there is a slight rockabilly feel to some of the songs, eg Rusholme Ruffians, Vicar In A Tutu.
Incidentally, though, when Morrissey needed a new backing band after his 2nd solo album, he recruited the members of rockabilly band The Polecats, and they were basically his band for the next six albums at least.
It's a strange one. Why was Lena on TOTP's in 1980? I'm guessing it was an attempt to relaunch her career. She'd won Opportunity Knocks' in the early part of the 70's but only had one big hit after that.
(
Robin Nash always had a weakness for cheesy showbiz acts. Simple as that.
I take it you don't have a drinkers beer belly then? ;-)
I remember my older sister had just started work as a secretary in 1980 & her weekly take home pay was about £40!! - No wonder she wouldn't buy me the Geno single!!
Mind you - apprentices don't get much more than that now!!
He he. When I was 16 in the summer of 1985 we used to go to the local underage pub. I always got served as I looked a bit older than my pals.
'Happy Hour' meant you got a pint for 70p. It was great. You'd get pi**ed on a fiver!! Happy memories. And I didn't get a beer belly...:D
It's a strange one. Why was Lena on TOTP's in 1980? I'm guessing it was an attempt to relaunch her career.
It seems she had a TV series going in 1980, and she sang songs on the program. With the hatred there seems to be maybe she would have done better given some disco-pop, or maybe she was too associated with that early child success for people to ever accept her changing style.
I see I'm totally in the minority, (e.g. its just me! ), with regard my dislike of Roxy's 'Jealous Guy' cover. Then again I don't much care for the original either. Roxy's best cover for me by a mile was their version of Dylan's "A Hard Rains Gonna Fall". For me, that should have been a single and a deserved number 1. But, as ever, its all about personal taste. Nice to provoke a bit of discussion on this thread though, which, as ever, helps to make it a good read.
Just You tubed to look at what Lena Zavaroni track was edited from Thursday's and is on later. Its not horrible, in fact its fine but a bout of insomnia aside I don't think I'll be staying up to see that one again. I had a look also at Lena's chart career and found it very surprising. I thought she was huge during the 70's but her chart performances, (a number 10 and a number 33 as her only charting singles), suggest otherwise. I didn't think it was a number one but assumed "Ma.." had done much better than a number 10 peak. I agree that if she was given better songs to sing she might have done better. If for example, she had sung what became Kelly Marie's 'Feels Like I'm In Love', I think it would have done just as well and maybe given her a number 1 also. Thinking back I can remember newspaper articles about her struggles with anorexia, but I have to confess, I'd forgotten she'd died so young and is no longer with us. Terrible shame, very sad.
Early Smiths being possibly influenced by the Stray Cats Ursula? I don't hear that. But, as has been also mentioned the fact that Morrissey later hooked up with members of the Polecats suggests that you may have indeed noticed a somewhat cryptic link there.
What else was there?
Bowie best cover version? For me, his version of Iggy's 'China Girl'.
Beer belly's? I drink plenty, occasionally, but thankfully haven't got one, (on most days ;-)), but having to do the sit up's every morning to help prevent it happening is bit of a drag.
I reckon £3.83 might just get me one pint of lager and a packet of crisps!
I can still get a pint of Tennents Lager for 1.99 at my local Wetherspoons.
I've never checked but they probably compensate by charging 2 quid for a packet of crisps!!
There is only one item I actually remember buying regularly in 1980 and to this day knowing exactly how much it cost in that year - a Mars Bar and it cost 13p. Plus it was definitely much larger than the puny efforts nowadays.
I take it you don't have a drinkers beer belly then? ;-)
I remember my older sister had just started work as a secretary in 1980 & her weekly take home pay was about £40!! - No wonder she wouldn't buy me the Geno single!!
Mind you - apprentices don't get much more than that now!!
Nope, not at all. Still wear the same 32" waist as I did in the late 80's. Sometimes a bit of "muffin" occurs but under no circumstances would I ever buy a bigger size, it would encourage me to fill it.
I thought I was doing fabulous when I was earning just shy of £100 per week in my first proper job in 1987, after spending a few weeks after leaving sixth form getting just £27 each week out of petty cash on one of Thatcher's schemes yet working from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Nine weeks of that was more than enough.
If the national minimum wage had been in place back in 1980 at the same rate in real terms it is today, which I think is £6.50p per hour then in 1980 it would have been £1.70p per hour. So a 35 hour a week full time job on minimum wage in 1980 should have paid £59.50p.
I'm all for wage inflation, just not waist inflation.
He he. When I was 16 in the summer of 1985 we used to go to the local underage pub. I always got served as I looked a bit older than my pals.
'Happy Hour' meant you got a pint for 70p. It was great. You'd get pi**ed on a fiver!! Happy memories. And I didn't get a beer belly...:D
Isn't drinking compulsory for you Scots?
Never met a tee-total one yet!
I just tried to get hold of Mystic Merlin's current 1980 hit Just Can't Give You Up on iTunes but it is not available even though quite a few other tracks by the artist are. Infuriating, this keeps happening to me.
For the first time I've also just this moment realised that I totally forgot and have missed the full TOTP 1980 shown just after 1am tonight, including Mystic Merlin. That never happens to me.
There is only one item I actually remember buying regularly in 1980 and to this day knowing exactly how much it cost in that year - a Mars Bar and it cost 13p. Plus it was definitely much larger than the puny efforts nowadays.
Anagram of Kanye West = Sweet Yank.
I love appropriate anagrams don't you!
Nope, not at all. Still wear the same 32" waist as I did in the late 80's. Sometimes a bit of "muffin" occurs but under no circumstances would I ever buy a bigger size, it would encourage me to fill it.
I thought I was doing fabulous when I was earning just shy of £100 per week in my first proper job in 1987, after spending a few weeks after leaving sixth form getting just £27 each week out of petty cash on one of Thatcher's schemes yet working from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Nine weeks of that was more than enough.
If the national minimum wage had been in place back in 1980 at the same rate in real terms it is today, which I think is £6.50p per hour then in 1980 it would have been £1.70p per hour. So a 35 hour a week full time job on minimum wage in 1980 should have paid £59.50p.
I'm all for wage inflation, just not waist inflation.
32" waist??? You fat bastard!!! Still wearing 30"waist here with room for dinner (giving up beer and switching to vodka helped).
1985, I left school and went to ICI on a YTS £27.40 + travel expenses. Somehow I managed to get an income of around £35, probably because of £5.00 travel card.
By 1987 I was working for my Father who thought it was quite acceptable to be paying me £80 for a 37.5hr week. By 1991 I was working more hours for the princely sum of £140.
And you tell the young people of today... (did I mention I was living in a hole in t'ground?)
Btw... Re the Roxy Music debate, early Roxy for me. Especially Every Dream Home. There's something salacious about it that makes me think Jarvis Cocker was listening very closely.
I see I'm totally in the minority, (e.g. its just me! ), with regard my dislike of Roxy's 'Jealous Guy' cover. Then again I don't much care for the original either. Roxy's best cover for me by a mile was their version of Dylan's "A Hard Rains Gonna Fall". For me, that should have been a single and a deserved number 1. But, as ever, its all about personal taste. Nice to provoke a bit of discussion on this thread though, which, as ever, helps to make it a good read.
Bowie best cover version? For me, his version of Iggy's 'China Girl'.
Yes, i probably agree with you on both of those.
"A Hard Rains A Gonna Fall" was a Bryan Ferry solo single from 1973, taken from his These Foolish Things album. I thought it was a great version of the song, and completely different to Bob's original, which is what i always appreciate when a song is covered. I really liked Bryan's rather overblown way of singing in those early years, and although i have heard him trying to sing like that in more recent years, when he performs those old songs, i don't think he can quite recapture that style, in the way he used to. I liked Roxy Music's "Jealous Guy" but not on the level of those early cover versions taken from his first solo album. The title track "These Foolish Things" is another fabulous interpretation of a very old song. Lou Reed nicked a lot of ideas from Bryan for his 1978 US tour, with a similar rather bloated style of singing and a female backing chorus, which the more i listen to Bryan and Roxy, the more evident it becomes.
David Bowie's Pin Ups (again from 1973) album also contained cover versions, and although i liked some of those, and especially "Sorrow", i don't think any of them came close to eclipsing the originals. "China Girl" from 1983 was a cover of an Iggy Pop song David had had a hand in writing, so i suppose it can be classed as a cover as Iggy got there first. Let's Dance - the album, has received some stick in recent years, for Bowie appearing too 'normal' and mainstream, and while i don't think it is anywhere near his best album, it has a few good tracks and an interesting sound. "China Girl" is certainly more accessible than Iggy's version, and i mean that in a good way!
Early Smiths being possibly influenced by the Stray Cats Ursula? I don't hear that. But, as has been also mentioned the fact that Morrissey later hooked up with members of the Polecats suggests that you may have indeed noticed a somewhat cryptic link there.
It's just a slight resemblance that I notice in some of their more up-tempo songs:-
'What Difference Does It Make' & 'Shakespeare's Sister' are two that spring to mind for example ( & both excellent Smiths songs btw)!. ;-)
If the national minimum wage had been in place back in 1980 at the same rate in real terms it is today, which I think is £6.50p per hour then in 1980 it would have been £1.70p per hour. So a 35 hour a week full time job on minimum wage in 1980 should have paid £59.50p.
I'm all for wage inflation, just not waist inflation.
Yes - back in those days employers could pay what they liked I suppose, before the minimum wage crept in. Plus my sister would have just been a teenager - so I guess they would just pay her whatever they felt they could get away with back then!!
I just tried to get hold of Mystic Merlin's current 1980 hit Just Can't Give You Up on iTunes but it is not available even though quite a few other tracks by the artist are. Infuriating, this keeps happening to me.
For the first time I've also just this moment realised that I totally forgot and have missed the full TOTP 1980 shown just after 1am tonight, including Mystic Merlin. That never happens to me.
Last resort - Find a decent copy on You Tube & rip the audio!
Sue was a very good dancer, but i don't think she quite had the sex appeal of some of the other girls, in my opinion. I agree about her being dead pan looking, although i still like her. She looks to me like she would have made a good athlete. Gill has come more to the fore, for me, in recent months, and i think she did begin to shine a little more as a personality, because previously i think her model looks had pretty much seen her through. Rosemary is my favourite though. She always seems to have a mischievous glint in her eyes.
I still to this day don't know who is who. I don' t care either. I can easily find out ( I choose not to) but back in 1980 how did viewers find out?
I've never understood people's obsession with them. Back then I used to hate it when they came on and still do.
Looking back at this week's extended edition technically, there was another slight disturbance on vision & sound during the OMD slot.
It happened on both SKY & Freeview, so I know it's not my setup.
On the subject of the MASH / Legs&Co clip, looking at my own copy of the UK Gold transmission of this edition(I guess the same as the clip previously mentioned!), there was roughly a minute of MASH film footage at the most.
Can someone clarify the 'rule' on using 3rd party footage from feature films, over payment of using clips, as it seems to me that the length of clip wasn't worth including in the first place in 1980 or even editing in 2015?
One final point, where did Bonnie Langford go right, compared to Lena Zavaroni, as wasn't there a TV special featuring the 2 of them a few years earlier?
I still to this day don't know who is who. I don' t care either. I can easily find out ( I choose not to) but back in 1980 how did viewers find out?
I've never understood people's obsession with them. Back then I used to hate it when they came on and still do.
Legs & Co's predecessors, Pan's People, had a much higher profile as personalities than them. Pan's People certainly weren't household names, but the names of the most popular girls were known by many. For whatever reason, Legs & Co. didn't quite catch on in the same way, and I'm doubtful there were many Top Of The Pops viewers who could put a name to a face. However, i think the opportunity of being able to watch one show multiple times probably means we can now ponder a little more on what we see.
I think they added variety to the show, which i enjoyed.
Comments
Yes - we share similar views on Legs & Co!!
I was thinking that too - the other day! - Or rather comedy lyrics.
At least we will get Morrissey soon - who must have some of the best comedic/outspoken titles ever for singles! ;-)
Speaking of Morrissey & The Smiths - does anyone think they had a 1980s 'Stray Cats' kind of feel to their early hits? - Was this intentional I wonder?
I take it you don't have a drinkers beer belly then? ;-)
I remember my older sister had just started work as a secretary in 1980 & her weekly take home pay was about £40!! - No wonder she wouldn't buy me the Geno single!!
Mind you - apprentices don't get much more than that now!!
Can't say I heard much of the Stray Cats in The Smiths, although there is a slight rockabilly feel to some of the songs, eg Rusholme Ruffians, Vicar In A Tutu.
Incidentally, though, when Morrissey needed a new backing band after his 2nd solo album, he recruited the members of rockabilly band The Polecats, and they were basically his band for the next six albums at least.
Robin Nash always had a weakness for cheesy showbiz acts. Simple as that.
He he. When I was 16 in the summer of 1985 we used to go to the local underage pub. I always got served as I looked a bit older than my pals.
'Happy Hour' meant you got a pint for 70p. It was great. You'd get pi**ed on a fiver!! Happy memories. And I didn't get a beer belly...:D
It seems she had a TV series going in 1980, and she sang songs on the program. With the hatred there seems to be maybe she would have done better given some disco-pop, or maybe she was too associated with that early child success for people to ever accept her changing style.
That partnership has been going almost five times longer than The Smiths did!
That's good to hear! ;-)
Just You tubed to look at what Lena Zavaroni track was edited from Thursday's and is on later. Its not horrible, in fact its fine but a bout of insomnia aside I don't think I'll be staying up to see that one again. I had a look also at Lena's chart career and found it very surprising. I thought she was huge during the 70's but her chart performances, (a number 10 and a number 33 as her only charting singles), suggest otherwise. I didn't think it was a number one but assumed "Ma.." had done much better than a number 10 peak. I agree that if she was given better songs to sing she might have done better. If for example, she had sung what became Kelly Marie's 'Feels Like I'm In Love', I think it would have done just as well and maybe given her a number 1 also. Thinking back I can remember newspaper articles about her struggles with anorexia, but I have to confess, I'd forgotten she'd died so young and is no longer with us. Terrible shame, very sad.
Early Smiths being possibly influenced by the Stray Cats Ursula?
What else was there?
Bowie best cover version? For me, his version of Iggy's 'China Girl'.
Beer belly's? I drink plenty, occasionally, but thankfully haven't got one, (on most days ;-)), but having to do the sit up's every morning to help prevent it happening is bit of a drag.
I reckon £3.83 might just get me one pint of lager and a packet of crisps!
I can still get a pint of Tennents Lager for 1.99 at my local Wetherspoons.
I've never checked but they probably compensate by charging 2 quid for a packet of crisps!!
Anagram of Kanye West = Sweet Yank.
I love appropriate anagrams don't you!
Nope, not at all. Still wear the same 32" waist as I did in the late 80's. Sometimes a bit of "muffin" occurs but under no circumstances would I ever buy a bigger size, it would encourage me to fill it.
I thought I was doing fabulous when I was earning just shy of £100 per week in my first proper job in 1987, after spending a few weeks after leaving sixth form getting just £27 each week out of petty cash on one of Thatcher's schemes yet working from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Nine weeks of that was more than enough.
If the national minimum wage had been in place back in 1980 at the same rate in real terms it is today, which I think is £6.50p per hour then in 1980 it would have been £1.70p per hour. So a 35 hour a week full time job on minimum wage in 1980 should have paid £59.50p.
I'm all for wage inflation, just not waist inflation.
Never met a tee-total one yet!
I just tried to get hold of Mystic Merlin's current 1980 hit Just Can't Give You Up on iTunes but it is not available even though quite a few other tracks by the artist are. Infuriating, this keeps happening to me.
For the first time I've also just this moment realised that I totally forgot and have missed the full TOTP 1980 shown just after 1am tonight, including Mystic Merlin. That never happens to me.
32" waist???
1985, I left school and went to ICI on a YTS £27.40 + travel expenses. Somehow I managed to get an income of around £35, probably because of £5.00 travel card.
By 1987 I was working for my Father who thought it was quite acceptable to be paying me £80 for a 37.5hr week. By 1991 I was working more hours for the princely sum of £140.
And you tell the young people of today... (did I mention I was living in a hole in t'ground?)
Btw... Re the Roxy Music debate, early Roxy for me. Especially Every Dream Home. There's something salacious about it that makes me think Jarvis Cocker was listening very closely.
"A Hard Rains A Gonna Fall" was a Bryan Ferry solo single from 1973, taken from his These Foolish Things album. I thought it was a great version of the song, and completely different to Bob's original, which is what i always appreciate when a song is covered. I really liked Bryan's rather overblown way of singing in those early years, and although i have heard him trying to sing like that in more recent years, when he performs those old songs, i don't think he can quite recapture that style, in the way he used to. I liked Roxy Music's "Jealous Guy" but not on the level of those early cover versions taken from his first solo album. The title track "These Foolish Things" is another fabulous interpretation of a very old song. Lou Reed nicked a lot of ideas from Bryan for his 1978 US tour, with a similar rather bloated style of singing and a female backing chorus, which the more i listen to Bryan and Roxy, the more evident it becomes.
David Bowie's Pin Ups (again from 1973) album also contained cover versions, and although i liked some of those, and especially "Sorrow", i don't think any of them came close to eclipsing the originals. "China Girl" from 1983 was a cover of an Iggy Pop song David had had a hand in writing, so i suppose it can be classed as a cover as Iggy got there first. Let's Dance - the album, has received some stick in recent years, for Bowie appearing too 'normal' and mainstream, and while i don't think it is anywhere near his best album, it has a few good tracks and an interesting sound. "China Girl" is certainly more accessible than Iggy's version, and i mean that in a good way!
It's just a slight resemblance that I notice in some of their more up-tempo songs:-
'What Difference Does It Make' & 'Shakespeare's Sister' are two that spring to mind for example ( & both excellent Smiths songs btw)!. ;-)
Yes - back in those days employers could pay what they liked I suppose, before the minimum wage crept in. Plus my sister would have just been a teenager - so I guess they would just pay her whatever they felt they could get away with back then!!
Last resort - Find a decent copy on You Tube & rip the audio!
Ive had to do that with a few.
I still to this day don't know who is who. I don' t care either. I can easily find out ( I choose not to) but back in 1980 how did viewers find out?
I've never understood people's obsession with them. Back then I used to hate it when they came on and still do.
It happened on both SKY & Freeview, so I know it's not my setup.
On the subject of the MASH / Legs&Co clip, looking at my own copy of the UK Gold transmission of this edition(I guess the same as the clip previously mentioned!), there was roughly a minute of MASH film footage at the most.
Can someone clarify the 'rule' on using 3rd party footage from feature films, over payment of using clips, as it seems to me that the length of clip wasn't worth including in the first place in 1980 or even editing in 2015?
One final point, where did Bonnie Langford go right, compared to Lena Zavaroni, as wasn't there a TV special featuring the 2 of them a few years earlier?
Apparantly Nash was leaving anyway.
I think they added variety to the show, which i enjoyed.