Does anyone know how long the kaleidoscope ending lasts for? Does it go with the revamp in August? It's a thing very much associated with the 70s, and seems a bit out of place in the 80s. These days programmes seem to change their image every year, TOTP stuck with the same image throughout the 70s pretty much. Another question about the kaleidoscope, does anyone remember if the original broadcasts showed it in it's entirety like we get now or did it cut off when the credits stopped?
I thought the end credits as they stand acted as a 'buffer' for timing reasons?
Thank you for that! Had absolutely no idea it was from an actual film, I only ever knew of the album.
Nearly 50 and still learning new stuff every day...:D
I was never aware of the film at the time, but it was screened by ITV during the day over the Xmas holidays some years later - and clearly nobody had watched beforehand, as it does contain some adult-ish content …
But I'd take 'January, February' ANY day! (Especially after a drunken night out about ten years ago when it was unexpectedly played by the DJs as 'their favourite record of all time' …)
I thought the end credits as they stand acted as a 'buffer' for timing reasons?
Well the song seems to go on till the end on some of them. I'm just wondering if this was the case when originally broadcast, as you would never have something go on as long as that these days after the credits had rolled. As we know, everything has to fit strictly in a time slot!
Have just watched the full length edition and thought it was much better. It just goes to show how much more enjoyable it is to watch without it being cut to bits. The edit on Thursday is a right mash up of random songs. Somehow with good songs added into the mix like Suzi Quatro and Barbara Dickson, it seems to make more sense. The good songs outweigh the bad so the balance is better, as was originally intended.
Does anyone know how long the kaleidoscope ending lasts for? Does it go with the revamp in August? It's a thing very much associated with the 70s, and seems a bit out of place in the 80s. These days programmes seem to change their image every year, TOTP stuck with the same image throughout the 70s pretty much. Another question about the kaleidoscope, does anyone remember if the original broadcasts showed it in it's entirety like we get now or did it cut off when the credits stopped?
the kaleidoscopes go after the may 29th show, when the show returned after the strike the end credits ran over the audience dancing (apart from the simon bates/olivia newton john show from sept 18th 1980 when the kaleidoscope returned for one show ,and then return for a while in 1981 ;-) )
Barbara Dickson's "Caravans" - was anyone else thinking that the chorus was going to go "caravans, burning like fire". They both have the same three-note phrase to start the chorus.
After Suzi Quatro delivered the first two lines of 'Mama's Boy' - "By the way he looks across his shoulder, And the way he sees me through his eyes" I was half expecting her to sing "sorrow, sorrow" as to my ears the melody is virtually identical to that of the opening lines of the Merseys No. 4 hit from 1966 'Sorrow' as covered by David Bowie whose rendition peaked at No. 3 in 1973.
Below is a link to the Merseys version (in case anyone is curious) - the blonde bloke on the right of the picture is Billy Kinsley who has appeared several times during the BBC Four TOTP repeats (during 1976 and 1977) as the lead singer of Liverpool Express.
Chrissie Hynde and James Honeyman-Scott were interviewed by Richard Skinner on Radio One's 'Rock On Saturday' on 5 January 1980 about their recently released debut album (Brass in Pocket was No. 5 at the time)
BIB: according to Wikipedia the album was released on 19 January 1980 (two weeks after the radio interview).
This was a common criticism of TOTP, it looked dated by 1980 and the graphics and the kaleidoscope looked like something from 1973.
The graphics first appeared in 1973 but the kaleidoscope came later in 1975/76? - certainly at the start of 1975 the end credits were still being superimposed over the dancing audience.
I remember Caravan by Barbara Dickson really well because my sister had the album it came from, which seemed to be some kind of concept thingy that never went anywhere, it had the feel of an album that was supposed to be an Original Soundtrack to a film or a musical that never got made. I might be completely doolally bob in my memory of it, but I think it had playing cards on the front? Anyone remember this Mike Batt project?
I suspect you are thinking of Mike Batt's 'Tarot Suite' album from the following year (1979) which featured an array of tarot cards on the inner gatefold:
Contributors included 70s rockers Rory Gallagher and ex-Family singer Roger Chapman who did the vocals on all but one of the songs (Colin Blunstone sang the other).
I had forgotten what a wonderful voice Barbara Dickson has. I prefer 'January February' too but her voice makes any song sound good to me.
A far cry from the murky world of drugs and prostitution when she played Anita Braithwaite in Band Of Gold in the mid '90s. She's a very accomplished actress. An all-rounder in every sense of the word.
Enjoyed The Specials too, and as always I can never hear 'Spacer' enough times. :cool: Hope we 'see' (not just hear) Kool & The Gang in the future as well. 'Too Hot' is a very underrated song IMO.
I was listening too. If I remember rightly, the word he used to describe the lyrics was "foul" - particularly as some of them were printed on the front of the record sleeve.
I also remember he was very keen to praise "Two Tribes" every opportunity he got, including when he presented TOTP when that was at number one.
This was a common criticism of TOTP, it looked dated by 1980 and the graphics and the kaleidoscope looked like something from 1973. I'm actually looking forward to the 1981 revamp with Yellow Pearl as the theme tune and the flying records over the credits. Also by 1980 I'm starting to feel the dancers look very out of date and a year later they were phased out.
Legs & Co. may have been finished before the end of 1981, but the dance troupe element of Top Of The Pops didn't end there. A new dance troupe, Zoo, took up a similar role in part, until the latter half of 1983, although their profile would hardly be as high as Legs & Co, or that they were ever used as often. Legs & Co. choreographer, Flick Colby thought that an all girl dancing troupe was outdated as early as 1976 (maybe primarily because she had seen Hot Gossip perform), which is part of the reason the mixed dancing troupe, Ruby Flipper, were formed. However, head of light entertainment, Bill Cotton, would not accept them, and Flick was forced to go back to an all female dancing troupe.
On the topic of more general Top Of The Pops dancing. There is an strong element i think that if you point a camera in the direction of the audience, as in focusing on them, depending on the song, of course, there is a good chance, they will dance. The early seventies sets, with platforms by the side of the stage for the members of the audience to dance, made the audience very much part of the show, but as the seventies progressed, by and large, the audience were ignored in favour of more of a typical rock concert set up, with all the focus being on the acts (although there were occasionally exceptions). There were a couple of exceptions in the show broadcast the other week, where the audience were focused on more, and they did, consequently look a little more enthusiastic, and did string a few dance moves together. Those Top Of The Pops Story Of documentaries can be a little misleading at times, with regards to the audiences lack of enthisiasm, when back in the earlier part of the decade, they were undoubtedly encouraged to become part of the show so much more. However, not all early seventies episodes are one big party either. Some have more emphasis placed on the audience than others, and a few are as serious and clinical (if not more so) than some of those from the 1979 period. However, the early seventies for me (and especially the 1972-74 period), was when Top Of The Pops looked at its best.
Does anyone know how long the kaleidoscope ending lasts for? Does it go with the revamp in August? It's a thing very much associated with the 70s, and seems a bit out of place in the 80s. These days programmes seem to change their image every year, TOTP stuck with the same image throughout the 70s pretty much. Another question about the kaleidoscope, does anyone remember if the original broadcasts showed it in it's entirety like we get now or did it cut off when the credits stopped?
It varied but I do not remember the playout being anywhere near as long as what we see now. It was used as a buffer for timing reasons but usually for less than a minute.
After Suzi Quatro delivered the first two lines of 'Mama's Boy' - "By the way he looks across his shoulder, And the way he sees me through his eyes" I was half expecting her to sing "sorrow, sorrow" as to my ears the melody is virtually identical to that of the opening lines of the Merseys No. 4 hit from 1966 'Sorrow' as covered by David Bowie whose rendition peaked at No. 3 in 1973.
Yes, ''Mama's Boy'' is one of those songs Suzi had a hand in writing. Subconsciously, when writing, i think it's easy to pick up on the melodies/chord sequences of past tunes, without always being aware. That would actually make a very interesting topic on how many similarities between songs we can find. ''Mama's Boy'' is a little like ''She's In Love With You'', in that Suzi gives the song a very gusty delivery, but i'm not sure the song itself really has a great deal going for it. I suspected ''She's In Love With You'' wasn't an especially great song, either, despite being written by Chinn/Chapman, but, for me, it's still a much better song than ''Mama's Boy''. Both of those songs don't come close in quality to Suzi's early no 1 hits like ''Can The Can'' and ''Devil Gate Drive''. There's something to be said for drowning Suzi's vocals in a little echo.
Barbara Dickson's ''The Caravan Song'' is very good, mind. I think it is great that even as we get into the eighties, there are songs occasionally which still possess a folkish quality (even if it's primarily within Barbara's delivery), which are still being appreciated.
I didn't realise when I watched my UK GOLD version of this edition that it had been butchered as much as the earlier showing on BBC Four, albeit with different edits. So, I only got round to seeing the edition in full and definitely agree that it was better for it.
I enjoyed seeing Buggles and The Regents. I didn't like the Boomtown Rats song, and I'm not sure what those cut away shots of noughts and crosses was about.
I wish the Bee Gees had either bothered to show up in the studio or sent videos. Shame all we've got of Tragedy, Love You Inside And Out and Sprits is Legs and co performances.
I think it was obvious from Suzi Quatro's performance that she was out of place in the charts in the 80s. Having said that, retro acts like Matchbox were having hits.
Good to see future No. 1 Too Much Too Young make it's debut, though a shame it was cut at the end.
I'm glad we've seen the last of Brass in Pocket. I may be wrong, but I think we've seen the last of I'm In The Mood For Dancing and I Wanna Hold Your Hand too. I feel the 80s are really about to kick off now.
I didn't realise when I watched my UK GOLD version of this edition that it had been butchered as much as the earlier showing on BBC Four, albeit with different edits. So, I only got round to seeing the edition in full and definitely agree that it was better for it.
I enjoyed seeing Buggles and The Regents. I didn't like the Boomtown Rats song, and I'm not sure what those cut away shots of noughts and crosses was about.
I wish the Bee Gees had either bothered to show up in the studio or sent videos. Shame all we've got of Tragedy, Love You Inside And Out and Sprits is Legs and co performances.
I think it was obvious from Suzi Quatro's performance that she was out of place in the charts in the 80s. Having said that, retro acts like Matchbox were having hits.
Good to see future No. 1 Too Much Too Young make it's debut, though a shame it was cut at the end.
I'm glad we've seen the last of Brass in Pocket. I may be wrong, but I think we've seen the last of I'm In The Mood For Dancing and I Wanna Hold Your Hand too. I feel the 80s are really about to kick off now.
I have a UK Gold version of last week's Top Of The Pops too, and mine also shows the episode to have been butchered for the UK Gold edition - the cuts including The Bee Gees/Legs & Co and Joe Jackson performances. Despite me not especially liking Suzi Quatro's ''Mama's Boy'', it still had some redeeming qualities, and especially for someone like me, who enjoys rock music. I'm not sure Suzi's performance was especially out of place for 1980, because there was a fairly slow transition through 1980 and the first half of 1981, to when the charts became more typically what we perceive as sounding like the eighties. 1980 was also when the new wave of british heavy metal was at its most prominant, with acts like Judas Priest, Saxon and Iron Maiden making appearances in the charts. However, synth pop and later dance music would challenge and pretty much eclipse for the first time, much of the more typical rock sounds of the seventies, and the popularity of the remaining rock groups would be based more on appearing more adult orientated (and rather less subtle) for radio, where the power ballads began to take the place of more traditional blues inspired rock, or heavy metal. In a sense, the Styx ballad ''Babe'' from a couple of weeks ago, is very indicative of the beginning of this change. The record executives during the early eighties did tend to start focusing on the photogenic side of pop, as opposed to rock, or new wave etc, because they believed that's where the big money lay. This resulted in forcing many of those post punk/new wave inspired acts to the margins, by having to become independant, and so as the eighties progessed, they would get branded with the indie label. Some would say that the indie acts from the second half of the eighties were the only artists worth listening too, during that period of very high gloss.
Thank you very much to Faversham Saint. It was indeed Tarot Suite and that makes sense now, for some reason I thought Caravan was off that album! Shows you how the memory plays tricks.
Ah I get it, because Mike Batt wrote it. And he also wrote Bright Eyes. Reaching a bit here I think.
Do you hear Wombling Merry Christmas in it too?:)
Mike also co-wrote 'A Winter's Tale' for David Essex. Something I only found out a few years ago.
Just had a wee check and was surprised to find that Mike also wrote Cliff's 'Please Don't Fall in Love' and Alvin Stardust's 'I Feel Like Buddy Holly' in '83 and '84.
Mike also co-wrote 'A Winter's Tale' for David Essex. Something I only found out a few years ago.
Just had a wee check and was surprised to find that Mike also wrote Cliff's 'Please Don't Fall in Love' and Alvin Stardust's 'I Feel Like Buddy Holly' in '83 and '84.
Mike also wrote another song for Barbara Dickson called 'Run Like The Wind' - it was to be part of 'Watership Down (Bright eyes etc).
However the producers felt that the finished film was too long, and Barbaras character, and song, were cut.
Mike also co-wrote 'A Winter's Tale' for David Essex. Something I only found out a few years ago.
'84.
From what I gather Mike Batt must've wrote quite a lot of songs for various people!!
My brother had The Wombles LP & from what I remember, when I was small, was it had one or two good tracks on it!!
I wish the Bee Gees had either bothered to show up in the studio or sent videos. Shame all we've got of Tragedy, Love You Inside And Out and Sprits is Legs and co performances.
.
I have often wondered that myself - same with Donna Summer!!
I mean ABBA always did ok with sending on their videos - mind you ABBA were a bit more photogenic than The Bee Gees!!
I have often wondered that myself - same with Donna Summer!!
I mean ABBA always did ok with sending on their videos - mind you ABBA were a bit more photogenic than The Bee Gees!!
The Bee Gees were so big by the 1979 period, i don't think they felt it necessary to promote those songs. I think it would have been nice of them to have recorded a promo film etc. although in a way i actually like the fact that they just let the songs speak for themselves. I have to admit to really enjoying many of those Legs & Co. routines anyway, and sometimes more than the artists promo films. An example is their routine to K C And The Sunshine Band's "Please Don't Go". It seemed odd though to cut the song/routine to "Spirits Having Flown" halfway through the second verse. The editing of the songs are generally much more tastefully done.
I have often wondered that myself - same with Donna Summer!!
I mean ABBA always did ok with sending on their videos - mind you ABBA were a bit more photogenic than The Bee Gees!!
I think Abba were always much more diligent in ensuring they always had some sort of video presence - perhaps because their international popularity took off in Australia, so that way they knew they could reach their market?
But this was not an era when promo videos were a given, and were seen more as a luxury than an essential in the States. It was here in the UK that the industry started to flourish, rather than in the US - hence the 'second British invasion', in which MTV played a big role, as it gladly accepted UK videos that helped propel the likes of The Human League, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Eurythmics, Tears For Fears, Billy Idol and A Flock Of Seagulls into the charts there.
BIB: according to Wikipedia the album was released on 19 January 1980 (two weeks after the radio interview).
You can never fully trust a wiki page. The album charted on 19th Jan but was released on 14th Jan. I realise this doesn't alter the original statement made about the band talking about the "recently released album" as it still hadn't come out yet whichever date is used. Just saying wiki isn't always right.
You can never fully trust a wiki page. The album charted on 19th Jan but was released on 14th Jan. I realise this doesn't alter the original statement made about the band talking about the "recently released album" as it still hadn't come out yet whichever date is used. Just saying wiki isn't always right.
The chart dated 19 January 1980 (with The Pretenders album listed as a new entry at number 1) is based on the sales period 7 - 12 January 1980. The BPI certification database has the release date of the album as Friday 11 January 1980. To add further to the confusion, another wikipedia page (the Discography page for The Pretenders) lists the UK release date as 27 December 1979 with the US release date being 19 January 1980.
Out of all the dates listed, the 11 January 1980 one is most likely to be correct as it falls in the correct sales week. It may be that some stores didn't display the album until 14 January? Some record shops and record departments in the bigger stores at the time would often hold back selling singles until the Monday - perhaps they did the same with albums.
Really enjoyed last night's longer version of TOTP. Plenty of tunes which I still play today : Kool, Azymuth, Sheila, BeeGees, Buggles, Rats, Pretenders to name a few.
The Bee Gees inspire a lot of love on this forum so I'll post a link below to what was the B-side of both their brilliant Jive Talkin single and Spirits Having Flown single. They must have liked the track to use it as a B-side twice. It's on my pod.
Spirits (Having Flown) was not a single release from the Spirits Having Flown album, but from its follow up, Bee Gees Greatest. Therefore I suspect that the available tracks from that album to use as a B side that hadn't been released as either A or B sides previously was somewhat limited, hence this double use. But for me Wind of Change is one of the greatest Bee Gees tracks ever and blows both its A sides away.
Comments
Legs & Co are always at their best when they have a disco number to do a routine to. I wouldn't say they are totally out of place yet though
I thought the end credits as they stand acted as a 'buffer' for timing reasons?
I was never aware of the film at the time, but it was screened by ITV during the day over the Xmas holidays some years later - and clearly nobody had watched beforehand, as it does contain some adult-ish content …
But I'd take 'January, February' ANY day! (Especially after a drunken night out about ten years ago when it was unexpectedly played by the DJs as 'their favourite record of all time' …)
Well the song seems to go on till the end on some of them. I'm just wondering if this was the case when originally broadcast, as you would never have something go on as long as that these days after the credits had rolled. As we know, everything has to fit strictly in a time slot!
Have just watched the full length edition and thought it was much better. It just goes to show how much more enjoyable it is to watch without it being cut to bits. The edit on Thursday is a right mash up of random songs. Somehow with good songs added into the mix like Suzi Quatro and Barbara Dickson, it seems to make more sense. The good songs outweigh the bad so the balance is better, as was originally intended.
After Suzi Quatro delivered the first two lines of 'Mama's Boy' - "By the way he looks across his shoulder, And the way he sees me through his eyes" I was half expecting her to sing "sorrow, sorrow" as to my ears the melody is virtually identical to that of the opening lines of the Merseys No. 4 hit from 1966 'Sorrow' as covered by David Bowie whose rendition peaked at No. 3 in 1973.
Below is a link to the Merseys version (in case anyone is curious) - the blonde bloke on the right of the picture is Billy Kinsley who has appeared several times during the BBC Four TOTP repeats (during 1976 and 1977) as the lead singer of Liverpool Express.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCMJPG_svTc
BIB: according to Wikipedia the album was released on 19 January 1980 (two weeks after the radio interview).
The graphics first appeared in 1973 but the kaleidoscope came later in 1975/76? - certainly at the start of 1975 the end credits were still being superimposed over the dancing audience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YREcnOHOrKw
I suspect you are thinking of Mike Batt's 'Tarot Suite' album from the following year (1979) which featured an array of tarot cards on the inner gatefold:
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/checkerandblues/rory/lp-tarotsuite-3.gif
Contributors included 70s rockers Rory Gallagher and ex-Family singer Roger Chapman who did the vocals on all but one of the songs (Colin Blunstone sang the other).
Do you hear Wombling Merry Christmas in it too?:)
A far cry from the murky world of drugs and prostitution when she played Anita Braithwaite in Band Of Gold in the mid '90s. She's a very accomplished actress. An all-rounder in every sense of the word.
Enjoyed The Specials too, and as always I can never hear 'Spacer' enough times. :cool: Hope we 'see' (not just hear) Kool & The Gang in the future as well. 'Too Hot' is a very underrated song IMO.
I was listening too. If I remember rightly, the word he used to describe the lyrics was "foul" - particularly as some of them were printed on the front of the record sleeve.
I also remember he was very keen to praise "Two Tribes" every opportunity he got, including when he presented TOTP when that was at number one.
On the topic of more general Top Of The Pops dancing. There is an strong element i think that if you point a camera in the direction of the audience, as in focusing on them, depending on the song, of course, there is a good chance, they will dance. The early seventies sets, with platforms by the side of the stage for the members of the audience to dance, made the audience very much part of the show, but as the seventies progressed, by and large, the audience were ignored in favour of more of a typical rock concert set up, with all the focus being on the acts (although there were occasionally exceptions). There were a couple of exceptions in the show broadcast the other week, where the audience were focused on more, and they did, consequently look a little more enthusiastic, and did string a few dance moves together. Those Top Of The Pops Story Of documentaries can be a little misleading at times, with regards to the audiences lack of enthisiasm, when back in the earlier part of the decade, they were undoubtedly encouraged to become part of the show so much more. However, not all early seventies episodes are one big party either. Some have more emphasis placed on the audience than others, and a few are as serious and clinical (if not more so) than some of those from the 1979 period. However, the early seventies for me (and especially the 1972-74 period), was when Top Of The Pops looked at its best.
It varied but I do not remember the playout being anywhere near as long as what we see now. It was used as a buffer for timing reasons but usually for less than a minute.
Barbara Dickson's ''The Caravan Song'' is very good, mind. I think it is great that even as we get into the eighties, there are songs occasionally which still possess a folkish quality (even if it's primarily within Barbara's delivery), which are still being appreciated.
I enjoyed seeing Buggles and The Regents. I didn't like the Boomtown Rats song, and I'm not sure what those cut away shots of noughts and crosses was about.
I wish the Bee Gees had either bothered to show up in the studio or sent videos. Shame all we've got of Tragedy, Love You Inside And Out and Sprits is Legs and co performances.
I think it was obvious from Suzi Quatro's performance that she was out of place in the charts in the 80s. Having said that, retro acts like Matchbox were having hits.
Good to see future No. 1 Too Much Too Young make it's debut, though a shame it was cut at the end.
I'm glad we've seen the last of Brass in Pocket. I may be wrong, but I think we've seen the last of I'm In The Mood For Dancing and I Wanna Hold Your Hand too. I feel the 80s are really about to kick off now.
I have a UK Gold version of last week's Top Of The Pops too, and mine also shows the episode to have been butchered for the UK Gold edition - the cuts including The Bee Gees/Legs & Co and Joe Jackson performances. Despite me not especially liking Suzi Quatro's ''Mama's Boy'', it still had some redeeming qualities, and especially for someone like me, who enjoys rock music. I'm not sure Suzi's performance was especially out of place for 1980, because there was a fairly slow transition through 1980 and the first half of 1981, to when the charts became more typically what we perceive as sounding like the eighties. 1980 was also when the new wave of british heavy metal was at its most prominant, with acts like Judas Priest, Saxon and Iron Maiden making appearances in the charts. However, synth pop and later dance music would challenge and pretty much eclipse for the first time, much of the more typical rock sounds of the seventies, and the popularity of the remaining rock groups would be based more on appearing more adult orientated (and rather less subtle) for radio, where the power ballads began to take the place of more traditional blues inspired rock, or heavy metal. In a sense, the Styx ballad ''Babe'' from a couple of weeks ago, is very indicative of the beginning of this change. The record executives during the early eighties did tend to start focusing on the photogenic side of pop, as opposed to rock, or new wave etc, because they believed that's where the big money lay. This resulted in forcing many of those post punk/new wave inspired acts to the margins, by having to become independant, and so as the eighties progessed, they would get branded with the indie label. Some would say that the indie acts from the second half of the eighties were the only artists worth listening too, during that period of very high gloss.
Mike also co-wrote 'A Winter's Tale' for David Essex. Something I only found out a few years ago.
Just had a wee check and was surprised to find that Mike also wrote Cliff's 'Please Don't Fall in Love' and Alvin Stardust's 'I Feel Like Buddy Holly' in '83 and '84.
Mike also wrote another song for Barbara Dickson called 'Run Like The Wind' - it was to be part of 'Watership Down (Bright eyes etc).
However the producers felt that the finished film was too long, and Barbaras character, and song, were cut.
From what I gather Mike Batt must've wrote quite a lot of songs for various people!!
My brother had The Wombles LP & from what I remember, when I was small, was it had one or two good tracks on it!!
I have often wondered that myself - same with Donna Summer!!
I mean ABBA always did ok with sending on their videos - mind you ABBA were a bit more photogenic than The Bee Gees!!
I'll have to compare the listing with what was actually transmitted!
( I was hoping to insert that Uk Gold copy in my Dvd collection but if it aint complete....)
I think Abba were always much more diligent in ensuring they always had some sort of video presence - perhaps because their international popularity took off in Australia, so that way they knew they could reach their market?
But this was not an era when promo videos were a given, and were seen more as a luxury than an essential in the States. It was here in the UK that the industry started to flourish, rather than in the US - hence the 'second British invasion', in which MTV played a big role, as it gladly accepted UK videos that helped propel the likes of The Human League, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Eurythmics, Tears For Fears, Billy Idol and A Flock Of Seagulls into the charts there.
You can never fully trust a wiki page. The album charted on 19th Jan but was released on 14th Jan. I realise this doesn't alter the original statement made about the band talking about the "recently released album" as it still hadn't come out yet whichever date is used. Just saying wiki isn't always right.
Out of all the dates listed, the 11 January 1980 one is most likely to be correct as it falls in the correct sales week. It may be that some stores didn't display the album until 14 January? Some record shops and record departments in the bigger stores at the time would often hold back selling singles until the Monday - perhaps they did the same with albums.
Spirits (Having Flown) was not a single release from the Spirits Having Flown album, but from its follow up, Bee Gees Greatest. Therefore I suspect that the available tracks from that album to use as a B side that hadn't been released as either A or B sides previously was somewhat limited, hence this double use. But for me Wind of Change is one of the greatest Bee Gees tracks ever and blows both its A sides away.