When did Yellow Pearl by Phil Lynott become the TOTP theme tune? I really like that song, very different to Thin Lizzy's stuff (incidentally I went to see a Thin Lizzy tribute band last night).
Mid-1981. We won't see its debut, though, as it was first used on the 900th show which was hosted by Jimmy Savile.
Ritchie Blackmore is an enigma as he was constanly changing line ups to get either the Meadievil rock sound he wanted. When that was less sucsessful he went AOR to get hits. When that also did not sell as well he then decided to Re-form Deep Purple. Which went OK for a while until he and Ian Gillan were at loggerheads again.
'All Night Long' is the only one of Rainbow's three major hit singles that they wrote themselves. Blackmore came up with the tune and the behatted bass player Roger Glover visible in the spoiler link below (Blackmore's former bandmate in Deep Purple between 1969 and 1973) supplied the lyrics. The two singles either side - 'Since You've Been Gone' and 'I Surrender' were both written by Russ Ballard who I remember as the shades wearing lead vocalist in Argent on TOTP in the early seventies.
The promotional video for 'All Night Long' will feature on next week's show
Don't mind Atomic, but the video is dreadful. Don't think there's a studio performance of this coming up, sadly.
I thought it was very innovative for the time. I can still recall seeing it back then and thinking "wow". Plus Debbie looks stunning, arguably at her very best.
I think we've already seen Blondie's last studio performance until 1999 with 'Maria'. 'Atomic' included I don't believe they made any appearances for any of their next (and last) 6 singles before they split.
When did Yellow Pearl by Phil Lynott become the TOTP theme tune? I really like that song, very different to Thin Lizzy's stuff (incidentally I went to see a Thin Lizzy tribute band last night).
The editor of the 7:30 showing should be fired, I just don't understand why he/she would cut out a live performance in favour of a video that we've no doubt seen hundreds of times over the years.
Of course Atomic is a better song that Shaky's Hot Dog but I would've thought the reason people were watching TOTP is to see the studio performances?
Hey, who was that dude who wasn't Bruce Dickinson fronting Iron Maiden?
It was Paul Di'Anno. He left / was sacked from Iron Maiden due to drink and drug problems. After leaving Iron Maiden he played in a number of bands and toured extensively over the years, However he made the news back in 2011 after he was convicted of benefit fraud and was sent to prison for 9 months. He had been claiming Income Support on the grounds of incapacity, along with Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, for several years but was still touring and was found guilty of defrauding the DWP to the tune of £45,000. He was caught when DWP investigators were tipped off and viewed YouTube videos of him performing in concert.
One interesting fact that I've just remembered about 'Running Free' by Iron Maiden is that it became a belated top 10 hit in February 1990 - but it will never be found in the Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles - because it made the Albums chart! Iron Maiden released a series of double pack 12" singles in early 1990 which amounted to their entire singles output from 1980 onwards. However under chart rules at the time none of them were eligible for the Singles chart. Double pack singles had been made ineligible for the Singles chart in mid 1987 and if the release was priced high enough it was eligible for the Albums chart instead. All of Iron Maiden's double pack 12" singles made the Albums chart as a result with releases being staggered to one double pack a week. 'Running Free' was released as a double pack 12" single with 'Sanctuary', which was the follow up single.
Over a 10 week period from February to April 1990 each week saw a Iron Maiden double pack 12" single release make the Albums chart. All but two made the top 10 with the other two peaking at number 11.
1980 was the breakthrough year for NWOBHM with Iron Maiden, Saxon and Motorhead appearing in the charts. With the first wave of bands either not recording or finished, and punk on its last legs, the second wave of metal acts had their breakthrough. As has been pointed out above, Iron Maiden became the most successful of these acts and are still popular today. Then as now metal was a very misunderstoog genre of music and hated by trendies.
I've just watched the full edition from last Thursday. Like others I really can't understand why the Shaky and Maiden performances were edited out from the main edition.
"Hot Dog" actually sounds pretty good to me - a genuine piece of country-tinged rockabilly, without the gimmickry that his later hits would have.
"Running Free" also sounded good - a no-nonsense piece of heads-down rock. Did the drummer really need that many cymbals, though??
I probably need to rewatch The Beat's performance with subtitles on - did they transcribe Ranking Roger's piece at the end?
"The Plastic Age" is starting to irritate me a bit with its air of pomposity, which is also all over the album they did with Yes.
Fed up with The Tourists and Ramones now. "And The Beat Goes On" is a great disco record.
I'm still amazed how little actual song there is in "Atomic" - did the album version have any more verses?
Good to hear more of "Games Without Frontiers" in the late edition. I suppose we're lucky to hear it at all - Jeux Sans Frontiers/It's A Knockout > Stuart Hall > Yewtree.
Also irritated by Peter Powell's increasing habit of referring to "hit 3 / hit 10" etc, which absolutely no other presenter does!
I've just watched the full edition from last Thursday. Like others I really can't understand why the Shaky and Maiden performances were edited out from the main edition.
"Hot Dog" actually sounds pretty good to me - a genuine piece of country-tinged rockabilly, without the gimmickry that his later hits would have.
"Running Free" also sounded good - a no-nonsense piece of heads-down rock. Did the drummer really need that many cymbals, though??
I probably need to rewatch The Beat's performance with subtitles on - did they transcribe Ranking Roger's piece at the end?
"The Plastic Age" is starting to irritate me a bit with its air of pomposity, which is also all over the album they did with Yes.
Fed up with The Tourists and Ramones now. "And The Beat Goes On" is a great disco record.
I'm still amazed how little actual song there is in "Atomic" - did the album version have any more verses?
Good to hear more of "Games Without Frontiers" in the late edition. I suppose we're lucky to hear it at all - Jeux Sans Frontiers/It's A Knockout > Stuart Hall > Yewtree.
Also irritated by Peter Powell's increasing habit of referring to "hit 3 / hit 10" etc, which absolutely no other presenter does!
What we heard was the album version, Sgt. The album version has the wonderful piece of bass guitar playing by Nigel Harrison which was cut off in its prime by TOTP this week. The single version ( which I also own) ignores the bass guitar instrumental part and repeats the same verse with the same lyrics. I suppose Blondie thought that a single should have more vocals therefore recorded a different version of the track for 7inch vinyl release. I prefer the album version myself.
I'm still amazed how little actual song there is in "Atomic" - did the album version have any more verses?
It was the album version that was featured on TOTP on Thursday, although it was faded quite early. The single version was a remix which cuts out a fair amount of the instrumental middle break which is a lengthy part of the album version. The intro is also shorter on the single version.
Edit: just read ramraider1's answer. I got distracted by the football and forgot to click the reply button!
Richard Madeley probably isn't too keen on Shaky either after the brief argument they had on the Yorkshire TV regional news programme 'Calendar' in December 1980 which prompted Shaky to jump on him without warning and hold his head in an armlock.
Although Madeley complains that Shaky's actions have "ruined his hairstyle" he still doesn't seem to have a single hair out of place.
L]
Yes - I'd always heard Shaky could be a bit of a #**# - but never really noticed at the time! Here is an example I guess! Wonder what Status Quo thought! Ha!
One interesting fact that I've just remembered about 'Running Free' by Iron Maiden is that it became a belated top 10 hit in February 1990 - but it will never be found in the Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles - because it made the Albums chart! Iron Maiden released a series of double pack 12" singles in early 1990 which amounted to their entire singles output from 1980 onwards. However under chart rules at the time none of them were eligible for the Singles chart. Double pack singles had been made ineligible for the Singles chart in mid 1987 and if the release was priced high enough it was eligible for the Albums chart instead. All of Iron Maiden's double pack 12" singles made the Albums chart as a result with releases being staggered to one double pack a week. 'Running Free' was released as a double pack 12" single with 'Sanctuary', which was the follow up single.
Over a 10 week period from February to April 1990 each week saw a Iron Maiden double pack 12" single release make the Albums chart. All but two made the top 10 with the other two peaking at number 11.
Ah,but don't forget that in later editions, albums were included with singles ......;-)
1980 is an interesting year. The trends that were popular in the late seventies like AOR, punk/new wave and disco are being replaced by Two Tone, NWOBHM, synth pop and rockabilly. By 1981 punk and disco are virtually dead, Two Tone has fizzled out, and the New Romantic era is in full swing. Also the metal revival is going full speed through the early eighties with Iron Maiden really cracking the mainstream and Motorhead achieving their biggest hits.
The only drawback I have with the eighties is a lot of bands and trends came and went very quickly and bands were dragged down by being associated with a particular trend. Adam Ant was undoubtedly one of the biggest acts of the 1980-81 period, but four years later his career had collapsed as he was too closely associated with a trend that had gone by 1983.
The editor of the 7:30 showing should be fired, I just don't understand why he/she would cut out a live performance in favour of a video that we've no doubt seen hundreds of times over the years.
Of course Atomic is a better song that Shaky's Hot Dog but I would've thought the reason people were watching TOTP is to see the studio performances?
I agree it was absurd and ridiculous to edit out the TOTP debut of the biggest selling singles artist of the 1980s (which is not going to be shown again) in favour of a video which will be screened on the 7.30pm edition for the next two weeks in succession (Blondie 3 - Shaky 0) and to replace the first "live" act after the countdown with a pre-recorded film.
There seems to me to be a pattern emerging whereby acts deemed by to be 'unhip' or 'uncool' are being dropped from the early evening edit in favour of new wave artists who the editors believe the viewers would rather see, even if this means some performances/videos are repeated multiple times while others don't get a look in. >:(
This was possibly why the Ramones (street credible "punk" band - all the young people have got the T-shirt ;-)) were shown again while Iron Maiden's debut (which is not repeated on a future episode) was deleted (IM = heavy metal "dinosaurs" deemed by the young editors to be old-fashioned and passe).
I noticed the first poor editing choice several weeks ago when Madness's studio performance of 'My Girl' (Two Tone = cool and trendy :cool:) was repeated on the early evening show for the third successive time while the Shadows (naff, MOR, old-style Radio 2 fodder) first appearance with 'Riders In The Sky' (not repeated on a subsequent edition) was omitted.
I suspect we will be seeing more of these bizarre editing decisions as the year progresses.
It was Paul Di'Anno. He left / was sacked from Iron Maiden due to drink and drug problems. After leaving Iron Maiden he played in a number of bands and toured extensively over the years, However he made the news back in 2011 after he was convicted of benefit fraud and was sent to prison for 9 months. He had been claiming Income Support on the grounds of incapacity, along with Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, for several years but was still touring and was found guilty of defrauding the DWP to the tune of £45,000. He was caught when DWP investigators were tipped off and viewed YouTube videos of him performing in concert.
Since he got out he has been doing tours with Blaze Bayley who was Iron Maiden Vocalist between 1994-1999. When Bruce Dickinson left the band for a few years.
I thought the way the early edition was edited was to make it less noticeable where the edits were?
That's precisely what i think. I believe there is very little thought given to the acts, in terms of which of them are repeat performances etc. excepting of course the no 1 song. It's all to do with where the edits fit most smoothly, and most importantly, of course, which combination of songs fits best the respective half hour time slot. We do get of course the unedited late show, but for the casual viewer the BBC does Top Of The Pops a grave disservice (and not forgetting of course the banned Savile and Travis episodes which could quite easily be re-edited, missing out the DJ links).
"Hot Dog" actually sounds pretty good to me - a genuine piece of country-tinged rockabilly, without the gimmickry that his later hits would have.
Also irritated by Peter Powell's increasing habit of referring to "hit 3 / hit 10" etc, which absolutely no other presenter does!
Yes. I made a similar observation earlier about "Hot Dog". I believe it to be a much more substantial "musical" experience than many of Shaky's later hits (i love the country-ish sound). I think the song is a little underrated generally here, from the posts i have read.
On the subject of Peter Powell and annoying habits, i note that in Anthea Turner's autobiography whenever she quotes Peter's words in reference to her, he always called her AT, which i thought would prove very irritating. As far as DJ's are concerned, i have noticed Mike Read's Top Of The Pops presenting was most impressive the other week, and most definitely up on how he was a year or so previously. I was thinking he was almost in the league of Kid Jensen, which for me, is really saying something. I most definitely get the impression the DJs do most definitely use their own words, and while i believe there are prompters in front of them occasionally, the style of language is very much their own.
1980 is an interesting year. The trends that were popular in the late seventies like AOR, punk/new wave and disco are being replaced by Two Tone, NWOBHM, synth pop and rockabilly. By 1981 punk and disco are virtually dead, Two Tone has fizzled out, and the New Romantic era is in full swing. Also the metal revival is going full speed through the early eighties with Iron Maiden really cracking the mainstream and Motorhead achieving their biggest hits.
The only drawback I have with the eighties is a lot of bands and trends came and went very quickly and bands were dragged down by being associated with a particular trend. Adam Ant was undoubtedly one of the biggest acts of the 1980-81 period, but four years later his career had collapsed as he was too closely associated with a trend that had gone by 1983.
While i agree, i think MTV was by far the most far reaching change/development in terms of pop culture etc, and i believe its implications were pretty boundless in foreseeing the changes within the coming decade. What i have found surprising watching early 1979 and early 1980 back-to-back is just how different things do seem within the space of a year. I have previously believed 1980 to mark less of a change than many years, but Top Of The Pops in early 1980, most definitely has a different flavour, or emphasis, to early 1979. The vibrancy, or sparkle within the charts had most definitely reduced, although as i have said previously, the actual musical quality has pretty much managed to remain at a general constant. The lack of truly memorable disco tunes, though, really does make all the difference.
My internet is on the blink - so I'm going to have to do one big reply via phone
1 - Yes I agree with people who think Games Without Frontiers is Peter Gabriel's best single - it is!
2 - Ha Faversham - yes I do see other bands as well as the Stranglers - its just I seem to know a lot of people who wants to see them at present!
Lavie Rose - Enjoy - They were better with Hugh & Jet though! :-)
I write using the phone regulary on this forum and i find it really difficult when writing a long piece, so i'm very much in sympathy with you! I'm always busy and can't regularly get to the computer or laptop.
Just going back to the editing thing - although it's probably been done to death, I find it really strange if the person doing the editing is told just to cut anything out as long as it shortens the show by a certain amount of time and so the (casual) viewer isn't aware. I've always thought the intro and first act would always be left in no matter what. I watched the full version as if I had to edit to, and there seemed no reason whatsoever why they couldn't have cut of The Buggles and The Tourists repeats, which were back to back.
I do wonder if the casual viewer is actually aware that the later showing (if they aware it is repeated later) is an unedited version. If the continuity annoucer doesn't make that clear (I fast foward past that to the start of the show) then they should. There might be a lot of viewers who are missing out on the unedited showings because they don't realise.
I write using the phone regulary on this forum and i find it really difficult when writing a long piece, so i'm very much in sympathy with you! I'm always busy and can't regularly get to the computer or laptop.
I can be busy too - but I find an iPad is best - it can be used at both home & work! ;-)
Comments
Mid-1981. We won't see its debut, though, as it was first used on the 900th show which was hosted by Jimmy Savile.
'All Night Long' is the only one of Rainbow's three major hit singles that they wrote themselves. Blackmore came up with the tune and the behatted bass player Roger Glover visible in the spoiler link below (Blackmore's former bandmate in Deep Purple between 1969 and 1973) supplied the lyrics. The two singles either side - 'Since You've Been Gone' and 'I Surrender' were both written by Russ Ballard who I remember as the shades wearing lead vocalist in Argent on TOTP in the early seventies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2_bXDQuFQ0
I think we've already seen Blondie's last studio performance until 1999 with 'Maria'. 'Atomic' included I don't believe they made any appearances for any of their next (and last) 6 singles before they split.
I recently put this on the ipod, brilliant track.
Of course Atomic is a better song that Shaky's Hot Dog but I would've thought the reason people were watching TOTP is to see the studio performances?
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/mar/11/iron-maiden-paul-dianno-jailed
Over a 10 week period from February to April 1990 each week saw a Iron Maiden double pack 12" single release make the Albums chart. All but two made the top 10 with the other two peaking at number 11.
"Hot Dog" actually sounds pretty good to me - a genuine piece of country-tinged rockabilly, without the gimmickry that his later hits would have.
"Running Free" also sounded good - a no-nonsense piece of heads-down rock. Did the drummer really need that many cymbals, though??
I probably need to rewatch The Beat's performance with subtitles on - did they transcribe Ranking Roger's piece at the end?
"The Plastic Age" is starting to irritate me a bit with its air of pomposity, which is also all over the album they did with Yes.
Fed up with The Tourists and Ramones now. "And The Beat Goes On" is a great disco record.
I'm still amazed how little actual song there is in "Atomic" - did the album version have any more verses?
Good to hear more of "Games Without Frontiers" in the late edition. I suppose we're lucky to hear it at all - Jeux Sans Frontiers/It's A Knockout > Stuart Hall > Yewtree.
Also irritated by Peter Powell's increasing habit of referring to "hit 3 / hit 10" etc, which absolutely no other presenter does!
What we heard was the album version, Sgt. The album version has the wonderful piece of bass guitar playing by Nigel Harrison which was cut off in its prime by TOTP this week. The single version ( which I also own) ignores the bass guitar instrumental part and repeats the same verse with the same lyrics. I suppose Blondie thought that a single should have more vocals therefore recorded a different version of the track for 7inch vinyl release. I prefer the album version myself.
Edit: just read ramraider1's answer. I got distracted by the football and forgot to click the reply button!
Yes - I'd always heard Shaky could be a bit of a #**# - but never really noticed at the time! Here is an example I guess! Wonder what Status Quo thought! Ha!
Ah,but don't forget that in later editions, albums were included with singles ......;-)
The only drawback I have with the eighties is a lot of bands and trends came and went very quickly and bands were dragged down by being associated with a particular trend. Adam Ant was undoubtedly one of the biggest acts of the 1980-81 period, but four years later his career had collapsed as he was too closely associated with a trend that had gone by 1983.
Your annual trip to see the Stranglers in concert seems to have become a regular fixture since you joined Digital Spy three years ago Ursula !! ;-)
I agree it was absurd and ridiculous to edit out the TOTP debut of the biggest selling singles artist of the 1980s (which is not going to be shown again) in favour of a video which will be screened on the 7.30pm edition for the next two weeks in succession (Blondie 3 - Shaky 0) and to replace the first "live" act after the countdown with a pre-recorded film.
There seems to me to be a pattern emerging whereby acts deemed by to be 'unhip' or 'uncool' are being dropped from the early evening edit in favour of new wave artists who the editors believe the viewers would rather see, even if this means some performances/videos are repeated multiple times while others don't get a look in. >:(
This was possibly why the Ramones (street credible "punk" band - all the young people have got the T-shirt ;-)) were shown again while Iron Maiden's debut (which is not repeated on a future episode) was deleted (IM = heavy metal "dinosaurs" deemed by the young editors to be old-fashioned and passe).
I noticed the first poor editing choice several weeks ago when Madness's studio performance of 'My Girl' (Two Tone = cool and trendy :cool:) was repeated on the early evening show for the third successive time while the Shadows (naff, MOR, old-style Radio 2 fodder) first appearance with 'Riders In The Sky' (not repeated on a subsequent edition) was omitted.
I suspect we will be seeing more of these bizarre editing decisions as the year progresses.
Since he got out he has been doing tours with Blaze Bayley who was Iron Maiden Vocalist between 1994-1999. When Bruce Dickinson left the band for a few years.
Could be worse. At least they are still letting us see the unedited version.
My turn next week
Yes. I made a similar observation earlier about "Hot Dog". I believe it to be a much more substantial "musical" experience than many of Shaky's later hits (i love the country-ish sound). I think the song is a little underrated generally here, from the posts i have read.
On the subject of Peter Powell and annoying habits, i note that in Anthea Turner's autobiography whenever she quotes Peter's words in reference to her, he always called her AT, which i thought would prove very irritating. As far as DJ's are concerned, i have noticed Mike Read's Top Of The Pops presenting was most impressive the other week, and most definitely up on how he was a year or so previously. I was thinking he was almost in the league of Kid Jensen, which for me, is really saying something. I most definitely get the impression the DJs do most definitely use their own words, and while i believe there are prompters in front of them occasionally, the style of language is very much their own.
1 - Yes I agree with people who think Games Without Frontiers is Peter Gabriel's best single - it is!
2 - Ha Faversham - yes I do see other bands as well as the Stranglers - its just I seem to know a lot of people who wants to see them at present!
Lavie Rose - Enjoy - They were better with Hugh & Jet though! :-)
Well I'll be back when my internet returns!!
I do wonder if the casual viewer is actually aware that the later showing (if they aware it is repeated later) is an unedited version. If the continuity annoucer doesn't make that clear (I fast foward past that to the start of the show) then they should. There might be a lot of viewers who are missing out on the unedited showings because they don't realise.
I can be busy too - but I find an iPad is best - it can be used at both home & work! ;-)