Tonight's TOTP 1979 did not have any obvious standouts, apart from I Will Survive, but it was full of less well known gems:)
Chic: I Want Your Love; as before, great track, but there is another Rodgers/Edwards gem to come.
Racey: a party record and streets ahead of Mary Ann, but this is the kind of thing that Les Gray and Mud would have been getting five years before and Les Gray was a hell of a better front man than the Racey bloke.
Three Degrees: The Runner. I love this track.:)
Rocky Sharpe, Imagination: actually one of my top hundred all time fave singles. Like Showaddywaddy later they are actually covering covers from US bands of a1960s doo wop track. In this case, the Quotations did the original and also Rock'n'Roll revivalists Flash Cadillac. But this is a reinterpretation, with English wit that takes some of the edge out of a powerful sad lyric. I really love this.:)
Neil Diamond, Forever in Blue Jeans: could not Legs and Co get any Blue Jeans? Denim perhaps. Great song. Wierd dance but fun, what the hell.
Dana: Something's Cookin' in the Kitchen. At the time this was sold as being a bit risque and saucy. Seems really harmless now. Very familly values, just like the right wing politician that Dana is today. Still, I always liked this record and it deserved to be a (slightly) bigger hit.:(
Showaddywaddy, Remember When. Cover of the Earls' Remember Then. Also covered by the US rock'n'roll revival band, Sha Na Na. Despite the references by Mike Read to "five years of solid hits," this track began diminishing returns and only got to number seventeen (if I recall it right). It is just such a pure nostalgia track and as they have commented themselves they should have tried some originals (their next hit would only be five years old, a cover of Joe Dolan's Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller). All the same, even if their choice of track is just lacking in originality by now, I still like this cover. They are great showmen, even if they lack Rocky Sharpe's wit.:)
Sister Sledge, He's the Greatest Dancer. I think Lost in Music and We Are Family are more remembered these days, but this was a sensation at the time. Lead singer Kathy Sledge was only sixteen or seventeen at the time, but she gives it such gusto, and is clearly relishing the song.:)
Kandidate: reminded me of the Chi-Lites. Except I would have preferred the Chi-Lites all the way.
Black Lace: How did they think this song would have won the contest? You do need a good song to win that contest, not an impersonation of another group's song. Mad. But a bit of a laugh in retrospect.
I Will Survive: how long has she got now at the top? As Bright Eyes is at number nineteen.
A very interesting show indeed. Disco. Nostalgia rock. Pop. No New Wave. Post Punk or whatever we call it.:D
In one episode of TV Heroes, a clip was shown of Baker leaping around to a performance of "Ooh What A Life" by the Gibson Brothers in 1979, which was captioned as "Danny Baker's first TV appearance". Baker later described himself as "looking like he was trying to put out a small fire.
Sister Sledge, He's the Greatest Dancer. I think Lost in Music and We Are Family are more remembered these days, but this was a sensation at the time. Lead singer Kathy Sledge was only sixteen or seventeen at the time, but she gives it such gusto, and is clearly relishing the song.:)
In fact, she was 20. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Sledge
On their 1993 Greatest Hits, which I have on Cassette, is "Mama never told me", which was recorded in 1973 - I assume Kathy was on this one, when she must have been just 14 years old.
In fact, she was 20. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Sledge
On their 1993 Greatest Hits, which I have on Cassette, is "Mama never told me", which was recorded in 1973 - I assume Kathy was on this one, when she must have been just 14 years old.
Mama Never Told Me was one of their last before Nile and Bernard took over production.
Mama Never Told Me was one of their last before Nile and Bernard took over production.
She had a great voice. The follow up to Mama was good too..Love dont you go through no changes.
I loved All American Girls too. Narada Michael Walden produced i think inbetween the Chic produced stuff.
Improved songwriting and singing on the post chic stuff. Chic werent the best singers
Mama Never Told Me was one of their last before Nile and Bernard took over production.
Often forgotten that Sister Sledge actually had this hit single out way back in June 1975 when it managed No20, and when He's The Greatest Dancer entered the top thirty on this weeks edition it was the first time since that debut hit almost 4 years earlier. For most people the sisters really begin at this point in 1979.
Really a shame that they had to score their No1 single in 1985 with their worst ever release. Any other single but that one would have pleased me. I still do not get what it was about Frankie that made it popular to the point of a full 4 week long stretch at the top.
This wasn't a very good edition of Top Of The Pops. Far too much dross in there.
I WANT YOUR LOVE Chic
A good song to start the programme.
SOME GIRLS Racey
Quite a catch song. But in a slightly annoying way. This was something of an airplay hit in the US later in the year when it was often played back to back with The Knack's 'Good Girls Don't'. Nevertheless it failed to chart over there.
THE RUNNER Three Degrees
This still sounds excellent. Full of energy and possibly my favourite song of the night.
IMAGINATION Rocky Sharpe And The Replays
Dreary and uninspiring.
FOREVER IN BLUE JEANS Neil Diamond
The song is OK but nothing special. The Legs & Co dance wasn't up to much but I notice Sue is dressed as a Jolly Hockey Sticks schoolgirl - the second time she's dressed in this fashion. The first was when the ladies danced to 'All Right Now' by Free from an early 1978 show that was presented by DLT and therefore skipped.
SOMETHING'S COOKIN' IN THE KITCHEN Dana
I remember this song from the time. Not a decent song. It came close to giving her a top 40 hit for the first time in two years.
REMEMBER WHEN Showaddywaddy
Another load of rubbish from the Wads
HE'S THE GREATEST DANCER Sister Sledge
Another excellent Chic produced record. I love Kathy Sledge's voice on this song, it sounds so silky and lovely.
I DON'T WANNA :LOSE YOU Kandidate
Another awful and dreary song. When I lived in London in the 80s I sometimes used to drink in a pub called The Masons Arms on the Harrow Road in Kensal Green, NW10 and it was Phil Fearon's local. He could often be spotted in the bar on a Friday or Saturday night. He lives just a few minutes walk away from there.
MARY ANN Black Lace
It so obviously was a blatant rip-off of 'Oh Carol' by Smokie but has none of the charm of that single.
I WILL SURVIVE Gloria Gaynor
It still sounds a decent song. But I suggest to anyone who hasn't heard it to check out the B side, 'Anybody Wanna Party?' as it's a corking disco song:
She had a great voice. The follow up to Mama was good too..Love dont you go through no changes.
I loved All American Girls too. Narada Michael Walden produced i think inbetween the Chic produced stuff.
Improved songwriting and singing on the post chic stuff. Chic werent the best singers
Narada Michael Walden must have been chosen to produce Sister Sledge post-We Are Family because his own sound was so obviously influenced by Chic.
Chic weren't the best singers? Chic weren't singers. The core of the group consisted of Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson. They used an array of vocal talent, not least Luther Vandross, who was heavily involved in the We Are Family album. The lead vocals on Chic's own big hits were quite understated - that was one of their trademarks ... but they went for a different approach with Sister Sledge, even though the sisters were quite frustrated by the amount of control Rodgers and Edwards insisted on (see this great book for more details: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Everybody-Dance-Chic-Politics-Disco/dp/1900924560).
All a matter of taste, of course, but I'd say We Are Family and the singles it spawned are one of disco's high points, and certainly a far greater testament to its potency than anything Sister Sledge came up with afterwards (especially 'Frankie' )
Before Sister Sledge's two Chic-produced albums, Sister Sledge worked with the late, great, Vincent Montana Jr. (founder of Salsoul Records and leader of M.F.S.B.) on the 1978 LP "A dance fantasy (inspired by Close encounters of the third kind)".
In the clip I saw on TSO1979 he sits next to the guy that falls of his chair when Legs and Co are dancing to Michael Jackson's Off The Wall. Must be the same edition as The Gibson Brothers.
Rocky Sharpe, Imagination: actually one of my top hundred all time fave singles. Like Showaddywaddy later they are actually covering covers from US bands of a1960s doo wop track. In this case, the Quotations did the original and also Rock'n'Roll revivalists Flash Cadillac. But this is a reinterpretation, with English wit that takes some of the edge out of a powerful sad lyric. I really love this.:)
IMAGINATION Rocky Sharpe And The Replays Dreary and uninspiring.
It takes all sorts (Corriander ) doesn't it Robbie!
Irritating that yet again 2 of the great disco tracks end up top 'n' tailing the show, yet these 50's revivals always get prime slots, no doubt because they are always available to be in the studio.
It takes all sorts (Corriander ) doesn't it Robbie!
Irritating that yet again 2 of the great disco tracks end up top 'n' tailing the show, yet these 50's revivals always get prime slots, no doubt because they are always available to be in the studio.
The three great disco tracks were in the heart of the show. I did notice a bland disco track opening the show and an average one closing it. The 1950s revivals were a main part of 1979 and deserve their share of the programme.
SHAKE YOUR BODY (DOWN TO THE GROUND) The Jacksons
Good song which is slightly spoiled by MJ's yelps.
I've long felt that countless Jacksons/(MJ solo songs particularly), which were otherwise quite brilliant (!), were somewhat ruined by his habit of doing all this 'ooh', 'ahh' and 'yelp' stuff at the end of each line. It may well have become a (deliberate I expect), 'trademark' type of thing he did vocally, but, my god, I personally found it an incredibly irritating one.
I've long felt that countless Jacksons/(MJ solo songs particularly), which were otherwise quite brilliant (!), were somewhat ruined by his habit of doing all this 'ooh', 'ahh' and 'yelp' stuff at the end of each line. It may well have become a (deliberate I expect), 'trademark' type of thing he did vocally, but, my god, I personally found it an incredibly irritating one.
I've read that Quincy Jones used to get annoyed by MJ's yelps and whimpers but MJ kept on doing them. Popbitch, the weekly gossip newsletter, once, erroneously according to Quincy Jones, posted that QJ got so annoyed that he starting kicking MJ to try and get him to stop!
I've read that Quincy Jones used to get annoyed by MJ's yelps and whimpers but MJ kept on doing them. Popbitch, the weekly gossip newsletter, once, erroneously according to Quincy Jones, posted that QJ got so annoyed that he starting kicking MJ to try and get him to stop!
I've got TOTP playing in the background: am I right in thinking 'Bright Eyes' has been missed out?
If this is the case it's going to make a mockery of the repeats when it reaches number 1. BBC Four will have to find someway of being able to play the record. Presumably if they do play it they'll have to insert the caption for the number 1 from the start of the programme and play the record over that.
Obviously wasn't paying full attention before. The sailor outfit thing was part of something some of the Radio1 DJs did that week. Wonder what that was, then.
Also didn't notice earlier that the lead singer of Kandidate had an unfortunate lisp.
I've got TOTP playing in the background: am I right in thinking 'Bright Eyes' has been missed out?
If this is the case it's going to make a mockery of the repeats when it reaches number 1. BBC Four will have to find someway of being able to play the record. Presumably if they do play it they'll have to insert the caption for the number 1 from the start of the programme and play the record over that.
It was indeed missed out.
They could just show the clip of Legs & Co dancing to You're The One That I Want with Bright Eyes dubbed on top.
It's either that or the potter's wheel for 3 and half minutes.
Obviously wasn't paying full attention before. The sailor outfit thing was part of something some of the Radio1 DJs did that week. Wonder what that was, then.
Also didn't notice earlier that the lead singer of Kandidate had an unfortunate lisp.
It was indeed missed out.
They could just show the clip of Legs & Co dancing to You're The One That I Want with Bright Eyes dubbed on top.
It's either that or the potter's wheel for 3 and half minutes.
I predict that when it gets to no 1 we'll just have the audio over a still of the Fate For Breakfast sleeve.
Comments
I swear its him although the voice over completely seemed to overlook him being there.
I have a £20 bet with a mate that its definitely him!
Help, I want that £20!
Chic: I Want Your Love; as before, great track, but there is another Rodgers/Edwards gem to come.
Racey: a party record and streets ahead of Mary Ann, but this is the kind of thing that Les Gray and Mud would have been getting five years before and Les Gray was a hell of a better front man than the Racey bloke.
Three Degrees: The Runner. I love this track.:)
Rocky Sharpe, Imagination: actually one of my top hundred all time fave singles. Like Showaddywaddy later they are actually covering covers from US bands of a1960s doo wop track. In this case, the Quotations did the original and also Rock'n'Roll revivalists Flash Cadillac. But this is a reinterpretation, with English wit that takes some of the edge out of a powerful sad lyric. I really love this.:)
Neil Diamond, Forever in Blue Jeans: could not Legs and Co get any Blue Jeans? Denim perhaps. Great song. Wierd dance but fun, what the hell.
Dana: Something's Cookin' in the Kitchen. At the time this was sold as being a bit risque and saucy. Seems really harmless now. Very familly values, just like the right wing politician that Dana is today. Still, I always liked this record and it deserved to be a (slightly) bigger hit.:(
Showaddywaddy, Remember When. Cover of the Earls' Remember Then. Also covered by the US rock'n'roll revival band, Sha Na Na. Despite the references by Mike Read to "five years of solid hits," this track began diminishing returns and only got to number seventeen (if I recall it right). It is just such a pure nostalgia track and as they have commented themselves they should have tried some originals (their next hit would only be five years old, a cover of Joe Dolan's Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller). All the same, even if their choice of track is just lacking in originality by now, I still like this cover. They are great showmen, even if they lack Rocky Sharpe's wit.:)
Sister Sledge, He's the Greatest Dancer. I think Lost in Music and We Are Family are more remembered these days, but this was a sensation at the time. Lead singer Kathy Sledge was only sixteen or seventeen at the time, but she gives it such gusto, and is clearly relishing the song.:)
Kandidate: reminded me of the Chi-Lites. Except I would have preferred the Chi-Lites all the way.
Black Lace: How did they think this song would have won the contest? You do need a good song to win that contest, not an impersonation of another group's song. Mad. But a bit of a laugh in retrospect.
I Will Survive: how long has she got now at the top? As Bright Eyes is at number nineteen.
A very interesting show indeed. Disco. Nostalgia rock. Pop. No New Wave. Post Punk or whatever we call it.:D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Baker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yq29inuS5w
Keep going!!!!!
In fact, she was 20. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Sledge
On their 1993 Greatest Hits, which I have on Cassette, is "Mama never told me", which was recorded in 1973 - I assume Kathy was on this one, when she must have been just 14 years old.
It still sounds great today.
She had a great voice. The follow up to Mama was good too..Love dont you go through no changes.
I loved All American Girls too. Narada Michael Walden produced i think inbetween the Chic produced stuff.
Improved songwriting and singing on the post chic stuff. Chic werent the best singers
Really a shame that they had to score their No1 single in 1985 with their worst ever release. Any other single but that one would have pleased me. I still do not get what it was about Frankie that made it popular to the point of a full 4 week long stretch at the top.
I WANT YOUR LOVE Chic
A good song to start the programme.
SOME GIRLS Racey
Quite a catch song. But in a slightly annoying way. This was something of an airplay hit in the US later in the year when it was often played back to back with The Knack's 'Good Girls Don't'. Nevertheless it failed to chart over there.
THE RUNNER Three Degrees
This still sounds excellent. Full of energy and possibly my favourite song of the night.
IMAGINATION Rocky Sharpe And The Replays
Dreary and uninspiring.
FOREVER IN BLUE JEANS Neil Diamond
The song is OK but nothing special. The Legs & Co dance wasn't up to much but I notice Sue is dressed as a Jolly Hockey Sticks schoolgirl - the second time she's dressed in this fashion. The first was when the ladies danced to 'All Right Now' by Free from an early 1978 show that was presented by DLT and therefore skipped.
SOMETHING'S COOKIN' IN THE KITCHEN Dana
I remember this song from the time. Not a decent song. It came close to giving her a top 40 hit for the first time in two years.
REMEMBER WHEN Showaddywaddy
Another load of rubbish from the Wads
HE'S THE GREATEST DANCER Sister Sledge
Another excellent Chic produced record. I love Kathy Sledge's voice on this song, it sounds so silky and lovely.
I DON'T WANNA :LOSE YOU Kandidate
Another awful and dreary song. When I lived in London in the 80s I sometimes used to drink in a pub called The Masons Arms on the Harrow Road in Kensal Green, NW10 and it was Phil Fearon's local. He could often be spotted in the bar on a Friday or Saturday night. He lives just a few minutes walk away from there.
MARY ANN Black Lace
It so obviously was a blatant rip-off of 'Oh Carol' by Smokie but has none of the charm of that single.
I WILL SURVIVE Gloria Gaynor
It still sounds a decent song. But I suggest to anyone who hasn't heard it to check out the B side, 'Anybody Wanna Party?' as it's a corking disco song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeytwmLdtWs
SHAKE YOUR BODY (DOWN TO THE GROUND) The Jacksons
Good song which is slightly spoiled by MJ's yelps.
Narada Michael Walden must have been chosen to produce Sister Sledge post-We Are Family because his own sound was so obviously influenced by Chic.
Chic weren't the best singers? Chic weren't singers. The core of the group consisted of Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson. They used an array of vocal talent, not least Luther Vandross, who was heavily involved in the We Are Family album. The lead vocals on Chic's own big hits were quite understated - that was one of their trademarks ... but they went for a different approach with Sister Sledge, even though the sisters were quite frustrated by the amount of control Rodgers and Edwards insisted on (see this great book for more details: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Everybody-Dance-Chic-Politics-Disco/dp/1900924560).
All a matter of taste, of course, but I'd say We Are Family and the singles it spawned are one of disco's high points, and certainly a far greater testament to its potency than anything Sister Sledge came up with afterwards (especially 'Frankie'
Listen to this 16 minute epic, but you'll find Sister Sledge's contribution at 13:52 onwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy5iguu0GCg
Excellent I thought it was him.
In the clip I saw on TSO1979 he sits next to the guy that falls of his chair when Legs and Co are dancing to Michael Jackson's Off The Wall. Must be the same edition as The Gibson Brothers.
Irritating that yet again 2 of the great disco tracks end up top 'n' tailing the show, yet these 50's revivals always get prime slots, no doubt because they are always available to be in the studio.
Corriander is right in this instance, a very good song (although it wouldn't be in my own Top 100).
The three great disco tracks were in the heart of the show. I did notice a bland disco track opening the show and an average one closing it. The 1950s revivals were a main part of 1979 and deserve their share of the programme.
I've long felt that countless Jacksons/(MJ solo songs particularly), which were otherwise quite brilliant (!), were somewhat ruined by his habit of doing all this 'ooh', 'ahh' and 'yelp' stuff at the end of each line. It may well have become a (deliberate I expect), 'trademark' type of thing he did vocally, but, my god, I personally found it an incredibly irritating one.
"Dick Racey" looks so short.
If this is the case it's going to make a mockery of the repeats when it reaches number 1. BBC Four will have to find someway of being able to play the record. Presumably if they do play it they'll have to insert the caption for the number 1 from the start of the programme and play the record over that.
Also didn't notice earlier that the lead singer of Kandidate had an unfortunate lisp.
It was indeed missed out.
They could just show the clip of Legs & Co dancing to You're The One That I Want with Bright Eyes dubbed on top.
It's either that or the potter's wheel for 3 and half minutes.
I predict that when it gets to no 1 we'll just have the audio over a still of the Fate For Breakfast sleeve.