Makes me wonder if they'll show DLT in the 1979 documentary even though he was edited out in later repeats of the 1978 one.
i doubt they will include any clips of DLT in the 1979 documentry,they'll just stick in a few clips of simon bates and andy peebles to pad out the show
i think he was kidding us on .it amused me that steve jones says he hated boney m's daddy cool as he was singing daddy cool by the darts
I also noticed straight away Steve Jones was singing the wrong 'Daddy Cool'!
As for John Lydon, you can never tell if he's joking or not and there have been times when he's admitted to a liking for an act and has been serious. For example in 1979, at a time when it was unfashionable for a guy to admit to liking Abba, he professed a liking for them. Apparently he was being serious about this. He also has been seen in a documentary admitting he loved 'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush when I would have thought it would be a record that his instinct would tell him not to like. So who knows if he was being serious or not about Boney M
Hmmm, not sure this is a valid statement. A quick google images search shows up the 'Jam' logo against the roundel symbol, classic mod revival imagery. Not only that all my mates who were mods at the time cited the jam as being mod and had a lot of their records too.
Did The Jam use mod imagery and mod influences (especially The Who)? Sure. I never said otherwise.
But The Jam emerged via punk and had charting singles and albums for two whole years before the mod revival sprang up in summer 1979. They were very much bracketed in with the punk/new wave acts then - and, before and after the mod revival came and went (quite unspectacularly), very much had their own identity.
Did people who were mods at the time like The Jam and their music? Sure, quite possibly. But The Jam didn't brand themselves as part of the mod revival, or champion it as the next big thing.
The only real link between The Jam and the mod revival is Merton Parkas keyboardist Mick Talbot, who played on their cover of 'Heatwave' on the Setting Sons album then formed The Style Council with Paul Weller in 1982. But that's hardly enough to put The Jam at the forefront of the short-lived mod revival ...
And let's not kid ourselves that the mod revival was quite everything it said on the tin. Secret Affair were previously signed to CBS in 1977 as new wavers the New Hearts, with two flop singles to their name ... so they gave themselves a makeover and came up with lyrics like 'We hate the punk elite' (oh, the irony ...).
Did The Jam use mod imagery and mod influences (especially The Who)? Sure. I never said otherwise.
But The Jam emerged via punk and had charting singles and albums for two whole years before the mod revival sprang up in summer 1979. They were very much bracketed in with the punk/new wave acts then - and, before and after the mod revival came and went (quite unspectacularly), very much had their own identity.
Did people who were mods at the time like The Jam and their music? Sure, quite possibly. But The Jam didn't ally themselves with the mod revival, or champion it as the next big thing.
The only real link between The Jam and the mod revival is keyboardist Mick Talbot, who played on their cover of 'Heatwave' on the Setting Sons album then formed The Style Council with Paul Weller in 1982. But that's hardly enough to put The Jam at the forefront of the short-lived mod revival ...
For all The Jam were linked in with punk until 1979, they always saw themselves more as mods and preferred to wear mod suits over punk clothes. However, as punk started to fade in 1979, mod took over and The Jam were the premier mod band( there was also Secret Affair and The Lambrettas, but they faded out quickly). Many mods of this era also liked Two Tone, although this did have its own fashions.
Basically the mod revival more or less lasted from 1979 to 1982, although living in a backwater you still saw mods as late as 1985, but most people moved on when The Jam split up.
For all The Jam were linked in with punk until 1979, they always saw themselves more as mods and preferred to wear mod suits over punk clothes. However, as punk started to fade in 1979, mod took over and The Jam were the premier mod band( there was also Secret Affair and The Lambrettas, but they faded out quickly). Many mods of this era also liked Two Tone, although this did have its own fashions.
Basically the mod revival more or less lasted from 1979 to 1982, although living in a backwater you still saw mods as late as 1985, but most people moved on when The Jam split up.
Here we go again ...
Mod didn't 'take over' from punk. If it did, the charts would have been littered with mod groups. They weren't. The mod revival's most successful moment was the Lambrettas' 1980 cover of 'Poison Ivy' - not really much to shout about.
The Jam were always an odd fit with punk if judged purely by their fashion. But there was always rather more to them than just that. Spiritually and politically, they were very much in tune with punk (and also influenced by it, in a way none of the mod revival bands would ever admit to) - which is what gives their music an edge.
Well, if you look up 'Mod revival' on wiki an early assertion is "The revival was largely spurred on by the band The Jam, who had adopted a stark mod look and mixed the energy of punk with the sound of 1960s mod bands." so I guess that shows things aren't always black and white, ahem. I think also we're using the term 'mod' slightly differently as I would have also lumped in ska and two-tone in with the jam and 'proper' mod groups, but I wasn't a fan of that type of music so I'm using the term in it's most general sense. I had thought the charts from 79 to about 82 did have a smattering of 'mod' singles about them? But as I say, I didn't follow 'mod' so it's a rather grey area to me.
And not completely irrelevent, I can recall both Lemmy and Ozzy Osbourne decrying the term 'heavy metal' when used in connection with their bands, however during 79-82 and beyond, the association would prove to be beneficial to all.
The Jam were always an odd fit with punk if judged purely by their fashion. But there was always rather more to them than just that. Spiritually and politically, they were very much in tune with punk (and also influenced by it, in a way none of the mod revival bands would ever admit to) - which is what gives their music an edge.
- when The Jam were interviewed for the NME in the spring of 1977 Paul Weller made it clear that he supported such pillars of the establishment as the monarchy and the Tory party. The Jam frontman declared "We'll be voting Conservative at the next election" (so much for 'Anarchy in the UK') and stated "Chaos is not really a positive thought is it? You can't run a country on chaos" (one of the Sex Pistols famously said after an early gig "Actually we're not into music; we're into chaos"). Weller also defended the sovereign and drummer Rick Buckler described the Royal Family as "an example to the country" (so much for 'God Save The Queen' ).
I've just remembered that Since You've Been Gone by Rainbow is from 1979. loved that record. I saw Rainbow live and they were fantastic, what a voice Graham Bonnet had.
- when The Jam were interviewed for the NME in the spring of 1977 Paul Weller made it clear that he supported such pillars of the establishment as the monarchy and the Tory party. The Jam frontman declared "We'll be voting Conservative at the next election" (so much for 'Anarchy in the UK') and stated "Chaos is not really a positive thought is it? You can't run a country on chaos" (one of the Sex Pistols famously said after an early gig "Actually we're not into music; we're into chaos"). Weller also defended the sovereign and drummer Rick Buckler described the Royal Family as "an example to the country" (so much for 'God Save The Queen' ).
That incident is explained by Weller himself here ...
“That’s well off the target,” Weller insisted. “It was all dreamt up by a press officer, saying, ‘well, The Clash are left wing, The Pistols are for anarchy, why don’t you back the Tories or the Queen, just for an angle?’ And with us being naïve little ****ers, we just went along with it. I’ve got very definite feelings for the Tories, from the way they acted and behaved under Margaret Thatcher in the Eighties, it was disgraceful really. I find it hard to forgive them, as a working class person, for really decimating the trade unions. I have a problem with it.”
If you really think The Jam remained pro-Tory after one misguided interview, you might want to look at the lyrics for 'The Eton Rifles', at Weller's insistence that Margaret Thatcher should have been shot for treason for her actions as Prime Minister, at his involvement in left-wing protest group Red Wedge, at his overtly political Style Council lyrics, at his refusal to give Lulu permission to cover 'You're The Best Thing' because she supported the Tories or at his comments about David Cameron ... to name but a few. ;-)
I've just remembered that Since You've Been Gone by Rainbow is from 1979. loved that record. I saw Rainbow live and they were fantastic, what a voice Graham Bonnet had.
One of my fave ever records and one of the first singles I bought.
Looking forward to this. I started senior school in 1979 so it has a lot of memories (and 1980 too).
I've just remembered that Since You've Been Gone by Rainbow is from 1979. loved that record. I saw Rainbow live and they were fantastic, what a voice Graham Bonnet had.
From the album "Down To Earth" - the only heavy metal album I've ever bought! Also mentioned earlier in the thread - The Lambrettas - I bought their 1980 debut album "Beat Boys In The Jet Age", an irresistible collection of catchy 2 1/2-minute pop songs.
Hi, I have been a long time lurker on the Top of the Pops threads enjoying reading them very much, however this is my very first post and hopefully I'll post more throughout 1979.
I wasn't around when these episodes were first broadcast but it has been interesting seeing the music scene change before our very eyes over the past few years. This particular period we are in now I have a very keen interest in and love a lot of the music from this period (predominantly new-wave stuff including The Jam, Blondie, Gary Numan etc.) and look forward to seeing more through 1979, arguably one of the greatest years for music. It is a shame that owing to recent events we won't be able to see all 1979 episodes, but I am thankful for what we are getting, BBC Four could have quite easily stopped the repeats at the end of 1977.
Just to pick up on the mod revival discussion, for one of my uni essays I did a lot of reading into the mod revival and looked at issues of NME between 1978 and 1981 and a book (http://www.countdownbooks.co.uk/book_4.shtml) on the revival by Gary Bushell who was a journalist during the period. It was actually something looked down upon and seen as a farce (especially NME) at the time. In an early 1980 issue of NME it was voted by readers as the farce of the decade (The Jam won best group). The Jam were keen to keep a distance from the revival but it probably wouldn't have happened without them hence why they'll be associated with it. (If I carry on much longer I'll end up rewriting the essay but there were a few interesting things I found haha).
Hi, I have been a long time lurker on the Top of the Pops threads enjoying reading them very much, however this is my very first post and hopefully I'll post more throughout 1979.
I wasn't around when these episodes were first broadcast but it has been interesting seeing the music scene change before our very eyes over the past few years. This particular period we are in now I have a very keen interest in and love a lot of the music from this period (predominantly new-wave stuff including The Jam, Blondie, Gary Numan etc.) and look forward to seeing more through 1979, arguably one of the greatest years for music. It is a shame that owing to recent events we won't be able to see all 1979 episodes, but I am thankful for what we are getting, BBC Four could have quite easily stopped the repeats at the end of 1977.
Just to pick up on the mod revival discussion, for one of my uni essays I did a lot of reading into the mod revival and looked at issues of NME between 1978 and 1981 and a book (http://www.countdownbooks.co.uk/book_4.shtml) on the revival by Gary Bushell who was a journalist during the period. It was actually something looked down upon and seen as a farce (especially NME) at the time. In an early 1980 issue of NME it was voted by readers as the farce of the decade (The Jam won best group). The Jam were keen to keep a distance from the revival but it probably wouldn't have happened without them hence why they'll be associated with it. (If I carry on much longer I'll end up rewriting the essay but there were a few interesting things I found haha).
Welcome to the thread. And thanks for the interesting comments. I remember the mod revival and am fascinated that the NME thought it was all a bit of a joke--nothing would surprise me there. Mod is something that is not much understood and a bloke called Richard Weight has written a huge book on it, which would have helped your essay.:)
I associate 1979 with the emergence of 2-Tone, which if I am not wrong is closely linked to Mod, and which was a huge thing in the second half of the year: Madness come from this, as did the Specials, but there were other groups too, notably the Selecter. They revived the kind of music that Mods might have listened to in the 1960s.:)
You could actually make an argument that a lot of what is happening now (sorry in 1978 to 1979--ha ha, sad me) is a kind of big revival of the sounds of the mid sixties. Paul Weller has said recently that, after his first few singles he looked directly back to the music of the mid sixties for inspiration, heralded by the Jam's iconic cover of the Kinks's David Watts.:)
These kind of issues are bound to come up again in the new year of 1979 (sorry--2014). OMG.:)
Glad you have joined in the fun. It is always better to post than lurk.:o
Welcome to the thread. And thanks for the interesting comments. I remember the mod revival and am fascinated that the NME thought it was all a bit of a joke--nothing would surprise me there. Mod is something that is not much understood and a bloke called Richard Weight has written a huge book on it, which would have helped your essay.:)
I associate 1979 with the emergence of 2-Tone, which if I am not wrong is closely linked to Mod, and which was a huge thing in the second half of the year: Madness come from this, as did the Specials, but there were other groups too, notably the Selecter. They revived the kind of music that Mods might have listened to in the 1960s.:)
You could actually make an argument that a lot of what is happening now (sorry in 1978 to 1979--ha ha, sad me) is a kind of big revival of the sounds of the mid sixties. Paul Weller has said recently that, after his first few singles he looked directly back to the music of the mid sixties for inspiration, heralded by the Jam's iconic cover of the Kinks's David Watts.:)
These kind of issues are bound to come up again in the new year of 1979 (sorry--2014). OMG.:)
Glad you have joined in the fun. It is always better to post than lurk.:o
Haha thank you, I look forward to contributing to such a friendly thread
I know 2 tone was closely linked with mod and I believe Madness also found themselves associated with skinheads. My dad called himself a mod at the time and he loved bands like The Jam and Madness particularly, he's shared stories and photos of a trip to Brighton or wherever on scooters in the early 80s. I grew up listening to a lot of Madness and Jam particularly and I still listen to them now. I look forward to seeing it represented on Top of the Pops this year (or in 1979 rather)
Hi, I have been a long time lurker on the Top of the Pops threads enjoying reading them very much, however this is my very first post and hopefully I'll post more throughout 1979.
I wasn't around when these episodes were first broadcast but it has been interesting seeing the music scene change before our very eyes over the past few years. This particular period we are in now I have a very keen interest in and love a lot of the music from this period (predominantly new-wave stuff including The Jam, Blondie, Gary Numan etc.) and look forward to seeing more through 1979, arguably one of the greatest years for music. It is a shame that owing to recent events we won't be able to see all 1979 episodes, but I am thankful for what we are getting, BBC Four could have quite easily stopped the repeats at the end of 1977.
Just to pick up on the mod revival discussion, for one of my uni essays I did a lot of reading into the mod revival and looked at issues of NME between 1978 and 1981 and a book (http://www.countdownbooks.co.uk/book_4.shtml) on the revival by Gary Bushell who was a journalist during the period. It was actually something looked down upon and seen as a farce (especially NME) at the time. In an early 1980 issue of NME it was voted by readers as the farce of the decade (The Jam won best group). The Jam were keen to keep a distance from the revival but it probably wouldn't have happened without them hence why they'll be associated with it. (If I carry on much longer I'll end up rewriting the essay but there were a few interesting things I found haha).
BIB - I think that's it in a nutshell.
By midway through 1980, the mod revival was dead, eclipsed by the 2 Tone phenomenon and also by The Jam themselves, who managed to combine credibility and sales. The latter is probably why the likes of Secret Affair, the Merton Parkas, the Chords and the Purple Hearts all tried (and failed) to muscle in with more overtly mod credentials.
It has to be said that there were a few raised eyebrows when it emerged that Weller's partner in crime for the Style Council would be Mick Talbot, given his credentials ... ;-)
I had forgotten Garry Bushell - who used to write for Sounds - had written about the mod revival. He soon dropped any interest in that for a preference for the Oi groups ...
If you really think The Jam remained pro-Tory after one misguided interview, you might want to look at the lyrics for 'The Eton Rifles', at Weller's insistence that Margaret Thatcher should have been shot for treason for her actions as Prime Minister, at his involvement in left-wing protest group Red Wedge, at his overtly political Style Council lyrics, at his refusal to give Lulu permission to cover 'You're The Best Thing' because she supported the Tories or at his comments about David Cameron ... to name but a few. ;-)
I noticed Weller apparently switched his political allegiance within a year or so of the interview when he referred to 'too many right wing meetings' in 'Down In The Tube Station At Midnight' although I never suspected the union bashing stance he adopted in the 'All Change And Back To 1964' article was a PR stunt till I read your link and I think he managed to convince the NME journalist that The Jam were true blue Tories.
On a completely different theme, I recently stumbled across a 5 star review of an album from the early seventies posted on 29 November 2013 by servalan (the first review on page 1 in the link below) so perhaps you are not the only internet pop pundit using this screen name.
Haha thank you, I look forward to contributing to such a friendly thread
2014 is the new 1979
Welcome Tucker.
If only this could be the case. Maybe if we all think it hard enough it actually can be. I don't know about anyone else but there is something lacking about an era that you cannot properly define by it's decade name, such as the 70's. Teens, or tens sounds pathetic. Roll on the "Terrific 20's" although that still sounds more retro from 90 years ago with our grandparents rather than the not so distant future ahead. Or is it just me?
When I watching TOTP first time around, 60s and into 70s, I used to hear older people like my nan saying "call this rubbish music?"
I was appalled at such comments, now I find myself saying the same thing about a lot of today's music...not all though thank goodness.
It's probably why I love these reruns so much, when music was worth listening to and always new and exciting.
i doubt they will include any clips of DLT in the 1979 documentry,they'll just stick in a few clips of simon bates and andy peebles to pad out the show
But the BBC have. Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the first edition of Top Of The Pops and it isn't being celebrated. We all know why - and I'm not disagreeing with the fact it would be impossible to celebrate it - but no celebration of the 50th anniversary of an iconic TV programme is sad.
If it wasn't for the revelations that have come to light in the past couple of years the 50th anniversary of Top Of The Pops would have had the same media coverage as Doctor Who has had. Both are iconic British institutions but only one has had its 50th anniversary celebrated. Which as a fan of both Doctor Who and TOTP - by far the two programmes that shaped my childhood and both of which still do to this day - does sadden me.
But the BBC have. Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the first edition of Top Of The Pops and it isn't being celebrated. We all know why - and I'm not disagreeing with the fact it would be impossible to celebrate it - but no celebration of the 50th anniversary of an iconic TV programme is sad.
If it wasn't for the revelations that have come to light in the past couple of years the 50th anniversary of Top Of The Pops would have had the same media coverage as Doctor Who has had. Both are iconic British institutions but only one has had its 50th anniversary celebrated. Which as a fan of both Doctor Who and TOTP - by far the two programmes that shaped my childhood and both of which still do to this day - does sadden me.
I think they could have done something to celebrate it. They could have found ways to keep Savile out (well, maybe). They are going against their charter not to do something about the fiftieth anniversary of an iconic programme. It is not so much rewriting history as not bothering to write History.:o
I think they could have done something to celebrate it. They could have found ways to keep Savile out (well, maybe). They are going against their charter not to do something about the fiftieth anniversary of an iconic programme. It is not so much rewriting history as not bothering to write History.:o
I think it would be impossible to celebrate 50 years of Top Of The Pops without Jimmy Savile being featured. The BBC would be onto a loser if they even tried to do a programme without JS being featured. At the end of the day he was one of the most important persons involved in TOTP history.
I think it would be impossible to celebrate 50 years of Top Of The Pops without Jimmy Savile being featured. The BBC would be onto a loser if they even tried to do a programme without JS being featured. At the end of the day he was one of the most important persons involved in TOTP history.
It's interesting how the pinkoes can decide that endless documentaries about the dead Adolf Hitler (they can't include Stalin as there isn't enough footage to satisfy the slavering jaws of the tv execs, plus he was a Guardian subscriber manqué) are ok, yet a man who never killed anyone can be vaporised from our screens. Is the occasional quick shot of a dead man who abused children going to change anything, or amount to an homage? Nope.
The Left have always had a "we know better than you" induced infantalism.
Happy New Year 2014 to all the great fellow TOTP posters on here!
Happy 50th Birthday Top Of The Pops.
I would never have expected a full overblown BBC1 marking of the 50th anniversary of TOTP, but maybe an evening of TOTP related things on BBC4 would have been nice. Although with the 1979 year about to kick off and the hits show later this week I guess TOTP is being catered for ample enough already.
I'm presuming the TOTP book that has just come out to mark the 50th is BBC sanctioned. So they are sort of marking it, just not on TV blatantly.
Comments
As for John Lydon, you can never tell if he's joking or not and there have been times when he's admitted to a liking for an act and has been serious. For example in 1979, at a time when it was unfashionable for a guy to admit to liking Abba, he professed a liking for them. Apparently he was being serious about this. He also has been seen in a documentary admitting he loved 'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush when I would have thought it would be a record that his instinct would tell him not to like. So who knows if he was being serious or not about Boney M
Did The Jam use mod imagery and mod influences (especially The Who)? Sure. I never said otherwise.
But The Jam emerged via punk and had charting singles and albums for two whole years before the mod revival sprang up in summer 1979. They were very much bracketed in with the punk/new wave acts then - and, before and after the mod revival came and went (quite unspectacularly), very much had their own identity.
Did people who were mods at the time like The Jam and their music? Sure, quite possibly. But The Jam didn't brand themselves as part of the mod revival, or champion it as the next big thing.
The only real link between The Jam and the mod revival is Merton Parkas keyboardist Mick Talbot, who played on their cover of 'Heatwave' on the Setting Sons album then formed The Style Council with Paul Weller in 1982. But that's hardly enough to put The Jam at the forefront of the short-lived mod revival ...
And let's not kid ourselves that the mod revival was quite everything it said on the tin. Secret Affair were previously signed to CBS in 1977 as new wavers the New Hearts, with two flop singles to their name ... so they gave themselves a makeover and came up with lyrics like 'We hate the punk elite' (oh, the irony ...).
Basically the mod revival more or less lasted from 1979 to 1982, although living in a backwater you still saw mods as late as 1985, but most people moved on when The Jam split up.
Here we go again ...
Mod didn't 'take over' from punk. If it did, the charts would have been littered with mod groups. They weren't. The mod revival's most successful moment was the Lambrettas' 1980 cover of 'Poison Ivy' - not really much to shout about.
The Jam were always an odd fit with punk if judged purely by their fashion. But there was always rather more to them than just that. Spiritually and politically, they were very much in tune with punk (and also influenced by it, in a way none of the mod revival bands would ever admit to) - which is what gives their music an edge.
And not completely irrelevent, I can recall both Lemmy and Ozzy Osbourne decrying the term 'heavy metal' when used in connection with their bands, however during 79-82 and beyond, the association would prove to be beneficial to all.
That incident is explained by Weller himself here ...
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/neilmccormick/100008022/paul-weller-some-of-my-best-friends-are-tories/
If you really think The Jam remained pro-Tory after one misguided interview, you might want to look at the lyrics for 'The Eton Rifles', at Weller's insistence that Margaret Thatcher should have been shot for treason for her actions as Prime Minister, at his involvement in left-wing protest group Red Wedge, at his overtly political Style Council lyrics, at his refusal to give Lulu permission to cover 'You're The Best Thing' because she supported the Tories or at his comments about David Cameron ... to name but a few. ;-)
One of my fave ever records and one of the first singles I bought.
Looking forward to this. I started senior school in 1979 so it has a lot of memories (and 1980 too).
From the album "Down To Earth" - the only heavy metal album I've ever bought! Also mentioned earlier in the thread - The Lambrettas - I bought their 1980 debut album "Beat Boys In The Jet Age", an irresistible collection of catchy 2 1/2-minute pop songs.
I wasn't around when these episodes were first broadcast but it has been interesting seeing the music scene change before our very eyes over the past few years. This particular period we are in now I have a very keen interest in and love a lot of the music from this period (predominantly new-wave stuff including The Jam, Blondie, Gary Numan etc.) and look forward to seeing more through 1979, arguably one of the greatest years for music. It is a shame that owing to recent events we won't be able to see all 1979 episodes, but I am thankful for what we are getting, BBC Four could have quite easily stopped the repeats at the end of 1977.
Just to pick up on the mod revival discussion, for one of my uni essays I did a lot of reading into the mod revival and looked at issues of NME between 1978 and 1981 and a book (http://www.countdownbooks.co.uk/book_4.shtml) on the revival by Gary Bushell who was a journalist during the period. It was actually something looked down upon and seen as a farce (especially NME) at the time. In an early 1980 issue of NME it was voted by readers as the farce of the decade (The Jam won best group). The Jam were keen to keep a distance from the revival but it probably wouldn't have happened without them hence why they'll be associated with it. (If I carry on much longer I'll end up rewriting the essay but there were a few interesting things I found haha).
Welcome to the thread. And thanks for the interesting comments. I remember the mod revival and am fascinated that the NME thought it was all a bit of a joke--nothing would surprise me there. Mod is something that is not much understood and a bloke called Richard Weight has written a huge book on it, which would have helped your essay.:)
I associate 1979 with the emergence of 2-Tone, which if I am not wrong is closely linked to Mod, and which was a huge thing in the second half of the year: Madness come from this, as did the Specials, but there were other groups too, notably the Selecter. They revived the kind of music that Mods might have listened to in the 1960s.:)
You could actually make an argument that a lot of what is happening now (sorry in 1978 to 1979--ha ha, sad me) is a kind of big revival of the sounds of the mid sixties. Paul Weller has said recently that, after his first few singles he looked directly back to the music of the mid sixties for inspiration, heralded by the Jam's iconic cover of the Kinks's David Watts.:)
These kind of issues are bound to come up again in the new year of 1979 (sorry--2014). OMG.:)
Glad you have joined in the fun. It is always better to post than lurk.:o
Haha thank you, I look forward to contributing to such a friendly thread
I know 2 tone was closely linked with mod and I believe Madness also found themselves associated with skinheads. My dad called himself a mod at the time and he loved bands like The Jam and Madness particularly, he's shared stories and photos of a trip to Brighton or wherever on scooters in the early 80s. I grew up listening to a lot of Madness and Jam particularly and I still listen to them now. I look forward to seeing it represented on Top of the Pops this year (or in 1979 rather)
2014 is the new 1979
BIB - I think that's it in a nutshell.
By midway through 1980, the mod revival was dead, eclipsed by the 2 Tone phenomenon and also by The Jam themselves, who managed to combine credibility and sales. The latter is probably why the likes of Secret Affair, the Merton Parkas, the Chords and the Purple Hearts all tried (and failed) to muscle in with more overtly mod credentials.
It has to be said that there were a few raised eyebrows when it emerged that Weller's partner in crime for the Style Council would be Mick Talbot, given his credentials ... ;-)
I had forgotten Garry Bushell - who used to write for Sounds - had written about the mod revival. He soon dropped any interest in that for a preference for the Oi groups ...
I noticed Weller apparently switched his political allegiance within a year or so of the interview when he referred to 'too many right wing meetings' in 'Down In The Tube Station At Midnight' although I never suspected the union bashing stance he adopted in the 'All Change And Back To 1964' article was a PR stunt till I read your link and I think he managed to convince the NME journalist that The Jam were true blue Tories.
On a completely different theme, I recently stumbled across a 5 star review of an album from the early seventies posted on 29 November 2013 by servalan (the first review on page 1 in the link below) so perhaps you are not the only internet pop pundit using this screen name.
http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/slade/slade_alive_/
Welcome Tucker.
If only this could be the case. Maybe if we all think it hard enough it actually can be. I don't know about anyone else but there is something lacking about an era that you cannot properly define by it's decade name, such as the 70's. Teens, or tens sounds pathetic. Roll on the "Terrific 20's" although that still sounds more retro from 90 years ago with our grandparents rather than the not so distant future ahead. Or is it just me?
I was appalled at such comments, now I find myself saying the same thing about a lot of today's music...not all though thank goodness.
It's probably why I love these reruns so much, when music was worth listening to and always new and exciting.
What a crock of shit. You cant blank out history!
If it wasn't for the revelations that have come to light in the past couple of years the 50th anniversary of Top Of The Pops would have had the same media coverage as Doctor Who has had. Both are iconic British institutions but only one has had its 50th anniversary celebrated. Which as a fan of both Doctor Who and TOTP - by far the two programmes that shaped my childhood and both of which still do to this day - does sadden me.
I think they could have done something to celebrate it. They could have found ways to keep Savile out (well, maybe). They are going against their charter not to do something about the fiftieth anniversary of an iconic programme. It is not so much rewriting history as not bothering to write History.:o
It's interesting how the pinkoes can decide that endless documentaries about the dead Adolf Hitler (they can't include Stalin as there isn't enough footage to satisfy the slavering jaws of the tv execs, plus he was a Guardian subscriber manqué) are ok, yet a man who never killed anyone can be vaporised from our screens. Is the occasional quick shot of a dead man who abused children going to change anything, or amount to an homage? Nope.
The Left have always had a "we know better than you" induced infantalism.
Happy 50th Birthday Top Of The Pops.
I would never have expected a full overblown BBC1 marking of the 50th anniversary of TOTP, but maybe an evening of TOTP related things on BBC4 would have been nice. Although with the 1979 year about to kick off and the hits show later this week I guess TOTP is being catered for ample enough already.
I'm presuming the TOTP book that has just come out to mark the 50th is BBC sanctioned. So they are sort of marking it, just not on TV blatantly.