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Pick Of The Pops - Radio 2 |
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#2501 |
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Location: Wearside
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He played Sham 69 last week.
That's why I think there should be some general rule about what is played: new entries to the top 20, climbers inside the top 20 and then all of the top 5. In most weeks this will still leave some leeway for the personal choices of either or both producer and host. |
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#2502 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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I agree with other posters though that there is more selectivity in what gets played with Tony rather than Dale as host. Sometimes a record that is dropping that you just know would be a favourite of Tony's will be played at the expense of a record that is climbing that you just know Tony will not like.
That's why I think there should be some general rule about what is played: new entries to the top 20, climbers inside the top 20 and then all of the top 5. In most weeks this will still leave some leeway for the personal choices of either or both producer and host. BTW the show is called PICK of the Pops. The clue is in the name. Phil and Tony or Phil on his own will look at the chart and pick the most radio friendly songs from it and will drop the ones that don't fit. I watched a documentary a while back on BBC4 about the history of the charts and one of the head producers said that Radio 1 would never play a punk or heavy metal record on the breakfast show. This was in about 1980 when she was in charge. The reason was that although the kids might like it the parents sitting around the breakfast table would just switch it off. The point she was making was that she had to maintain her audience figures. If Phil Swern wants to decimate his ratings he could play more punk. It is more than his job is worth. Punk doent play well with the Radio 2 audience. The chart position is immaterial. |
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#2503 |
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Join Date: Jun 2013
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Phil Swern is the producer. Tony does not choose what gets played. It was always the case that some records were missed even back in Dale's time.
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#2504 |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
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I have to say that if Tony has influence over what gets played and what doesn't he is doing a brilliant job. I have lost track of the number of times he has played a record that I really like and then he has remarked that he likes it too. If Tony doesn't like punk that makes him a hero in my book.
BTW the show is called PICK of the Pops. The clue is in the name. Phil and Tony or Phil on his own will look at the chart and pick the most radio friendly songs from it and will drop the ones that don't fit. I watched a documentary a while back on BBC4 about the history of the charts and one of the head producers said that Radio 1 would never play a punk or heavy metal record on the breakfast show. This was in about 1980 when she was in charge. The reason was that although the kids might like it the parents sitting around the breakfast table would just switch it off. The point she was making was that she had to maintain her audience figures. If Phil Swern wants to decimate his ratings he could play more punk. It is more than his job is worth. Punk doent play well with the Radio 2 audience. The chart position is immaterial. As for the documentary I saw that and it was the pompus Doreen Davies. Someone who most presenters hated. Having out of touch idiots like her at the station proved how out of touch the station was at the time. |
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#2505 |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
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It has been said before, but I get the impression that Phil selects the majority (not all) of the tracks to suit the image that the DJ has. e.g. when Dale done an '88 or '89 chart he seemed to feature all of the house/acid/rave type tracks, where as now Tony is at the helm, they seem to avoid them (in most cases).
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#2506 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
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Then shouldn't The show have a presenter that suits all genres?
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#2507 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,137
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Quote:
I have to say that if Tony has influence over what gets played and what doesn't he is doing a brilliant job. I have lost track of the number of times he has played a record that I really like and then he has remarked that he likes it too. If Tony doesn't like punk that makes him a hero in my book.
BTW the show is called PICK of the Pops. The clue is in the name. Phil and Tony or Phil on his own will look at the chart and pick the most radio friendly songs from it and will drop the ones that don't fit. I watched a documentary a while back on BBC4 about the history of the charts and one of the head producers said that Radio 1 would never play a punk or heavy metal record on the breakfast show. This was in about 1980 when she was in charge. The reason was that although the kids might like it the parents sitting around the breakfast table would just switch it off. The point she was making was that she had to maintain her audience figures. If Phil Swern wants to decimate his ratings he could play more punk. It is more than his job is worth. Punk doent play well with the Radio 2 audience. The chart position is immaterial. |
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#2508 |
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Join Date: Sep 2006
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Regarding Prince Charming. I wasn't commenting on the message behind the song, if you can describe it as a song. My observation was directed to it being devoid of any musical content whatsoever.
As for Adam and the Ants. Was there ever a more overhyped talentless bunch to make number one in the charts? I believe 1981 was the beginning of the transition, from the old way of of recording, and promoting your record (using more traditional instrumentation, and touring/playing live) to pretty much where we were by 1985, with the much greater use of synthetic sounds in pretty much every genre, and the primary importance of the MTV video package as a marketing tool to sell your product. I like the music of 1981, but generally don't quite love it (unlike 1979). To me, it's at this point that an artificiality starts creeping in. I always thought 1985 to be a fairly pitiful year musically, although, to be fair, listening to the chart on Pick Of The Pops, the songs didn't sound quite as bad as i remember. Maybe that's due to my feeling that things have declined so very drastically since, that what seemed truly bad then, doesn't equate to being quite that bad now.. |
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#2509 |
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The show has a million extra listeners since Tony took over. That tells you all you need to know.
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#2510 |
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Join Date: May 2014
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1985-86 was nowhere near as good as 1980-81 but was much better than what was to come in 1987-89.
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#2511 |
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Join Date: Nov 2005
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I've said before, I hate this cherry picking of songs in retro charts on the radio for whatever reason. Thank goodness there are some DJs on the internet doing retro charts with all the top 40 songs.
Anyway, some comments re the 1985 chart: June 15 1985 19 LOVING THE ALIEN - DAVID BOWIE - I've said before that I'm not really a Bowie fan, but I prefer this to some of his other songs, especially from the 80s. 16 JOHNNY COME HOME - FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS - Not one you hear too often now, which is a shame. Like this better than She Drives Me Crazy, which drives me crazy! 15 ALL FALL DOWN - FIVE STAR - I've unashamedly mentioned my liking for Five Star before. This is ok, but prefer their later hits. 13 CHERISH - KOOL AND THE GANG - Unusual subject for a song - a man singing to his terminally ill partner, but I don't think people take too much notice of the lyrics and see it as just a generic love song, which is a shame. 12 WALKING ON SUNSHINE - KATRINA AND THE WAVES - One of those songs that I don't mind if I'm in a good mood, but would definitely get turned off if I was in bad mood. 11 FRANKIE - SISTER SLEDGE - I can see why this get dissed, compared to their disco stuff, but I've got a soft spot for it because it so different and I love the old-fashioned doo-wop sound. The video is terrible, though! 10 HISTORY - MAI TAI - Bit cheesy, but enjoy hearing once in a while, along with their other hit Body And Soul. Another terrible vid, though. 09 CRAZY FOR YOU - MADONNA - Oh, my fave Madonna song, as I've said before. Should definitely have been a number one. 08 THE WORD GIRL - SCRITTI POLITTI FEAT. RANKING ANN - Love, love, love this! Got the vid and TOTP performances on my ipad. Green has got such a fantastic voice. Definitely in my top 10 80s songs. 07 OUT IN THE FIELDS - GARY MOORE AND PHIL LYNOTT - Probably wouldn't have been aware of this as much at the time if it hadn't been on Now 5. Cracking tune! 06 A VIEW TO A KILL - DURAN DURAN - Love this! Never seen the film but it's a great Bond theme and such a cheesy video - "The name's Bon, Simon Le Bon". 04 SUDDENLY - BILLY OCEAN - I know this is a bit slushy, but I'd much sooner hear this than either of Billy's number one hits. 19 - PAUL HARDCASTLE - Such a stand out song at the time, because of the subject matter and the n-n-n-nineteen sample. I remember Dale playing a different version once on POTP, but I don't think it was the slower one Tony mentioned. 02 KAYLEIGH - MARILLION - Another one in the chart that is in my top 10 80s songs. Love the story of the song, and the imagery in the lyrics. 01 YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE - CROWD - Like with the Hillsborough disaster, I'll always remember the day of the fire at Valley Road. Think I've got the single knocking about somewhere, as we bought it at the time. There's certainly a eclectic mix of people on the record, quite a few a didn't even recognise when I watched the vid on youtube. Not played 20 - BEN - MARTI WEBB - Surprise, surprise, they didn't bother to dig this out. Don't particularly like the song, but have more time for this than Michael JackSon's version having followed Ben Hardwick's story on That's Life at the time. 18 JIMMY NAIL - Don't care if I'm in the minority, I think this is a pretty decent cover. Can still remember how shocked I was hearing Jimmy sing for the first time on Auf Weidersehen Pet. 17 CALL ME - GO WEST - Like all of Go West's hits, though I'd go for We Close Our Eyes or Don't Look Down over this. It's a shame they didn't have a longer chart career. 14 ICING ON THE CAKE - STEPHEN 'TIN TIN' DUFFY - One of those songs I quite enjoy hearing on the rare occassions it's played on the radio, but haven't got on CD or MP3. 05 OBSESSION - ANIMOTION - Should have been played, as it was top 5 and one you don't hear all that often. |
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#2512 |
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Join Date: Sep 2006
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1985-86 was nowhere near as good as 1980-81 but was much better than what was to come in 1987-89.
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#2513 |
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I have the opposite view. The Dave Stewart version adds real emotion to the song, whereas Lesley Gore is happily singing along as if nothing had happened.
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I agree. I always thought his.
There seems to have been some heat generated on this POTP thread in recent days. Anyway, I find the 1981 version of It's My Party by Dave Stewart & Barbra Gaskin far superior to the original version, very different and of its time production wise in latter 1981. I'm not surprised it shot to the top of the charts for a full month that autumn. It still sounds fresh as the day it came out too. I would also add that a record my mum bought herself earlier in 1981, another Dave Stewart collaboration, with Colin Blunstone doing What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted is also my favourite version of that particular song too, which might be a minority view. Wish that one had topped the charts too but it just failed to break top ten in that spring.It's my party tonight and I'm off for a slice of 45th birthday cake, not to mention 2 years today on DS as well!
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#2514 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,610
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Utter nonsense. Done a survey have you? How come Johnnie Walker gets away with playing punk? And this is on a Sunday which is when Radio 2 is at its most conservative. As for Tony's taste well outside soul music his tastes have always been bloody awful.
As for the documentary I saw that and it was the pompus Doreen Davies. Someone who most presenters hated. Having out of touch idiots like her at the station proved how out of touch the station was at the time. |
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#2515 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,610
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The show has a million extra listeners since Tony took over. That tells you all you need to know.
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#2516 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,610
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1985-86 was nowhere near as good as 1980-81 but was much better than what was to come in 1987-89.
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#2517 |
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Join Date: Aug 2011
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I am going to deliberately wind you up now by totally agreeing with you Gatherer.
There seems to have been some heat generated on this POTP thread in recent days. Anyway, I find the 1981 version of It's My Party by Dave Stewart & Barbra Gaskin far superior to the original version, very different and of its time production wise in latter 1981. I'm not surprised it shot to the top of the charts for a full month that autumn. It still sounds fresh as the day it came out too. I would also add that a record my mum bought herself earlier in 1981, another Dave Stewart collaboration, with Colin Blunstone doing What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted is also my favourite version of that particular song too, which might be a minority view. Wish that one had topped the charts too but it just failed to break top ten in that spring.It's my party tonight and I'm off for a slice of 45th birthday cake, not to mention 2 years today on DS as well! ![]()
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#2518 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
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Utter nonsense. Done a survey have you? How come Johnnie Walker gets away with playing punk? And this is on a Sunday which is when Radio 2 is at its most conservative. As for Tony's taste well outside soul music his tastes have always been bloody awful.
As for the documentary I saw that and it was the pompus Doreen Davies. Someone who most presenters hated. Having out of touch idiots like her at the station proved how out of touch the station was at the time. |
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#2519 |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
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I am going to deliberately wind you up now by totally agreeing with you Gatherer.
There seems to have been some heat generated on this POTP thread in recent days. Anyway, I find the 1981 version of It's My Party by Dave Stewart & Barbra Gaskin far superior to the original version, very different and of its time production wise in latter 1981. I'm not surprised it shot to the top of the charts for a full month that autumn. It still sounds fresh as the day it came out too. I would also add that a record my mum bought herself earlier in 1981, another Dave Stewart collaboration, with Colin Blunstone doing What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted is also my favourite version of that particular song too, which might be a minority view. Wish that one had topped the charts too but it just failed to break top ten in that spring.It's my party tonight and I'm off for a slice of 45th birthday cake, not to mention 2 years today on DS as well! ![]() |
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#2520 |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
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You may not like it but these people have jobs to do and are answerable to those who pay their salaries or commission their services. I hardly think they are going to alter a format that is highly successful and popular with about five million listeners just because a handful of anoraks can't get to hear Rod the Mod singing a football song.
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#2521 |
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Join Date: Jun 2012
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Happy Birthday!
![]() ![]() I've played It's My Party 3 times in a row within the last hour! What a rebellious party animal I am. ![]() Quote:
I can't remember whether it was Jimmy Ruffin or the songwriters who said that the Dave Stewart/ Colin Blunstone version of what becomes of the broken hearted was their favourite cover version of the song? I was very young at the time so for a few years I thought it was the same Dave Stewart who was in The Eurythmics.
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#2522 |
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Thanks Gatherer.
![]() I've played It's My Party 3 times in a row within the last hour! What a rebellious party animal I am. ![]() The same as me! For years I thought it was the Eurythmics Dave Stewart too, and was very surprised when I finally found out many years later. It sort of coincided with the beginnings of Eurythmics and the style of production was very similar. Do you know you cannot even buy this No13 hit single 1981 version on iTunes. So many versions but not this one bizarrely. |
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#2523 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,610
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You may not like it but these people have jobs to do and are answerable to those who pay their salaries or commission their services. I hardly think they are going to alter a format that is highly successful and popular with about five million listeners just because a handful of anoraks can't get to hear Rod the Mod singing a football song.
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#2524 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
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I don't quite understand some of your comments or your attitude? It's not about any particular song. I think it is terrible myself but what is the point of a retro chart show where the presenter and producer just picks and chooses what they want to play?
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#2525 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Wearside
Posts: 5,245
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I am going to deliberately wind you up now by totally agreeing with you Gatherer.
There seems to have been some heat generated on this POTP thread in recent days. Anyway, I find the 1981 version of It's My Party by Dave Stewart & Barbra Gaskin far superior to the original version, very different and of its time production wise in latter 1981. I'm not surprised it shot to the top of the charts for a full month that autumn. It still sounds fresh as the day it came out too. I would also add that a record my mum bought herself earlier in 1981, another Dave Stewart collaboration, with Colin Blunstone doing What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted is also my favourite version of that particular song too, which might be a minority view. Wish that one had topped the charts too but it just failed to break top ten in that spring.It's my party tonight and I'm off for a slice of 45th birthday cake, not to mention 2 years today on DS as well! ![]() By the way, I chanced across an old post of yours today, one from almost two years ago, where you posted that you wished 'Drowning In Berlin' by The Mobiles was available to download from iTunes. Another poster in either this or another thread posted the same wish a few days ago. So I checked. I'm not sure when it was added but 'Drowning In Berlin' is now available to download, as is its parent album from 1982. The last time I checked, whenever that was, it wasn't available so it is a fairly recent addition. Of course I just had to download the track... |
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There seems to have been some heat generated on this POTP thread in recent days. Anyway, I find the 1981 version of It's My Party by Dave Stewart & Barbra Gaskin far superior to the original version, very different and of its time production wise in latter 1981. I'm not surprised it shot to the top of the charts for a full month that autumn. It still sounds fresh as the day it came out too. I would also add that a record my mum bought herself earlier in 1981, another Dave Stewart collaboration, with Colin Blunstone doing What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted is also my favourite version of that particular song too, which might be a minority view. Wish that one had topped the charts too but it just failed to break top ten in that spring.
