Just a quick message — to everyone who was interested in my 1982 Round Table post, I'm really pleased that you found it interesting. I wasn't sure whether it would meet with the approval of the thread, so to speak. It's a pity there don't seem to be any more on YouTube from this period, although sometimes they're difficult to find because the person posting the video hasn't been very helpful in terms of the tags used on the video.

Yes I know, it was cleared up earlier in the thread - I was thinking of Baby D's "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" denying Love Spreads in 1994. Black Box had stuck in my mind because of using a model in the video and passing it off as her singing, rather than the actual singer (As explained in previous posts).

It was a great post and I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks! I intend to listen again and maybe pick up on a few more points. You do not need the "approval" of anyone else on this thread for what you post Andy. We are all equals on here - the adults are anyway.

I couldn't access it on YouTube - but would've liked to listen to it again!

There was also a complete You Tube episode of Round Table lurking from early 1979, which i haven't managed to find of late. Its guests were Annie Nightingale and Rory Gallagher, and it was presented by Kid Jensen. I was surprised how negative they were about a number of tracks i really liked, namely "Contact" by Edwin Starr and "Desire Me", by The Doll. Both Annie and Rory were certainly fed up by the dominance of disco by this point, and they also accused The Doll of sounding like a Blondie rip off (which may actually be true a little). Well worth listening to, mind.

For years & years I thought 'Desire Me' was a Lene Lovich song - it has her sound a lot more than Blondie!
In fact, I think had Lene released it at the time, rather than The Doll, it could've been a much bigger hit!

Pleased to see that the speculation was clearly wrong then!


There's been online whispers off forum or rather speculation that you had passed away because of the gap in your posting habits.
Glad to see this was misplaced.

A little late to the threads but have dug out and listening to my Eurovision greatest hits, thanks all for the reminder of it one and all

referring back the the Falklands war, I live in Plymouth and my Dad worked in the Dockyard and he was doing lots of shifts while the conflict was happening, it in fact finished on my 14th birthday June 14th 1982.

Thanks for the concern. I took a break from the net for August as my health wasn't very good. But back for the Autumn season of TV.

Nick Heywood has been in the charts with Haircut 100 and Fantastic Day on TOTP 1982. I remember he did a very catchy single over a decade later n 1993 called 'Kite'. Anyone remember it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DTCaKF4hF4

Shame it missed the top 40, peaking at 44.

Another great group of 1982 we've seen are XTC with the excellent 'Senses Working Overtime' (brilliant drums on that one)
Listening to their later 80s song 'Dear God', I am struck by how extremely clever and brilliant the lyrics are. If you don't know it here's the youtube clip with all the lyrics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlJwO664WLI

Very interesting to have the vocal book-ended with a child's singing voice. Quite a brave song to put out as a single too with the 'atheist ' lyrics. For those who are not religious and despairingly see the world going to hell in a handcart in 2016 often over religion, the lyrics have a lot of resonance.
Another that under-performed, chartwise. Perhaps Andy Partridge's slightly wailing and occasionally off-key sounding vocal spoilt it a bit. It also struck me that XTC's commercial success did not match some of the very good songs they released.

I've not heard that one before - but as always Nick can craft a great song!!


Yes - a few of us have already said that on the 1979/80 TOTP forum. Sadly we won't see them again now.

Does anyone know The Story of 1983 is in production?

I don't remember that one but I do recall Nick Heyward's 1988 single "You're My World" which should have been massive but flopped.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAbmKoykT8k

A fair bit of '82 still to be shown, but if BBC4 is safe (i'm assuming it is) then so are the TOTPs repeats, lets hope.

Hopefully they'll be showing 2 years of TOTP a year, so next year will have 83 and 84, showing at similar times to this year.

Headsup for 1984 then - Roland Rat!
(Ok I did buy the single but age was my defence!)

I bought the Roland Rat single too! But my defence is it was bought as a Christmas present for my sister. Honest!

http://www.childofthe1980s.com/2008/...chinny-reckon/

- How old were you back then Westy?



For some reason - I thought Roland Rat was out during the late 80s - not as early as 1984! I would've only been about 14 - but cannot remember watching him then on Kids TV.

No TOTP tonight then?

That was very nearly my first single. Spotted it in the music section in Woolworths one Saturday afternoon, but my dad distracted me with a Rolling Stones single he was buying instead so I ended up never getting the Roland Rat one.

Eventually, my first single went on to be Camerflage by Stan Ridgeway...which was bought at another Woolworths.

Thank goodness for your dad!! Ha!

I liked 'Camouflage' too - you could've bought much worse!!

He wasn't really on kids TV to begin with. He started out of TVAM so kids saw him before going to school or during holidays. He eventually moved over to other times of the day with his own show, usually at weekend tea-times.

Today kids are more familiar with a different rat character, Rattus Rattus on Horrible Histories.

Being a bit pedantic, the Roland Rat single was actually released in December 1983 although I think it peaked in January 1984.