Yes, Infact 'Never Take Me Alive' wasn't out until 1987, the year I started Uni, which makes me feel quite old! I still have the 7" in my collection.
Kirk Brandon still tours now, I believe, and still looks the same. He is one artist I have yet to see in concert. Wasn't there some alleged romantic rumours about him & Boy George at one time?

Yes - it's a different world now, back then you had to make a conscious effort for every record you bought. I often had to make a special trip into the shops, after school or in my lunch hour to buy a certain song before it dropped out of the charts, not to mention in later years, hunting round second hand record shops for rare records, that couldn't be ordered anymore. That's dedication!
Whereas today, every song is just at the click of a button. - Well they do say life has never been so easy now, I guess!

It was certainly refreshing to see John Peel making his debut on this edition. For those of us who find the excitement of the Hurll era at times a little much, it seems like we have an ally in John and his deadpan style delivery. I'm not so sure behind the scenes, the good vibes on screen, especially existed with the camera turned off, but as Kid Jensen remarked on The Story Of 1982, John was brought in to prevent things getting too bland on screen, so i feel sure Michael Hurll himself, was fully behind John. John's re-emergence as presenter was actually credited to Hurll, according to the documentary.

I actually thought this show had plenty of sparkle, pretty much from the outset and the Theatre Of Hate's ''Do You Believe In The Western World?'' added a great shot of post punk vitality to proceedings (I don't know how true those rumours are of Kirk Brandon's romance with Boy George, mind!). ''Maid Of Orleans'' from OMD, is a fine track, but i notice that the slow beginning was cut on this occasion, to when the song gets fully into gear. Yes, Andy McCluskey's movements can just prove a little off putting, but they tend to show him seeming to wholeheartedly embrace the song. The Jets ''Love Makes The World Go Round'' was fine, but i don't quite find it as immediately striking as their previous single, ''Yes Tonight Josephine''. They seem to have gone for a song made famous by Perry Como on this occasion, after a Johnny Ray song, for the previous single. Rockabilly certainly was not dead in the early months of 1982. I found their appearance rather enjoyable.

As much as i enjoy those previous songs, it is Soft Cell's ''Say Hello, Wave Goodbye'', where the quality immediately steps up a gear. The song has a sincerity to it, thanks to Marc Almond's rather less than perfect technical vocal performance. I find the song has a realism to it, where Marc appears to be directly living through the lyric, which became diminished once Marc decided to listen to the critics, and become more conscientious of his singing tehnique. For me, his later renditions, after singing lessons, just lack the edge of this original version. Yes, Marc got a lot of stick for his singing when this song was first released, but i think those critics were missing the point, somewhat. The video seems to portray the song very well, too. Marc does sleazy very well too, and i think it is a far cry from Soft Cell's No 1 hit ''Tainted Love'', which i always felt was a little too clean and clinical. I remember a few at school remarking that i resembled Marc a little at the time, but could never quite see it. Yes, i may have had very dark hair and brown eyes, but any other resemblance completely escaped me!

Gillan's ''Restless'' was another song i instantly enjoy, and it was good to see that track repeated. I think it is a great slice of rock 'n' roll. Shakatak's ''Easier Said Than Done'' was another likeable track. It is not exactly very arresting, perhaps, but i find it very pleasant, and if its laid back jazz-funk style can be described as background music, i'd say it is of the superior variety.

AC/DC's ''Let's Get It Up'' is perhaps the first song on this edition i could say i dislike intensely. I find it full of cliched rock 'n' roll riffs and lyrics. I believe Brian Johnson recorded much better songs than this, with his previous band, Geordie. It is one song that i definitely like much less now than at the time, when i thought it was reasonably good. My taste with regards to them has most definitely changed in the intervening years!

It was good to see a different studio appearance to XTC's ''Senses Working Overtime'', with Andy Partridge without his glasses. I do find the song likeable, although i do find Andy's voice grates in places. I do prefer the Colin Moulding penned XTC hits a little more.

I am not a great fan of George Benson, either, and i have never liked very much his breezy form of pop/soul. I find his soul a little too slick, and rather diluted, and think i preferred him in his early days as a jazz guitarist. However, i possibly like the Zoo routine (if you can call it that!) to the song even less. In a sense, when Zoo were performing to ELO's ''Ticket To The Moon'', i was relieved they were at least prepared to try something a little more traditional. The problem in doing that, though, was that it exposed their weaknesses in how bad their technique and timing truly was. This routine which included Zoo member Haywoode (who later had a hit with ''Roses''), again exposed how far behind they were in relation to Legs & Co. Legs & Co. really do look like worldbeaters by the side of them.

Christopher Cross' ''Arthur's Theme'' is good, i like it. However, i don't find it stands up to the best of his co-writers work, in Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, but as a movie theme i think it works fine.

Kraftwerk's ''The Model'' i believe to be one of the best No 1's of 82, and still enjoy it to this day. The number ones of 82, generally were rather spotty, but i think this one, despite being already a few years old, was a good one. I like the more serious and sparse electronic sounds of the late seventies, more than the more poppy electronic sounds which came a little later.

Meat Loaf made a nice playout track, too

7.75/10

Did you ever go to record fairs, Ursula? I remember even travelling a hundred miles down the motorway to London, to find a specific album which was no longer available. I remember spending £25 on Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" album, but when i finally put it on the turntable, i had to ask myself why i'd bothered! Those were the days!

I don't know if Ursula remembers but there used to be a regular-ish record fair in Newcastle, in the old Guildhall down by the Quayside. They were held from the early 80s well into the 90s and may even still be held now for all I know. They were usually held once every few months. I never got to one though I did always intend to go.

The strangest experience of browsing through second hand records I ever encountered was back in 1988. In late 1987 I sold most of my singles and albums in the Record & Tape Exchange which is in Notting Hill Gate (I think it's now called Music & Video Exchange) in west London. A few months later I was in a second hand record shop in Newcastle when I noticed that some of the records I had sold were on sale there! I went through a phase of writing the title of singles that were in plain sleeves on the actual sleeve and so it was easy to recognise that they were some of the records I had sold. I assume Record & Tape Exchange must have sold some of them on as a job lot to various second hand record shops throughout the country. It was quite a spooky experience to see records I had sold a few months earlier on sale in a second hand record shop some 270 miles away

Fascinating story, Robbie! I have never had an experience like that, with so many miles between places!

I used to collect a great many bootleg live performances, and studio outtakes from record fairs in the eighties - some of them being really not very good, and others occasionally being really excellent, the likes of some of the Stones and Bob Dylan ones that have been officially released in more recent years. I can remember my friend, who was a huge Springsteen fan, purchasing a live video concert of his from around 87, recorded with a hand held camera from a member of the audience. Yes, there was sound and vision with that one, but the picture was awfully shaky, and the sound not exactly clear. It reminded me a bit of being on the big dipper! However, before the days of the internet those things were something to really get excited about if you were a fan, nevermind the quality!

The only bootleg record I've ever owned was the Sex Pistols bootleg demo of the original recording of the 'Never Mind The...' album, the tracks being recorded in 1976. I still have it and it is the original version not the later fake versions that appeared. The album (being an original pressing) used to be worth a fair amount but since the album has been officially released on both vinyl and Cd (and not to mention the sheer volume of fake copies that flooded the market in the late 70s) its value has dropped considerably and is now worth little more than £60 or so as far as I can tell.

Yes I went to the odd record fare - not that one in Newcastle - but I went to a few in London when I lived there at the time!
I remember that Record & Tape exchange in Notting Hill too! Funny what you forget about over the years!!

It sure was. Way back at the beginning of the 1980 thread there was a discussion about the various songs that were number one on people's 17th birthday - mine was "Bring your Daughter to the slaughter". Being born at the beginning of January means you're usually cursed with your birthday number 1 being a Christmas leftover or some novelty rubbish, BYDTTS knocking Cliff off the top certainly made a nice change at the beginning of 1991. I can even make this somewhat relevant to 1982 as Iron Maiden are coming up soon with Run to the hills (although I think it might be Yewtreed )

They were more than rumours! Brandon was so angry about Boy George revealing details of the alleged relationship in his autobiography that he sued....and lost! Quite an entertaining story, as you can see on this link.

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/d...want_to_out_me

Talking of rumours, has anyone heard the one about another singer featured on last night's TOTP and the stomach pump?

Whatever "it" was that week, while AC/DC were trying to get it up, Kool & The Gang were trying to get down on it!

I did not enjoy 1982 much, Her Majesty sent a bunch of us down south where a lot of South American chaps seemed intent on killing us. It rained a lot down there.

Urban myth - never happened. The same stories been linked to many others over the years. I believe it originated back in the 70's and was originally told about - rather bizarrely I've always thought - Rod Stewart! But, if there was a logical person to tell it about back in the early 80's, it was probably Marc. To say he led a errm 'colourful' life back then is putting it mildly.

Interesting story Robbie.

BIB - I used to have a real love/hate relationship with that place back in the mid 80's. When I was skint, which was quite often back then, I'd pop down there with a bag of records, normally just so I could get a bit of cash to go out that night. And then, once I got paid I could often be spotted back in there, not normally buying my records back but usually buying others to replace them.

Agree with all that, especially the BIB's. The emotive and often fragile qualities of his voice (particularly in terms of whether he was going to hit the right note or not!) are what appealed to me at the time and for years he was by far and away my favourite singer. I still rate him high, but I'd rather hear Marc's voice of the 1980's over anything from the early 90's onwards anyday.
He did take and benefit from singing lessons from quite an early period, I think he started them around the 1984 period when Soft Cell disbanded. His voice was best for during the mid '80's where he patently sang better than he had previously and yet there was still an occasional 'vulnerable' type quality to it. Example - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVskg4lXOU4 That for me is an example of Marc Almond at his very best. Good song too, originally recorded by Cher back in the 1960's and released by Marc as a single in 1986. Sadly it just failed to make the top 40, peaking at No. 41 during a 5 week run.

Although I already had a recording a last night's edition it's a while since I've seen it, and I can't say I was really looking forward to seeing it again after reading what acts were on from following this thread. So, I'm surprised to say I'm giving it an 8 out 10.

Great to see John Peel in charge, Loved his dry remarks, especially during the album chart. When he kept mentioning 1996 I couldn't resist checking to see whether he actually did host a TOTP in that year. Sadly he didn't.

Not off to a great start with Theatre Of Hate. They obviously wanted to be a punk band, but their image was more rockabilly. I thought the singer looked familiar but didn't realise it was Kirk Brandon, or that the group evolved into Spear Of Destiny.

Glad they chopped off the intro in the repeat of Maid Of Orleans. Far more listenable this time.

I think the Jets would've been a better choice to start the show. I quite like Love Makes The World Go Round. Nice cardis! I didn't pay much attention to lead Jet last time, but I think he looks like the love child of Cliff and Shaky if such a thing was biologically possible.

Say Hello Wave Goodby was definitely a highlight of this edition, although the video looks quite dated. I'm not sure without checking, but I hope we get a studio performance of this.

I wasn't looking forward to sitting through Gillan's Reckless again, but I actually liked it more after seeing/hearing it again.

So annoyed that yet again the girls from Shakatak where stuck at the back and instead of them we kept getting shots of that girl in a white dress who seemed to be under the illusion she was part of the group.

The low point for me was definitely ACDC. I do like You Shook Me All Night Long, but that's all. Having said that I'm not sure why I don't like this one, as it's the same formula really and also has a suggestive title.

Onto much better things with XTC, though I thought Andy looked better in the previous performance when he was wearing glasses and didn't have his hair slicked back.

I like Never Give UP On A Good Thing and didn't actually mind Zoo's performance. With there only being only 3 dancers it was easier to concentrate on them. I did wonder why they didn't go for a male dancer who was hunkier and taller than the female dancers.

It's a shame there wasn't different performance to Arthur's theme they could've shown, but still nice to hear anyway.

I don't know much about Kraftwerk, but The Model is a great song. The first of 3 German no. 1's we'll be seeing in this TOTP year and I think most would say the best.

Good choice of Meatloaf and Cher as the playout song, though it was probably done to avoid showing the video again!

I used to have some dirty thoughts about her.

I was only ten. What the hell was wrong with me FFS?

Do record fairs still exist? I only ever went to one, at the NEC in about 1996.

I bought a copy of Soft Cell's greatest hits in the 1990s but was very disappointed that all the vocals seemed to have been re-recorded and all the youthful energy of Marc Almond's performances had been replaced by new versions which were technically better but lacked any sparkle.

Glorious to have the wonderful John Peel on, always loved his episodes. The "sulky Belgians" comment was always attached to him. We'll have to wait til 83 for his best comment. Just before the general election, when tv had to agree to no political comment or at least balanced, both sides view, he was introducing an American band. "And now a band from a country that still has a steel industry" - back of the net, Peely!

Sniggered at the urban myth above. MA confirmed it wasn't true, like he was almost disappointed, a number of years back. Bizarrely I thought it was linked to a cheerleader and an American football team 🙄

Say Hello an excellent tune. The whole album captured a sleezy soho feel.

Could your name be a clue?

Sadly we don't. Soft Cell were out of the country at this time recording the 'Ecstatic Dancing' mini album and still having to promote Tainted Love in the States.

Gillan was Restless not 'Reckless' btw. Nice to hear a bit more appreciation for it though.


Marc once quipped about all this..."it's ridiculous, what do they think I did? give an elephant a blow job!".

Come in all shapes & sizes!

Even Walsall has one every few weeks, but its only a little one!

Pan's People were doing that in the early seventies - this brief snatch from 'Finders Keepers' dates from 6th July 1973 but there are earlier examples.

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


It is well documented that Marc Almond favoured David Bowie and Marc Bolan during his formative years but he also had a huge appetite for 10cc.

Interesting stuff Robbie. I remember being really surprised back in the day when 'The Model' went -2-3-1- It makes sense now.
It was also unusual for a song to be a non-mover at No.2 and go on to climb to No.1. I think 'Goody Two Shoes' was my first experience of this.



That was really sad. I only found out a few weeks ago that Joann Kenny had died.

Yes, they still exist, but they appear largely redundant now, because so much of the bootleg material, you can download online. I was probably at that NEC record fair you attended in 1996! They still are a huge draw though, if you are interesting in buying original vinyl, from the first pressings. Some of those albums really can fetch a fortune. The last one i attended was in Wolverhampton about a couple of months ago.