Topic: Chart Music Podcast

[DrGreggles]

As it's currently being discussed in about 3 other places I thought it was worthwhile giving it its own home - especially as so many of us have become fans so quickly.

For those already on board, this thread's for you.

For those who frequent 'Oscillations' and don't know what the fuss is about:
https://chartmusiccouk.wordpress.com/

Dive in. You'll soon become one of us.

One of us... One of us... One of us... One of us...

[Camp Tramp]

Started listening on Sunday, already into the third episode.

What is the date range of episodes? I'm more interested in the 80's episodes than the 70's.

[phantom_power]

I am quite enjoying it but finding it a bit too snarky for my liking. I suppose it depends a bit on who the guests are. I am surprised proper music journalists trotted out the "Madness were only good when they did fun songs" thing because songs like One Better Day and Michael Caine prove that to be wrong.

[Neomod]

I am quite enjoying it but finding it a bit too snarky for my liking. I suppose it depends a bit on who the guests are. I am surprised proper music journalists trotted out the "Madness were only good when they did fun songs" thing because songs like One Better Day and Michael Caine prove that to be wrong.

Yeah, there's a fair bit I find fault/disagree with being of a similar age. Still enjoy it though.

[Beagle 2]

It's brilliant, and not as snarky as I would have expected given the guests. For example, it turns out that Simon Price is actually quite a nice bloke.

Why isn't Top of the Pops on any more? I still don't really understand.

[phantom_power]

Fascinating stuff about Alvin Stardust. What an odd rise to fame, claiming a dead man's name and then taking someone else's song and pseudonym to get a hit. The stuff about his hair was funny as well

[thraxx]

Thanks to whoever recommended this I'm thoroughly enjoying it and am delighted to have properly discovered Mott The Hoople through it. What a band they were.

I'm enjoying the snootiness of guests, once was a time i would have just parroted their views but it's nice to feel old enough to disagree with them. You can really hear that they were melody maker hacks - very nostalgic.  I might have thought that i could contribute to a podcast like this but their level of knowledge is huge. The alvin stardust episode was fascinating.

I too wish they would focus more on 80s episodes as the Needham et al are a bit older than me.

[smudge1971]

It's a refreshing change from the Bigmouth podcast which is ok when it is Andrew Harrison and Matt Hall talking but the guests (a couple aside) are all fucking pretentious cunty rich-kid journo-dullards.

Chart Music is pretty great although Taylor Parkes can be an elitist arsehole. I guess some of Caitlin Moran's DNA stayed in him after his year of fucking her. Needham is great; a bloke, but a funny, intelligent and cracking-accented one. Pricey is the guest I always look forward to. He's self-effacing, clever and slips in the best pop-culture references, especially the comedy ones. Kulkarni and Stubbo are always entertaining but the early one with Sarah Bee didn't quite work. Nothing sexist, but if they have a female on it needs to be Miranda Sawyer, Jude Rogers or someone with charisma.

[Natnar]

Started listening on Sunday, already into the third episode.

What is the date range of episodes? I'm more interested in the 80's episodes than the 70's.

Here's the episodes so far by the date of the TOTP they cover

February 5th 1970, Episode #10
November 15th 1973, Episode #3
April 11th 1974, Episode #9
April 10th 1975 Episode #6
July 14th 1977 Episode #1
April 12th 1979 Episode #4
August 14th 1980 Episode #5
September 24th 1981 Episode #8
February 9th 1984 Episode #2
August 22nd 1985 Episode #7

So nothing after 1985 so far...although i am curious why they seem to mostly sticking to April & August/September episodes.

[phantom_power]

They claim it is random but that may be a joke as the first episode was the one with The Sex Pistols on it

[DrGreggles]

Not sure what the range is, but I'd assume it's any TOTP from the 70s and 80s that could be up for discussion.

[madhair60]

What's the premise then?

[daf]

Why isn't Top of the Pops on any more? I still don't really understand.

I think all the TV music video channels were the excuse for stopping it at the time - as there was 'music 24 hours a day' on TV, what was the point of keeping Top of the Pops?

So instead of a weekly one-stop pop-shop, we're expected to chase around various music video channels, or youtube, or god knows what to 'keep up' - sod that for an exhausting game of monkeys!

From 1964 to 2005 we had a weekly show that neatly encapsulated the minute ebbs and flows of the British Pop landscape.
From 2006 onwards, all we have are the two Christmas roundups to represent the whole year - it's no wonder a lot people (eg me) have no idea what's going on in the current music scene!

You could scour youtube/Spotify/Soundcloud for 'new' stuff, but where's the collective experience in that?

Where's the space for Jimmy Pursey to slip on his arse, Dee Dee Jackson to have it off with a tin-foil Space Robot, or Joy Sarney to freak out the viewers with a wifebeating Mr Punch?
Nowhere, that's where!

[Natnar]

They should do a one-off podcast and review an episode of The Roxy, ITV's short lived TOTP rip off.

[phantom_power]

I think part of the problem is that with so many different ways to experience music and TV, there is no such thing as collective experience any more. It can be hard to find someone who has seen a show you watch and then you have to do the merry dance of finding out what episode each of you is up to so you don't spoil anything. It is much the same with music. People are less likely to just listen to the latest pop sounds doled out by Radio 1 when they can listen to whatever they want on Spotify, YouTube etc

[The Roofdog]

They claim it is random but that may be a joke as the first episode was the one with The Sex Pistols on it

That's definitely a joke, right? The first episode is the Sex Pistols and the second is the one where they couldn't play the #1 because they'd banned 'Relax'. No way that's random.

[billyandthecloneasaurus]

err i wanna watch along with the episodes, but haven't the foggiest where to find the first (14th july 77) episode at all!!!  help, please!

[billyandthecloneasaurus]

or fucking any of them, actually.  argh.

[Beagle 2]

I think part of the problem is that with so many different ways to experience music and TV, there is no such thing as collective experience any more. It can be hard to find someone who has seen a show you watch and then you have to do the merry dance of finding out what episode each of you is up to so you don't spoil anything. It is much the same with music. People are less likely to just listen to the latest pop sounds doled out by Radio 1 when they can listen to whatever they want on Spotify, YouTube etc

There's more need than ever for curators. Everything available all the time just leads to the population of the world staring at the internet and shrugging.

I'm not saying TOTP would be any good, it is after all chart music, but it would be easy to do a proper up to date version these days. People love event TV. Twitter explodes enough when the old episodes are on.

It's insane they haven't brought it back.

[phantom_power]

or fucking any of them, actually.  argh.

You can find most of the individual performances on YouTube, just not complete episodes

[DrGreggles]

or fucking any of them, actually.  argh.

They create a YouTube playlist for each episode that contains pretty much everything they mention.

[Crabwalk]

Not sure what the range is, but I'd assume it's any TOTP from the 70s and 80s that could be up for discussion.

The latest one features one of the earliest surviving full episodes (Feb 5th 1970) so I wouldn't expect them to be able delve too much earlier than that.

Needham's stated that the cutoff is pretty much 1985 due to the adverse effect Live Aid had on pop music and his (and his guests') resultant dwindling interest in TOTP.

As someone who's 5-10 years younger than them I really hope they slacken that rule eventually as i'd love to hear their thoughts on episodes from 85-95ish. I know the heavy dose of childhood nostalgia is a key ingredient to the show and they'd not have that prism to look back on that era through, but I'd still love to hear it.

There's a jingling jangling spectre looming over the show so far, who's only been mentioned a few times in passing. It's going to be amazing when they tackle that topic head on.

[phantom_power]

I actually enjoyed the 1973 one the most, despite not being born when the show itself was on. I find the distance from nostalgia makes it less annoying when I disagree with them

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Fascinating stuff about Alvin Stardust. What an odd rise to fame, claiming a dead man's name and then taking someone else's song and pseudonym to get a hit. The stuff about his hair was funny as well

Their utterly sincere celebration of Alvin's amazing My Coo Ca Choo is my favourite segment so far.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Pricey is the guest I always look forward to. He's self-effacing, clever and slips in the best pop-culture references, especially the comedy ones.

Has he ever posted on here? His references to Partridge, Morris, Cook, Father Ted and early Steve Martin suggest that he'd fit right in.

EDIT: Taylor Parkes describing Ian Hunter as "what Robert Plant looks like to a dog" just made me guffaw. I love listening to these chaps.

[The Roofdog]

Taylor Parkes describing Ian Hunter as "what Robert Plant looks like to a dog" just made me guffaw. I love listening to these chaps.

Superb.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

It's brilliant, and not as snarky as I would have expected given the guests. For example, it turns out that Simon Price is actually quite a nice bloke.

Price, Needham and Kulkarni are very affable. Based on his writing for MM in the '90s, the latter always struck me as rather sneering and formidable, but he's not like that at all. Similarly, Taylor Parkes, for all his writing prowess, always struck me as a total wanker, but I like his sardonic, self-deprecating style on this.

[non capisco]

Has he ever posted on here?

He certainly has in the distant past, mid 2000s-ish, but I dimly remember him getting "told off" in a high handed manner by (I think) one of the SOTCAA lot when one of his views on a comedy programme didn't match theirs exactly and sadly he didn't stick around. 

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

He certainly has in the distant past, but I dimly remember him getting "told off" in a high handed manner by (I think) one of the SOTCAA lot when one of his views on a comedy programme didn't match theirs exactly and sadly he didn't stick around.

Ah, that's a shame. Price would be a great CaB poster, he should come back.

[madhair60]

What's the premise then?