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Topic: Top of the Pops on BBC Four - Thread Two.

Started by Dr Rock, August 26, 2018, 02:21:41 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

monkfromhavana

Quote from: Bobby Treetops on November 10, 2018, 11:19:19 AM

Are you sure about that mate...

(16) FARLEY 'JACKMASTER' FUNK – Love Can't Turn Around

Surely one of the seminal Top Of The Pops performances and as good, if not better than I remembered.

Although Boris Gardiner can fuck off...

I love Daryl Pandy's performance, one of the all-time great and what a voice.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

Quote from: DrGreggles on November 11, 2018, 09:59:41 AM
What was that comeback single The Stone Roses released 2 or 3 years ago?
That was dogshit.

Ripped off "Squid Lord" by The Fall (From The 'Seminal Live ' Album, Beggars Banquet Records 1989, Side 1, Track 4, I think ), too.

daf

11 September 1986: Presenter: Mike Smith

(26) SAMANTHA FOX – Hold On Tight
Shakin' Samantha
(15) RUN DMC – Walk This Way (video)
Shuffling with tiny cane and hump
(8) CUTTING CREW – (I Just) Died In Your Arms
Boris strikes again
(25) THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS – Pretty In Pink
Thin Pink Duke


https://www.flickr.com/photos/51106326@N00/sets/72157662391220469

- - - - - - - - - - - - (breakers) - - - - - - - - - - - -
(18) IRON MAIDEN – Wasted Years
(16) EURYTHMICS – Thorn In My Side
(13) CAMEO – Word Up
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(3) JERMAINE STEWART – We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off
Say NO to nude fingers!
(1) THE COMMUNARDS – Don't Leave Me This Way (video)
Taking a Gamble, Leave in a Huff
(5) PETER CETERA  – Glory Of Love (video / credits)
Lorry of Gloves

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
https://we.tl/t-hcJ8TOQmJF‬

Norton Canes


The Culture Bunker

I love the Psychedelic Furs (meeting the Butler brothers by chance on a train journey to Cumbria was a lovely moment) but by fuck, that remake of Pretty in Pink is an absolute horror.

Norton Canes

#215
Quote from: non capisco on November 10, 2018, 05:49:37 PM
Strong memories of 8 year old me watching that last one when it went out. I clearly remember my dad pissing himself with laughter at Darryl Pandy's antics and me asking my mum 'Rage Hard' must be up there with the most disappointing comeback singles in pop history*. What a nothing-y record

It's not great, is it. I guess they were going for a kind of sweeping epic grandeur, which one could charitably say they did achieve, but the frankly (or Frankie-ly) the song just sounds like an undercooked version of Relax. With Trevor Horn moving on to pastures new Steve Lipson took over production duties but he was very much to Horn as Chris Chibnall is to Russell T Davies - ostensibly doing the same things but with markedly less panache.

The song becomes a lot more fun if you sing 'Ray Charles'.

buzby

Quote from: Norton Canes on November 14, 2018, 09:56:46 AM
It's not great, is it. I guess they were going for a kind of sweeping epic grandeur, which once could charitably say they did achieve, but the frankly (or Frankie-ly) the song just sounds like an undercooked version of Relax. With Trevor Horn moving on to pastures new Steve Lipson took over production duties but he was very much to Horn as Chris Chibnall is to Russell T Davies - ostensibly doing the same things but with markedly less panache.
Yes, to paraphrase someone else who speaks in a (plastic) scouse accent, 'it's underwerked and overbaked'. The band had been out on the road promoting Pleasuredome and it's singles for nearly 2 years. They had no new material written and amid festering acrimony between Holly and 'the lads' they were bundled into the studio to make a follow-up (for Pleasuredome at least the big singles had all been written and fully worked out live before they signed on with Horn & co).

Trevor wasn't interested anymore, preferring to spend months making his magnum opus of a Grace Jones album based on remixes of one track, so his junior Lipson was given the job (though Horn did occasionally stick his oar in as executive producer, requesting the mix be done again a number of times, partially so he could bleed the band's accounts by £760000 in studio time). For better or worse the band were encouraged/allowed to play on the record this time, resulting in a grittier, harder sound more akin to their pre-ZTT Peel Session tracks. The Art Of Noise studio team had also departed in acrimony from ZTT at this point too. It was the perfect storm for a 'difficult second album'. Despite it's flaws (and it's not as bad as popular opinion suggests), I can't help but like it though.

Rage Hard did give us one of the most 'arch' 12" remixes ever though, with Pamela Stephenson providing additional vocals.

Quote from: OnlyRegisteredSoICanRead on November 10, 2018, 08:15:36 PM
Can't agree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVaLgdtDhl4

Other than those two the second Album was terrible. But then so was most of the second half of Welcome to the Pleasure Dome.

Yeah, I think Rage Hard was a strong comeback single. I mean, it's a better song than Welcome to the Pleasure Dome, I think.  And Steve Lipson did a pretty good Trevor Horn impression, production-wise.

From that 'live' performance, the vocals are being mimed, so I assume the entire backing track is playback too - but both songs are different versions to the single versions as far as I can tell.

gilbertharding

Quote from: daf on November 08, 2018, 09:09:27 PM
28 August 1986: Presenters: Janice Long & John Peel


(10) THE HUMAN LEAGUE – Human
The Pouty Twins



Peel belying his curmudgeonly image (or possibly damning with faint praise) by pronouncing that the best record in the top 20.

It's always nice to see The Girls. And was this the last time Phil Oakey appeared on British TV until his breakthrough acting performance in The Weekenders?

"No! A monetary deposit!!! Hahahahahahahahahahah!!!!"

buzby

Quote from: Darles Chickens on November 14, 2018, 05:56:41 PM
Yeah, I think Rage Hard was a strong comeback single. I mean, it's a better song than Welcome to the Pleasure Dome, I think.  And Steve Lipson did a pretty good Trevor Horn impression, production-wise.

From that 'live' performance, the vocals are being mimed, so I assume the entire backing track is playback too - but both songs are different versions to the single versions as far as I can tell.
It was playback with.a live mic (though Holly didn't bother singing). The Montreux performance was a couple of weeks before Rage Hard was released, and the versions of it and Warriors that were used were presumably pre-release mixes They were included on the remastered deluxe edition of the album released in 2011.

Quote from: buzby on November 09, 2018, 10:04:57 PM
Another Jam & Lewis track. Not as good as Nasty or What Have You Done For Me Lately? though Depsite how much I normally like Jam & Lewis's output, I hate this song with a passion. Like OMD before them, this is the sound of Phil Oakey giving up. The previous sessions for their next album had been fraught, and Virgin had rejected their demos. Jam & Lewis had made of offer to work with them, so virgin packed them off to Minneapolis. This resulted in an album mostly written and produced by Jam & Lewis (who were using it as an opportunity to promote themselves as producers for pop artists).

The band spent 4 months there, but they were basically acting as a front for Jam & Lewis' songs and session musicians, so hardly any of their input other than vocals ended up being used. They eventually walked out, leaving Jam & Lewis to complete the album and washed their hands of it, but were contractually obliged to promote it. It got them a US number 1 single and saved them from being dropped by Virgin,, but at the expense of losing what remained of their credibility. They disappeared for 4 years after this.

I love Jam & Lewis, Alexander O'Neal - Hearsay was my go to "make out" album as a teenager.

The instrumental of Human League - Love Is All That Matters is one of my favourite pieces of music by them

https://youtu.be/zGseq1pf6-E

Big Janet Jackson - Control fan, at the time it was all about WHYDFML but over the years I've decided that WITOY is the keeper.

DrGreggles


Quote from: buzby on November 14, 2018, 11:46:57 AM
Trevor wasn't interested anymore, preferring to spend months making his magnum opus of a Grace Jones album based on remixes of one track.

Just for fun here's the earlier FGTH version of Slave To The Rhythm

https://youtu.be/VFH8g2MCcKQ

I'm so glad that it was rejected and Jones & Horn got a chance to have a bash at it.

buzby

#223
Quote from: gilbertharding on November 14, 2018, 06:15:21 PM
Peel belying his curmudgeonly image (or possibly damning with faint praise) by pronouncing that the best record in the top 20.
Trademark Peel sarcasm, I think - the song and album were hits, but it was received very poorly by their fans (particularly the ones who had been with them from the beginning) and the band hated it.

Quote from: Better Midlands on November 14, 2018, 07:35:10 PM
I love Jam & Lewis, Alexander O'Neal - Hearsay was my go to "make out" album as a teenager.

The instrumental of Human League - Love Is All That Matters is one of my favourite pieces of music by them
https://youtu.be/zGseq1pf6-E
That's the thing though - that's a a great bit of Jam & Lewis business, but it had absolutely nothing to do with The Human League (especially the instrumental version, as it's not even got their vocals on it). They should have just thrown the towel in rather than getting manipulated into being the front for a pair of super producers/writers (Jo Callis did before they left for Minneapolis, the rest of the members besides Phil and the girls left in the aftermath).

From reading quotes from interviews about the recording of the album, Jimmy Jam comes off as a bit of a bellend too, unfortunately- the band were really only there as a name for Jam and Lewis to put a record out under. It all came to a head over Human, apparently - they took Jo & Sue's backing vocals off and replaced them with vocals by Jam and one of their own female session singers. Phil was furious about it when he heard the mix and told them to put it back or the record wasn't getting released, so Jam and Lewis called Virgin's A&R man and told them the single was either going out as-is, or they were taking it off the album to give to another artist The label naturally sold the band down the river, and as a result the band packed up and went home, leaving the producers to finish the album.

You're quite right Buzby, the band got shafted on that LP no doubt, Human is a great single though. I can hear some Human League melody in the instrumental I posted above, it's obviously drenched in J&L production and fairy dust, but underneath it all I can hear Human League music, I'm speculating that as Trevor Horn did with FGTH on Relax and  especially Two Tribes the melodic keyboard and bass tracks eventually got re-recorded by the producers/session musicians.

Human League's work with Martin Rushent was probably their best, he was a much more sympathetic producer, but also it was a sign of the times as the eighties progressed the producer took much more of a front seat. The instrumental of The Things That Dreams Are Made Of is probably my favourite HL piece.

https://youtu.be/K01_xheYiOs

One has ask was Richard X being ironic or was it just a coincidence when he made Finest Dreams with Kelis, flipping the script and putting a Jam & Lewis song (SOS Band - The Finest) over the above mentioned Human League instrumental.

https://youtu.be/0xqoDw6HLXE

buzby

Quote from: Better Midlands on November 15, 2018, 04:59:56 AM
You're quite right Buzby, the band got shafted on that LP no doubt, Human is a great single though. I can hear some Human League melody in the instrumental I posted above, it's obviously drenched in J&L production and fairy dust, but underneath it all I can hear Human League music, I'm speculating that as Trevor Horn did with FGTH on Relax and  especially Two Tribes the melodic keyboard and bass tracks eventually got re-recorded by the producers/session musicians.
Nope, it's all Jam & Lewis - the only single off Crash that the League had any input in was Are You Ever Coming Back, and that failed to chart. LIATM may have been written in their style or with them in mind, but it was all Jimmy & Terry's work. FGTH are the credited writers for their tracks, no matter what Horn, Lipson, Jeczalik, Langan,  Dudley, Howe, Rabin and Creme did on them (though their dodgy contract meant ZTT was getting most of their royalties).
Quote
One has ask was Richard X being ironic or was it just a coincidence when he made Finest Dreams with Kelis, flipping the script and putting a Jam & Lewis song (SOS Band - The Finest) over the above mentioned Human League instrumental.
Richard is possibly the world's biggest League fan (one of the first things he did once he had the money and connections to do so was put out a compilation of hard to find and unreleased tracks from their early days and their pre-Oakey incarnation The Future). I'm sure the irony of morphing a Jam & Lewis track into the style of the Human League appealed to him.

Norton Canes

Quote from: Better Midlands on November 14, 2018, 07:45:18 PM
Just for fun here's the earlier FGTH version of Slave To The Rhythm

https://youtu.be/VFH8g2MCcKQ

I'm so glad that it was rejected and Jones & Horn got a chance to have a bash at it


Fantastic, cheers for posting that, been wanting to hear it ever since I heard there was a copy knocking around. Definitely got an early Frankie charm to it.

sweeper

If Jermaine Stewart is determined to keep his clothes on, I'd like to know where he thinks all that dancing and cherry wine is leading to. Dry humps, presumably.

Jockice

Quote from: sweeper on November 15, 2018, 10:10:25 AM
If Jermaine Stewart is determined to keep his clothes on, I'd like to know where he thinks all that dancing and cherry wine is leading to. Dry humps, presumably.

We don't have to take our clothes off to have a bad time.


daf

#230
18 September 1986: Presenters: Peter Powell & Steve 'Sucker D.J.' Wright

(20) TIMEX SOCIAL CLUB – Rumors
Toe-Tappers & Punters
(10) EURYTHMICS – Thorn In My Side (Montreux clip)
Golden Reux of Montrose
(17) MICHAEL MCDONALD – Sweet Freedom
A Neater Doob Song *
(24) OMD – (Forever) Live & Die
Impractical Square Buttons
- - - - - - - - - - - - (breakers) - - - - - - - - - - - -
(22) GENESIS – In Too Deep
(21) HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS – Stuck With You
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(6) CAMEO – Word Up
Red Box (From the very, very young. To the very, very old. Everybody now say 'Aaoowww!!')
(1) THE COMMUNARDS – Don't Leave Me This Way
Voice Swappers



(13) FIVE STAR – Rain Or Shine (video / credits)
Wrong Spin Stedman (Ah, bless!)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* "Regal Brian's Maid"  (5,6)

Uncle TechTip

Some lovely tales, and thanks buzby in particular, proof there that Phil Oakey is just a nice bloke.

Jockice

Quote from: Uncle TechTip on November 16, 2018, 12:22:56 AM
Some lovely tales, and thanks buzby in particular, proof there that Phil Oakey is just a nice bloke.

Him, Jo and Sue are incredibly loyal to each other. I think they realise that they're all integral parts of what made/makes the Human League great.

Norton Canes

Had a bit of a listen to 'Liverpool' last night - Maximum Joy and Lunar Bay are by some stretch the best tracks on there (notwithstanding the presence of Stan Boardman on the latter). Anyone think Lunar Bay might have borrowed something from unused Propaganda sessions? 

dfurnell

Quote from: buzby on November 14, 2018, 09:30:31 PM
Trademark Peel sarcasm, I think - the song and album were hits, but it was received very poorly by their fans (particularly the ones who had been with them from the beginning) and the band hated it.

I don't think Peel is being sarcastic at all. I think he always took some pleasure in seeing bands he had championed in one way or another doing well commercially even if he'd not play their latest record. Plus his kids were of the age where they'd like the 'top pop' tunes and that must have counted for something. Witness him mentioning he'd got Dollar's autographs for them (his kids not the Human League) a few years previously.

Come to think of it the opening chord to 'Human' I think is one of the most impressive of it's type rivaling 'Videotheque' in my opinion. Really can do yer hifi in.

Sebastian Cobb


The Culture Bunker

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on November 16, 2018, 08:35:04 PM
Word Up! is a fantastic tune.
It really is, though strangely I've not investigated more of Cameo's work. A worthwhile endeavour?

I quite like the OMD tune in the above chart too, from their time being bigger in the States than over here.

daf

25 September 1986: Presenter: Janice Long

(23) AMAZULU – Montego Bay
Please check out their "B-sides" (cheeky!)
(15) HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS – Stuck With You (video)
Comedy masterclass from "The News"
(10) FARLEY 'JACKMASTER' FUNK (feat. DARYL PANDY) – Love Can't Turn Around
Someone throw a rope around him - he's outta control!
(22) GENESIS – In Too Deep (video)
Janice and Phil, sitting in a tree . . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - (breakers) - - - - - - - - - - - -
(26) PAUL SIMON – You Can Call Me Al
(24) MARTI WEBB – Always There
(19) BIG COUNTRY – One Great Thing
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


https://www.flickr.com/photos/51106326@N00/sets/72157663075260306/

(29) LOOSE ENDS – Slow Down
Prancing Spivs
(1) THE CФMMUИДЯDS – Don't Leave Me This Way
They can't have been too upset if they showed it again!
(8) RUN DMC – Walk This Way (video / credits)
Jim Henson's Rockin' Skellington

Norton Canes

That Big Country video looks like an extended BBC ident.

The Culture Bunker

I can remember that Big Country song (with a similar video) being used to flog lager.  A long way from the brilliance of the "Steeltown" album, certainly.