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

[Better Midlands]

I like Chaka's voice, but that song, for some reason, never did much for me. I suspect it might have something to do with the Whitney Houston version.

I get that, the was really no need for it. The original reminds me of my childhood and the remix of when I was first clubbing.

[daf]

Never heard it called that before!

Although, in her case, the old cocaines up the bum is probably a myth, Rod Stewart actually admitted to it, the mad bastard!

"... we started buying anti-cold capsules from the chemist's, separating the two halves of the capsules, replacing their contents with a pinch of cocaine, and then taking the capsules anally, where, of course, the human body being a wonderful thing, they would dissolve effortlessly into the system."

[bigfatheart]

An Old Ringpiece Won't Ever Let You Down

[Sebastian Cobb]

I don't think that's what Ronnie Wood was talking about when he said old Rod was 'as tight as two coats of paint'.

[daf]

Rod Stewart : "Cheek to Cheek"

Dirty old Bollocks!

[daf]

~ (Ignore this - I just posted by accident) ~

[A Hat Like That]

The Stevie Nicks song is probably the only one of that lot that I would consider "not crap".

When Stefan Dennis is giving third place in the "best songs on a given episode of TOTP" a run for its money, you know its a bad week.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Kylie looking bored to fuck in that video. Absolutely phoning in it.

[Johnboy]

I love that Swing out Sister song, have it on 7 inch

always thought it was late 86 though, mind blown

[Non Stop Dancer]

I've always had a big soft spot for that Kylie song. Probably my favourite of hers tbh.

[daf]

Jumping ahead a bit, but my favourite was What Do I Have To Do.

One of the last 7" singles I bought - fantastic 'bag' too :



Sprooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!

[Norton Canes]

Yeah, that and the other three singles from Rhythm Of Love (Better The Devil You Know/Step Back In Time/Shocked) are some of her best singles. They're also pretty much the last big hits that SAW produced.

[DrGreggles]

Confide In Me is Kylie's best.

[non capisco]

Although, in her case, the old cocaines up the bum is probably a myth, Rod Stewart actually admitted to it, the mad bastard!

I can see the benefit of taking pills that way to minimise the wait for getting off your tits, but coke?! Rod possibly only did it that way because every time he used to try snorting a line the whole room would disappear up his massive hooter.

[Gulftastic]

Yeah, that and the other three singles from Rhythm Of Love (Better The Devil You Know/Step Back In Time/Shocked) are some of her best singles. They're also pretty much the last big hits that SAW produced.

Yep. It also coincided with her getting a make over and going from merely hot to hotter than the sun.

Hutchence, you lucky, lucky bastard (Up to a point).

[kalowski]

Confide In Me is Kylie's best.

Two Hearts.

[Huxleys Babkins]

I Believe In You is her best one.

[Norton Canes]

Slow.

[Gulftastic]

'Put Yourself In My Place' with it's Barbarella inspired video. She looks amazing in that.

[Natnar]

Breathe is Kylie's finest moment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTRuTYo7et8

[buzby]

4 May 1989: Presenters: Andy Crane & Jenny Powell

Powell aquits herself well here - she's certainly a more natural presenter than Stilted Sybil

(28) EDELWEISS – Bring Me Edelweiss

Another hit made by someone who followed The Manual. It was the brainchild of Walter Werzowa, an Austrian classical music prodigy who was inspired by Giorgio Moroder to buy a synth, leading to session keyboard/programming work, eventually becoming the programmer for Falco. In 1988, together with his friend Martin Gletschermayer and Austrian radio DJ Matthias Schweger they had got a copy of the English version of The Manual (the German translation was not published until later in 1989), and with their limited handle on the language they homed in in this particular passage:

Every Number One song ever written is only made up from bits from other songs. There is no lost chord. No changes untried. No extra notes to the scale or hidden beats to the bar. There is no point in searching for originality

Taking this, and following approach the KLF had taken on Doctorin' The Tardis, they stared building up a track based on an interpolation of the chorus from S.O.S by ABBA, Last Night A DJ Saved My Life by Indeep, some vocal snatches from Run DMC and Falco's Rock Me Amadeus, vocals from Austrian Volksmusik singer Maria Mathis, American jazz/soul singer Mercedes Hall (the track had been recorded at Unique Studios in New York in 1986) and a whole lot of Tyrolean yodelling. They got a deal from Austrian label GiG, which was also home to Falco. Although they cleared the use of the ABBA song via Polar Music's manager Stig Anderson, he had not cleared it with Benny & Bjorn first. They in turn sued him and he had to pay them 300,000 Kroner in damages, which they then donated to Amnesty International. This then rolled into a wider legal dispute brought by the three ABBA members who still had interests in Polar (Frida had sold hers in 1982) over unpaid royalties and Anderson's self-awarded payments that ended up being settled out of court.

It was originally released in November 1988, aimed at the Tyrolean apres-ski bar market (the extended 12" mix is called the Tourist Version), it got to #1 in Austria in mid-November and stayed there for a month, fulfilling The Manual's stated aim. It then spread across ski resorts in other Alpine countries and was picked up by WEA for release in countries were GiG had no presence. It got to #1 in Switzerland for a month in January 1989 (it then dropped to #2 for a week, before going back to #1 again) and #2 in Germany. Tourists from Holland and Belgium who had heard it while on holiday then got it to #2 in their charts in late January and February, and it got to #1 in the Swedish, Danish and Finnish charts in the same timeframe. It took until April for the single to be released here (right at the end of the ski holiday season), though it would only peak at #5 in the UK.

They would have no further hits here, but Edelweiss ploughed on for a while in Europe. A quick cash-in mini-album of variations of the single (A Sound-Attack Straight From The Alps) was released in their homeland in time for Christmas 1988 but it was not a success. They thne came back in September 1989 (ready for the next ski season) with a follow-up single I Can't Get No...Edelweiss, loosely based on the Stones song but sounding remarkably similar to their debut single and was a complete flop.

After a few years off to think about what they had done (during which time Werwoza and Schweger had departed and been replaced with Austrian dance production trio Bingoboys), they came back in September 1992 with a new album The Wonderful World Of Edelweiss and released the lead single Raumschiff (Starship) Edelweiss to promote it. It featured new vocalist Heidi Jessner (Mathis' volkmusic carrer having taken off again after the first single) and was based on the Star Trek theme. This again got to #1 in Austria and was a Top 10 hit in the Swiss and German charts but failed to take off in the rest of Europe. A fourth single Planet Edelweiss was released in January 1993 which reached #14 in the Austrian charts, and with that they were done as a chart act, as the three other singles from the album failed to chart anywhere.

After leaving the band following the flop second single, Walter Werzowa moved to Los Angeles and studied film and TV music composition and gained work as an orchestrator and music designer, as well as scoring Schwarzenegger's Eraser and the late 90s refresh of the theme for the PBS science series Nova. He also moved into music branding and wrote the 5-note 'Bong' sting for Intel.

(2) KYLIE MINOGUE – Hand On Your Heart

Note the Infernal Machine 90 pitched-down 'Hand On Your Heart' vocals in the middle 8. I have always thought this was intentional goading by Waterman, Harding and co over the 'Is Kylie actually Rick Astley pitched up?' rumours of the time.

(16) POISON - Your Mama Don't Dance (video)

Quite literally aural poison.

(23) CHAKA KHAN – I'm Every Woman (remix) (video / credits)

A quite subtle (compared to other 88 and 89 remixes, at least) remix by D-Mob's Dancing Danny D with session player Marius de Vries (fresh off the Blow Monkeys and Holly Johnson's albums) on additional keyboards. This remix had originally been commissioned in 1988, alongside one from Frankie Knuckles and had been released on the B-side to the 12" of the Soul Talkin' single in the US, from her album CK. The success of these remixes in the clubs then led to a whole album of remixes being commissioned from the likes of David Morales, Marley Marl, Paul Simpson, Clivillés and Cole and another from Frankie Knuckles. Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project, would be released in June 1989 and this was the lead single to promote it.

11 May 1989: Presenter: Bruno Brookes

(28) SWING OUT SISTER – You On My Mind

The lead single from their second album Kaleidoscope World. During the making of it, ex-Freshies and Magazine drummer Martin Jackson had departed, leaving SOS as a duo (Jackson would later go on to work with The Durutti Column and Frank Zappa). This was partially due to a change in musical direction towards a more retro, string and horn-laden easy listening sound as can be heard on this track (note that Connell's MiniMoog has been replaced by a Roland D-50 on top of the Fender Rhodes). Corinne looks fabulous as always, though is clearly suffering technical difficulties with the leopard print stole. Backing vocals ont he track were by Clare 'Great Gig In The Sky' Torrey and Stephanie 'Born With A Smile On My Face' De Sykes, who both reprise their roles for this performance. The promo video for the song was a homage to The Thomas Crown Affair.

Unfortunately, chart-wise this would be the last we would see of them for a while.

(22) STEFAN DENNIS – Don't It Make You Feel Good (video / credits)

Absolutely horrifying. The JJ Jeczalik is calling from 1983, wanting his ORCH HIT Fairlight sample from Owner Of A Lonely Heart and Beat Box back. This is apparently the fault of producer/remixer Steve Power, as for the UK market it was licenced to the Sublime Records label, who felt it could do with 'updating'. The original Australian mix is slightly less offensive (apart from Dennis' voice, obviously), even if it does sound a bit 1986 Hi-NRG disco.

The original Australian writing and production team of Russell McKenna & Tony Naylor (who were mainly known for library music) went on to produce a Christmas album with the Cast Of Neighbours (obviously minus the now-departed and PWL-signed Kylie & Jason) for Christmas 1989.

[non capisco]

Stefan Dennis sounds like Jeff Buckley compared to Madge from Neighbours' tuneless growling on Harold and Madge's "Let's All Have An Old Fashioned Christmas" single.

[steveh]

He also moved into music branding and wrote the 5-note 'Bong' sting for Intel.

One for the obvious things thread really, but was only when he was on the recent Stewart Copeland documentary that I finally got that the last four notes are "Intel inside".

[JesusAndYourBush]

It was originally released in November 1988... ...It took until April for the single to be released here (right at the end of the ski holiday season), though it would only peak at #5 in the UK.

The overnight shows on ITV (Music Box?/Night Network?) played the shit out of it for months.  By the time it got into the charts I was utterly bored of it.  #5 isn't bad but it might have got higher if they'd released it sooner as I imagine other people were fatigued by it, as I was.

[Gulftastic]

Don'titmakeyoufeelgood? is great!

[Norton Canes]

Fuck off Anthea

[Norton Canes]

What a song

[ollyboro]

Ricky Ross channelling his inner Dancing In The Dark era Bruce with primetime Mozza hairdo there.

[Norton Canes]

It's no She Makes My Day

[Huxleys Babkins]

Christ, Neneh Cherry in that pink dress. Absolute filth.