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

[A Hat Like That]

one rerelease has Mariah Carey inserted in its place ...

I treated myself to a listen of all three this afternoon. The Christmas one is by far and away the worst - none of it, not one bit of it, even begins to be coherent. And it has the feel of Colin Hunt at the Office Party.

[Gulftastic]

In other news I think I'm in love with Cathy Dennis.

Take a number, pal.

I'm currently wishing away the rest of '89, cos in 1990 Kylie changes her image, and...

[grainger]

I think this was one of very few Top 40 songs of the 80s with some non-English lyrics (I can only think of La Bamba, Rock me Amadeus and Joe le Taxi in addition to this... are there more?  Maybe a good pub quiz question)

Julio Iglesias got to number 1 with Begin the Beguine in 1981.

[Gulftastic]

Je Suis En Rock Star by Bill Wyman, Girls And Boys by Prince & The Revolution.

[Better Midlands]

Sash! - Encore Une Fois
Visage - Fade To Grey
Enigma - Sadeness (Part I)
Plastic Bertrand  - ÇA Plane Pour Moi

Edit: just realised there was an 80s only restriction on this.

[Dr Rock]

Uptown Top Ranking?

[Dr Rock]

Aserejé, ja deje tejebe tude jebere
Sebiunouba majabi an de bugui an de buididipí
Aserejé, ja deje tejebe tude jebere
Sebiunouba majabi an de bugui an de buididipí
Aserejé, ja deje tejebe tude jebere
Sebiunouba majabi an de bugui an de buididipí

[crankshaft]

Voyage Voyage - Desireless
Im Nin'Alu - Ofra Haza
Da Da Da - Trio
Yé ké yé ké - Mory Kanté

[Gulftastic]

Sash! - Encore Une Fois
Visage - Fade To Grey
Enigma - Sadeness (Part I)
Plastic Bertrand  - ÇA Plane Pour Moi

Edit: just realised there was an 80s only restriction on this.

Plastic was late 70s.

[Better Midlands]

Plastic was late 70s.

'77 apparently, the whole thing's trickier than I thought.

[buzby]

A few more that I don't think have been mentioned:
Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers (#4, 1980 - Kate Bush sings the title in French)
Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood (#7, 1981)
Clannad - Theme From Harry's Game (#5, 1982 - verses in Gaelic, choruses in English)
Julio Iglesias Amor (#32, 1982)
Julio Iglesias Quiereme Mucho (Yours) (#3, 1982)
Renee & Renato - Save Your Love (#1, 1982)
The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go? (#17, 1982 - third verse has the lyrics repeated in Spanish)
Julio Iglesias Hey! (#31 1983)
Kraftwerk -Tour De France (#22, 1983)
Billy Idol - Eyes Without A Face (#18, 1984 - female backing singer sings 'Eyes without a face' in French in the choruses)
Sarah Brightman And Paul Miles-Kingston - Pie Jesu (#3, 1985)
Falco - Rock Me Amadeus (#15, 1986)
Robbie Nevil - C'est La Vie (#3, 1986)
Madonna - Who's That Girl? (#1, 1987 - choruses are half in Spanish)
MARRS - Pump Up The Volume (#1, 1987 - Dunya Yunis - Abu Zeluf sample)
Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full (#15, 1987 - Ofra Haza - Im Nin'Alu sample)
Pet Shop Boys - It's A SIn (#1, 1987 - Latin mass at the end)
Kaoma- Lambada (#4, 1988)

[Norton Canes]

Ant Rap (1981)

"Liberte, egalite, au jour d'hui c'est tres tres tres
Voici l'opportunite, nous incroyables"

[Norton Canes]

12 October 1989: Presenter: Gary Davies

That looks like an absolute dog of an episode. Not even going to bother catching up with that one.

19 October 1989: Presenter: Mark Goodier

(36) D MOB introducing CATHY DENNIS – C'mon & Get My Love

It's interesting to see how some of these 'featured' vocalists look in their early performances, compared to their more recognisable styles once they found solo stardom. Lisa Stansfield arrived with her Josephine Baker type look pretty fully-formed, but Betty Boo the other week, with her sparkly jacket and sensible shoes, was a mile off her eventual space-girl look. Similarly, it appears Cathy Dennis has yet to be assigned a stylist. 

(33) MARTIKA – I Feel The Earth Move
Black Beret Way

Basically Tiffany

(28) ADEVA – I Thank You

I've really enjoyed all of Adeva's songs/videos/studio performances, she's been a bit of an underrated star of this run. Woo woo woo!

(24) DE LA SOUL – Eye Know

In an alternate universe somewhere, De La Soul's philosophy became a template for a much nicer society.

[The Culture Bunker]

Is 'Eye Know' the first (sort of) appearance of Steely Dan on Top of the Pops, or did they (or a video) make a showing back in the 70s?

[buzby]

Is 'Eye Know' the first (sort of) appearance of Steely Dan on Top of the Pops, or did they (or a video) make a showing back in the 70s?

They only had 2 Top 4o singles - Do It Again (#39 06/09/75) and Haitian Divorce (#17 22/01/77). Neither resulted in an appearance or promo clip being shown (there were no promo films made by their label). Do It Again is usually represented in the US at least by a live performance from NBC's The Midnight Special recorded in January 1973, but with David Palmer on lead vocals instead of Donald Fagen (they also performed Reelin' In The Years).

A concert film clip of them performing Reelin' In The Years was shown on OGWT on 07/11/78 (alongside studio performances by John Cooper Clarke and Siouxsie & The Banshees), but it must be from around 1972-73 as David Palmer is still with them and Michael McDonald isn't

[The Culture Bunker]

They only had 2 Top 4o singles - Do It Again (#39 06/09/75) and Haitian Divorce (#17 22/01/77). Neither resulted in an appearance or promo clip being shown (there were no promo films made by their label). Do It Again is usually represented in the US at least by a live performance from NBC's The Midnight Special recorded in January 1973, but with David Palmer on lead vocals instead of Donald Fagen.

Nice bongo action from Skunk Baxter, there. I had wondered whether some promo clip might have been shown back in the 70s, evidently not - Steely Dan were one of those acts that there a mystery to me growing up: I'd read they were a huge deal in the States, but I never heard them on radio and I didn't know anyone with one of their albums. I think the only exposure I had was 'Reelin' in the Years' being used in various flashback clip compilations.

[DrGreggles]

It's interesting to see how some of these 'featured' vocalists look in their early performances, compared to their more recognisable styles once they found solo stardom. Lisa Stansfield arrived with her Josephine Baker type look pretty fully-formed, but Betty Boo the other week, with her sparkly jacket and sensible shoes, was a mile off her eventual space-girl look. Similarly, it appears Cathy Dennis has yet to be assigned a stylist. 

I'm not sure if it was TOTP, one of those Saturday morning shows or something else, but there was a memorable TV appearance around this time by the delightful Miss Boo where she wore a black leather catsuit.
Can't imagine why this appealed so much to the 14 year old me...

Anyway, kudos to her eventual stylist.

[buzby]

I'm not sure if it was TOTP, one of those Saturday morning shows or something else, but there was a memorable TV appearance around this time by the delightful Miss Boo where she wore a black leather catsuit.
Can't imagine why this appealed so much to the 14 year old me...

Anyway, kudos to her eventual stylist.

She was her own stylist.

The black leather catsuit would probably have been for the last single off Boomania, 24 Hours, as the video was a parody of The Avengers and was chosen because she was a big fan of Emma Peel.


For the video for her first solo single, Doin' The Do, released in May 1990  she goes from a school uniform to black leather hotpants and jacket, but by the time of her TOTP appearance for the single in June she was already moving the 'Barbarella'-inspired look. She was then signed by Rhythm King for an album, and by the time Where Are You Baby? and Boomania appeared, she had settled on the 'space girl' image. For the US release of Hey DJ, they shot a new video in line with her current image.

By the time of her second album  GRRR! It's Betty Boo in 1992 she was 21, had signed to Sire/WEA and adopted a more grown-up image. When the album didn't sell as well as hoped, the WEA chairman said she had misjudged what her fans wanted and 'gone a bit too Chanel'.

[Satchmo Distel]

Boo's debut single Doin' The Do is vocally very similar to Monie Love's work.

Boo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM_9As_2VAg

Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPrOpXOfgJk

[the]

Boo's debut single Doin' The Do is vocally very similar to Monie Love's work.

Boo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM_9As_2VAg

Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPrOpXOfgJk

Love and Boo were both British rappers, and UK hip hop was young enough at that time to have not really broken free of affecting an American accent when rapping. Which might account for a lot of the sonic similarity you're picking up there.

[A Hat Like That]

One thing I did notice, and it perhaps chimes with the De La Soul comment above, is that there was a good solid run of, often female fronted, UK rap acts charting throughout 1988 and 1989.

Beatmasters
Cookie Crew - (went and bought the album)
Bettie Boo
Wee Papa Girl Rappers

at the very least. Sure I have missed some.

Other than Betty Boo, this run of TotPs was the first I'd heard of them/the songs.

Happy to be corrected, but by the time I was into music (ca. 1994, I guess), they - and any wider influence - seems to have vanished.

tldr - these acts released a bunch of bangers. why did they stop? or did they carry on and I missed them at the time ... ?

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Why would those acts carrying on make you feel embarrassed?

[A Hat Like That]

Hi, is that a response to my post?

I'm re-reading it and wondering where you got embarassed from.

[Better Midlands]

Hi, is that a response to my post?

I'm re-reading it and wondering where you got embarassed from.

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/don%27t+know+where+to+look

In answer to your post, I think interest in all (male & female) UK rap/hip hop dropped off in the early 90's.

There's a really interesting in depth interview with Cookie Crew about their experiences.

[Darles Chickens]

Wee Papa Girl Rappers

Used to love watching that on Childrens' BBC, just before The Really Wild Show.

[A Hat Like That]

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/don%27t+know+where+to+look

In answer to your post, I think interest in all (male & female) UK rap/hip hop dropped off in the early 90's.

There's a really interesting in depth interview with Cookie Crew about their experiences.

First, utterly unintended. Will try to edit.

Second, cheers.

[Pauline Walnuts]

(22) FRESH 4 featuring LIZZ E – Wishing On A Star (video / credits)
Skating on a Board

Someone tell me about this, I have no memories of it at all, and its 'modern' sound intrigues me.

[Better Midlands]

Someone tell me about this, I have no memories of it at all, and its 'modern' sound intrigues me.

The song is a cover of Rose Royce's - Wishing On a Star, but instrumentally it is basically the intro of Faze O - Riding High looped with Funky Drummer and Hot Pants breaks underneath.

They were from Bristol and at the time taking a classic song and giving it that "modern" sound was also being done by Wild Bunch - The Look Of Love and Smith and Mighty - Anyone/Walk On By

[buzby]

One thing I did notice, and it perhaps chimes with the De La Soul comment above, is that there was a good solid run of, often female fronted, UK rap acts charting throughout 1988 and 1989.

Beatmasters
Cookie Crew - (went and bought the album)
Bettie Boo
Wee Papa Girl Rappers

at the very least. Sure I have missed some.

Other than Betty Boo, this run of TotPs was the first I'd heard of them/the songs.

Happy to be corrected, but by the time I was into music (ca. 1994, I guess), they - and any wider influence - seems to have vanished.

tldr - these acts released a bunch of bangers. why did they stop? or did they carry on and I missed them at the time ... ?

The Beatmasters weren't a rap act, they were ad jingle producers who decided to get into this dance music thing using guest vocalists, and invented Hip House as a result. Hey DJ was their last credited Top 40 hit single (though they also co-produced Doin' The Do). They took a year off in 1990 to concentrate on production and remix work and released their second album Life & Soul and 2 further singles in 1991-92 - the New York 'house diva' style Dunno What It Is (About You) and the more hip-hop Boulevard of Broken Dreams (featuring JC001, who later went on to rap on some of Curve's early tracks, and which sampled Woman of the Ghetto by Marlena Shaw years before Blue Boy's Remember Me). They also released a promo of the electro-dub reggae instrumental Night In Acton.

The album didn't chart, however, and none of the singles cracked the Top 40 so they went back behind the scenes to remix and production work. Richard Walmsley departed around this time too - he later resurfaced as part of Goldbug, who had a hit with the Pearl & Dean-sampling cover of Whole Lotta Love in 1996), and later became a music teacher based in Brighton.

The remaining duo of Paul Carter and Amanda Glanfield did a lot of work with The Shamen, and work for the likes of Scooch and Girls Aloud (collaborating again with Alison 'Betty Boo' Clarkson, who had moved on to her second career as a songwriter). The last thing they seem to have done was produced the Alison Clarkson/Alex James project Wigwam in 2006.

The interview that BM posted about the Cookie Crew should cover what happened to them - after the success of Rok Da House, they signed to London's ffrr dance label who wanted them to 'go pop' to chase hits. They didn't want to and so retired in 1992, and went into PR and managment roles in the music industry.

Betty Boo we will eventually get to (If BBC4 is still going to get to 1992), but she was quite happy to become a pop star. After Boomania she had a couple of years off (including a period of writer's block), changed labels from Rhythm King to Sire/WEA and came back with a more adult, sophisticated image.

The Wee Papa Girl Rappers were dead as a chart act by the end of 1988, though they carried on chasing hits (such as 1990's Get In The Groove from their unsuccessful second album). Their last release was 1994's Wherever You Go, which was more back in the reggae/dancehall style.

There was one other act you haven't mentioned - The She-Rockers, of whom Betty Boo had originally been a member. They landed a support slot on Public Enemy's US tour in 1988 after an impromptu performance to the band when they followed them to a McDonalds in Shepherd's Bush after a concert at Hammersmith. Professor Griff and Simon Harris then produced their first single Give It A Rest, after which Boo and  Dupe 'Sweet Pea' Fagbesa left so the remaining member Donna 'She-Roc' McConnell called in former member Antonia 'Aurra' Jolly and they got a recording contract with Jive (also the home of the Wee Papas).

They released the banger double A-side  On Stage/Get Up On This in 1988 that inexplicably only got to #89, the more poppy Jam It Jam in 1989 that stalled at #58 and their last single, Do Dat Dance in 1990 produced by Todd Terry and Jo 'Technotronic' Bogaert, which never charted (like ffrr and The Cookie Crew, Jive were pushing them to do more chart-friendly pop/hip house records). There's a good interview with McConnell about her history and what she's done since here

[Pauline Walnuts]

The song is a cover of Rose Royce's - Wishing On a Star, but instrumentally it is basically the intro of Faze O - Riding High looped with Funky Drummer and Hot Pants breaks underneath.

They were from Bristol and at the time taking a classic song and giving it that "modern" sound was also being done by Wild Bunch - The Look Of Love and Smith and Mighty - Anyone/Walk On By

I see.

1991's Massive Attack seems a million miles away from 1989's Living in A Box and Cliff sound.

I really Like Betty Boo's second album. I'm not being ironic.