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

[buzby]

9 July 1987: Presenter: Gary Davies (Liverpool Invasion Special!!)

(26) SHAKIN' STEVENS – A Little Boogie Woogie (In The Back Of My Mind)

FUCKING HELL!!!!
I'd completely forgotten about this performance - Mr 'Heterosexual Rock & Roll' goes Hazell Dean Hi-NRG (quite literally, as the LinnDrum handclap pattern from Evelyn Thomas' High Energy is ripped off in this). Produced by veteran hitmaker Mike Leander and written by Leander, his regular writing partner Eddie Seago (they were still trying to get their 'Boy From Nowhere' musical off the ground at this point) and one GARY GLITTER

(5) A-HA – The Living Daylights (video)

Possibly my favourite of the 80s Bond themes, though the recording of it was fraught as they did not get along with John Barry at all (this was his final Bond theme), and disliked the mix featuring his orchestral parts used on the single and soundtrack enough to remix it without them for the version included on their Stay On These Roads album.

Their regular video director Steve Barron returned, producing a Quantel Harry composition-fest featuring the band [shot on the 007 Soundstage at Pinewood) overlaid with layers of the clips from the film.

(12) BLACK – Sweetest Smile

A lovely song from the velvet-voiced Colin Vearncombe and his breakthrough hit. Point of order though Gary, Black was a Prescotian, not from Liverpool (just over the border into Knowsley), though we will happily claim him as one of ours.

- - - - - - - - - - - - (breakers) - - - - - - - - - - - -
(21) JACKIE WILSON – (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher

The third and final video produced by Giblets for the Jackie Wilson re-releases.

(15) HEART – Alone

Ooooohhh Boooodyfooorm! Bodyform for yooooou!

(27) THE CHRISTIANS – Hooverville
3 Shades of Ray (Charles)

More socially-conscious pop from the brothers, comparing life under Thatcher to the US shanty towns during the Great Depression (and yes, Gary was a big fan of Ray Charles). This is Roger's last appearance with he band, sadly. Unfortunately the video was never shown, but it was filmed in the half-demolished Clarence Dock power station, site of the 'Three Ugly Sisters' chimneys that were a landmark on the Mersey for decades (and used by the Luftwaffe as a navigatino aid) until they were explosively demolished in 1994.

(1) PET SHOP BOYS – It's A Sin
Emulator III  *

Gah, you had me all excited there thinking it was going to be the first appearance of an EIII (which like the Emax, was released in 1987), daf - it's still their old Emulator II (in fact, it's the same performance from the previous week played from VT)

[The Culture Bunker]

Unfortunately the video was never shown, but it was filmed in the half-demolished Clarence Dock power station, site fo the 'Three Ugly Sisters' chimneys that were a landmark on the Mersey for decades (and used by the Luftwaffe as a navigatino aid) until they were explosively demolished in 1994.

Out of curiosity, are those chimneys the same ones that feature on the single cover of Black's next hit? They don't look too similar, but with him being from the area, I did wonder when you put that pic up.

I'd always assumed 'Sweetest Smile' was the follow-up to 'Wonderful Life', as it doesn't strike me as an obvious first hit single, as much I enjoy it. Instead, it was the other way round (if we ignore the previous release of WL that didn't go anywhere).

[Satchmo Distel]

Does Paul Gadd get royalties from the repeat?

[buzby]

Out of curiosity, are those chimneys the same ones that feature on the single cover of Black's next hit? They don't look too similar, but with him being from the area, I did wonder when you put that pic up.

Yes they are - The Hooverville video is shot in almost the exact same spot as the Wonderful Life cover photo was taken:

The  third chimney isn't identical to the other two, and was a 1950s addition. It powered the industries surrounding the docks, including the nearby Tate & Lyle sugar refinery, Bibby's palm oil works and the United Molasses works. Most of these closed down in the early 80s, so the power station was no longer required. My granddad worked there during WWII (he normally worked in Lister Drive Power Station near Old Swan).

I'd always assumed 'Sweetest Smile' was the follow-up to 'Wonderful Life', as it doesn't strike me as an obvious first hit single, as much I enjoy it. Instead, it was the other way round (if we ignore the previous release of WL that didn't go anywhere).

The 1987 version of Wonderful Life was actually his third single release on A&M - before Sweetest Smile, they had released Everything's Coming Up Roses, which only got to #76 in May 1987. The original 1986 release of Wonderful Life was the first release on Bootle-based indie label Ugly Man, set up by brothers Andrew and Guy Lovelady specifically to release records for Black (Vearncombe having been part of the Liverpool post-punk scene since the early 80s, in his first band The Epileptic Tits), He signed up with them after splitting with the Liverpool-based WEA funded label Eternal (which had also been home to Wah! and It's Immaterial) after the release of his excellent Hey Presto single in 1984.

The Ugly Man release of Wonderful Life got as far as being Janice Long's Record Of The Week on Radio 1 and with her support it got playlisted. However he was met with complete indifference by the music press, the sole coverage he got for the release was one interview in Record Mirror and it ended up runnimg out of steam. It did get him noticed by A&M though.

Ugly Man went on to release records for other North West artists like The Man From Delmonte, but it petered out in 1989 when their distributor Red Rhino went bust, Guy Lovelady revived it in 2000 after moving to Manchester, and it was responsible for the early releases of I Am Kloot and Elbow

Does Paul Gadd get royalties from the repeat?

Yes, he will.

[The Culture Bunker]

Yes they are - The Hooverville video is shot in almost the exact same spot as the wonderful Life cover photo was taken.

The 1987 version of Wonderful Life was actually his third single release on A&M - before Sweetest Smile, they had released Everything's Coming Up Roses, which only got to #76 in May 1987. The original 1986 release of Wonderful Life was the first release on Bootle-based indie label Ugly Man, set up by brothers Andrew and Guy Lovelady specifically to release records for Black (Vearncombe having been part of the Liverpool post-punk scene since the early 80s, in his first band The Epileptic Tits), He signed up with them after splitting with the Liverpool-based WEA funded label Eternal (which had also been home to Wah! and It's Immaterial) after the release of his excellent Hey Presto single in 1984.

Interesting stuff as ever. I do have a copy of the 'Wonderful Life' album that my dad bought at the time - some really good songs ('Everything's Coming Up Roses' may be my favourite) but at just over a hour, it doesn't half drag at times*.

*Though I just learned the last four songs were 'CD only' tracks, which explains something.

[daf]

Gah, you had me all excited there thinking it was going to be the first appearance of an EIII (which like the Emax, was released in 1987), daf - it's still their old Emulator II (in fact, it's the same performance from the previous week played from VT)

Oh balls - Was it?

I could have sworn it was a 'III' written on there - my old peepers must be needing a buff and polish!

[A Hat Like That]

Incredible scenes!

(I also enjoyed Shaky's magnificently confident 'Man striding boldly across a zebra crossing' dance move - Take that, Jeffrey Daniel!)

Did not expect that. Did not expect that at all.

1 minute in, I think he pulls out a bit of fake lassoo. Wonderful.

[daf]

That's gone straight into my Hall of Fame along with Joy Sarney's Naughty Naughty, Single Bed by Fox, and Hot Crumpet dancing to Black Betty.

Glorious!

[A Hat Like That]

Joy Sarney's Naughty Naughty

Nope, I did not see that coming either.

Wow.

Hot Crumpet dancing to Black Betty

Trying to find this, lead me to http://oneforthedads.org.uk/

Thank you!

[Chriddof]

Yes, he will.

That must be why BBC Four's only shown this edition once.

[Jockice]

That's gone straight into my Hall of Fame along with Joy Sarney's Naughty Naughty, Single Bed by Fox, and Hot Crumpet dancing to Black Betty.

Glorious!

My usual anecdote about meeting Joy Sarney's son. Who disappointingly wasn't called Junior Sarney.

[boki]

FUCKING HELL!!!!
I'd completely forgotten about this performance - Mr 'Heterosexual Rock & Roll' goes Hazell Dean Hi-NRG (quite literally, as the LinnDrum handclap pattern from Evelyn Thomas' High Energy is ripped off in this).

I had this pop into my head apropos of nothing about a week ago.  Was gonna post it on Facebook in a "Hey, remember when this weird shit happened?" style, when looking it up informed me of the

GARY GLITTER

thing.  Oh.

[Satchmo Distel]

BBC4 could have just edited the Glitter composition out, as they have with his performances (and Jonathan King)

[daf]

I could have sworn I read he'd sold off his publishing rights years ago for a lump sum, but can't find a sausage about it online!

The memory cheats?

[Norton Canes]

BBC4 could have just edited the Glitter composition out, as they have with his performances (and Jonathan King)

Perhaps they didn't realise GG was on the credits? Maybe their records are badly cross-referenced. It could be that A Little Boogie-Woogie is banned as a song, but TOTP episodes only contain info on performers and presenters.

Having said that, you'd expect a performance this... remarkable, to be repeated more often.   

[daf]

Weirdly, they showed the Gary Glitter version on BBC4 - (with Roger De Courcey on drums!) - back in mid 2012 during the 1977 run.

here we go - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kxyhb

23/06/77 - Top of the Pops
Jimmy Savile looks at the weekly pop chart from 1977 and introduces Dave Edmunds, Tony Etoria, Gary Glitter, Brotherhood of Man, Johnny Nash, Paul Nicholas, Carol Bayer Sager, the Stranglers, the Jacksons and Legs & Co.

There seemed to be a 'he's done his time' view at that point - then, a few months later, 'THE EVENT' happened . . .

[buzby]

I could have sworn I read he'd sold off his publishing rights years ago for a lump sum, but can't find a sausage about it online!

The memory cheats?

The Gary Glitter version reached #31 in August 1977.

When I looked it up before answering Satchmo's question, the newest UK article I could find was from The Daily Star in 2015 saying he still gets up to £250k from his records being played on US radio and at sporting events.. There was also a report from the Australian Herald Sun last January about Craig McLachlan's TV series being pulled from streaming services after being charged with indecent assault, but Gary Glitter videos were still bring played on the music channel Rage, earning him royalties.

He also gets money every time anybody plays 'Hello' by Oasis as they cribbed the lyrics and melody from Hello, Hello I'm Back Again, He will also get royalties from three of the four appearances of The Timelords on the 1988 repeats too (the Christmas 1988 performance will no doubt be Yewtree'd as they brought him on to do the 'Gary In The Tardis' version).

[DrGreggles]

He also gets money every time anybody plays 'Hello' by Oasis as they cribbed the lyrics and melody from Hello, Hello I'm Back Again,

Credited as one of three songwriters on that track - on an album with 12 songs on.
So his cut from '(What's the Story) Morning Glory' will be one third of one twelfth of the total writing royalties for an LP with over 20 million sales.

Cunt.

[Johnboy]

1 x Martin Fry = 10 x Jarvis Cocker

[buzby]

Perhaps they didn't realise GG was on the credits? Maybe their records are badly cross-referenced. It could be that A Little Boogie-Woogie is banned as a song, but TOTP episodes only contain info on performers and presenters.

The archive database has to have the writers and publishers credits (and the length of time the song is played, in the case of videos and Breakers) for each performance so they can calculate the royalty payments per episode (or per clip in the case of the compilation shows).

I don't think they are particularly bothered over #Cancelled writers and producers getting royalties, only on-screen performers and presenters. If they were to go down that route they would probably lose half the remaining 60s and 70s archive (and probably all the 1980s Doctor Who episodes, due to John Nathan-Turner and his partner Gary Downie)

Credited as one of three songwriters on that track - on an album with 12 songs on.
So his cut from '(What's the Story) Morning Glory' will be one third of one twelfth of the total writing royalties for an LP with over 20 million sales.

Cunt.

Mike Leander, Glitter's producer/co-writer being the other (he died in May 1996). Glitter sued Noel to get a writing credit, which was settled out of court in 1999 with a payment of £200k plus the credit. It was reckoned that by 2013 it had earned him £1million, and presumably the same for Leander's estate.

[Satchmo Distel]

Noel Gallagher indirectly paid Gadd's legal costs then, in effect?

[Bently Sheds]

You can sing the chorus of "Everything Changes" by Take That over the chorus of Sam Fox's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now"

Was Barlow a secret Fox fan or just a random chorus pilferer?

[DrGreggles]

You can sing the chorus of "Everything Changes" by Take That over the chorus of Sam Fox's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now"

Was Barlow a secret Fox fan or just a random chorus pilferer?

I Started A Joke being the best example.

[Uncle TechTip]

I understand they skipped 16/07/87 tonight despite no obvious objectionable content. A call out to our TOTP archivist...

[daf]

Might turn up tomorrow  -

Was a technical issue with the playout so we had to swap in tomorrow's- we'll look tomorrow morning if we can get it out!

https://twitter.com/cassianh/status/1111362213397311488

fingers crossed!

[buzby]

I understand they skipped 16/07/87 tonight despite no obvious objectionable content. A call out to our TOTP archivist...

Though tonight's ep did  feature Shaky again, so Glitter will be getting more royalties.

[Norton Canes]

It's the song that just keeps giving. First, two jaw-dropping TOTP performances. Then, wondering how Shaky ended up asking Gary Glitter to pen him a song, I discover it's actually a cover of a GG original (it's the closing track on his 1977 album Silver Star). Unsurprisingly, the lyrics are pretty vile.   

Also I found out a bit more about his backing dancers, Torso. There's some interesting stuff about them on the What We Wore blog, and founder Devon Buchanon has some early video footage of Torso routines on his YouTube channel. They can also be seen among the dancers at the end of Adam and the Ants Prince Charming video.

</buzby>

[daf]

Good news :

So it looks like we should be able to put last night's out tonight! Hope that works...

https://twitter.com/cassianh/status/1111575046223470593

- - - - -

I'll keep my powder dry on the 23 July edition till after we (hopefully) see the 16 July one tonight - if that's OK with everyone.

[buzby]

It's the song that just keeps giving. First, two jaw-dropping TOTP performances. Then, wondering how Shaky ended up asking Gary Glitter to pen him a song, I discover it's actually a cover of a GG original (it's the closing track on his 1977 album Silver Star). Unsurprisingly, the lyrics are pretty vile.   

As discussed upthread. It got to #31 in August 1977 and his performance was shown in the 1977 TOTP repeats in 2012 (with Jim'll presenting, for bonus Yewtree points) with the associated uproar in the press.

[nec1974]

I find it extraordinary that something as jaw-dropping as that Shaky performance somehow got completely wiped from the national consciousness. It's like everyone was so stunned by it that they refused to accept it happened.

And Torso is a beautifully Partridge name for the backing dancers.