Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 09:20:01 AM

Login with username, password and session length

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

daf

5 June 1986: Presenters: Gary Davies & Simon Bates

(15) CA$HFLOW – Mine All Mine
The Delbert Wilkins Experience
(16) GENESIS – Invisible Touch (video)
Drumstick Larks
(2) SIMPLY RED – Holding Back The Years
Trumpet solo by Gordon Ramsay


https://www.flickr.com/photos/51106326@N00/sets/72157662892784885/

- - - - - - - - - - - - (breakers) - - - - - - - - - - - -
(21) MIAMI SOUND MACHINE – Bad Boy
(19) FALCO – Vienna Calling
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(17) PET SHOP BOYS – Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money)
DOSH!  DOSH!  DOSH!  DOSH!
(10) NU SHOOZ – I Can't Wait (video)
Nu Grot-o-Vision
(1) DOCTOR & THE MEDICS – Spirit In The Sky
Flashing Twin Undercrackers
(9) JAKI GRAHAM – Set Me Free (video / audience dancing / credits)
Rubber Bum Come-a Bouncing Back to Me

non capisco

I'm getting a distinct "tolerating" vibe from the other two members of Genesis regarding Phil's antics in the Invisible Touch video.

Camp Tramp

Phil's hair in that video was tragic.
Was that look ever fashionable?

buzby

Quote from: daf on October 04, 2018, 09:27:32 PM
29 May 1986: Presenters: Janice Long & John Peel (Liverpool Double Special!)
Gerrin La!
Quote
(10) ROBERT PALMER – Addicted To Love (video)
I always end up slightly hypnotised by the oscillating breasts of Julia Bonino (the lead guitar player). Julie Pankhurst (the keyboard player) appeared on the single's sleeve and returned for the video for Recipe for Love and Palmer's Simply Irresistible Pepsi ad. Patty Kelly (rhythm guitar) also returned for the video for Recipe For Love. I feel sorry for Kathy Davies (the drummer) as we hardly see her.

The video was directed by fashion photographer Terence Donovan (who also directed the video for Simply Irresistible). All the ladies were from the books of the Models 1 agency in London (Kelly and Mak Gilchrist, the bassist, had worked with Donovan on adverts previously). During filming, to satisfy the MU 'no non-musicians miming' rule that Danny DeVito fell foul of, there was a band of real musicians behind the camera playing along as a guide to show the models what to do,
Quote
(22) THE REAL THING – Can't Get By Without You
Hot on the heels of the 'Decade remix' (i.e. 10 years since if had been released) of You To Me Are Everything we get the 'Second Decade remix'(as in the second in the series instead of 20 years since it's release) of Can't Get By Without You. Their 70's label PRT would continue to mine this seam with a remix of Can You Feel The Force, which prompted the band to record two new singles for Jive Records, both of which failed to make the Top 40. Chris Amoo then returned to breeding his Crufts-winning Afghan Hounds.
Quote
(21) NU SHOOZ – I Can't Wait
Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on October 05, 2018, 12:10:06 PM
I fucking love I Can't Wait.

The video is mental though; you can tell someone got a Paintbox for Christmas.
I love this one too. This is the 'Dutch Mix', made by Peter Slaghuis for the Dutch Injection Disco Dance label (the people behind Mai Tai). The original single was released on the band's own Poolside label in 1985 to promote their second album That's Right, but didn't make much of an impact outside their native Portland. When Hot Trax imported copies of the Slaghuis remix back to the US and it became a club hit, Atlantic offered them a contract and picked the remix up for an official release and included it on first album under the deal, The Point Of No Return (later renamed Poolside before release).

The 'Oh' sample used to replace the original synth riff is from the Emulator's sample library and appears on a lot of 80s records (Slaghuis used a similar effect in in his remix of Whistle's Just Buggin'). Injection Disco Dance offered him a percentage or a one off fee for the remix. He didn't think much of the track it so took the £150 one-off fee.

The video was directed by Jim Blashfield, the artist behind the animated video for Talking Heads' And She Was. He was also a Portland resident and knew Valerie and John so made it as a favour. It was a totally improvised shoot, using items he'd brought from home, bought from a thrift store during the 2 days of filming, borrowed from friends (such as the dog, and the animations when Valerie opens the box at the end were borrowed from his friend Roger Kukes's short film Up) and from the crew (the toolkit came from one of the crew's cars).

At the end of the 2 days he then went back to his studio, shot some animations and took all the footage to Michael Quinn, who owns a post-production house in Portland called Mission Control. He then assembled the footage and did the compositing work with Blashfield directing. Just the opening scene with the items dropping onto the perforated steel took 8 hours to render. Quinn became Blashfield's go-to editor for his future projects on the basis of his work on this video.

(BTW, it's the Quantel Harry that does compositing - Paintbox just does still images).
Quote
(20) PETE WYLIE – Sinful
Come round and break wind in your kitchen
The famous Peel prediction and the dancing nuns, which garnered a complaint from Mary Whitehouse. Unfortunately this is the last appearance of Wylie on TOTP, as it was his last attempt at 'playing the game' (He'd dropped the Wah! moniker, but his then-girlfriend Josie Jones is still present).

As with It's Immaterial and BlacK's early singles, this was released on Liverpool-based indie Eternal and distributed by WEA offshoot MDM. On the basis of this, Wylie was offered an album deal on Virgin offshoot Siren (who Eternal had shifted their allegiance to), which failed to chart. He had one further Top 40, when he teamed up with The Farm in 1991 for a 'baggy' remake Sinful!

Cuntbeaks

Quote from: Satchmo Distel on September 28, 2018, 11:14:08 AM
Not seen the episode (I'm in the US) so was wondering if Peel had changed his approach by this time (three years into his regular presenting career) or was already a tired old presence that was stinking the place out
Despite being a big Peel follower at this time, his presence on TOTP never really registered. However, pulling him up for his presenting style is really very churlish. He is showcasing the most mainstream pap there is despite doing his best throughout every contractual minute. This is the guy who was introducing listeners to Stump and King Tubby as opposed to the shite in the top 40

Im amazed he was as polite as he was.

DrGreggles

Quote from: Cuntbeaks on October 07, 2018, 01:42:48 AM
Despite being a big Peel follower at this time, his presence on TOTP never really registered. However, pulling him up for his presenting style is really very churlish. He is showcasing the most mainstream pap there is despite doing his best throughout every contractual minute. This is the guy who was introducing listeners to Stump and King Tubby as opposed to the shite in the top 40

Im amazed he was as polite as he was.

Peel was how he was on TOTP because that's the whole point of having him present. He was there to take the piss.
It's not as if he was doing this stuff against the will of the producer!

non capisco

Agreed, although not sure the producer was aware he was going to call the Robert Palmer song 'A Dickhead In Love' or refer to Queen as 'the Sun City boys' during the chart rundown. I do have a fond memory of my mum cracking up at the 'break wind in your kitchen' line, although she was partisan about Peel who she referred to as "a very sexy man". It takes all sorts, I guess. She used to say that about Tommy Lee Jones as well.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

Pete Wylie gave his daughter the name " Mersey ", y'know. I mean, What a git.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: buzby on October 07, 2018, 01:25:17 AM
Gerrin La!I always end up slightly hypnotised by the oscillating breasts of Julia Bonino (the lead guitar player). Julie Pankhurst (the keyboard player) appeared on the single's sleeve and returned for the video for Recipe for Love and Palmer's Simply Irresistible Pepsi ad. Patty Kelly (rhythm guitar) also returned for the video for Recipe For Love. I feel sorry for Kathy Davies (the drummer) as we hardly see her.

The video was directed by fashion photographer Terence Donovan (who also directed the video for Simply Irresistible). All the ladies were from the books of the Models 1 agency in London (Kelly and Mak Gilchrist, the bassist, had worked with Donovan on adverts previously). During filming, to satisfy the MU 'no non-musicians miming' rule that Danny DeVito fell foul of, there was a band of real musicians behind the camera playing along as a guide to show the models what to do, Hot on the heels of the 'Decade remix' (i.e. 10 years since if had been released) of You To Me Are Everything we get the 'Second Decade remix'(as in the second in the series instead of 20 years since it's release) of Can't Get By Without You. Their 70's label PRT would continue to mine this seam with a remix of Can You Feel The Force, which prompted the band to record two new singles for Jive Records, both of which failed to make the Top 40. Chris Amoo then returned to breeding his Crufts-winning Afghan Hounds.
I love this one too. This is the 'Dutch Mix', made by Peter Slaghuis for the Dutch Injection Disco Dance label (the people behind Mai Tai). The original single was released on the band's own Poolside label in 1985 to promote their second album That's Right, but didn't make much of an impact outside their native Portland. When Hot Trax imported copies of the Slaghuis remix back to the US and it became a club hit, Atlantic offered them a contract and picked the remix up for an official release and included it on first album under the deal, The Point Of No Return (later renamed Poolside before release).

The 'Oh' sample used to replace the original synth riff is from the Emulator's sample library and appears on a lot of 80s records (Slaghuis used a similar effect in in his remix of Whistle's Just Buggin'). Injection Disco Dance offered him a percentage or a one off fee for the remix. He didn't think much of the track it so took the £150 one-off fee.

The video was directed by Jim Blashfield, the artist behind the animated video for Talking Heads' And She Was. He was also a Portland resident and knew Valerie and John so made it as a favour. It was a totally improvised shoot, using items he'd brought from home, bought from a thrift store during the 2 days of filming, borrowed from friends (such as the dog, and the animations when Valerie opens the box at the end were borrowed from his friend Roger Kukes's short film Up) and from the crew (the toolkit came from one of the crew's cars).

At the end of the 2 days he then went back to his studio, shot some animations and took all the footage to Michael Quinn, who owns a post-production house in Portland called Mission Control. He then assembled the footage and did the compositing work with Blashfield directing. Just the opening scene with the items dropping onto the perforated steel took 8 hours to render. Quinn became Blashfield's go-to editor for his future projects on the basis of his work on this video.

(BTW, it's the Quantel Harry that does compositing - Paintbox just does still images).The famous Peel prediction and the dancing nuns, which garnered a complaint from Mary Whitehouse. Unfortunately this is the last appearance of Wylie on TOTP, as it was his last attempt at 'playing the game' (He'd dropped the Wah! moniker, but his then-girlfriend Josie Jones is still present).

As with It's Immaterial and BlacK's early singles, this was released on Liverpool-based indie Eternal and distributed by WEA offshoot MDM. On the basis of this, Wylie was offered an album deal on Virgin offshoot Siren (who Eternal had shifted their allegiance to), which failed to chart. He had one further Top 40, when he teamed up with The Farm in 1991 for a 'baggy' remake Sinful!

Is there a reason clinking glasses were a big thing back then? Is it something that was inherently hard to sample?

The 'oh' sample has a bit of nostalgia for me, because it was one of the samples used to demonstrate that my dad's archimedes (a3000, serial scsi 100mb) was capable of 'doing music', which it wasn't really, you'd need an amiga or an St.

Sorry about being wrong about quantel.

Vodka Margarine

Despite being aware of 'I Can't Wait' and its cheesy infectiousness for three whole decades, I somehow never saw the video until the other day. I always thought Nu Shooz were a Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam type concern, not a woman who looks like my year 7 science teacher fannying about with some props.

TheMonk

Quote from: non capisco on October 06, 2018, 07:24:18 PM
I'm getting a distinct "tolerating" vibe from the other two members of Genesis regarding Phil's antics in the Invisible Touch video.
They do look like they hate doing videos most of the time, mind you.
Look at the awkwardness in the ones where they have to try to be amusing themselves; Illegal Alien, Jesus He Knows Me, I Can't Dance.

daf

11 June 1986: Presenter: Mike Smith

(20) SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK – 21st Century Boy
Elvis 1990
(10) FALCO – Vienna Calling (video)
Dial F für Falco
(19) LOVEBUG STARSKI – Amityville (The House On The Hill)
Spook! . . . Slither!
- - - - - - - - - - - - (breakers) - - - - - - - - - - - -
(24) BUCKS FIZZ – New Beginning (Mamba Seyra)
(21) AMAZULU – Too Good To Be Forgotten
(16) A-HA – Hunting High & Low
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(6) THE REAL THING – Can't Get By Without You
The Remixed Thing
(5) ROBERT PALMER – Addicted To Love (video)
The Posh Spice 5



(1) DOCTOR & THE MEDICS – Spirit In The Sky
Maid in Heaven
(22) JANET JACKSON – Nasty (video / audience dancing / credits)
Stay tuned for Dallas!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
https://we.tl/t-qs0MlyzebG


Gulftastic

Quote from: non capisco on October 06, 2018, 07:24:18 PM
I'm getting a distinct "tolerating" vibe from the other two members of Genesis regarding Phil's antics in the Invisible Touch video.

It's another entry in the Phil/Genesis collection of videos showing them filming a different video that we never get to see.

buzby

Quote from: Vodka Margarine on October 07, 2018, 02:46:05 PM
Despite being aware of 'I Can't Wait' and its cheesy infectiousness for three whole decades, I somehow never saw the video until the other day. I always thought Nu Shooz were a Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam type concern, not a woman who looks like my year 7 science teacher fannying about with some props.

iNu Shooz are husband and wife Valerie Day and John Smith, Their follow-up single Point Of no Return was pretty decent too and another hit in the US, but it never made the Top 40 here (they resisted the temptation to double down on the stuttering samples from thei  remix of their previous hit). They are still recording and touring, and Valerie's voice still holds up well.

gilbertharding

Quote from: Satchmo Distel on September 28, 2018, 11:14:08 AM
Not seen the episode (I'm in the US) so was wondering if Peel had changed his approach by this time (three years into his regular presenting career) or was already a tired old presence that was stinking the place out?

Yeah - I know a few others have said something similar, and you're entitled to your opinion, but I beg to differ. It's what he was there for.

In any case, his shtick is definitely an affected weariness. You can nearly always sense a raised eyebrow, a giveaway that he's in on the joke.

And not just when it's one of 'his' bands - who in any case are just as often introduced by Janice or Kid...

It's true, while he did like actual pop music, he also tended to 'forget about' artists once they became commercially successful (perhaps it was mutual). Don't forget, either, that two of Peel's favourite records are by Sheena Easton and Althea and Donna. He also bemoaned the over representation of guitar music in his Festive 50s from 1987 on...

You surely can't object to his 'Sun City boys' quip re Queen, can you?

If you were to mention his tiresome cheer-leading for Liverpool FC, on the other hand...

buzby

Quote from: gilbertharding on October 08, 2018, 04:50:32 PM
It's true, while he did like actual pop music, he also tended to 'forget about' artists once they became commercially successful (perhaps it was mutual).
From reading his biography and memoir I think that was borne out of his experiences with Marc Bolan and Rod Stewart. In the late 60s he tirelessly promoted Bolan and T.Rex and they became good friends, with Bolan staying as John & Sheila's house. When T. Rex finally got signed Peel wrote the sleeve notes for their debut LP, but once they started having hits Bolan shunned him.

He also became friendly with The Faces and hung out with them a lot (there's the famous TOTP performance of Maggie May where he's playing the mandollin with them, and he described them as his all-time favourite band). After they split he remained good friends with Stewart, and he and Shiela used to go round to his house for dinner, but Rod then moved to LA as a tax exile, and Peel felt celebrity had gone to his head and criticised him for acting like a berk.

Both those experiences seemed to influence his future relationships with bands - despite his endless cheerleading for The Undertones, The Fall and HMHB, he never really develped personal relationships with them.

daf

#106
19 June 1986: Presenter: Gary Davies (7 Video Special!!)

(11) BUCKS FIZZ – New Beginning (Mamba Seyra)
Wot, no Jay?
(5) A-HA – Hunting High & Low (video)
Making a Killing
(9) AMAZULU – Too Good To Be Forgotten
Strobe-tastic!
- - - - - - - - - - - - (breakers) - - - - - - - - - - - -
(22) BANANARAMA – Venus
(21) QUEEN – Friends Will Be Friends
(14) OWEN PAUL – My Favourite Waste Of Time
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(3) NU SHOOZ – I Can't Wait
More Cowbell!
(12) THE HOUSEMARTINS – Happy Hour (video)
Claymation Dance Routine, Gentlemen Please



(1) DOCTOR & THE MEDICS – Spirit In The Sky (video)
Zebra Cube!
(18) MIAMI SOUND MACHINE – Bad Boy (video / audience dancing / credits)
A Tail of Two Kitties

DrGreggles

Quote from: daf on October 11, 2018, 10:27:25 PM
(12) THE HOUSEMARTINS – Happy Hour (video)
Claymation Dance Routine, Gentlemen Please

What a superb pop song.
I'm sure we're all aware of this, but it's nice to be reminded on occasion.

daf

#108
26 June 1986: Presenters: Mike Smith & Steve Wright

(15) BANANARAMA – Venus
Shocking Black
(21) DAVE BOWIE & THE DAVE BOWIE BAND feat. DAVE BOWIE – Underground (video)
. . . Overground, Warbling Free
(14) QUEEN – Friends Will Be Friends (video)
To take trouble over a sea of arms
- - - - - - - - - - - - (breakers) - - - - - - - - - - - -
(26) CLAIRE & FRIENDS – It's 'Orrible Being In Love When You're 8 ½
(24) SAMANTHA FOX – Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(7) OWEN PAUL – My Favourite Waste Of Time
. . . was going on Pebble Mill at One
(13) MADONNA – Papa Don't Preach (video)
The only place broadcasting videos at the moment (ooh - big wow!)
(1) WHAM! – The Edge Of Heaven
I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition


https://www.flickr.com/photos/51106326@N00/sets/72157662300358620/

(27) MIDGE URE – Call Of The Wild (video / credits)
Hello? . . . is it a bust of Piltdown Man you're looking for?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
https://we.tl/t-IfLbj7K8GP



daf

3 July 1986: Presenter: Janice Long

(3) THE HOUSEMARTINS – Happy Hour
It's Lovely Being in a Lock-in When You're 18 ½
(27) GARY NUMAN – I Can't Stop (video)
Here in my Plane, I feel safest of all, I can lock all my doors, It's the only way to live, in planes . . . with a saucy lady!!
(12) SAMANTHA FOX – Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me)
She's got her Knockers . . . (But take no notice, Sam - you rock on!)



(19) CLAIRE & FRIENDS – It's 'Orrible Being In Love When You're 8 ½
Mini Pops - The Next Generation!!
(8) BUCKS FIZZ – New Beginning (Mamba Seyra) (video)
Windy Pipe Factory
(23) SLY FOX – Let's Go All The Way
Release the Hounds!
(1) WHAM! – Where Did Your Heart Go?
And now for the B-side
(26) ART OF NOISE & MAX HEADROOM – Paranoimia (video / credits)
Happy Birthday, young squirt!

Phil_A

Gah, just when I thought we'd dodged a bullet due to Claire & Friends appearing in a Smithy episode. How long did that wretched thing clog up the charts? Surely it can't have lasted another week?

The Culture Bunker

Guy I work with was at Hull Uni in the mid 80s, including one day featuring the local student Tory wankers holding some kind of demonstration in which their leader was being particularly obnoxious. At which point, he was sparked out by one annoyed observer, who later grew up to be Paul Heaton.

I asked if the Housemartins really were the fourth best band in Hull and he said "well, Red Guitars were certainly better", but I think that was more down to the politics.

The Culture Bunker


canadagoose

Thanks, daf, for the 26/6/86 edition. Some brilliant pop songs on there. Not so sure about the Bowie track, but I can hardly fault the others.

Norton Canes

#114
Quote from: daf on October 12, 2018, 08:41:00 PM
3 July 1986: Presenter: Janice Long

Haven't watched one of these all the way through for a few weeks. Thought this was a pretty good installment, despite the cringe-worthy studio performance from the tiny girl singing wholly inappropriate lyrics. But enough about Sam Fox ha ha! Do like that Bucks Fizz song, it's got a pleasing 'oddball songs from bands past their sell-by date' vibe to it. And had TOTP drawn up some kind of contract with Gary Numan to show his half-arsed songs however lowly their chart position? Then there was Paranoimia. It literally only occurred to me as I was watching it that the title is a hybrid of 'paranoia' and 'insomnia'. At least, I think that's the intention. It doesn't really work. Maybe they should have gone with 'Paranoimnia'. Or 'Paranomnia'? Anyway no Headroom on the album version of course, some bright spark had the idea of employing Mr Frewer to spice up a rather mediocre instrumental for radio play (or completely ruin it, depending on your point of view). And is this the end of audience credits dancing? An era passes.

non capisco

'Too Good To Be Forgotten' has the same melody as the 'Bullseye' theme tune.

buzby

Quote from: daf on October 11, 2018, 10:27:25 PM
19 June 1986: Presenter: Gary Davies (7 Video Special!!)

(11) BUCKS FIZZ – New Beginning (Mamba Seyra)
Wot, no Jay?
First release on their new label Polydor, and since Jay had departed. The track had actually been in the can since February, and was a cover version of a track released by Force 8 a year earlier (and was co-written by future TOTP feem toon writer Tony Gibber). The Internet seems to think this was a pseudonym for remains of The Dooleys, but i'm sure they were from Liverpool - the single was released on the New Mersey Sound label and I can remember it being played to death on local radio in Merseyside.
Quote
(5) A-HA – Hunting High & Low (video)
Another high-concept, big budget video from Steve Barron, featuring Morten's adventures in CSO-land and morphng effects that were hand-animated on a Quantel Paintbox. There was a Blue Peter segment on the making of the video presented by the lovely Janet Ellis (sigh...). The song is decent, though it feels like an advert soliciting for the Bond gig (which was ultimately successful).
Quote
(3) NU SHOOZ – I Can't Wait
Isn't Valerie lovely? When they play live she also plays percussion - she's a pretty mean bongo player
Quote
(12) THE HOUSEMARTINS – Happy Hour (video)
Directed and animated by Giblets ((Rob MacGillivray, Mike Sumpter, Carol MacGillivray and Michael Olley), who would also later produce the videos for Reet Petite, Higher And Higher, Sweetest Feeling and Star Trekkin'. Spot their press officer Phill Jupitus as one of the pub patrons.

Quote from: daf on October 12, 2018, 01:52:55 PM
26 June 1986: Presenters: Mike Smith & Steve Wright
A pair of tits.
Quote
(15) BANANARAMA – Venus
Suitably shambolic choreography from the ladies. Siobhan seems to be battling a costume malfunction throughout. They had been performing a cover of Venus since their early days but never recorded it as they wanted to reduce the number of covers they were recording. While recording their third album with producers Jolley & Swain, the record company heard a rough mix and didn't hear many hits, so they were tasked with coming up with some.

They had heard Dead Or Alive's You Spin Me Round and thought that remaking Venus in the same style would work, but Jolley & Swain thought it was a terrible idea. They then got in contact with Dead Or Alive's producers SAW, who also said it would be a terrible idea. The ladies insisted it would work, so after 2 runs though the vocals Pete & the boys set to work. The result was a worldwide smash hit, including going to number 1 in the US charts.
Quote
(21) DAVE BOWIE & THE DAVE BOWIE BAND feat. DAVE BOWIE – Underground (video)
Dame Dave does the feem toon for Labyrinth.with another Steve Barron animated video (which naturally features animation, and a bonus Who-esque regeneration sequence of Dave's personae). The animation was scratched directly onto exposed 35mm film by German animator Solweig von Kleist, and back in 2016 the original rolls of flim could have been yours for 7000 euros.

The song itself is  a bit of a nonentiy, despite assembling a stellar cast of backing vocalists (including Luther Vandross, Chaka Khan and Cissy Houston) and musicians (Albert Collins on guitar)
Quote
(26) CLAIRE & FRIENDS – It's 'Orrible Being In Love When You're 8 ½
Written and produced by 'Matchstalk Men' Brian & Michael, it was recorded at the former Strawberry 2 studio Yellow 2 (over the road from the main Strawberry building) in Stockport, where albums like New Order's Low Life, The Fall's Bend Sinister and Stone Roses' Garage Flower were recorded. Apparently it had the lowest proportion of 12" singles sold for a 1986 single at only 0.2% of sales (200 copies)
Quote
(24) SAMANTHA FOX – Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me)
Flat as a pancake (not often that's been said about Sam ahshaha...).
Quote
(27) MIDGE URE – Call Of The Wild (video / credits)
He split up Ultravox for this?


buzby

Quote from: daf on October 11, 2018, 10:27:25 PM
(11) BUCKS FIZZ – New Beginning (Mamba Seyra)
Wot, no Jay?
Quote from: buzby on October 14, 2018, 01:16:24 AM
First release on their new label Polydor, and since Jay had departed. The track had actually been in the can since February, and was a cover version of a track released by Force 8 a year earlier (and was co-written by future TOTP feem toon writer Tony Gibber). The Internet seems to think this was a pseudonym for remains of The Dooleys, but i'm sure they were from Liverpool - the single was released on the New Mersey Sound label and I can remember it being played to death on local radio in Merseyside.
I was interested in trying to dig deeper into the mysterious origins of Force 8, and reconcile my memory of their version being a local hit in Liverpool a year before the Buck's Fizz one appeared. I found the website of the co-writer/producer Mike S. Myers so I sent him an email asking if he could remember anything about the recording. He graciously sent me this very detailed response:
Quote from: Mike S. Myers
The song New Beginning was originally recorded by Force 8. I was asked to produce the track which was recorded in London at Sony Studios in Whitfield Street. Some sundry overdubs, vocals and mixing were done at various other studios in and and around London and in Manchester. The musicians were a collective of various session players. The vocals were done by a number of singers including myself, some children, members of a Liverpool based band called Spooky (hence the Toxteth connection I guess) and one or two of The Dooleys, (hence the Dooleys connection) who were unsigned at the time.

I believe the track was initially released on the Priority label, as you say in your email, although this was not something I was personally involved with. This was a role handled by Jim Dooley, a former member of The Dooleys.

Ironically, the track was initially turned down by Polydor, the label that eventually released the Bucks Fizz version. The Bucks Fizz track was produced by me together with Andy Hill.
So, there you go - the truth is actually somewhere in between the two theories in that both members of a Liverpool band and ex-Dooleys were involved. Interesting that Polydor turned the Force 8 version down, only to put the Fizz version out a year later.

daf