Top of the Pops on BBC Four - Thread Three

[Better Midlands]

Yes, "Quadrophonia"!

"Woo, woo, woo, huh! Woo, woo, woo, YEAH!"

The story of Quadrophonia popped up on YouTube a couple of months ago, pretty interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdK0m-X6Vds

[DrGreggles]

I've never liked There's No Other Way much as a song, but the sound of it is great.
Just the way the instrumentation is layered.
I supposed Stephen Street should get a lot of credit for that.

[matjam13]

Errors galore on the 25/4/91 episode:
- De La Soul shown as being at number 15 instead of its actual chart position of 16
- Quadrophinia shown as being at number 32 instead of its actual chart position of 24
- Long Train Running shown as Long Train Coming
- Nicky Campbell saying that The One And Only was the first number one to stay for five weeks since 1985.

[daf]

Well spotted with the chart numbers - very sloppy!

[daf]

25 April 1991: Presenter: Nicky Campbell

(22) | EMF – Children   
(16) | DE LA SOUL – Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)  (video)
(15) | VIC REEVES & THE ROMAN NUMERALS – Born Free



(14) | ELECTRONIC – Get The Message    
- - - - - - - - - - - (Breakers) - - - - - - - - - - - -
(36) | ROACHFORD – Get Ready  (video)
(34) | AC/DC – Are You Ready  (video)
(32) | FRANCES NERO – Footsteps Following Me  (video)
(30) | BANANARAMA – Long Train Running  (video)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(20) | BLUR – There's No Other Way
(26) | GLORIA ESTEFAN – Seal Our Fate
( 1 ) | CHESNEY HAWKES – The One And Only
(24) | QUADROPHONIA – Quadrophonia (video and credits)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[monkfromhavana]

The story of Quadrophonia popped up on YouTube a couple of months ago, pretty interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdK0m-X6Vds

There's also the story of Anasthasia from a few years before with Oliver Abbeloos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxMXM_vgJ58

They weren't even aware that it had been performed on TOTP until after the event. Nick Halkes & Richard Russell just did the performance themselves. Bit shady from XL, even if it was their remix.

[non capisco]

I've never liked There's No Other Way much as a song, but the sound of it is great.
Just the way the instrumentation is layered.
I supposed Stephen Street should get a lot of credit for that.

I do think Blur going on TOTP with a Pink Floyd rip off song and obviously chock full of 1991 strength pingers does look genuinely deranged and psychedelic in context with everything else. One of the times you'd have agreed with your nan when she went "OOOH HE LOOKS LIKE HE'S ON DRUGS."

The KLF performance was absolutely mint. Love them all marching about in a circle at the end. Can't wait for 'Justified And Ancient' now.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I'm not a massive Blur fan but There's No Other Way is legitimately a good fun track.

[non capisco]

I'm not a massive Blur fan but There's No Other Way is legitimately a good fun track.

Coxon plays a blinder on it. The intro riff but also that moo-ing solo.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Coxon plays a blinder on it. The intro riff but also that moo-ing solo.

the breakbeat makes it imo

[the hum]

I'm really convinced Samantha Janus was massively concerned about global poverty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Message_to_Your_Heart

I don't think she was convinced anyone was convinced either: "She has also called her appearance 'ridiculous', in that she was dressed in a pink mini-dress while singing about starving children and says the lyrics of the song are burned into her memory forever."

Also, "After Eurovision, the song placed at No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart, and was in the chart for 3 weeks which was considered a big surprise by many." Heh.

[Icehaven]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Message_to_Your_Heart

I don't think she was convinced anyone was convinced either: "She has also called her appearance 'ridiculous', in that she was dressed in a pink mini-dress while singing about starving children and says the lyrics of the song are burned into her memory forever."

Also, "After Eurovision, the song placed at No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart, and was in the chart for 3 weeks which was considered a big surprise by many." Heh.

And as a big fan of Game On I actually feel bad being mean about her, but it was different times and all that.

[daf]

2 May 1991: Presenter: Simon Mayo

( 3 ) | THE KLF – Last Train To Trancentral



(25) | CATHY DENNIS – Touch Me (All Night Long)
( 5 ) | ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK – Sailing On The Seven Seas
( - ) | SAMANTHA JANUS – A Message To Your Heart
(27) | NOMAD – Just A Groove
( 7 ) | ZUCCHERO & PAUL YOUNG – Sensa Una Donna (Without A Woman)
(23) | FRANCES NERO – Footsteps Following Me
( 1 ) | CHER – The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) (video)
(29) | ROACHFORD – Get Ready (video and credits)

[the hum]

And as a big fan of Game On I actually feel bad being mean about her, but it was different times and all that.

I recall being resentful of her and the tune because my ten year old mind still had a crush on Emma from the year before.

[DrGreggles]

( 3 ) | THE KLF – Last Train To Trancentral

GAWD bless pop music.

[SullySullivan85]

Ah, yes. CRISIS AVERTED!!

Good, good, double good.  I'm downloading them all, plus The Stories of 1976-91, though of course I can't say where, or how.  But hopefully it'll come in handy if, say, Chart Music's collection of episodes to review runs dry. 

[Pauline Walnuts]

(25) | D.J.H. feat. STEFY – Think About...   

Just caught up with this old one, is Stefy about 7 foot tall or are the two guys a little on the short side?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfEdeVyi6BI

[Norton Canes]

Been away, just catching up with these...

25 April 1991: Presenter: Nicky Campbell

(22) | EMF – Children   

S'alright this. Sprightly. Spirited. Possesses an air of appealing naivety. Been trying to find the Mary Whitehouse Experience EMF 'Unbelievable' sketch on YT, but no luck.

(16) | DE LA SOUL – Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)  (video)

Definitely one that's improved with age - I remember being a bit disappointed at the time it didn't continue the ramshackle patchwork sampling of the 3 Feet stuff but in retrospect this is even better.

(15) | VIC REEVES & THE ROMAN NUMERALS – Born Free

All the better a performance for being fairly understated and the sarnie gag is great but come on, this is crying out for Bob to wander onto the back of the set. Preferably dressed as the N-Joi dancing man.

(14) | ELECTRONIC – Get The Message    

"Gotta listen"? A landmark collaboration maybe, but this one's a bit dreary. 

(20) | BLUR – There's No Other Way

Benefit of hindsight perhaps, but they do look like they've got more staying power than most of the indie hopefuls who've rocked up on the Pops lately. Nice edge-case paedo touch with the t-shirt there.

Coxon plays a blinder on it. The intro riff

So much better when you realise you can sing along to it with "He's a Tory cheese twat, he's a Tory cheese twat"

(24) | QUADROPHONIA – Quadrophonia (video

Another brilliant use of the long-form video playout. Have to admit I'd largely forgotten this one, so the breakdown was even better for being a surprise and prompted a bit of middle-age rave euphoria nostalgia (even though I never went within ten miles of a rave)

2 May 1991: Presenter: Simon Mayo

Ha, does he steal a glance at the woman next to him after the 'no dress sense required' remark, the cheeky shit?

( 3 ) | THE KLF – Last Train To Trancentral

Her woo woos are really pissing me off.

It was amazing, particularly loved how the camera cut to whoever was "singing" like clockwork

Yeah, great spot. Really smacks of an old-school director trying to apply a rigorous approach and meticulously tick all the shots off the shooting script. He probably saw it as a massive challenge and gave himself a huge pat on the back afterwards.

(25) | CATHY DENNIS – Touch Me (All Night Long)

Used to have a thing for la Dennis back in the day but safe to say, the appeal hasn't lasted. She's no Kim Wilde.

( 5 ) | ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK – Sailing On The Seven Seas

"Um sirrinowiyooo..." - is McCluskey channelling Elvis?

I've noticed the CYPHER GRAPHICS video captions have been getting a bit more adventurous lately. I'm not impressed.

( - ) | SAMANTHA JANUS – A Message To Your Heart

Oh man. Highlight of the episode. I mean it's textbook Eurosong isn't it, you couldn't write anything more apt. Love that tenth place was seen as a massive disappointment.

(23) | FRANCES NERO – Footsteps Following Me

A young Denise Welch on backing vocals there. Take your coat off! </HarryHill>

( 1 ) | CHER – The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) (video)

Right, I'm off to watch Mermaids.

[Norton Canes]

So much better when you realise you can sing along to it with "He's a Tory cheese twat, he's a Tory cheese twat"

Sorry, this reads poorly. I'm not of course suggesting that he himself Graham Coxon is a Tory cheese twat; rather, that the epithet could be applied to his erstwhile bassist. In fact the more I think about Coxon the more I realise he's like a The Edge off of out of U2, creating riffs and intros that turn good songs into great ones.

The intro riff but also that moo-ing solo

I'd have maybe gone for soughing, but yes. It also sounds a bit whiney, in a way that perfectly compliments the song's lyrical theme.

[Pauline Walnuts]

Sorry, this reads poorly. I'm not of course suggesting that he himself Graham Coxon is a Tory cheese twat; rather, that the epithet could be applied to his erstwhile bassist.

They're all twats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkNvk2MgiCc

[Norton Canes]

Dave Rowntree was definitely a bit of a twat because he owned the flat above ours when we lived in Camden and rented it out to a bunch of French punks who would come home from clubs at fuck off o'clock in the morning and play psychobilly tunes really fucking loud.

[Jockice]

They're all twats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkNvk2MgiCc

I'm sure I read somewhere that Coxon once bit one of his security blokes when he was getting drunkenly carried out of somewhere. Now that's twattish.

[Pauline Walnuts]

Dave Rowntree was definitely a bit of a twat because he owned the flat above ours when we lived in Camden and rented it out to a bunch of French punks who would come home from clubs at fuck off o'clock in the morning and play psychobilly tunes really fucking loud.

Who's are they like? Hitler or one of those Noel Gallagher residents?

You'd never get a Noel Gallagher resident playing psychobilly songs at 4 in the morning.




I can't quite get this to work, oh, well, close enough.

[Norton Canes]

Little tidbit of info from the TV Cream mailout this week - the pulled 31/05 episode actually marks the halfway point of the show's entire run.

[Sebastian Cobb]

That's surprising! I'd have assumed we were nearer the tail than that.

[Norton Canes]

Ah, it's only counting the repeats era (from 1976).

[daf]

I'd be surprised if we get much after 2003 - over half the shows feature either Reggie Yates or the Lost Prophets!

[SullySullivan85]

What's Reggie done? Surely nothing as bad as Watkins? 

[daf]

No, nothing like that - he was a bit careless with his language & got Cor-binned :

In November 2017, Yates stated on a podcast: "The thing that makes it great about this new generation of artists is that they ain't signing to majors. They're independent, they're not managed by some random fat Jewish guy from north west London, they're managed by their brethren". His remarks were condemned by the Community Security Trust's Dave Rich who said: "Even worse than any offence is the message Yates gives his audience by reinforcing an anti-Semitic stereotype".

Yates was "hugely apologetic" for his comment. Following his comments, he stood down from presenting the 2017 festive special editions of Top of the Pops.

He did apologise, so they might just about get away with it - after all, Hitler's still on the Yesterday channel, and he was arguably even more anti-Semitic than Yates!

[Icehaven]

NKOTB are singing live? It shows.