Top of the Pops on BBC Four - Thread Three

[DrGreggles]

Gawd I fancied Lady Miss Kier so much!

Yep, worked for me too.

[Chicory]

Imagine producing one of the best singles of the year, only to be swiftly reduced to prancing and gurning around like Cadet Sensible, bleating your way through some nasal Elvis karaoke in a fall from grace that would make Phil Spector blush. Now.

Adamski, there.

[edon]

Though there have been many wonderful flukes in the history of pop music, going straight from the excellence of Killer to cack like that is strange. Slightly inclined to say Adamski was poorly served by his label, but then he probably just didn't have it in him to do much more of worth anyway.

This week was an improvement on much of the past ones to be fair, crap number ones notwithstanding. Not surprised FNM got relegated to the credits slot after their larks last time around, equally unsurprising that they faded the video out before the bit where Bjork's pet fish is dying too.

[DrGreggles]

Bjork's pet fish

Made up by Roddy in an interview, I believe.

[daf]

13 September 1990: Presenter: Gary Davies

(27) | LONDONBEAT – I've Been Thinking About You
(15) | JANET JACKSON – Black Cat (video)
(18) | SONIA – End Of The World
(16) | INXS – Suicide Blonde (video)
(22) | BASS-O-MATIC – Fascinating Rhythm
( 5 ) | THE KLF – What Time Is Love?



(26) | MARIA McKEE – Show Me Heaven
( 1 ) | STEVE MILLER BAND – The Joker (video)
(29) | FAITH NO MORE – Epic (video and credits)

[non capisco]

Why would you cut off Deee-Lite seconds before "1-2-3...blululululululu"?

The chorus of Bass-O-Matic's 'Fascinating Rhythm' is great, can't get enough of KLF pumping their fists and chanting "MU MU!", the bit in the 'Groove Is In The Heart' video where the camera just stays on Lady Miss Kier dancing with abandon to the Q-Tip rap is nothing short of intoxicating. 1990 is the best repeat year in ages, possibly since '84. The fact I'm borderline furious 31 years later that the fucking 'Joker'[nb]If he's 'the midnight toker' why's he get all bashful when someone offers him a bifter in that unrepresentative live clip from the 'Abracadabra' era? I actually love a lot of Steve Miller Band's late 60s/early 70s stuff, My Dark Hour with Macca on bass is an absolute belter, but no way is The pissing Joker fit to lick the stack heels of Groove Is In The Heart[/nb] kept Deee-Lite off the top by a mere EIGHT COPIES SOLD shows how invested I've become again in these repeats. I'm well aware TOTP itself falls to complete shit in 1991 but for now this is pretty solid, and there's still the rest of the KLF Stadium House singles to come. And Black Cat >>>>>Dirty Diana.

[DrGreggles]

I'm well aware TOTP itself falls to complete shit in 1991

Did the 1991 'live vocal' relaunch kill TOTP?

In this reporter's opinion, yes.

[non capisco]

Did the 1991 'live vocal' relaunch kill TOTP?

In this reporter's opinion, yes.

Certainly from my memory. I think it was September 1991 they did the revamp. I certainly remember them making a big song and dance about refreshing the show and then the first 'new' edition they had Status Quo on it. It might be worth sticking with the repeats after then for all the incredibly wayward live vocal performances.

[edon]

From memory the initial months of 91 are quite decent and probably the best the show had been for some time - KLF doing their thing as already mentioned, a number of memorable appearances from Erasure, Massive Attack, among others, and good performance direction even when the songs aren't up to much

The relaunch is definitely when it really shits the bed though. "Yoof" presenters who can barely spit out their scripted lines, poorly set up live vocals, and the likes of Status Quo, Neil Sedaka, and even Cilla Fucking Black performing songs not in the charts as if the producers want it to be the 70s again, so with the foresight of that coming, right now is definitely alright.

[monkfromhavana]

Do you know Attack Of 50ft Drum Machine? - big Sasha track from '91.

Never heard it before, though I have heard that piano line sampled on a hardcore track that I know I own, but for the life of me cannot remember what it is.

*Edit*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6sCNekFUho

[Captain Z]

Shame that (I assume) we won't see DNA - La Serenissima which peaks at 34, and I can't believe it's only just clicked that they're the same DNA currently higher up the chart with the Tom's Diner remix.

Did The KLF not have a video for What Time Is Love at this point? Because the footage is just a repeat of their live performance two weeks prior.

[Norton Canes]

6 September 1990: Presenter: Jakki Brambles

God she's lovely. There, I've said it. Going to have to get hold of her Loose Women boxset and find Stopping Scotland's Scammers on catch-up. Hey Jakki, how does Radio 1 work? (Nice to know that if she is caught out by the end of A Little Time, there's an emergency button that plays The Sisters Of Mercy's More)

(23) | ADAMSKI – The Space Jungle

Going for the young Elton look? Shit obviously but, he's a weird thing, that 'jump and shake, jump and shake, jump and shake and do your thing' bit (I hesitate to call anything as lightweight a 'chorus') is one of those lines that's got stuck in my subconscious for some reason and resurfaces at random moments. Maybe he should've gone with that and ditched the Elvis schtick. Love the crewmember attempting to rouse the audience from their torpor in the quiet bit.

(31) | TALK TALK – Life's What You Make It (video)

Oh FFS it's not like there's a Cocteau Twins single going up the chart or anything

(28) | THE FARM – Groovy Train

Solid. Impressive trousering co-ordination. Remember crawling around the floor looking for a girl's contact lens at a house party while this was playing. Or was that All Together Now? 

(29) | CARON WHEELER – Livin' In The Light

Sake Caron, make an effort. Don't you hate when these pops stars turn up to the studio like they just rolled out of bed.

(21) | LOOSE ENDS – Don't Be A Fool

Loving this. Our living room saw some seriously fly moves while this was on I can tell you.

(32) | JANET JACKSON – Black Cat (video and credits)

Class but if only it had a tune.

Bye, Jakki (sad face)

13 September 1990: Presenter: Gary Davies

Shit just realised we're in September already! These are flying by.

(27) | LONDONBEAT – I've Been Thinking About You

Getting a serious Partridge vibe off this for some reason, can't remember it ever being used in anything AP though. Cha-ba-ba!

(18) | SONIA – End Of The World

This has a really weird time signature doesn't it, as I only discovered when trying to click my fingers along.

Anyway, exciting stuff - we've got a couple of dedicated road cyclists in the studio tonight, sporting some nice retro jerseys. The one to Gary's right is similar to the classic AD Renting team jersey worn by Greg Lemond as he won the 1989 Tour de France in nail-biting fashion while the other appears to be that of club vélo de Bournemouth Olympic. Lovely to see two aspects of the sport represented by such clearly knowledgeable enthusiasts.

(22) | BASS-O-MATIC – Fascinating Rhythm

Yeah it's okay but it's a bit commercial. Was disappointed by this because I'd got William Orbit's remix of Nitzer Ebb's Backlash where he really cuts loose with the studio lunacy, and expected more in a similar vein.

(26) | MARIA McKEE – Show Me Heaven

Rewritten lyrics or not it still ain't that great.

( 1 ) | STEVE MILLER BAND – The Joker (video)

But surely a tie-break should go in favour of the single that sold more copies the previous week? Otherwise it's just rewarding failure.

I'll leave it to the people at the TV Cream weekly mailout to sum the whole episode up. "At the time this seemed like a dreadful and undeserved victory for boring old dadrock over exciting new dance sounds, and we're still a bit fed up about it to this day."

[Norton Canes]

Oh and I did enjoy this existential moment





Why indeed.

[Norton Canes]

Nice to know that if she is caught out by the end of A Little Time, there's an emergency button that plays The Sisters Of Mercy's More

Heh actually that's pretty heavy on the irony. If a song only takes A Little Time there's a button that givers you More.

[Satchmo Distel]

Did the Cocteaus have a no TOTP policy like The Clash? (It's chart run was 39-38-48-OUT)

[dissolute ocelot]

30 August 1990: Presenter: Mark Goodier (Live)

(25) | ASWAD – Next To You
(24) | SONIA – End Of The World
(11) | THE KLF – What Time Is Love?
(14) | STEVE MILLIBAND – The Joker (video)
( 4 ) | BETTY BOO – Where Are You Baby

Slightly late to the Betty Boo failing to make it in the USA, but in the same episode Goodier also introduces Sonia's End of the World by saying she's always smiling, so it's clear he was deliberately trying to be a wrong as possible.

(iPlayer seems to have bypassed most of August for me, which may have been a mercy.)

Also, with "Tonight" (3 weeks ago), NKOTB are doing the Take That "Back For Good" retrospective Beatles/ELO pastiche five years early and what respect do they get? None.

[Norton Canes]

Did the Cocteaus have a no TOTP policy like The Clash? (It's chart run was 39-38-48-OUT)

Plenty about their attitude to Top Of The Pops in this 1985 interview. As to why the video wasn't shown instead - maybe that's what happens when you snub the establishment. I think there's been some anecdotal evidence on this thread about how vindictive the production team could be.

[Gulftastic]

The Pops last chance to treat us to 'STEP ONE!' and they blew it.

The Maria McKee song is super dull, but her live vocal was brilliant. If only the revamp could have guaranteed that kind of quality.

[non capisco]

The Pops last chance to treat us to 'STEP ONE!' and they blew it.

Holding out for Christmas Day 1990. Come on guys, give Lurch Travolta his moment!

[matjam13]

Shame that (I assume) we won't see DNA - La Serenissima which peaks at 34, and I can't believe it's only just clicked that they're the same DNA currently higher up the chart with the Tom's Diner remix.

Appears as a breaker on 20/9/90.

[edon]

If only the revamp could have guaranteed that kind of quality.

Instead, we got stuff like this, where they bugger up the sound entirely. Whole thing was likely born out of a want for "authenticity" unfortunately - something TOTP and pop music never really needed to have.

[Starlit]

Tom's Diner has twice been creditted to Suzanne Vega featuring DNA, but I've never seen a record that isn't DNA featuring Suzanne Vega.

I loved Adamski's previous singles and I'm sure at the time I liked one from .. Musical Pharmacy, but I'd completely blanked out this single. For obvious reasons.

[monkfromhavana]

Tom's Diner has twice been credited to Suzanne Vega featuring DNA, but I've never seen a record that isn't DNA featuring Suzanne Vega.

I loved Adamski's previous singles and I'm sure at the time I liked one from .. Musical Pharmacy, but I'd completely blanked out this single. For obvious reasons.

IIRC, his following singles were nowhere near as good as "The Space Jungle" which really doesn't bode well. Actually I don't think he's done anything remotely decent since Killer. I can only think that after Killer was a hit (not sure how big it was in America), they tried to have a hit in America with the Elvis cover thing and failed. Also, as his career up to Killer was based around piano lines maybe he felt that to have any career longevity he couldn't keep ploughing that furrow, but he wasn't really good enough at anything else.

[Chicory]

Hopefully he got some further 'Killer' dosh from the George Michael version and that rotten ATB cover.

[buzby]

Did The KLF not have a video for What Time Is Love at this point? Because the footage is just a repeat of their live performance two weeks prior.

They did indeed - the 'Cornfield' video, made by their usual video accoplice Bill Butt (who had to go up in the microlight for the aerial shots).  As the countdown clock shows, it was distributed on the 8th of August 1990, shortly before the single was released. The shots of the 'Trancentral' speaker stack and the camera running along a beach were taken from the footage Butt shot on Jura for the longform video Waiting, whixch would be released later in the year. An article on the creation of the crop circle (which was made in 6 hours by BIll, Jimmy, Cressida and Bill Butt) and how it related to the then-current crop circle hype in the media can be found here.

The video was shown on The Chart Show at the time, but the BBC might have believed it to be of insufficient quality for broadcast. More likely that Bill & Jimmy adopted the position that a spontaneous studio perfomance was probably better for promotion than showing the video, if they were asked to appear (and it's not like they were busy doing anything else). If they were unavailable, or the studio logisitics limited the number of live appearances, the TOTP producers would, as a rule, usually default to showing a repeat of an earlier studio perfomance if one was available in lieu of a video.

A later edit was used in Europe that incorporated footage from the second TOTP performance. They then made a completely new 'live' video at the same time as the Last Train To Trancentral video shoot, to be incorporated into the Stadium House Trliogy video compliation.

There was also a video released for the original Pure Trance version in 1988, using footage from the first Sierra Nevada shoot for for the aborted White Room film.

[Pauline Walnuts]

Instead, we got stuff like this, where they bugger up the sound entirely. Whole thing was likely born out of a want for "authenticity" unfortunately - something TOTP and pop music never really needed to have.

I can't remember who said it, but Top of the Pops appointed a producer who apparently actively hated Pop Music. With predictable results.

[Satchmo Distel]

Plenty about their attitude to Top Of The Pops in this 1985 interview. As to why the video wasn't shown instead - maybe that's what happens when you snub the establishment. I think there's been some anecdotal evidence on this thread about how vindictive the production team could be.

I think also that the period they were asked on was the "balloon" period and it would have diminished them, as it did The Smiths I felt. They'd have reached a lot more people but maybe they didn't want that either, preferring to be a cult Peel band?

[Johnboy]

The Farm - Shakin' Mondays

[Camp Tramp]

That Captain Hollywood song has been in my head for years. 90% of it is crap but the intro and outro have haunted me for 3 decades.

[Icehaven]

Always the best Charlatans song by a mile.