Top of the Pops on BBC Four - Thread Three

[kalowski]

EMF were just half a dozen Fruitbats, pretty much. 'Unbelievable' might be a big dumb pointy foam hand of a record but I'm still very fond of it.

The most confident "pulling" I ever did was in a club to Unbelievable. Nothing like me. I strode up to a girl, took her in my arms and the rest is history. Unbelievable, indeed.

[The Culture Bunker]

A cousin of mine is married to a chap who claims he knew EMF before they were famous, and that their drummer borrowed his snare and never returned it - clearly this was a key ingredient to their global, albeit fleeting, fame. 

[Captain Z]

Gazza vs Top Of The Pops - Wizard On The Tyne

https://rave.dj/mJnn_EUIiBORyg

[Norton Canes]

1 November 1990: Presenter: Simon Mayo

(16) | KIM APPLEBY – Don't Worry

Kim rocking the Jon Pertwee look there, love it.

(22) | ROXETTE – Dressed For Success

Anyone else can't help singing "Dressed For Success - Bring him back now we won't take less"?

Just me, then.

(11) | RITA MacNEIL – Working Man  (video)

Yeah Stanley you plum, of course this existed - I've got the Ben Liebrand remix 12" and I saw her do a PA at G.A.Y. The miners went down a storm. So to speak. 

(15) | THE CURE – Close To Me  (video)

Of course there's always been a dance element to their music. Nice touch, following on from the '85 promo.

( 9 ) | KYLIE MINOGUE – Step Back In Time

I dunno, it is good, but when I listen to it now it sounds like its only function is to get yer gran on the dancefloor. Like most SAW hits, too calculated. And Mayo's right about the outfits. 

( 1 ) | THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS – Unchained Melody  (video)

0bvious thing I've just realised: The Righteous Brothers are not The Walker Brothers

8 November 1990: Presenter: Gary Davies

(22) | JASON DONOVAN – I'm Doing Fine

Is it me or has he tried to tone this performance down a notch in order to make himself look slightly less of a twat? I suspect he realises it's a lost cause. He should just have gone full mop-top whacky Macca.

(25) | EMF – Unbelievable

Motherfuckersmotherfuckers. A peerless mash-up of punk, dance, baggy and a huge dollop of ersatz Stourbridge scene sass. Over 30 years since first hearing it and still that writhing riff plunges down when it should go up, never going to get my head round that. Ah, makes me want to hurtle into Philip Schofield. No sorry, that was Carter USM. Anyway imperious as this is, it's not as good as one of my favourite should have been fucking huge songs ever - the immense They're Here from their second album in 1992, which I'll mention now because it didn't get a sniff of the Pops.

Bassist Zac sporting my current lockdown hairstyle here, BTW.

(30) | DEL AMITRI – Spit In The Rain  (video)

Come on lads why not just sing 'piss in the wind' and fuck the charts

(20) | THE LA'S – There She Goes

The most over-rated song ever. Couldn't even be cigs writing any verses. Total deso.

(28) | JIMMY SOMERVILLE – To Love Somebody

Fair fucks to Jimmy for having the balls to do this in a reggae style. Look at his little face!

(29) | 808 STATE – Cubik/Olympic  (video and credits)

Oh yes, a gargantuan slab of aural brutalism. Total car park. Remember hearing it for the first time on the radio but didn't catch the title and for ages it was 'the one that went der-der-der-der-der'.

More but longer please

Top marks to Norton Canes for describing Bez as a "loping spectre", btw. That's perfect!

Thanks!

[daf]

Bassist Zac sporting my current lockdown hairstyle here, BTW.

Wasn't that the one who boasted in an interview that he could fit an orange* under his foreskin?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* may have been a kumquat or possibly a grape - some sort of fruit, anyway!

[Norton Canes]

Wasn't that the one who boasted in an interview that he could fit an orange* under his foreskin?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* may have been a kumquat or possibly a grape - some sort of fruit, anyway!

Maybe that's what really killed him

[daf]

Whatever it was, he certainly didn't die from scurvy :

. . . being famous for stuffing citrus fruit under your foreskin finally got to Zac Foley.
- - - - - -
. . .  some claimed was a grapefruit, and others a lime, under his foreskin,
- - - - - -
. . . Did you know that Zac from EMF could fit a lemon under his foreskin?
- - - - - -
. . . Legend has it that he was able to stuff a tomato and large fruit under his foreskin.
- - - - - -
. . . only emf had zac and his amazing elastic fruitbowl foreskin. long may he rest in peace.

[Norton Canes]

Sounds like a deleted scene from The Terror

[edon]

I'm betting Wogan was behind this - seems prime Radio 2 territory.

It has to be Bates. You can imagine the Pigwanker in chief playing that and it going down well with his Our Tune listeners, who then inevitably went out and bought it.

[daf]

You could be right - further digging reveals that it couldn't have been Wogan - as he was doing TV at the time and didn't return to Radio 2 till January 1993 (having left in 1984).

I seem to remember Steve Wright having a slight penchant for country music, so he's another candidate.

[Gulftastic]

The Minogue track was jumping on the bandwagon of 70s nostalgia which was really taking off at that time.

[Sebastian Cobb]

lol at Gary Davies plugging EMF's rave on national television.

[non capisco]

The Minogue track was jumping on the bandwagon of 70s nostalgia which was really taking off at that time.

I think it's a fairly heartfelt tribute from Pete Waterman to 70s soul. 'Walking In Rhythm' by The Blackbyrds is quite a deep cut reference to bung on a Kylie record.

[gilbertharding]

Impressed how the Kylie and Jason tracks are cut from the same cloth (with the same choreography) and one works and the other doesn't...

I wondered while it was on how good I'm Fine Thanks could have been if they'd gone about 20% easier on the Beatles isms, and given it a decent production with real instruments.

[Johnboy]

re Kylie - I find all that dancing exhausting,

wouldn't she be better off just singing and strutting or whatever, let the dancers do all that heavy lifting

I blame Madonna for all that carry on.

[Captain Z]

As a casual fan i quite like SBIT, but for however many times I've heard it I could not tell you how the verses go.

[daf]

Challenge acccepted! Off the top of my head . . .

Must stop
paging the bus stop
blame it on the boogie
- - - -
[blanking on the next bit]
- - - -
Remember the old days
Remember the O-Jays
rocking in rhythm
night is for living
- - - -

something like that?

[DrGreggles]

Something about "pump that muscle" is in there too.

[daf]

Yes - that was my blank spot!

[Billy]

Is it the next Kylie single that people thought she was singing "fuck" in?

[Captain Z]

Is it the next Kylie single that people thought she was singing "fuck" in?

I'm guessing it was this one? (First few seconds):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsMzM49OIII

[daf]

Shocked I think was - "I was f*cked to my very foundations"

I don't think she's saying it, but its vague enough to hear it if you squint a bit.

[Gulftastic]

re Kylie - I find all that dancing exhausting,

wouldn't she be better off just singing and strutting or whatever, let the dancers do all that heavy lifting

I blame Madonna for all that carry on.

Bless Kylie, but dancing did not come naturally to her.

[Spudgun]

Shocked I think was - "I was f*cked to my very foundations"

I don't think she's saying it, but its vague enough to hear it if you squint a bit.

I think she's singing "rocked" while the backing vocals are singing "shocked", and together it's ambiguous enough to sound like something else entirely.

[Icehaven]

'Kin ell, didn't know Jive Bunny were still ploughing away, don't even remember this one.

[Icehaven]

31 years on from Ice Ice Baby and I still don't know what "wax a chump like a candle" means.

[Icehaven]

oh god its the proclaimers

[Pauline Walnuts]

31 years on from Ice Ice Baby and I still don't know what "wax a chump like a candle" means.

Just go rush to a speaker that booms.

[Icehaven]

Bloody hell the Twin Peaks was ace. Horrible being ripped out of it by the screaming crowd though, I'd quite forgotten where I was.

[daf]

oh god its the proclaimers

And Jonathan King!