Bands fucking about on live TV performances/miming

[purlieu]

I'm surprised that's still up on YouTube a year later. About five years(?) ago, I uploaded it from the original TOTP performance rather than the TOTP2 one, complete with Bob Geldof's withering intro. It got me my one and only YouTube strike and warning.
Thrash had waded into the comments section and told me in no uncertain terms to, "Take this down, YOU FUCKING THIEF!!!, This is MY music!!!!"

Before I even had a chance, it was removed and I was banned for a bit until I watched the instructional videos on copyright regulations. That experience felt like I was getting a police caution for shoplifting some toffees in the midst of a department store getting turned over by hundreds of rioting looters.

Yes, Kris hasn't been in a very good place for quite a long time now. For a while he seemed to spend most of his time being bitter about The Orb online. He's gone quiet (mostly) recently, so hopefully he's stopped this sort of madness now.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

Steve Priest of Sweet dressing as a Nazi, complete with pointy helmet and swastika armband, then acting extremely camp.  That was for a performance of Blockbuster.

[Brundle-Fly]

Yes, Kris hasn't been in a very good place for quite a long time now. For a while he seemed to spend most of his time being bitter about The Orb online. He's gone quiet (mostly) recently, so hopefully he's stopped this sort of madness now.

Yes, I did hear about his website that seemed to consist of very long rants about the 'shit business' and how he was shafted by everybody. I hope he's found peace.

[Egyptian Feast]

Steve Priest of Sweet dressing as a Nazi, complete with pointy helmet and swastika armband, then acting extremely camp.  That was for a performance of Blockbuster.

Steve Priest is always a joy to watch. I love this German performance of 'Sweet F.A.' where Steve and Andy Scott have rude words on the back of their jackets. The look of childish glee on their faces when they get away with showing them briefly the first time is hugely endearing, then a little later they decide 'fuck it' and turn their backs to the camera so we can all get a good look.

Sweet performances on pop shows are endlessly rewatchable. I always get a kick out of catching Steve mugging to the wrong camera.

[Gulftastic]

The Flying Pickets always seemed to have fun in their brief time in the sun on TOTP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wi6XgwsO9s

[purlieu]

Yes, I did hear about his website that seemed to consist of very long rants about the 'shit business' and how he was shafted by everybody. I hope he's found peace.

He recently took everything offline with a "fuck you all" type message, so no peace, but perhaps going offline will help him.

[Gurke and Hare]

That riot grrl band that dropped their pants on The Word.

[lazyhour]

Didn't Noel and Liam mime each other's parts on a TV performance of Wonderwall or Don't Look Back In Anger or Some Might Say or whatever piece of shit it was?

[McFlymo]

That riot grrl band that dropped their pants on The Word.

L7 - Pretend We're Dead

[studpuppet]

L7 - Pretend We're Dead

They had form (although not televised):

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

[Pauline Walnuts]

The menstruation will not be televised.

[Darles Chickens]

Talk Talk doing Life's What You Make It on a French programme is brilliant, making no attempt to mime to a song which is impossible to perform with their actual lineup. Paul Webb constantly trying to make Mark Hollis laugh is a joy to watch; Hollis's performance consists largely of him drinking a bottle of beer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_-aEwVEfps&ab_channel=TABENON

Never seen that before, I'm in hysterics!  Thanks for posting it.  Even though Mark hadn't done anything for decades, I still miss him.

[purlieu]

Discovering that, behind the very serious music, Talk Talk were an absolute barrel of laughs was such a lovely thing. Mark Hollis was truly one of the greats.

[Ray Travez]

Beck assembling a backing band of octogenarians for Loser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqx3hdk0ZE0

[non capisco]

That Talk Talk clip has cheered me up immensely. Beautiful stuff.

[Tikwid]

Discovering that, behind the very serious music, Talk Talk were an absolute barrel of laughs was such a lovely thing. Mark Hollis was truly one of the greats.

Don't know if it's been posted here yet but check out this clip of them doing Dum Dum Girl in the middle of a field - "I love my Auntie June???"

[Darles Chickens]

Don't know if it's been posted here yet but check out this clip of them doing Dum Dum Girl in the middle of a field - "I love my Auntie June???"

Fucking about, but still manages a great live vocal.  There was a second take as well, but I think he nails it better the first time.

[purlieu]

"Traaahsiz"

[SpiderChrist]

"Traaahsiz"

I feel like I'm in The Pink Floyd

[buzby]

Killing Joke on TOTP with Jaz Coleman either hiding under a hazard suit or (so the stories say) off in Iceland to hide from the apocalypse and replaced by a mystery person in a hazard suit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoTNOb76LV4

It wasn't TOTP, it was Riverside (08/03/82, BBC2 7pm). They also 'performed' Chop-Chop.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I think Eels "played" toy instruments or something when they did Novocaine For The Soul on TOTP.

Edit: They did https://youtu.be/wDwO1hECw9M and smashed them to shit before the song ends. Even better it's Peter Andre introducing them.

And a few years later when they did Flywatter on Jools Holland E. pulls a slice of pizza from under the lid of his keyboard and starts gnawing on it in the middle of the instrumental.

https://youtu.be/jyFP6HbnGao?t=174

Dunno where the prop phone that was sat on top of the hinged lid of the keyboard up until that point went.

[jamiefairlie]

It wasn't TOTP, it was Riverside (08/03/82, BBC2 7pm). They also 'performed' Chop-Chop.

Think they did it on both shows, one with a person inside the suit and the other with just a dummy.

[JesusAndYourBush]

Years ago I was told a story about a band appearing on TOTP (probably 80's) and the trumpet player (who may have been a well-known trumpet player making a a guest appearance rather than a regular member of the band) was pissing about by playing all sorts of random shit but because they were miming it wouldn't have been heard by the viewers, but the band were probably distracted so it might have been evident something odd was happening.  I don't remember the name of the band, I'm not even sure the person telling me could remember it either, anyone have a clue what band this was??

[dr beat]

Modern Romance?

[jenna appleseed]

I've just reminded myself of possibly the best live 'fucking about' TV performance in the history of, well, fucking about on TV.

https://gawker.com/5981614/dennis-weve-been-crying-too-much-dr-hook-and-the-untold-story-of-the-best-rock-movie-ever-made

Thanks for bring that glorious piece of writing back into my life.

Internet archive page for part two because the link's broken
https://web.archive.org/web/20130313211508/https://gawker.com/5981623

written by Will Sheff from Okkervil River, which I swear I didn't know the last time I read it, a real fuck my hat moment.

[jenna appleseed]

Belle & Sebastian's only appearance on TOTP. Insurrectionist rock and roll mayhem!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWTDhqwM52I

Think the story at the time was that they sent a different (ultra?)obscure indie band along to TOTP to pretend to be Belle and Sebastian, remember watching it 'knowing' that wasn't really them. Any truth?

[Mr Banlon]

I don't know if the conga player is 'fucking around' or just fucking mental. Either way, he's definitely not a real conga player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJpwoQul69Y

[jenna appleseed]

I don't know if the conga player is 'fucking around' or just fucking mental. Either way, he's definitely not a real conga player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJpwoQul69Y

youtube comments

Francesca "i hope to be as happy as that guy drumming"
Sammy South "You think that dude's happy?  No brother that dude's high as a kite. There's a difference."

Sammy South
And would the music sound any different without Ron Jeremy banging on those congas?

btw your avatar's broken.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Think the story at the time was that they sent a different (ultra?)obscure indie band along to TOTP to pretend to be Belle and Sebastian, remember watching it 'knowing' that wasn't really them. Any truth?

No. That's the actual Belle & Sebastian.

[lipsink]

The singer from The Bluebells shouting 'Techno ! Techno !Techno ! Techno !' in the middle of Young At Heart on TOTP

Yes! If I remember correctly they were number 1 for a few weeks and each week on TOTP they did a different reference to a song during that instrumental break. Another week he shouted "Shabba!"