Top of the Pops on BBC Four - Thread Three

[Chicory]

Not sure if it helps, but when he appeared with The Young Ones live on stage for that year's Comic Relief in 1986, he came on stage moonwalking. Perhaps the earliest manifestation of his 'hello there, fellow kids' approach to dancing.

Now that's what I call 'danger dancing'.

[TheMonk]

Take it you're all across this fabulous YouTube channel?
https://youtube.com/channel/UC9j6PdFzmhquWpCLU9Wf0HA

[Campbell Soupe]

It annoys the a/v pedant in me that 70s 2" quad video tape is sold as "HD".  To be fair, it does look good though.

[Norton Canes]

Gah. Two episodes tonight but not consecutive episodes, so I'll have to watch the Roseblocked one out of order. It's not right.

Ooh. I've just discovered that when you type CTRL+I you get the italics code

And if you highlight the text you want italicised with CTRL+cursor arrow, then hit CTRL+I...

Mind blown

[Norton Canes]

Hey, Tony! Got any news about The Story of '91?

[kaprisky]

Wow! That Public Enemy performance in the second episode was something. All jib/crane shot. It seems to capture what was so exciting about them. No messing around with 'wobbly' visuals or scantily clad dancers here.

If 1991 was the year of the revamp, then what will define TOTP '92?

[kalowski]

Wow! That Public Enemy performance in the second episode was something. All jib/crane shot. It seems to capture what was so exciting about them. No messing around with 'wobbly' visuals or scantily clad dancers here.

If 1991 was the year of the revamp, then what will define TOTP '92?

What was it? Can't Truss It?

[DrGreggles]

If 1991 was the year of the revamp, then what will define TOTP '92?

'Eezer Goode

[dissolute ocelot]

9 Jan 1992 was quite a storming show: the more expansive staging coming into its own with some nice scrapyard imagery and enough space for bands to show off. No Cliff Richard or Sonia here, it actually feels like the future rather than the past. Bjork with Sugarcubes' "Hit" is still a great piece of weird tunefulness. Carter USM's "Rubbish" brings a little of indie mosh pit, much better than their previous appearance with the dull all-lyrics-no-beat "After the Watershed". Even a clip of Kiss with "God Gave Rock And Roll To You" from "Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey" is cool. Kym Sims isn't bad either, credible pop with the aid of Steve "Silk" Hurley, and Blue Pearl's mad post-industrial rave is something else to scare the older viewer. Senseless Things' pop punk should get anyone bopping on the sofa, and nice pink cardie on the singer. Plus "Bohemian Rhapsody" to round it all off, because some things are timeless.

[Norton Canes]

End up bingeing on all three shows. Fantastic stuff. There's something about this niche little period of Pops history - tucked away at the start of a decade that's finding its feet for now but which will later become infamous for some dubious musical movements - that's really pushing my buttons. It really does feel like the future. Rave hasn't been diluted and co-opted and still sounds dangerous, people are wearing sci-fi costumes, and the best music isn't beholden to the past. I can't remember which performance it was during, but at one point this kind of wave of love for the whole mini-era hit me and I suddenly thought "please, Britpop, don't turn up and spoil this".

It helps that the show is in a bit of a precarious, uncertain phase too. Though yes, it's starting to find its feet in terms of how it stages the acts. Carter's junkyard was excellent and the camerawork on Shut 'em Down was inspired, of course, but there was also Blue Pearl's oildrums and Senseless Thing's Hewlett backdrops. I wonder if some artists (or even the Pops production team) tried to raise the bar after seeing KLF's spectacular performances?

And I've got to say, I don't think this shift in style and content, this uniqueness, would be anywhere near as pronounced without our beloved YZ presentation team. Yes, even him. I can't imagine all this being nearly as much fun with Brookes, Campbell and the rest of the old guard in place. The new crew might have trouble getting their words out in the right order (or even at all) but suddenly there's no sniping, no holier-than-thou "Ah, we remember when it was all better than this" attitude - just the, sheer unbridled enthusiam of happy, inquisitive puppies.

Anyway

Shit, is that the time? Haven't even mentioned any of the music.

Oh well. Laterz!

[bigfatheart]

Yeah, I really enjoyed those episodes - all three of the buggers - it really felt like the neighnties had been banished and the 90s, or at least the pre-Britpop part, had properly begun. Or maybe I was just glad to have it back after the interminable wait since 1991 ended.

The increasingly elaborate staging, costumes etc are fun, too - it's a good way to elevate some of the less charismatic acts, and they've got the good sense to give it a rest when that's not necessary, i.e. when Public fucking Enemy are on.

Shakespear's Sister shit me up something rotten when I was a kid, especially Siobhan's bit, so all I can think of with that song is my arsehole sister singing it at me to make me cry. I can look forward to that trauma recurring over the next few weeks.

Genesis can fuck off, though.

[daf]

9 January 1992: Presenters: Claudia SimOn & Mark Fr@nklin

(27) | THE SUGARCUBES – Hit
(17) | ISOTONIK – Different Strokes
(05) | KYM SIMS – Too Blind To See It (video)
(14) | CARTER – THE UNSTOPPABLE SEX MACHINE – Rubbish
- - - - - - - - - - - (Breakers) - - - - - - - - - - - -
(28) | THE STONE ROSES – Waterfall (video)
(21) | KISS – God Gave Rock And Roll To You II (video)
(13) | CE CE PENIS-TON – We Got A Love Thang (video)
(10) | THE PRODIGY – Everybody In The Place (video)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



(26) | BLUE PEARL – (Can You) Feel The Passion
(18) | SENSELESS THINGS – Easy To Smile
(01) | QUEEN – Borehemian Crapsody (video)

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

[Norton Canes]

The complete top 40 for the editions on 9th Jan | 16th Jan | 23rd Jan

Daisy Chainsaw's 'Love Your Money' in at 35 on that last chart. Surely one of the greatest Pops performances that never were.

[Norton Canes]

I'm not sure Sian Pattenden actually listened to the whole of Stay, you know. Or even got as far as Siobhan's bit.

[daf]

16 January 1992: Presenters: Tony DOrtie & Adrian ROse

NEW | THE WONDERSTUFF – Welcome To The Cheap Seats
(03) | WET WET WET – Goodnight Girl
(07) | CE CE PENISTON – We Got A Love Thang
(09) | KISS – God Gave Rock And Roll To You II (video)
(16) | DES'REE – Feel So High
(26) | THE WEDDING PRESENT – Blue Eyes



- - - - - - - - - - - (Breakers) - - - - - - - - - - - -
(29) | PAULA ABDUL – Vibeology (video)
(20) | CLIVILLES & COLE – Pride (In The Name Of Love) (video)
(10) | GENESIS – I Can't Dance (video)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(22) | THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH – Old Red Eyes Is Back
(01) | QUEEN – Bohemian Rhapsody / The Days Of Our Lives (video)

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

Spoiler alert

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/b60ef1b5ca3d1998a99213bc9bef266620220107173716/25bb25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNOb6yQ3xSY [slightly edited version]

[close]

[Norton Canes]

So, the acts then. Sorry gonna have to resort to bullet points again

The Good

• The Sugarcubes, of course, lending a touch of ace Icelandic allure. Sorry, I know we're not allowed to say this, it's really not on, but... Björk and Magga look utterly lush. There. Did it. Cancel me
• Isotonik's giant Orange. Anyone got any Jaffas? Sorted!
• Carter's car turn, notable not just for the scrapyard set but because the lighting, smoke and close-up camerawork does an impressive job of obscuring the studio and making it look like you're actually at one of their sweat-pit gigs (as long as don't look too closely at the audience)
• 'Everybody In The Place'. We won't see an extended clip of the video until the '92 Christmas show which is a shame because the bit with Keith dancing behind the hydrant operator is priceless
• That Des'ree performance of Feel So High is just beautiful. In an alternate universe not so very far from our own, it was this and not 'Goodnight Girl' that spent four weeks at the top of the chart
• Stay is obviously one of the singles of the year. But there'll be plenty more time to talk about that
• Chuck n' Flav being upstaged by the lads in the audience every time the camera dips to one side. Show some respect, fools! Oh, and the fantastic view of the whole studio afforded by the camera as it moves into place at the start

The Bad

• (Can You) Feel The Passion - that chorus doesn't really deliver after the promising verses. Feel like it needs an Insanity-style gear shift in there to crank up the excitement
• Senseless Things singer Mark Keds dying last year
• The Stuffies auditioning for the The Six Doctors
• Of all the indie bands to decide to put out twelve singles in a year... why did it have to be The Wedding Present? Stupefyingly dull
• I know Maria Carey is a great vocalist and appreciate she has a huge range but it would've been brilliant if that range had stopped just short of that stupid squeaky note she always hits. We love you Maria, don't torture us like that

The 'Oh, what?'

Just when you thought Phil Collins couldn't become any more insufferable, the little prick comes up with I Can't Dance. Is this supposed to represent some sort of U2-like attempt to become all self-aware and meta? Did rubbing shoulders with the Spitting Image crew while shooting the Land Of Confusion video lead to you thinking satire was easy? Or are you just, as I suspect, terminally incapable of seeing people do things better than you without feeling compelled to take a bitter swipe at them? Fuck off. Hope someone puts a paint pot on your grave.

But wholly the worst thing about this trio of shows is Goodnight Girl. No, not because it's awful - quite to the contrary, in fact - I've been playing it several times a day all week, I think it's absolutely brilliant. From the inveigling opening harmonies (C# major to C flat major to E major to E flat major; C# major to C flat major to E major to, oh! D major) all the way through to... well, the same thing again at the end (what other songs are bookended by identical elements that aren't present anywhere in the middle?) it's just fantastic. The lyrics are kind of permanently teetering on the edge of making sense, but never quite hold together - a wishing well, for instance, doesn't seem like something you'd be 'caught up' in; makes me think it's a phrase dropped in at the last moment as a replacement for something more unpleasant - a 'web of lies', perhaps? I've got to admit it was completely off my radar - if anyone had asked me before last week how it went or how high it got in the charts I'd just have shrugged. Maybe the fact it's a new discovery, a little bit of history protected and recently unearthed that's prejudicing my opinion. Who knows.

So what happens? Instead of doing the soothing, calming, floating percussionless version like they did on the 2nd January show, they murder it by adding drums. Cheers lads. It's dead to me now.

Rosewatch

Still looks like he's been forced to do this by his mum prodding him in front of the camera with a sharp umbrella. He gives a lovely long wistful glance at Tony in the first link, but otherwise remains dead behind the eyes throughout. What's going on inside? Mark my words, something will reveal itself sooner or later.

Daisy Chainsaw's 'Love Your Money' in at 35 on that last chart. Surely one of the greatest Pops performances that never were

Ah well, the Pops' loss was The Word's gain

[daf]

Authentic 90's vibes with an eclectic chart mix, its . . .

23 January 1992: Presenters:  Steve AndersOn & Mark Fr@nklin

(09) | 2 UNLIMITED – Twilight Zone
(27) | SHAKESPEARS SISTER – Stay
(26) | CURTIS STIGERS – I Wonder Why
(07) | GENESIS – I Can't Dance (video)
(05) | KYLIE MINOGUE – Give Me Just A Little More Time



(21) | PUBLIC 'ENERY – Shut 'Em Down
(31) | MARIAH CAREY – Can't Let Go (via satellite)
(01) | WET WET WET – Goodnight Girl

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

[Norton Canes]

Uh oh. Looks like a 'birrova' of a revamp for the review format. Wordcount slashed. It's the end of days.

[daf]

Smash Hits - Gone Down the Dumper!

Yes unfortunately S.H. also had a 'Year Zero' revamp starting with this issue - whereas previously I was spoiled for choice, I had a hard time finding even 6 pages worth featuring here!

As my old grandad used to say :  "All style and no grub!"

[Norton Canes]

Ah, was it this edition? I remember buying it (or actually probably looking at in in W.H. Smith's) at the time and thinking, woah, where's all the funny stuff gone? They really did chuck it all out in one fell swoop, didn't they - the slang, the catchphrases, Black Type, everything that made it so great.

RIP Smash Hits.

[gilbertharding]

Am I alone here in thinking that Carter USM were flipping rubbish (in general, but on that week's TotP especially)?

I thought the clever words was the entire point of this awful shambles, and you couldn't hear them. The whole thing stank of Lamacq, and unwashed cock (as they say in Nottingham).

I also, for what it's worth, found the Black or White dance thing at the end of I Can't Dance pretty funny.

I know I was watching on 9 January 1992, because I went to the record shop on Friday and bought a copy of Easy to Smile on pink 7" vinyl. I didn't watch TotP often, but I was in that night, recovering from really bad glandular fever.

[KennyMonster]

Am I alone here in thinking that Carter USM were flipping rubbish (in general, but on that week's TotP especially)?

I thought the clever words was the entire point of this awful shambles, and you couldn't hear them. The whole thing stank of Lamacq, and unwashed cock (as they say in Nottingham).

You're probably not alone there, I'm probably almost alone in absolutely flipping loving Carter ever since I saw a video of theirs played out during the credits of a TOTP episode in 1991 and they've never been far away from my listening ever since.

Rubbish isn't my favourite single of theirs so it was a bit weird to see that performance again as it wasn't something I'd chosen previously to save to VHS.

Their Lyrics is what I think got me hooked, someone up-thread criticised After The Watershed to be lyric heavy and not much else, well I've listened to it many times and the tune, with the violin strings still sends a shiver down my spine.

They were heavily pushed by Lamacaq at this time as he was heavily into them, he even decided to break his stage diving cherry to one of their B-sides.

Interesting that you liked The Senseless Things though, they supported Carter on many occasions and got on well with each other, especially Cass.

[gilbertharding]

I mean, I properly loathed Carter at the time - a loathing exacerbated by the fact that they seemed pretty much unavoidable. They were headlining the first gig I went to at the Cambridge Junction soon after it opened (I mainly went to see the venue - and the support was Jacob's Mouse who were local heroes), and they were definitely at Reading twice when I was there, and supporting at other gigs I went to.

As for the Senseless Things - I liked that single. Never bothered to explore much beyond that tbh. I had a lot of friends who were into that Fraggle stuff (Mega City 4, etc), but I preferred my punk rock American.

[KennyMonster]

I mean, I properly loathed Carter at the time - a loathing exacerbated by the fact that they seemed pretty much unavoidable. They were headlining the first gig I went to at the Cambridge Junction soon after it opened (I mainly went to see the venue - and the support was Jacob's Mouse who were local heroes), and they were definitely at Reading twice when I was there, and supporting at other gigs I went to.

As for the Senseless Things - I liked that single. Never bothered to explore much beyond that tbh. I had a lot of friends who were into that Fraggle stuff (Mega City 4, etc), but I preferred my punk rock American.

Unavoidable, yeah

The cheek of them playing at a gig they were billed on, you were forced to go to see Jacob's Mouse and the exits were locked as Carter played. True.

This was back in the day when Reading only had one stage when Carter played in 1991 (main stage) and 1995 (t'other stage). True.

Wall to wall daytime radio play on 1FM, Atalantic 252 and your local independent radio station. True.

There was literally NO ESCAPING them.

(Are you actually Stuart Maconie from 1991/92 getting into a huff because the Happy Mondays are imploding and The Stone Roses have gone AWOL and some Londoners and Midlanders are the ones now fighting for the tiny battered crown of UK Indie?).

[KennyMonster]

Anyway, outside of Carter land.......

I remember Einer(?) from The Sugarcubes being a rather bad, poor excuse of a shouty rapper on Hit (despite liking the song at the time), but I don't remember the really awkward, stilted, dad-dancing he did too.

That must have been the point where Bjork thought 'f*ck this for a game of soldiers, I'm off'.

Spoiler alert

Carter covered Hit as one of their B sides by the way, not their finest moment.

[close]

[gilbertharding]

I'm not saying anyone else is to blame for the fact I saw Carter more than once. I'm not even saying I blame anyone else for the fact I saw them more than three times. Thinking back, I should just have said no to my friends who liked them and wanted to go. Or turned my back on the stage or something.

But I said 'seemed' unavoidable.

Believe me - no-one is less happy than me that I saw them more times than I saw some bands I actually liked.

[crankshaft]

Carter USM's "Bloodsports For All" is the best record that any of that early 1990s cohort made, by a great distance, and it's still a brilliant, angry and depressingly relevant song today.

[KennyMonster]

Carter USM's "Bloodsports For All" is the best record that any of that early 1990s cohort made, by a great distance, and it's still a brilliant, angry and depressingly relevant song today.

Marketing geniuses that they were, they released this single that criticised the army during a time when Are Brave Boys^TM were protecting Are Freedoms in the land of sand, so it was only a minor hit and the record label Rough Trade bit the dust.

Proof if proof be need be that war sometimes has a downside too.

[Norton Canes]

Much as I like Carter USM I can't say I've got a favourite single because... well they're all a bit the same really, aren't they. I mean they all follow the same template. It is a great template to follow, though - trashy drum machine, raucous guitar, shouty vocals, love it. Also they played one of the most riotous gigs I've been to, at The Sugarhouse in Lancaster, with a low ceiling that was perfect for catching sweat and raining it back down on the audience.

Also I was into them early enough that I had time to grow out my fringe like Jimbob while it was still cool.

[Norton Canes]

Hey, Tony! Got any news about The Story of '91?

Addendum: there are rumours abroad that the 'Story of...' docs from '91 onwards will be shown as a weekly series from Easter on BBC2. Which would tie in with BBC4 becoming an archive-only channel.

(I guess they might even start with a repeat of the '90 doc to make it a 10-part 90's series)