The Rolling "Top of the Pops" BBC4 Revival thread.

NEdmonds always had his love of singer-songwriters, to be fair.

Big fan of Harry Chapin, yer Edmonds.

Balderdash certainly describes droll Noel's career.

This was easily the most WTF song on this week's show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iISUroWbu2U

I watched last night's 1976 episode, it was amazingly and compellingly bad. Lots of odd-looking folks I've never heard of awkwardly performing novelty songs, and one of Pan's People doing some remarkably gratuitous ass-shaking in the direction of the camera. I need more.

70s was the golden age for ugly blokes, you could still end up in a band on TOTP with groupies galore. Rubettes' (sans caps) song sounded more like the Beatles than the Rutles!

I'm watching this now. LOL at the male members of the Vagabonds miming the female backing vocals. Something massively depressing about second tier disco groups though, like they're trapped in time, it's as if they're composed entirely of all the bits of late 70's disco that don't influence music today.

Shoeless and carrying a walking stick with a bicycle bell on it? Fucking hell, Harpo could teach Lady gaga a thing or two.

Sheer Elegance one of the most misnamed bands ever judging by what they were wearing, the uglyness of the Rubettes & their overcocky drummer, the utter WTFness of Harpo. mandatory viewing from now on!

I'm sure Punk would never of happened if Sky+ would of been available in 1976...ended up fast forwarding most of last night's show...bring back Noosha Fox...become a little obsessed with s-s-single bed...

^^^ same goes for watching it on iPlayer. I don't know if 'compellingly bad' is the term, or just 'bad'.

the uglyness of the Rubettes & their overcocky drummer

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx-aH0oBscw

definitely 'compellingly bad' for me. and Fox lady really reminded me of Alison Goldfrapp which is a Good Thing.

Noosha F missing link between Clare Grogan and Goldfrapp. Love that record.

Ah, been catching up via good old iplayer on the wii.

Old enough to remember these episodes quite clearly in some cases.

Sad that they haven't gone back far enough in time to have Sparks on.

Still, don't recall that Gilbert O'Sullivan song though I must have heard it then.

Oh, last I heard, they are definitely doing this run for a year.

After that? Who knows...

Still, don't recall that Gilbert O'Sullivan song though I must have heard it then.

He was long gone as commercial proposition by 1976. That song sounded like a demo, did artists have to re-record tracks? I know they had to re-record vocals, hence the ubiquity of the Ladybirds. But then other acts obviously just mimed to the record.

They did 'have' to.

A lot of them switched the tapes post-session, apparently.

ooooooo-oooooooooooooh Vienna it's Slik

It's Midge Uuuurrrr...

And Paul knickerless

Jesus Christ, superstar?

DLT looks like Badly Drawn Boy.

This is sooooo much better than last weeks....

Only one novelty act so far.

Shit Brotherhood Of Man are still number one...

They were there for 6 weeks.

The guy without the 'tasche wants to die.

I still fucking hate the last line of that song...not for the paedo connotations...just cos i hate it...

So, there isn't a TOTP this week, but there is a "Primal Scream" themed evening coming up on Friday.

AAAAAAAAAAARGH

No, the band, not the Janov therapy.

You could kind of see why Midge Ure ended up in Ultravox, I mean "Requiem", the title sounds an like Ultravox song. Slik were a pretty cool looking band by 1976 standards.

Oh, it was very Ultravox, for sure.

I got tickets to see them live in 1978, Top Rank, Reading, thanks to being at the Radio210 offices at the right time: The whole band were there, I met them all, and got the signed piccies, and for some reason that escapes me two free tickets and a bunch of discount vouchers. It wasn't full to say the least, and the support band, "Screemer", were perfectly competent early seventies pophairies that would lose their career path in the wake of punk...

That 1978 should be (Nov) 1976 (oops), timings at that point in history are crucial.

Mud go disco, urgh...

Didn't the guitarist write 'Can't get you out my head' by Kylie...sounds a bit like it...

Frankie Valli's tired performance there. He really got a boost from appearing in Grease in '78, didn't he.

Sometimes I think Elvis died just to avoid crappy cover versions like this.

DEVIL WOMAN!!!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LP_YP0I7zZY/SoFziAfbpiI/AAAAAAAAC-c/RoLUJLbssFU/s200/RikMayall.png

the shadows have let themselves go...

Mud go disco

Surreal

the shadows have let themselves go...

Even by 1976 standards that was one ugly backing band.

Was there anything good in this episode? Apart from Cliff?

The iplayer only has the 30 min version!

Blimey, Robin Sarstedt, what was that all about? Sutherland Brothers/Quiver was quite nice, not enough guys with combovers in the charts these days.

Guessing Annie Lennox has superseded the Sutherland Brothers as Aberdeenshire's biggest chart act though

The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver were pretty great, a lot of quality 70s country rock/AOR tunes. Never heard the Suths on their own tho.

odd that they chopped the Stones out of the longer version.

Robin Sarstedt song was familiar. probably from Jane Russell in The Las Vegas Story.

i think claire grogan has heard that fox single.

The Sutherlan Brothers did the original of "Sailing", and I knew it before Rods version thanks to a k-tel compilation.

Well....'punk had to happen' is a tired old theme, but IF it was ever true then this weeks shows why. Robin Sarstedt - just die you seedy bastard. Sutherland Brothers and Quiver - a soundtrack for cruisin' down the Gateshead bypass in your Hillman Avenger. The singer (Gavin Sutherland?) had great hair though. Frankie Valli, who I maintain it is impossible to dislike looked like he hadn't slept for a year. Manilow - unspeakably awful, and why did he have the piano stool so high? He could barely reach the keys. JJ Barrie - nothing can really describe the horror of this record, although he looked like a decent enough bloke. The Mud record was utterly bizarre - I have no memory of this at all. Even though it was a bit of a disco death-rattle from the bubble-glam stalwarts, they at least seemed enthusistic about it. And bonus marks go to Dave Mount for doing the 'let's arse about on the telly' walk around his drum-kit. What else was there? Ruby Flipper - what did Pan's People do to deserve this fate? Only bright spot was Cliff - crackin' song that with a lovely electric piano sound. The band were hod-carriers even by TOTP session-men standards. They made Sutherland Brothers and Quiver look like arch sex gods in comparison. Oh and of course Abba. But they faded it in verse 2 - bastards. A dire week but at least they didn't show Hank Mizell or John Miles. And how bored was Noel throughout?

Back in 76, I was still watching TOTP as a 14yr old, along with OGWT, but I don't think I was listening to anything much from the charts. I had some Pink Floyd albums, I think I'd just discovered the Syd era LPs. I had a couple of Status Quo albums (Piledriver, Hello) some Bowie and T-Rex, Story of The Who, some K-Tel comps. Within a year I'd be spending my pocket money on scratchy singles in home-made sleeves made by bands barely older than myself from Belfast, Manchester, Deptford and Ladbroke Grove. Happy days, and yeah they did HAVE to happen.

Actually, I did notice that "England's Irie" was on two weeks in a row which is against the rules unless it's number one. Which it wasn't.

― Mark G, Sunday, September 29, 2024 5:16 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I preferred life a few weeks ago before I knew about this song.

I feel I must reiterate: England's Irie is excellent

Maybe ENBB would prefer 'Eat My Goal'

Other highlights of The Beautiful Game: the one Teenage Fanclub song I actively really enjoy (like Norman Cook becoming a Wilsonophile), Eurochild Ninety Six/Zero Zero which has a better beat than Euro Child, Adrian Sherwood disinterring the Barmy Army casuals for the then-best Primal Scream track since 91, the Shamen tune that's somewhere between psytrance and O.R.N., and I even enjoy that Jamirouqai track, probably my fav thing they did before they betrayed acid jazz with superclub sine bass. No way can it be the worst comp ever.

Actually, I did notice that "England's Irie" was on two weeks in a row which is against the rules unless it's number one. Which it wasn't.

― Mark G, Sunday, 29 September 2024 10:16 (yesterday)

I don't think those were the self-imposed rules, were they? I think they said they couldn't play a song two weeks in a row unless it had risen in the charts (or was no.1). I haven't watched many of these recently, but there have been loads of songs on two weeks in a row that weren't anywhere near number one. In fact, often it has been literally the exact same performance repeated.

Most 1996 episode of TOTP so far?

(either one tonight, honestly)

"In my peacock suit, do you think I suck?"

WTF?

Xposts I'm sure that was the rule.

Along with the one that says if a single goes down, it can't be on the show, even if it goes up again the following week, unless it gets higher than it's previous highest...

That's why "Blue Monday" wasn't on more often. Even though it hung around on the chart for months.

(Oh, and btw it did not go down chartwise after that first live performance. That's a fib. It went up the following week (and wasn't on the show, see rules) then went down.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smurfs_Go_Pop!

Number 4 as well, so it fits whatever rules were in play on TOTP that week.

"We're the Smurfs" – based on "Alright" by Supergrass.

turns out Crazy Legs is still leader of the rocksteady crew.

Deep Blue Something - a study in bad mid 90s haircuts.

And bad mid 90s music

I always thought the song would have been better if the couple realised that the only thing they had left in common was that they hated the film Breakfast At Tiffany's.

I guess “kind of liked it” is damning with faint praise.

Dennis pennis even worse than Keith Allen shocker

It’s kind of aged… but a least there was a touch of wit and comic delivery.

Worse than a close up of Harry Hill's face as he yells at us?

The Bluetones all look 12. And if they had been 12 in 1996 they'd be 40 now.

See, part of the reason I was reasonably excited to watch tonight's first episode was because the BBC4 website schedule uses a thumbnail of Jimmy Sommerville. Wearing a different shirt. And it's not a new (for 1996) song, it's 'Don't Leave Me This Way' from 1986. I'll still take it though.

1st episode tonight: The Manic Street Preachers use a racist slur on national TV, Babybird charms everyone, Donna Lewis brings a Yamaha CP-70 and two TX7 modules to a gun fight, and Spiceaggeddon continues.

2nd episode tonight: Nigel Kennedy looking slightly less of an idiot than usual.

Babybird charms everyone

caught up with the first episode this morning and I could see my boyfriend's skin crawling through this performance.

This was the era when I had stopped paying attention to the Top 40 for a little while because I had taped so many songs off the radio in the past year (to be 8 again!) and I missed a lot of the big stuff from this era. I must have been gifted with psychic pop knowledge to know to stop paying attention in time for You're Gorgeous and Breakfast At Tiffanys.

also the Wikipedia page for Smurfs Go Pop is a thing of wonder and I hope online editors never alter it