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

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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!

None'll come and then a lot'll (Tom D.), Friday, 22 April 2011 14:27 (fourteen years ago)

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.

grill 'em bake 'em fry 'em burn 'em (snoball), Friday, 22 April 2011 14:57 (fourteen years ago)

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

grill 'em bake 'em fry 'em burn 'em (snoball), Friday, 22 April 2011 15:00 (fourteen years ago)

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!

/人 ◕ ‿‿ ◕人\ (zappi), Friday, 22 April 2011 15:23 (fourteen years ago)

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...

sonnyboy, Friday, 22 April 2011 16:27 (fourteen years ago)

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

grill 'em bake 'em fry 'em burn 'em (snoball), Friday, 22 April 2011 16:50 (fourteen years ago)

the uglyness of the Rubettes & their overcocky drummer

Enjoy!

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

Ned Raggett, Friday, 22 April 2011 16:51 (fourteen years ago)

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

/人 ◕ ‿‿ ◕人\ (zappi), Friday, 22 April 2011 17:10 (fourteen years ago)

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

Michael Jones, Friday, 22 April 2011 17:16 (fourteen years ago)

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.

Mark G, Tuesday, 26 April 2011 11:30 (fourteen years ago)

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

After that? Who knows...

Mark G, Tuesday, 26 April 2011 11:30 (fourteen years ago)

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.

None'll come and then a lot'll (Tom D.), Tuesday, 26 April 2011 11:37 (fourteen years ago)

They did 'have' to.

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

Mark G, Tuesday, 26 April 2011 11:59 (fourteen years ago)

ooooooo-oooooooooooooh Vienna it's Slik

grill 'em bake 'em fry 'em burn 'em (snoball), Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:32 (fourteen years ago)

It's Midge Uuuurrrr...

sonnyboy, Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:35 (fourteen years ago)

And Paul knickerless

sonnyboy, Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:36 (fourteen years ago)

Jesus Christ, superstar?

grill 'em bake 'em fry 'em burn 'em (snoball), Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:37 (fourteen years ago)

DLT looks like Badly Drawn Boy.

grill 'em bake 'em fry 'em burn 'em (snoball), Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:47 (fourteen years ago)

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

sonnyboy, Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:50 (fourteen years ago)

Only one novelty act so far.

grill 'em bake 'em fry 'em burn 'em (snoball), Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:51 (fourteen years ago)

Shit Brotherhood Of Man are still number one...

sonnyboy, Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:52 (fourteen years ago)

They were there for 6 weeks.

grill 'em bake 'em fry 'em burn 'em (snoball), Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:57 (fourteen years ago)

The guy without the 'tasche wants to die.

grill 'em bake 'em fry 'em burn 'em (snoball), Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:58 (fourteen years ago)

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

sonnyboy, Thursday, 28 April 2011 19:00 (fourteen years ago)

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

Mark G, Tuesday, 3 May 2011 15:44 (fourteen years ago)

AAAAAAAAAAARGH

lloyd banks knew my father (history mayne), Tuesday, 3 May 2011 15:49 (fourteen years ago)

No, the band, not the Janov therapy.

Mark G, Tuesday, 3 May 2011 15:50 (fourteen years ago)

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.

Tom D has taken many months to run this thread to ground (Tom D.), Thursday, 5 May 2011 10:49 (fourteen years ago)

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...

Mark G, Thursday, 5 May 2011 10:55 (fourteen years ago)

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

Mark G, Thursday, 5 May 2011 10:58 (fourteen years ago)

Mud go disco, urgh...

got a whole lotta gloves (snoball), Thursday, 12 May 2011 18:33 (fourteen years ago)

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

sonnyboy, Thursday, 12 May 2011 18:37 (fourteen years ago)

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

got a whole lotta gloves (snoball), Thursday, 12 May 2011 18:38 (fourteen years ago)

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

got a whole lotta gloves (snoball), Thursday, 12 May 2011 18:39 (fourteen years ago)

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

got a whole lotta gloves (snoball), Thursday, 12 May 2011 18:53 (fourteen years ago)

the shadows have let themselves go...

koogs, Thursday, 12 May 2011 19:27 (fourteen years ago)

Mud go disco

Surreal

Que sera sera... (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Thursday, 12 May 2011 20:14 (fourteen years ago)

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?

Tom D has taken many months to run this thread to ground (Tom D.), Friday, 13 May 2011 08:16 (fourteen years ago)

The iplayer only has the 30 min version!

Mark G, Friday, 13 May 2011 08:19 (fourteen years ago)

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

Tom D has taken many months to run this thread to ground (Tom D.), Friday, 13 May 2011 08:24 (fourteen years ago)

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

Tom D has taken many months to run this thread to ground (Tom D.), Friday, 13 May 2011 08:26 (fourteen years ago)

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.

wanking on the moon (Noodle Vague), Friday, 13 May 2011 08:33 (fourteen years ago)

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.

koogs, Friday, 13 May 2011 08:46 (fourteen years ago)

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

Mark G, Friday, 13 May 2011 08:52 (fourteen years ago)

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.

Dr.C, Friday, 13 May 2011 08:52 (fourteen years ago)

(Imagine a bootmix of "Give peace a chance" with the lyrics of "Sailing" over the top of it)

Mark G, Friday, 13 May 2011 08:53 (fourteen years ago)

xpost obviously, blimey thread's suddenly busy.

Mark G, Friday, 13 May 2011 08:54 (fourteen years ago)

Two of SB and Quiver played with Pink Floyd - Tim Renwick and Willie Wilson.

Dr.C, Friday, 13 May 2011 08:56 (fourteen years ago)

And Bruce Thomas was in Quiver!! But not in SB&Q, I think.

Dr.C, Friday, 13 May 2011 08:56 (fourteen years ago)

Tim Renwick? Something to do with Bowie too?

Tom D has taken many months to run this thread to ground (Tom D.), Friday, 13 May 2011 08:57 (fourteen years ago)

This song by Björk repeats a lot too, but it does have the virtue of not being long.

you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Friday, 11 April 2025 18:17 (two months ago)

Assuming this kid singing about being 17 is actually 17, he's 45 now.

you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Friday, 11 April 2025 18:34 (two months ago)

if you mean Toby Slater from Catch then no, sadly he died in 2021.

zoloft keeps liftin' me (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 11 April 2025 18:46 (two months ago)

merri-choney

koogs, Friday, 11 April 2025 20:03 (two months ago)

Repetition is good. Oasis by this time were not.

Chewshabadoo, Monday, 14 April 2025 08:53 (two months ago)

No TOTP (at least from 1997) tonight because of the snooker (two episodes from the 80s on later). Not much changes.

you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Friday, 25 April 2025 17:24 (two months ago)

U&Eden channel have taken to running Totp repeats too. 1998

Mark G, Saturday, 26 April 2025 02:32 (two months ago)

911 (so called because they should have been arrested by the police) the Black Lace of boybands.

you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Friday, 2 May 2025 18:03 (two months ago)

Haha, I have a little soft spot for them now after watching Boybands Forever.

Enojyed seeing Double 99 RIP Grove this week.

Chewshabadoo, Saturday, 3 May 2025 09:55 (two months ago)

I love that there was a cash in book for them called "The Truth About 911"

a ZX spectrum is haunting Europe (Daniel_Rf), Monday, 5 May 2025 16:08 (two months ago)

two weeks pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmK82lFAmJg

you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Friday, 23 May 2025 18:13 (one month ago)

5ive's 'bunch of scally lads being loud at the local shopping centre' look is strangely timeless.

you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Friday, 23 May 2025 18:23 (one month ago)

the guy singing about wanting to be teenage was 36 in 1980.

koogs, Friday, 23 May 2025 20:38 (one month ago)

Tonight's episode from 1997 is the Christmas Day edition. Pretty sure I wouldn't have seen this when it was originally broadcast so it could be interesting.

you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Friday, 30 May 2025 17:51 (one month ago)

Pretty much all bangers that ep, though 1997 me would be shocked and appalled to hear me say it.

There was an ep recently where they included a Bono xmas message and a charity single that wasn't even in the charts yet and I was like "hold on, they don't usually do this". loled at the end to discover this was because the Teletubbies were #1 for the second week running and someone at the show clearly must've been like "we are NOT playing this a second time"...so they just put it over the closing credits.

a ZX spectrum is haunting Europe (Daniel_Rf), Tuesday, 3 June 2025 09:25 (one month ago)

I don’t mind the TOTP reruns but 5 or 6 of them on a Friday night is taking the piss. Especially when that means any docs are shunted into the early hours of Saturday.

Dan Worsley, Tuesday, 3 June 2025 10:16 (one month ago)

can understand that complaint but the average quality level of a BBC4 doc these days is so bad I can't be angry much

a ZX spectrum is haunting Europe (Daniel_Rf), Tuesday, 3 June 2025 10:30 (one month ago)

It ain't BBC Four if they don't programme that bloody John Denver documentary for nine-o'clock every now and then. 'What Frank Sinatra was to the 40s, what Elvis was to the 50s, and the Beatles were to the 60s, John Denver was to the 70s'. Hmmm.

you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 3 June 2025 21:02 (one month ago)

three weeks pass...

These Rialto lads really wanted to be Pulp eh?

a ZX spectrum is haunting Europe (Daniel_Rf), Tuesday, 24 June 2025 21:21 (one week ago)

They released a new album last year! The single was not for me but it was very far from the usual embarrassment of these types of bands trying to recapture past er glories

boxedjoy, Tuesday, 24 June 2025 22:19 (one week ago)

They were Kinky Machine before they were Rialto.

can't complain, mustn't grumble, melancholy apple c (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 24 June 2025 22:22 (one week ago)


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