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

Yeah, I was wondering if it was some sort of Rock Follies-inspired copycat manoeuvre.

I watched it last night in some disbelief. Did I have amnesia? I didn't remember any of it - not even the ghastly video for "A Little Bit More" - but then I remembered we spent July ’76 on holiday in New York, so all this stuff would have passed me right by. Don’t remember Sunfighter, Glamourpuss or that dreadful Bobby Goldsboro* effort ever being played on the radio. It’s always extra-duff when Noel’s presenting.

The only thing I can find out about Glamourpuss on Google is that they were allegedly “five beauty queens.”

The ghastly “Now Is The Time” (it went top five!). “Revolution is no solution!” – erm, Jimmy, there are these guys (and gals) in West London (and Bromley, and Manchester) warming up on the touchline…Rhyming “future” with “nuclear.” Extraordinary.

When an eight-year-old Beatles track is the rockiest thing on the programme and Status Quo couldn’t even be bothered to turn up then you know things are up for grabs.

*Bobby Goldsboro actually did make some very decent records – one of which I’m planning to give a spin at the Hangover Lounge this coming Sunday (plug, plug) – but it’s very hard to convince people of this.

Ok, this show is getting weirder the closer it draws to Year Zero. Sunfughter?!??!? What the fu...?!?!? My encyclopaedic knowledge of crap bands of the 70s has badly let me down here. And this lot got three minutes on one of the most watched shows of the 1970s! I thought they must be Swedish or something. Song sounded a bit like the Stories, if you're at all familiar with that band. And Glamourpuss? Jesus... pure Seaside Special material, except not even that good.

Bobby G (no, not that one) was utter crap and even the Quo song was a duffer

Sunfighter were probably locked in a right-angled room straight after that TOTP performance.

As for Demis, can't hate it 'cos his voice is really a thing of wonder and... DOUBLE BOUZOUKI SOLO!

For a seocnd I thought Demis was Danny Baker.

it was quite an episode for beards

The one on Dennis Thingummabob from Dr. Hook was fairly startling

Take out the word "Race", and the Sunfighter song becomes Quite Interesting.

Steve Harley's keyboard player rocking a huge stack of synths here.

More acts in the studio this week, but it fizzled out in the second half. And I think maybe the producer had told DLT to tone it down and not be so ***WACKY***

i watched this last night, i'm sure i did. am blanking on non-kiki-dee details though. oh, 'oh suzannah'. what is it with that? it's a terrible thing to try and cover, even the byrds sucked at it. some beatles cover too.

o_O at wikipedia entry for oh! susanna.

Cock-er-knee Webel covered 'Here Comes The Sun'. I wonder what was up with all these Beatles covers, and the band themselves still appearing in the charts, six years after they'd split?

xp !!! I knew that there was a minstrel connection to the song, but the original 2nd verse is o__________O

I assume there was a mass re-release of Beatles' singles. If the current music scene is crap then I suppose nostalgia for when it wasn't is more likely. Six years was forever in the 70s.

Possibly 15th anniversary of the first Beatles' single? Something like that?

during one of the songs some girls in the crowd were wearing t-shirts saying Hot Gossip on them. Ruby Flippers days numbered?

RubFlip were replaced by Legs & Co. Hot Gossip appeared on ITV, later C4.

Six years was forever in the 70s

xpost

That's because we were young then

Weren't Hot Gossip on Kenny Everett...

That was when he moved over to ITV in '78.

Six years was forever in the 70s

xpost

That's because we were young then

No it's not that. Probably been covered in some learned thread somewhere.

weird, wonder what was going on - fledgling Hot Gossip trying to promote themselves?

Which song was it?

3 girls right at the front of crowd dancing during that Blue Jeans song

Six years was forever in the 70s

Yeah, it's the difference between 'Tie A Yellow Ribbon' and 'Are Friends Electric?'

Now it's the difference between McFly's 'I'll Be OK' and JLS's 'She Make Me Wanna' ;_;

I don't remember a specific reason for the 1976 Beatles singles reissues, but they were heavily promoted, with new sleeve art, and a couple of tracks (Yesterday/USSR) were issued as A-sides for the first time. I bought several of them, mostly for the B-sides (e.g. Rain, Baby You're A Rich Man) as there were no Past Masters comps at that stage.

David Dundas was the owner of the house in Camden Town where Bruce Robinson and Vivian MacKerrell lived in the late 60s/early 70s: the period that inspired "Withnail and I".

I think they'd moved out by '76, and they probably didn't have a tv anyway, but it would have been interesting to see the reaction to their landlord's appearance on TOTP.

"How like a god" etc, probably.

xp "{...} Nothing that reasonable members of society demand as their rights! No fridges, no televisions, no phones. {...}"

only one mention of Dr Kiss-Kiss on this thread - and I assumed it would be NOTHING BUT :-(

Right, so tomorrow's TOTP revival features the first punk reference.

Albeit "The Kid's a Punk" by Slik.

Jimmy Saville in a kilt. Thanks BBC.

Midge Ure is appearing in 'West Side Story' at the Drury Lane Theatre oh wait...

David Dundas clearly aghast at the prospect of having to perform while RubFlip caper to the right of him.

OK, this is the second time that Billy Ocean's outfit has matched the colour of the backdrop. Was this his 'thing'? Some kind of gimmick?

It's Fearne Cotton, singing on TOTP decades before she presented it. Oh wait it's Twiggy. They really let anyone be a pop star in the mid 70's, didn't they.

If they asked nicely.

And if they do Country Joe and the Fish numbers...

For a horrible second there I thought that DLT was hanging out by the toilets, but no, just another cheap mid 70's CSO effect.

...also it makes Hot Chocolate's percussionist's congas look like they're made of cardboard.

lol ABBA couldn't even be bothered to go on TOTP with their biggest single.

not even a very good video for it, surprised me.

and another bryan ferry single...

cherry appears to have left ruby flipper 8(

George McRae was rather lovely.

Didn't need the extreme close up of Steve Harley's massive teeth though.

am surprised those doors didn't kill someone

jesse green's keyboardist looks like a pound-shop eno.

xp Somebody nearly walked into one of them.

Steve Harley looked like he was trying to sing with a dislocated jaw.
Aside from Hot Chocolate, everything else was promo clips, recordings of previous appearances, or lacklustre performances.
And Bryan Ferry churns out another sausage pointless cover version for a single.