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

Blame it on the Flambé

some terrible miming by kirsty mccoll yesterday, did she have a problem with her neck? there was also a horrible thumping noise throughout. sounded like the drummer was mic-ed up even though he was just pretending to play.

Dexy's and Spandau Ballet both terrific on the friday night edition. I had forgotten the existence of "Show Me". LOL at PPowell describing "Sat in Your Lap" as a change of pace after Dexy's; it was probably the most frantic song on the show! We seem to have leaped to June or July '81 already, with the Specials "still" at No.1.

They're doing 1982 in the second half of this year, hence the accelerated pace.

but isn't that just a function of them doing them twice as fast?

and was that the first appearance of the yellow pearl theme tune?

Maybe Jimmy Savile was presenting a lot of TOTPs at the time.

http://z6.invisionfree.com/popscene/ar/t1147.htm

25/06/81 (Simon Bates) - thursday
02/07/81 (Dave Lee Travis)
09/07/81 (900th edition) (Jimmy Savile, Alan Freeman, David Jacobs & Pete Murray)
16/07/81 (Peter Powell) - friday
23/07/81 (Richard Skinner)
30/07/81 (Steve Wright)
06/08/81 (Jimmy Savile)
13/08/81 (Simon Bates)
20/08/81 (Dave Lee Travis)
27/08/81 (Richard Skinner)
...

we must be missing some good stuff from those eps. Can't they just edit out the saville links and give us the music?

Oh, I could point you at the "Missing Shows" website and the punch-ups that have ensued during debating that issue.

Watching the Ghost Town vid for the first time in years, I realised alot of it was shot around the City of London financial district. I had assumed it was set in Coventry for years, as that's what the song is about. Guess they were cruising in the engine room of Britain's industrial decline.

It was indeed the first appearance of the Yellow Pearl theme. Re missing episodes, @TOTPFacts usually tweets individual YouTubes of notable omissions.

Pauline seems to have been replaced by someone called Anita. Goodbye, Pauline.

two medley songs in the style of stars on 45? 1981, what were you thinking?

live version of ghost town rather than the usual video was nice though - i guess that was rhoda and rico.

stars on 45 themselves over the end credits. gah!

legs and co are dancing with the proles!

Friday now.

I wonder if Damon albarn has heard this bill Wyman tune?

And now legs and co are doing the robot to music for the royal fireworks...

(Or maybe trumpet voluntary)

Bloke in Japan was wearing a lime green suit. With red shoes.

the lp chart rundown lasted, what, 1 week?

bring back legs and co.

Its only the future in the past.

Nick Heywood looks like a blond version of someone I work with.

Is there a link between haircut 100 and orange juice? The former reminds me of the latter, those first two singles anyway. Similar kind of, I don't know, eloquence?

Some of these 82 episodes are the most 80s things ever, and the next episode will be nothing like it.

Seems like I am the last person on earth to link h100 with orange juice. But this was funny:

https://mobile.twitter.com/i_am_mill_i_am/status/735904378553503744

"Haircut 100: Orange Juice with no bits"

there's a bit in Simon Reynolds's Rip It Up And Start Again book where Edwyn Collins grumbles about Haircut 100 ripping of Orange Juice's look:

'I *know* that Haircut 100 got a lot of their image ideas from us,' says Edwyn Collins, still aggrieved after all these years.'l've got pictures of James Kirk, our guitarist, wearing Aran sweaters like Haircut wore on their album cover.'

Haircut 100 > Orange Juice though, imo

Is there a link between haircut 100 and orange juice?

Other than H100 stealing OJ's shtick and selling to to teenage girls?

xp!

> Haircut 100 > Orange Juice though, imo

That's fighting talk 8)

teenage girls had the right idea in this case. a Look In comic strip about Orange Juice's wacky misadventures might have been fun, however

http://www.arthurranson.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/main_image/haircut100.jpg

Orange Juice had 9 singles reach the top 75 chart and 3 top 40 albums.
Haircut 100 had 5 singles in the top 75 and only 1 top 40 album.

no Look In comic strip, though.

fwiw, Heyward left Haircut 100 after the first album, if you include his solo chart placements I think he'd be ahead.

judging a band's quality using chart placings is a can of worms waiting to be opened.

famous people i have shared a toilet with:
jimmy hill
edwyn collins

OJ are way beyond Haircut100 in every way, except for Look In comic strips.

xp at the same time or on separate occasions?

(jimmy hill was AGES ago - he used to race whippets at the local Dowty's sports and social club.
edwyn collins was a few years ago, post stroke, when he was playing the lexington)

High watermark for TOTP this week?

tight fit, hadn't that already been and gone?

didn't realise The Model had made it to number 1 in the uk.

both sides of the Town call Malice / Precious number 1. is that unique?

Offhand, I think the next double-a where both tracks appear will be the Wets/Bragg one.

As far as 'two songs from one band', I don't think it happens again until The Ramones' farewell, and the Sex Pistols reunion.

Sorry WTF? Kid Jensen: "Good to see Gary Glitter back on TOTP" o___O
And I don't remember this Madness song. The arrangement saves it, but Suggs sounds like he's sleepwalking through it.

ABBA in 'still not giving a shit about appearing on TOTP' video action.

"oh and btw everyone except Benny and Bjorn hate each other kthxbye"

Missed that Gary Glitter ref, I guess somebody's gonna get some words about that.

Oh wait I just watched it again - Gary Numan not Glitter.

Tsk.

This actually almost happened a couple weeks ago, Kid was all "Hello, hello, its my first show for a year, and its good to be back, and so.... Toyah!"

Oasis did two songs on TOTP in 1996, iirc.

This week's episode should have been 25/2/1982, but was skipped because unperson DLT was the presenter. We lose eight or nine episodes from the rest of 1982 because either DLT or Savile was the presenter. And there are a couple of shows with multiple presenters towards the end of that year where there'll be some noticeably sharp edits.

duel moog keytars on tha numan track. and a tam-o-shanter. obvious swerve into Japan territory in the music and clothes choices.

toni basil was 38 / 39 when Mickey was in the charts. her one-hit pop career probably the least interesting thing about her. had been dancing all her life, pretty much. was in Head and Easy Rider.

i like Cardiac Arrest, apart from the crossword clue lyric. tinkly piano, xylophone, horns.

The lyrics to 'Cardiac Arrest' aren't terrible, but 'House Of Fun' is a far better attempt at that type of song.

it's just that one line about 'like a big american car but misspelt with a d'. makes more sense with a comma in there because 'cadillac' also has a d in it.

the sleeve, iirc, had a crossword grid and some clues on the front.