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

"I'm Too Sexy", more than any other song I can think of, seems to me to exist now solely for the purpose of sparking nostalgia for late 1991. Fairbrass might be a Covidiot now but him and his brother (in the words of another pop duo) "have both made such a little go a very long way".

They were one hit wonders three times over. Were part of the general furniture for a bit. Then they came up with "Bumped" as their 'new single after being away for a bit" in full confidence, and nobody liked it much.

The singles section of their discogaphy is just depressing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_Said_Fred#Singles

I had their first LP and liked it, I mean I was 12 but I think it probably would sound fine now

Marcello liked it too

http://nobilliards.blogspot.com/2020/12/right-said-fred-up.html

I remember Deeply Dippy, but not Don't Talk Just Kiss. I'm assuming it's not a cover of the Wedding Present song of that name.

it's not, I had the opposite experience when I first listened to Bizarro

Bear in mind, "Three one-hit wonders" is a compliment. Three very strong singles, not hugely similar, but undeniable hits.

Then they had the idea that they were popular personalities, and to be fair, they were. But not necessarily with people who buy records.

Then it drifted into mediocre songs, did they lose focus or just lucked into it in the first place?

I remember the first time I heard "I'm too sexy", I knew it would be huge and take over that summer. So how did it get turned down by every record label until they got signed bu Gut Records (and is that the german for "good" or a reference to stomachs?)

Still it had a directness and a lot of tongue in cheek, whereas "I'm So Attractive" by The Photos didn't have either...

"What's the name of Right Said Fred's only UK number one?" is a classic pub quiz question. Also works with A-ha, T'Pau, Prince.

Hmmmm. I knew the A-ha one and, as with Right Said Fred, it's not the track that most people would immediately think of, whereas the T'Pau is exactly the track everyone would immediately think of. I had no idea for Prince and now that I've looked it up, I don't think I would have ever guessed that.

Indeed. Please elaborate on the T'Pau one.

It's China In Your Hand. That's their most famous song by far.

China In Your Hand, Covid In Your Lungs

sorry, should have put "x post". i meant with regard to T'Pau in the pub quiz as it is indeed surely exactly the track everyone would immediately think of, ie China In Your Hand, Covid In Your Lungs.

T'Pau's most famous song is "Heart and Soul" - at least outside of Europe.

Bit samey this week. Just waiting for Dannii Minogue to turn up.

Horror of Dracula is on Talking Pictures, might watch totp later.

(I was jokin’… it’s three hours of Bach’s St Matthew Passion)

That's what I thought! But they keep changing it at the last minute, so who knows?

The Bomb the Bass song was good.

Charly says always tell Bruno 'Tory' Brookes to go fuck himself.

TBF I'd be quite unsurprised if Liam Howlett were a Tory these days.

Charly AND What Can You Do For Me? AND Insanity all in the same show?

I mean also there was that horrible version of Happy Together by Jason Donovan, but basically going very well so far.

Old derelict deco terminal at Speke only good thing about that Farm video.

Didn't even spot it was Speke and that's where my family's from

So the key change in Oceanic's 'Insanity' always irked me, but the key change in 'Charley' always struck me a awesome. blah blah blah narcissism of small differences blah blah blah

Roxette deliver a practical example of not letting your guitarist sing lead.

"only 9 weeks" - strap in, it's going to be at #1 for another (checks notes) 7 weeks.

Oddly enough the metalhead in my group at technical college really liked the song.

I love both key changes, but especially Oceanic, so shonky, so real.

THey do it a second time as well. Just in case you didn't notice the first one.

New look!

obviously 30 kids in a huge warehouse space...

send very regressive so far. apart from Carl Cox you wouldn't think anything even vaguely new was happening.

*seems

2 unlimited at the 11th hour too, but overwhelmingly radio 2 vibes. dame kiri ffs.

and we're those permanent presenters? do they get better?

It's no secret that Bono is a preening twit...

The Fly? I'm still quite a bit behind. Caught up on a few last night. I had no idea that Diane Butcher off Eastenders had a pop career. Not a good one, it seems. I also had no idea who had sung that 'sunshine on a rainy day' song that everyone knows, and was surprised to see it featured a frilly-shirted guitarist who looked like he'd escaped from The Mission or something. Best song was 'Apparently Nothing' by the Young Disciples. I'm still only halfway through Brian Adams' reign of terror.

Frilly shirted chap playing with Zoë is Paul Inder, most famous for being Lemmy's son. And of course the song was written by Killing Joke's own Youth Martin.

ffs that Tony Dortie intro "let's get busy it's tin machine baby unusual". Although it's appropriate for the Tin Machine performance that follows. I sort-of liked this song but then heard a live Tin Machine concert broadcast on the radio and realised they sucked.

New, bigger, brighter bbc four dog as well. not keen. why is the FOUR bigger than the blocks?

first episode again very radio 2.

top knowledge, aldo

Youth was working with/shagging so many people at that time (Durga McBroom/Blue Pearl, Sara out of Bananarama) that the pick up bands on TV were nearly all punk or metal adjacent.

speaking of Speke airport, was that it in the last episode of Ridley Road, the last minute?

New look!

obviously 30 kids in a huge warehouse space...

― koogs, Friday, 15 October 2021 19:43 (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

send very regressive so far. apart from Carl Cox you wouldn't think anything even vaguely new was happening.

― koogs, Friday, 15 October 2021 19:54 (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

Holy fuck I've only just caught up with this utterly excruciating episode. The disconnect between the intended edginess of the presentation and the actual performances (Julian Lennon! Status fucking Quo!) is astounding. The two vat-grown presenter guys are making me miss the subtle nuances and witty wordplay of Gary Davies.

Tonight's episodes are from almost exactly 30 years ago. Honestly doesn't feel that long ago from some of the performances.

Slightly above average bar band rollocks through 'American Pie' oh wait it's Don McLean.
Also having just the Top 10 rundown so early in the show kills the drama.

Neil Sedaka "back in full effect" ffs. It's not even like the presenters are trying to take the piss. It's just that they're crap.

someone called Adrian Rose, one of the no-name presenters from this time, is now a TV executive called Adrian Woolfe and has blocked his 15 episodes from 1991 & 1992 from going out, this includes the episode with the famous Nirvana performance

Holy fuck I've only just caught up with this utterly excruciating episode. The disconnect between the intended edginess of the presentation and the actual performances (Julian Lennon! Status fucking Quo!) is astounding. The two vat-grown presenter guys are making me miss the subtle nuances and witty wordplay of Gary Davies.

Just seen this one myself and echo every word above. I have no memory of those two presenters whatsoever.

someone called Adrian Rose, one of the no-name presenters from this time, is now a TV executive called Adrian Woolfe and has blocked his 15 episodes from 1991 & 1992 from going out, this includes the episode with the famous Nirvana performance.

Annoying. I hoped we'd seen the back of this now that we were beyond the Savile / DLT / Mike Smith days.

Dunno why they spoiled a sick rave backing track (Kicks Like a Mule?) with an aimlessly warbling sculpture-headed lady. Though I very much appreciated Moby's joi de vivre.

Didn't realise Mike Smith had refused to allow the episodes he presented to be re-aired, saves us from looking at his vile countenance I suppose.