John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett - 'Really Free'. December 1977. Up there in the premier league of bizarre TOTP performances - Otway is the slightly dodgy 30 yr-old bloke from down the road who's never had a proper job and talks to himself in the street and Barrett the silent caveman/biker smoking roll-ups in the public bar. Yet there they were, together in front of millions on a Thursday night on primetime TV - LIVE! Has there ever been a more haphazard performance on TOTP - Otway gurning and twisting like a man on a hotplate and Barrett chopping out a primeval scree of home-made guitar. A guitar which actually sounds like your first electric guitar REALLY sounds like when you plug it in for the first time. The best moment is when he kicks in a disgusting flanged fuzz about half way through the song - a sound ERUPTS which makes the Kingsmen sound like a Trevor Horn production. This could only have made it onto the TV in the UK and only in the 70's. I suppose the nearest we have to this rough spontaniety today is the wretched White Stripes.
Followed By : The Human League - 'Rock and Roll/Nightclubbing' (March? 1980). The OLD Human League whipping up a storm - out with Otway's stained shirt and in with a new style. Oakey, Ware and Marsh grab an old glam rallying cry by the scruff and shake it into both a death knell for the beery old stuff and also a call to arms for a new futurism ("And the world span around to a brand new sound"). New-pop sings the obituary for the old world of rock.
Anyone else see it?
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 12:58 (twenty-two years ago)
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 13:00 (twenty-two years ago)
― Andrew L (Andrew L), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 13:17 (twenty-two years ago)
― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 13:22 (twenty-two years ago)
(heh heh, who has entered the compile-your-ideal TOTP2 competition? I bet Marcello has!)
― Jeff W (Jeff W), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 13:27 (twenty-two years ago)
I was actually going to post about Otway as his new single "bunsen burner" is expected to go top 5 this weekend after a concerted campaign. I quite look forward to seeing 'a slightly dodgy', 55 year old bloke on TOTP1 in a couple of weeks time.
As for the record, well..I quite like his ramshackle voice, but I've heard it twice and it's traight to novelty record hell I'm afraid.
― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 13:45 (twenty-two years ago)
... I remember seeing this the first time round and nearly falling off my bean bag. I recall Otway seemed so out of it he barely made the mike, and missed a few lines.
― jon (jon), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 13:58 (twenty-two years ago)
no the white stripes are crap.
yeah i saw it with the sound turned down (i was listening to the derek bailey/shoji hano alb fish and i couldn't pause though now i wish i did).
I thought the twin peaks theme tune was really good too heh.
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 15:20 (twenty-two years ago)
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 16:02 (twenty-two years ago)
― Andrew L (Andrew L), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 16:21 (twenty-two years ago)
― Andrew L (Andrew L), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)
― robin carmody (robin carmody), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 16:56 (twenty-two years ago)
― robin carmody (robin carmody), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)
*10CC - Life is a Minestrone. Goofy geography teacher-chic never caught on, and neither did this crass punning. I love 'I'm Not in Love' and have a grudging regard for many of their other singles, but this is k-rub
*Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise. Good, but I'm bored of it.
*Melba Moore - Love's Coming at You. That this workmanlike, but not-very-special piece of electro-disco should be the BEST ting on there is pretty sad. This sounded more electro than I remembered, mind you it WAS 1982
*Peter Gabriel - Diging in The Dirt. See Later
*Cats UK - Luton Airport. Quite fun to hear it again.
*Frankie Miller - Darlin'. Kickable booze-sodden stage-Scotsman whose music career should have never made it past the pubs of Paisley or wherever. Truly wretched stuff. Music to drink meths to.
*Twat Gabriel again. Listen! He's using grimy LOOPS! (oooooh! aaaah!crowd intake breath sharply) Yes, he's evolved his one size fits all world-beat bollocks to about the same point that U2 dragged their sorry assess to with 'Achtung Baby'. And that was REALLY fucking cutting edge in 1993 or whenever, eh?
I *do* agree with Robin C that Solsbury Hill (if that's what you meant, Robin)was ace, as is 'Games Without Frontiers', but what lifeless pap he peddles now.
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)
― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)
Workmanlike? That's a classic. Kashif in full effect.
― David (David), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 18:36 (twenty-two years ago)
hehe, i wanted to deceive the ppl who missed it into watching peter gabriel (that's what i'd like to say but actually it was the announcer building up TOTP2 before simpsons by saying that the human league would be on. either that or i'm going crazy).
''Peter Gabriel is the most boring fuckwit in the world.''
agreed, only watched the one track. at least he didn't put a 'world music' sample in there.
''*Cats UK - Luton Airport. Quite fun to hear it again.''
that was bad. the dancing was so BAD and the girls were ugly. i want some titilation and i want it nOW!!!
''*Melba Moore - Love's Coming at You. That this workmanlike, but not-very-special piece of electro-disco should be the BEST ting on there is pretty sad. This sounded more electro than I remembered, mind you it WAS 1982''
no it was coolio (i know you're tired of it but since i've never really listen to radio during the daytime it was nice to hear, especially my brother's attempt to keep up with coolio's rapping: anyway, he'll try it later, that's the one track he's taped. i found he tapes the best one and he did tape the human league track from yesterday but he wanted the girls).
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 19:02 (twenty-two years ago)
― Mike (mratford), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 19:43 (twenty-two years ago)
maybe that was the only way they could get us to watch peter gabriel.
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 2 October 2002 19:56 (twenty-two years ago)