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Post by Gene Hunt on Jun 8, 2018 20:33:49 GMT
The "video" for 'Angel' by Madonna was a rotten cop out instead of keeping the high standard (usually !) of her hit vids going somebody just cobbled together bits of all her previous ones !! I guess her record company were releasing singles just too quick for her people to get anything sorted, plus she would be dashing everywhere to promote herself too ! Yes Frank, I agree. A shame as Angel is one of my favourite tracks by Miss Ciccone, but as you say it was a busy time for her. Gene.
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Post by Frank Spencer on Jun 9, 2018 19:53:21 GMT
Hmmmm.... just realized the two episodes I have recorded aren't the two I expected !! Luckily the BBC i-player came to the rescue, though god knows when these were screened as my Sky Planner is set to record all TOTP shows automatically on "series link" ... Glad I saw them in the end though - as an 80s soul boy it was a real treat to see studio performances from the late Colonel Abrams enjoying himself as show opener, Cameo going through their slick moves with Larry Blackman cod-piece less for now and Rene & Angela looking super sparkly but occasionally pretending to play superfluous keyboards on stage ! The highlight of the other show was far and away seeing the video for "Take On Me" by A-ha - we've all seen it once or twice before, but even now it looks totally breathtaking and was head and shoulders above anything that came before, and many since, when it came to making pop videos. Also a word for Elton John - a standard studio performance from him, just him and a couple of keyboards, but the hair !!! I remember this time well, and have already noticed that just about every male singer was sporting fairly normal hairdos on top, but all with these huge clumps of fluffiness hanging behind their ears. I was 23 then and no exception ! I quit my job in the city on October 1st 1985, these songs would have been the soundtrack to my leaving do and there is a photo of me somewhere on that day looking just as ridiculous as Elton and several other mid-8os popstars. It was soon all cropped off ... well my clump of tumbleweed any way !
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Jun 9, 2018 21:16:29 GMT
I remember this time well, and have already noticed that just about every male singer was sporting fairly normal hairdos on top, but all with these huge clumps of fluffiness hanging behind their ears. I was 23 then and no exception ! I quit my job in the city on October 1st 1985, these songs would have been the soundtrack to my leaving do and there is a photo of me somewhere on that day looking just as ridiculous as Elton and several other mid-8os popstars. It was soon all cropped off ... well my clump of tumbleweed any way ! Are you referring to the mullet Frank? As ubiquitous as white socks & slip on shoes in the mid 80s.
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Post by Frank Spencer on Jun 23, 2018 16:36:27 GMT
I remember this time well, and have already noticed that just about every male singer was sporting fairly normal hairdos on top, but all with these huge clumps of fluffiness hanging behind their ears. I was 23 then and no exception ! I quit my job in the city on October 1st 1985, these songs would have been the soundtrack to my leaving do and there is a photo of me somewhere on that day looking just as ridiculous as Elton and several other mid-8os popstars. It was soon all cropped off ... well my clump of tumbleweed any way ! Are you referring to the mullet Frank? As ubiquitous as white socks & slip on shoes in the mid 80s. I don't think I would have had it "designed" to suit any particular style that would warrant a name as iconic as "mullet" Arthur ! Not knowing me, never a a particular "dedicated follower of fashion", just about kept up with any vague trends back then !!
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Post by Frank Spencer on Jun 23, 2018 16:49:02 GMT
So, back we go to October and November 1985 ... I couldn't work out why Feargal Sharkey kicked off the 21/10 edition using two girls with full drum kits - until I saw the video a couple of weeks later ! DOH ! Loved the video for "Nikita" by Elton John, particularly as I recently went to Berlin for my birthday and visited some of the famous wall locations, which I guess was inspiration for the song /vid ... but even with Janis Long co-hosting this show petered out into averageness and the biggest surprise of the show was that Batesy didn't dress up as a vampire for Halloween and make constant cheesy topical references to the date !!
Sadly, I think others attitude on this thread is influencing me and I am already getting a bit bored with TOTP now, two years ahead of my "official" cut off year of 1987 ! I found very little to inspire me to put fingers to keyboard over the next three shows, The Far Corporation's cover of "Stairway To Heaven" kept my eyes glued to the screen though, as I was torn between thinking it was really bad or really brave ... or possibly both !!! And in fairness the first half of the 21/11/85 was enjoyable with Madness doing "Uncle Sam" in the studio (a song I could only just recall) Wham's "I'm Your Man" on videdo (the lyrics and vid made me chuckle with the hindsight knowldge of Geogre's sexuality!) and Dee C Lee belting out "See The Day", which at last gave us a "proper" TOTP moment. Spot the sax player blowing his instrument ALL the way through the song , although there is only a very brief sax solo to be heard on the track about two-thirds of the way through !
Never mind, it will soon be 1986 and another of those brilliant "The Story Of..." documentaries to savour !!
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Post by Frank Spencer on Jul 14, 2018 11:35:17 GMT
Time to say "Au Revoir" to 1985 with the last batch of episodes from December that year. Sadly, if you are a fan of the Pet Shop Boys, the "Mike Smith Effect" deprives you of seeing their first two studio appearances doing "West End Girls" , but they do get to No:1 with the track so hopefully we will see them on a January 1986 show soon ... which means apart from the traditonal "Best Of..." Xmas edition, the only show that got repeated from Dec 85 was the one first shown on 12/12 hosted by Gary Davies & Janice Long. I can't be sure if what she was wearing was trendy or not in 1985, but if not she could always roast her Xmas turkey in the oven in it after her presenting duties were over !! There were a couple of eye-catching final moments of the year one on video, one in the studio - Madonna was shown performing "Dress You Up" live in concert, in excellent form, an early sign of the super slick choreography and vocal delivery she became famous for in her shows, whilst Cameo were in the studio doing "She's Strange", wearing god knows what, but certainly putting on a good performance, although no sign of the legendary cod-piece being worn by Larry Blackmon yet !! I don't normally FFWD through TOTP even when it's dull, but I take exception to hearing Xmas songs in July so Shaky was given a swerve by me, as were Wham at the end credits, which are usually worth a look to see what people were wearing and how they danced then ...
The Story of 1986 is already saved on my planner, so I am looking forward to sitting down and enjoying that, but I think my appearances on here night be rarer in future as I have so many time consuming (paid!) commitments elsewhere and I do get a bit sidetracked with all this TOTP80s nostalgia ! I certainly won't be starting a "Top Of the Pops 1986" thread, but if one appears, I will chip in if something exciting happens worth highlighting. Once again it is nearly the end of July, so that can mean only one thing on BBC4 - HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!
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Post by Steve Austin on Jul 14, 2018 13:26:42 GMT
The only thing of note for me was "Spies Like Us" by Paul McCartney. Noe one of his best but I still have the 12" of that somewhere and the film itself is enjoyable enough. I remember our family getting a video recorder around this time and I can recall taping these shows and re-watching "West End Girls", who I thought was by the Pat Sharp boys until I listened again
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Post by Steve Austin on Aug 11, 2018 10:43:03 GMT
Managed to actually stop myself skipping through an entire episode this week; "Stripped" by Depeche Mode & "Rise" by PiL. Normal service may be resumed next week but these two were a pleasant break from the ffwd button.
Anyone else still watching this?
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Cartman
Producer
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Post by Cartman on Aug 11, 2018 10:51:13 GMT
Afraid not Steve! Its in the doldrums by now!
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Oct 4, 2018 19:55:15 GMT
Saw some of a 1986 edition earlier, I was surprised to see during Pete Wylie's studio performance of 'Sinful', three models dressed as nuns with their habits split down the sides to reveal their legs wearing fishnets. Maybe in a video you could've got away with it but surely people must've complained about this, no way would it ride today on early evening tv. Oddly enough there were complaints by viewers but because of the silly comment John Peel makes at the end of the performance
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