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Post by Frank Spencer on Dec 15, 2016 13:05:36 GMT
There's no doubt that Simon Bates stole the show(s) last week with his hilarious Halloween comedy links making the music feel quite secondary to his coffin-dwelling and broomstick riding shenanigans (three days early!) . I wonder how much of it was his idea and how much saw him carrying out the "brilliant" ideas of an "inspired" producer ? Either way, painful as it was to watch, the sight of him trying to drown three of the self-obsessed dancers while apple-bobbing had me splitting my sides with laughter !! Almost ... Over the two shows, there were plenty of enjoyable performances ... much fun being had by Boring Bob Grover and his Piranhas ... Imagination even outdoing themselves with the briefest of risque costumes yet ... an energetic and flamboyant Toyah back on form again ... Kool & the Gang in identical matching black & silver outfits, as was the tradition with 70s & 80s soul/disco groups - I counted TEN of them though ! An expensive indulgence - maybe it's cheaper to buy in bulk ? .... Bauhaus was not my cup of tea, but a great "on the edge" performance in the studio ... I still struggle to recognize Martin Kemp in Spandau Ballet, having become so familiar with his more "recent" persona as a TV & Film actor ... and as for The Kids From Fame video, well I am glad I hadn't just had my tea !!! I think the old guy in the chair was pretty close to emptying his guts too !!! For the soul boy that is me, the clips of Raw Silk, Sharon Redd and Melba Moore (again) were real treats, their three songs all being ones of that genre I've played many times over the years to a dancefloor, but it was also nice to see the legend Dionne Warwick performing a very decent "live" version (I presume) of "Heartbreaker" with a band of fellas in tux and dicky-bows, but without the Bee Gees backing vocals and complete with a "proper" ending instead of a fade out. If like me you record the show each week and watch later, don't erase the Halloween one just yet, make sure you share it with friends and family over the Festive Period - pure comedy gold ! Ha ha ha !
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Post by Windy Miller on Dec 16, 2016 11:43:08 GMT
11 November 1982: Presenter – David Jensen: Broadcast BBC Four 16/12/2016 (Thanks to POPSCENE for the running order)
(21) BLUE ZOO – Cry Boy Cry (2) DIONNE WARWICK – Heartbreaker ® (9) MICHAEL JACKSON & PAUL McCARTNEY – The Girl Is Mine (danced to by Zoo) (5) MARVIN GAYE – (Sexual) Healing (video) (41) A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS – Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) (29) DONNA SUMMER – State Of Independence (video) (11) CLANNAD – Theme From ‘Harry’s Game’ (1) EDDY GRANT – I Don’t Wanna Dance (video) (27) RAW SILK – Do It To The Music (crowd dancing) (and credits)
The previous week’s TOTPs, hosted by Mike Smith was skipped due to Mike not signing a "License To View" for the shows he presented. Hence the BBC, in respect of his wishes, have decided to not show any editions of TOTPs in which he was involved. By skipping over last week’s show, we missed both the debut TOTPs appearances of Wham with “Young Guns”, and Blancmange “Living On The Ceiling”.
However, tonight we get the debut performance from A Flock Of Seagulls, the one and only record to be a UK hit that is sung entirely in Irish, a record that would be banned in a few years time by the BBC but was ok in 1982, and a record that’s title was so offensive it had to be renamed for the purposes of transmission – Radio DJ’s having to omit the first word when announcing it.... Only at the BBC.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Dec 16, 2016 11:55:42 GMT
Thanks again for the write up Windy. I remember A Flock of Seagulls performance so must've seen this episode at the time. The synth drum they used in wishing I used to be able to make a similar sound on the staircase of the old house we lived in when clapping my hands on certain stairs there too... LOL! I sort of once met bassist Frank Maudsley in the late 90's/early 00's who owned/ran a newsagents in Dale Street in Liverpool city centre. Stupidly I bought a drink or something in there and not know who he was didn't have a chat about AFOS or anything else - mind you suppose he had a cast of hundreds who chatted with him about that previously I suppose. The Clannad track is interesting too as is Harry's Game which I recently watched/reviewed here. I'd recommend it as a purchase too. Suppose Marvin Gaye and Eddy Grant are best of the rest and didn't know (remember) Paul McCartney did further collaborations with Michael Jackson either that became singles hits too!
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Post by Frank Spencer on Dec 22, 2016 9:51:58 GMT
Oh what a shame Mike Smith never signed that licence - I wonder why he would not do that ? I presume the likes of Jensen, Peel, Bates, Wright, Powell, Read and all the other guys we've seen in recent years on TOTP signed theirs - or was it a recent piece of admin that came in after or around the time he died in 2014 ? Very sad how he died so young and it would have been so nice for his fans and family to see him at his prime on one of TV's most famous shows over the next few years ... Meanwhile, a brief resume on the latest enjoyable and professionally presented David Jensen show ... another dynamic performance from Blue Zoo, a pity they couldn't find the song to extend their career beyond being the one-hit-wonders that they were, the potential was certainly there to be one of the big names of the mid 80s I would have thought ... Everybody remembers "A Flock Of Seagulls" on TOTP - if only for THAT haircut, my 13 year old son caught a sight of them whilst fridge-raiding downstairs and couldn't believe his eyes ! They didn't qualify as "OHW" status as they managed three others in their 15 minutes of fame ... and the videos of Marvin Gaye & Donna Summer were interesting, knowing Mr Gaye's track record for poor time-keeping, I dread to think how long it took them to put that together and Ms Summer looked to have put a few pounds on since her disco hey-day of the late 70s, un-PC as it is to say so ! If I don't get to see John Peel's next episode and post waffle on here before Xmas, I'd like to wish every one of the regulars on here a very happy Xmas and look forward to more unashamed reminiscing in the New Year !! Neil
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Dec 22, 2016 12:04:15 GMT
Thought Donna Summer's State of Independence was excellent. Remember the first time I heard it, I had to visit a client in Warrington one day in late 82, and borrowed one of the firm's company pool cars, a V reg'd dark blue Mark 5 Cortina. I came back to Manchester on the A50, via Lymm and this came on the radio. Happy days!
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Post by Windy Miller on Dec 22, 2016 12:34:17 GMT
Donna Summer's "State of Independence" is an amazing record, particularly in it's full 12" single format. What's also amazing is the list of backing singers, which include Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Michael Jackson, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins and Stevie Wonder.
Also quite surprising that the lame, middle of the road ballad, "The Girl Is Mine" was the first single to be released from Jackson's forthcoming album Thriller, but I guess that's what you do when you have mega behemoth Paul McCartney signed up as your singing partner.
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Post by Cartman on Dec 22, 2016 14:08:36 GMT
Tell you another really good record I remember from the end of 82 - Wah, Story of The Blues
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Post by Dirty Epic on Dec 22, 2016 15:15:14 GMT
Tell you another really good record I remember from the end of 82 - Wah, Story of The Blues Can't argue with that Cartman. Another post-punk Liverpool-scene band which didn't quite make it as big as they should've done.
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Post by Cartman on Dec 22, 2016 16:46:27 GMT
There was quite a bit of decent post punk/late new wave stuff around at the end of 82, it was the tail end of the creative and exciting period in music which kicked off at the beginning of 77, running parallel with disco. Other memorable songs from about then were Eddie Grant's I don't want to Dance, Mari Wilson, Just What I always wanted, Wah, as we have just said, there were others, will have a look at my retro charts listings.
I remember at that time, I was 22, and used to go a bit to The Ritz in Manchester (mostly crashing and burning!) and used to drive, I would put the radio on for the drive back to Bury in my old Austin A40 and a lot of these songs would be on. Good Times, 83 was another good year, but then music in general went into a long decline
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Post by Dirty Epic on Dec 22, 2016 17:40:24 GMT
Sounds good Cartman. BTW did you ever do Rafters, Pips, Twisted Wheel and others in around Manc at all? They must've had some good stuff on there around 76 to 83.
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