9 December 1982: Presenters – Simon Bates: Broadcast BBC Four 30/12/2016 (Thanks to POPSCENE for the running order)
(19) SHALAMAR – Friends
(3) RENÉE & RENATO – Save Your Love (video)
(13) YAZOO – The Other Side Of Love
(35) SHAKIN’ STEVENS – Blue Christmas
(5) CULTURE CLUB – Time (Clock Of The Heart) ®
(6) LIONEL RICHIE – Truly ®
(21) SOFT CELL – Where The Heart Is
(22) DAVID BOWIE & BING CROSBY – Peace On Earth – Little Drummer Boy (video)
(1) THE JAM – Beat Surrender ®
(7) BLANCMANGE – Living On The Ceiling (crowd dancing) (and credits)
It’s the final two broadcastable episodes of TOTPs from 1982, and the first show has Simon Bates making a big effort to get his facts right. With all the skipped shows we’ve had recently it feels like Shakin’ Stevens has been on every week, and he’s back again with, as Bates informs us, "A single in time for Christmas - it's an EP, not a single!". Eh?
David Bowie and Bing Crosbie’s video for Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy was originally recorded in 1977, just a short month before Bing Crosby died of a heart attack. The cardiganed 40s crooner hosted David Bowie on his Christmas show, and the awkwardness of the event is visibly palpable. An older, crusty Crosby had no real familiarity with the younger, androgynous Bowie, and Bowie wasn’t crazy about singing The Little Drummer Boy. So, shortly before the show’s recording, a team of writers had to frantically reengineer the song, blending the traditional Christmas song with a newly-written tune called Peace on Earth. After one hour of rehearsal, the two singers recorded The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth and made a little classic.
Bing Crosby and David Bowie :-