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Post by Frank Spencer on Apr 20, 2017 10:35:39 GMT
Well, suddenly last week we found ourselves in September 1983 thanks to DLT & Mike Smith being co-hosts of TOTP on 18th & 25th August. As usual, much of what we missed will either be seen again soon or was a repeat from previous shows, but the two studio performances I will be hunting out online (and posting on here if possible) are "Come Dancing" by the Kinks and "Paris Match" by the Style Council. The video for the other track on the "A Paris" EP , as I recall the double A side 12" being called, features a very different looking Paul Weller lounging around half naked on a punt miming "Long Hot Summer" and is shown on the 11/8/17 edition - definitely an eye opener, though mainly for the ladies watching !! I must admit I dozed off halfway through this programme, but did rewind and don't think I missed anything remarkable ! I was transfixed by Robert Plant's video however,very mysterious and big budget, but I am still none the wiser what it all meant or indeed what "Big Log" was all about, Del Boy might have been right maybe it was just a pile of ..... ! Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" was a big hit and truly groundbreaking with a long established jazz man dabbling in the fresh (then) electro hip hop sound and coming up with something innovative that still sounds good today. It would be nice if we could see him in the studio on a future TOTP performing the track, but I think the best we can hope for is the equally neat video ... John Peel & David Jensen's first task, dressed up as cowboys, was to introduce Modern Romance - good grief, Peel & The Kid having a laugh I can live with, cheesy as it was, but what a load of pants that opening song was ! I really enjoyed their earlier 'good time' songs like "Everybody Salsa" and "Best Years Of Our Lives" but when a group starts taking themselves more 'seriously' and releases a wet ballad, you know the end is near - and it was, this was their last hit ! Stray Cats were another of quite a number of groups who must have appeared at least twice on TOTP with ALL of their hits, though they didn't have as many as MR, and my black sense of humour would have liked to see J**** S****** introducing them doing "She's 17 & Sexy" but then we wouldn't have seen it because ... well, you know how it is ! Another fun video from Madness (goodness me H & S would have a field day now with that "van on a parachute" stunt ! ) a big dramatic one from Genesis, and John Peel's usual amusing Eurocharts round up including a 'fun' interview with Ryan Paris were other highlights, making it an enjoyable show overall - and sadly one of the last things I watched on my 15 year old telly before it finally gave up the ghost last night !
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Post by Dirty Epic on Apr 23, 2017 13:47:35 GMT
Good review Frank. Got a few of these to watch on catch up too. From the bunch have to go with Herbie Hancock's Rockit kind of interesting a lot of soul/jazz musicians dabled with Electro and early Hip Hop/House in the early 80's too.
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Post by Frank Spencer on May 3, 2017 17:00:00 GMT
TV sorted - downgraded ! - but now TWO weeks behind with TOTP, so for those with a stack of episodes recorded to watch or the know how to see them online via the I-player, etc here are some recent highlights : 8th September 1983 - Andy Peebles & Peter Powell
Mr Powell looking unusually smart in a suit assisted by Mr Peebles sporting his unorthodox take on "fashion" introduced some lesser known tunes by big names of the times including Heaven 17, Rod Stewart ('fun on a boat' video - see Duran Duran !) & Quo plus there was the black & white vid for Red Red Wine I'd forgotten. Star of the show for me though was Paul Young in his prime, alongside his name-checked band "The Royal Family" , although there was no similar mention for the show stealing backing singers, Kim & Maz aka "The Fabulous Wealthy Tarts" ! No repeats for the Saville & DLT hosted shows on 15/9 or 29/9, sadly I am getting used to these omissions now and feeling less outraged - the head has been well and truly banged against the brick wall until it can take no more. Nothing worth losing too much sleep over in either show, any good stuff is either a repeat from a previous show or will be repeated in future episodes... 22nd September 1983 - Simon Bates & Mike Read
Bates in a bright blazer as usual (Alan Partridge anyone ?!) and Read super cool in leather & shades presented a "Big Hair Edition" - just check out Howard Jones (the iconic performance with the mime artist), Toyah (dressing very silly in the video for a moderate song) Soft Cell's David Ball (just needed a good trim really...) and all three of The Alarm (where was the wind tunnel ??). Even for the mid 80s,these guys hair was BIG ! 6th October 1983 - John Peel & Kid Jensen
The Rhythm Pals dress up as Roman Gladiators this one ! They have clearly set a precedent now and as witty as they can bem the joke is wearing a little thin now, though some of Peel's one-lners are brilliantly off the wall especially the one about "sheep grazing on the slopes of Meat Loaf" ! Other moments to grab are a "live" Bowie video for Modern Love, a second chance to see the car crash studio performance of Blue Monday by New Order (see if you can spot Peter Hook's big grin right at the end after the infamous "keyboard cock up" !) a rather unconvincing "rock drummer" on the Meat Loaf vid and ... sorry Zoo fans ! ... some pretty lame body-popping accompanying Freeez. By the end of the show they were still wearing their silly white gloves, but had reverted to the prancing around that they did best ... 13th October - Peter Powell & Richard Skinner
Powell back to his normal trying-so-hard to be cool self gets tripped up by dark-horse Skinner hosting this show - I never recalled him being as droll as he has proved to be in some of his links, just needs to ditch the jumpers !! This episode is all about the videos - far and away the best thing I've seen on TOTP in recent weeks is the video for "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie, a top quality production, super-slick from start to finish, with some seriously cool dance moves, still looking sharp today. Also well worth a look is the amusing promo by Tracey Ullman, with a brief cameo by pop superstar ... oh, spoilers !! ... and our first viewing of the much played on TV vid for "Karma Chameleon" . I must admit though I did break the "golden rule" and immediately reached for the FFWD button when Black Lace came on .... NOOOOOOO!!!!! May is a very busy month for me, but once I have resolved the so far temporary situation with my TV and Sky box I shall be back reflecting on more 1983 TOTP nostalgia !
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Post by Arthur Pringle on May 3, 2017 17:13:44 GMT
Dear me, Black Lace's 'Superman', a care worker leading the armchair bound residents of a retirement home in an exercise class set to one of the presets on a Casio organ. I'd be lying if I said I didn't join in with the actions though.
Culture Club's success is a puzzler, I thought they were awful as a youngster back then & still do. Strange how Boy George got so big in America, even appearing in 'The A Team'.
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Post by Steve Austin on May 3, 2017 17:45:12 GMT
Another great review there Frank, shame about your telly though Highlight for me was Dear Prudence by Siouxsie And The Banshees. Didn't really appreciate the hairy armpits but it was amusing to see Robert Smith smirking his way through the video. At the time (I was 14), I didn't know this was a Beatles tune (never mentioned on TOTP either, strangely) so sought it out after this, all part of my fab four education. I also enjoyed the Tracey Ullman video, mainly because of a certain "bass player"
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Post by Del Boy on May 6, 2017 20:35:35 GMT
Im watching a few on catch up tonight
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Post by Del Boy on May 8, 2017 21:38:07 GMT
Well I had a TOTP fest over the weekend. I was so far behind the Number 1 was Rod Stewart- Baby Jane Looks like Rod stole a march on the Miami Vice lads by two years with his 80's pastel colours. Then again he did have a gaff in L.A so perhaps that was a look for the sunnier parts of the U.S. New Song- Howard Jones. I really liked this track when it came out so it was good to see this performance again. The mime artist was a good visual for a studio appearance Culture Club- Karma Chameleon Another track i liked at the time and bought the single Some songs you always love , some grow on you the more you hear them and others you tire of pretty quickly and dont like anymore. This falls into the latter category. David Bowie continued releasing singles from his album of the time "Let's Dance". Modern Love and China Girl were good tracks. Not bad considering it was his Fifteenth album. The best presenter as ever was Peel. His deadpan delivery is spot on and he overshadows the younger guys. The one who really sticks out is Peebles whose implied coolness is so fake. The other regulars, Powell and Jenson are decent in my book. Not so fond of Nightingale thus far. Lets see if she improves.
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Post by Frank Spencer on May 12, 2017 18:54:51 GMT
I agree with you re the presenters Del Boy, there is a lot of "fake coolness" though, not just from Peebles - Peel is the only one who still comes across with his credibility totally intact , despite his Jensen's penchant for dressing up in silly outfits lately ! Did you mean Janice Long ? She is the only female presenter I think we've seen so far, many more popped up from the 90s onwards though ... And so to a quick resume of the last two shows I caught - the one first shown on 20/10/83 was a clear example of how we were now firmly in the video age, the highlights for me all being vids, classic ones from Billy Joel, Elton John & Men Without Hats, all seen many times since and the amusing but slightly dated Rocksteady Crew. Gary Numan was always lost on me, but at least I can still remember how his first two or three hits sounded from 79/80, everything he has been on TOTP with since has been such a dreary dirge, though he looks great as ever ! And dare I say it ? Depeche Mode seemed to be "maturing" too fast as well and losing their knack of writing catchy pop songs, for a more serious sound .. which of course kept them busy and hugely popular with fans across the world for many year afterwards !! What do I know ... The other episode last week from 3/11/83 was choc-a-bloc with "household names" like ABC, Donna Summer, Elton again, The Police, Quo, Madness and Shaky, but on varying levels of average-ness, none of whom were performing their top grade work. Though the Police song was particularly unmemorable, at least the video was a good watch, much better than many of their previous almost amateurish efforts. Still I do like to hear some of the lesser hits by big names played on the radio and it was good to see them on the telly too and how they carried them off... Another episode we miss out on was the one in between from 27/10/83, but some debuts on there can be seen again or in video form before long - apart from King Kurt with "Destination Zululand". I seem to recall them being VERY outrageous and over-wild in their performance, I must try and track it down online to see if I am still "shocked" 34 years on !!
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Post by Frank Spencer on May 12, 2017 21:27:36 GMT
Well, I found it ! Funny how your memory plays tricks on you - the only thing to be "shocked" about watching King Kurt on TOTP (with DLT & Tony Blackburn doing the intro) was how very silly their hair styles looked for 1983 and that as a "punk" band they had sax player ! A fairly lame peformance with the guy in the kilt / skirt looking plain embarrassed from start to finish ... BUT ! ... WAIT !!! Watch this clip all the way through and DO NOT miss the last 30 seconds !! Wonder what the guys at the BBC thought of that - planned or not do you reckon ? lol
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Bollykecks
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Post by Bollykecks on May 14, 2017 10:28:48 GMT
Well, I found it ! Funny how your memory plays tricks on you - the only thing to be "shocked" about watching King Kurt on TOTP (with DLT & Tony Blackburn doing the intro) was how very silly their hair styles looked for 1983 and that as a "punk" band they had sax player ! A fairly lame peformance with the guy in the kilt / skirt looking plain embarrassed from start to finish ... BUT ! ... WAIT !!! Watch this clip all the way through and DO NOT miss the last 30 seconds !! Wonder what the guys at the BBC thought of that - planned or not do you reckon ? lol Lolol
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