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Post by Arthur Pringle on Feb 2, 2017 16:17:48 GMT
I usually put the subtitles on when watching TOTP to read the lyrics. I'd not really noticed before but Wham Rap is all about how much fun life on the dole is "I may not have a job, but I have a good time With the boys that I meet, "down on the line" I ain't never gonna work, get down in the dirt I choose to cruise"
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Feb 2, 2017 16:27:05 GMT
I could never stand Jonathan King anyway, regardless of what he was up to. A few in there that are OK in my opinion:#
Belle Stars
Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
Thompson Twins
Toto - Africa
Wham Rap
Haysee Fantasee - or am I just remembering Kate Garner!?
Men at Work - Down Under - A one hit wonder for all intents and purposes, I think they did one more that I don't remember at all
Update edit - Ive just checked Kate Garner out on Wikipedia and shes now 62!! I thought she was younger than that as this put her at 28 in 1983. Scary how girls you used to fancy years ago are now in their 60s......
Cartmen. I think we've heard some good tracks so far in 1983. I disagree with some of the other recent opinion on this thread that this was a poor time for music. I personally feel that the 80's started off slowly (New Wave seemed to disappear quickly) with the music generally getting better until about 84/85 where it then faded away into a Stock/Aitken/Waterman dirge I like this period as I was a young record buyer at the time, but for those who had New Wave or Punk as the in sound of their adolescence, I can see this 80 to 85 period as not being on par.
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Feb 2, 2017 16:38:43 GMT
I usually put the subtitles on when watching TOTP to read the lyrics. I'd not really noticed before but Wham Rap is all about how much fun life on the dole is "I may not have a job, but I have a good time With the boys that I meet, "down on the line" I ain't never gonna work, get down in the dirt I choose to cruise" Indeed Arthur, there's lots in this song that would rankle with today's contemporaries Look at this verse of the song: If you're a pub man Or a club man Maybe a jet black guy With a hip hi-fi A white cool cat With a trilby hat Maybe leather and studs Is where you're at Make the most of everyday Don't let hard times Stand in your way Give a wham Give a bam But don't give a damn 'Cos the benefit gang Are gonna pay The racial descriptions/ stereotyping won't sit well and neither will the glorification of being on benefit
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Feb 2, 2017 16:49:25 GMT
I feel 80 to 83 was an OK period for music, with it nosediving from 84 onwards personally. 1980 I actually thought was a good musical year
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Feb 2, 2017 16:59:10 GMT
I feel 80 to 83 was an OK period for music, with it nosediving from 84 onwards personally. 1980 I actually thought was a good musical year Yes 80 had some good stuff but compared to 78 and 79 it wasn't as good. It certainly tailed off from around 84 85 after the second albums from a lot of the acts that debuted in the early 80s.
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Post by Cartman on Feb 3, 2017 8:32:24 GMT
Agree, to me 78/79 was THE high point musically
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Post by Frank Spencer on Feb 4, 2017 23:37:14 GMT
Hello ! I have returned to waffle on about what we have seen (or swerved!) on TOTP83 so far this year First of all, I am sorry to see Windy has taken retirement from writing his excellent previews to each episode, but I can fully appreciate what he is saying as I have just hosted a record (for me!) 17 quiz nights in the 31 days of January - and those things don't write themselves, so that's where I have been recently ! Finally got some time off today to have a good catch up and watched three episodes in a row, with another two to see before next week's ones go onto my Sky Planner ... but it's worth it ! Who cares whether the songs were good / bad, whether it was a great or a poor time for music ? I am just watching for nostalgia and enjoying a peek into innocent times when I was soon to turn 21 and "never been kissed" - part of the beauty in seeing these old episodes is gasping at how truly awful novelty / one-off acts were allowed to appear on TV along side credible musicians, just because they made the charts and enjoying the car crash of groups / singers making a complete hash of their five minutes of fame, regardless of how their careers were viewed 34 years afterwards. Personally, I enjoyed watching "Orville's Song" being performed on TOTP at the end of last year much more than say Bauhaus whose non-top 40 track on the show recently, I personally thought, was dire on every level ! Let's be entertained, get sucked into Michael Hurll's "party party party" atmosphere, reminisce over the fashions worn by the girls and boys and just enjoy watching an iconic pop TV show at (or near) it's best period, regardless of the musical merits, coz we can't watch it now here in 2017 after all ... Anyway, my twopenneth worth re the last three shows watched ... such a shame that Janice Long hosting her first show (with Gary Davies) gets repeated on BBC4 just a week before her midnight Radio 2 show gets axed in a BBC costcutting exercise. I used to enjoy listening to her for 30 minutes or so during the week on my way home and had been looking forward to maybe hearing some more anecdotes as the shows popped up on the telly ... a nice steady stream of notable acts either in the studio or on video for the pair to introduce including U2's first TOTP appearance back announced with a cheesy "Luck of the Irish" comment by Janice - she settled in quickly ! ... the next show kicked off with Level 42 singing "The Chinese Way" and in true classic TOTP style just count the cliche outfits and accessories being paraded by the resident dancers in the background ! Richard Skinner certainly seemed to enjoy himself working with Simon Bates, and got quite excited by the prospect of seeing lasers in the Belle Stars video - but it was 1983 remember and I had a similar reaction at seeing them in Dukes Discotheque around the same time ! ... A professional live peformance of "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes in the studio but totally lacking in any chemistry - they hardly looked at each other during the whole three and a half minutes ! ... and the latest show I watched featured Indeep doing "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life", a popular disco tune to this day, presumably featuring the chap who put the tune together doing a pretty poor impersonation of a DJ in the background behind two pretty girls miming the song they possibly didn't sing with "DJ" miming the rap that he probably didn't perform on the record, giving us a hint of things to come - in the sampling era, it would be cool to have a DJ set up on stage at the back, mixing and a scratching, but not in 1983 doing what this fella was !! lol ... Finally I have to agree with one if the guys above re Fleetwood Mac - it looked very much as they were in the midst of one of their many "troubles", never have I seen five members of a group look so alienated from each other in a performance ! Thanks to the stupid cutting back and forth to the studio over the admittedly dull video clip, we never even got to see Stevie Nicks breathe into her mic and where the tambourine came into play in the track is anybody's guess ! That'll do for now ! A briefer post next week when I get back in the old routine again ... just keep watching folks !
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Post by Del Boy on Feb 7, 2017 22:22:17 GMT
Hello ! I have returned to waffle on about what we have seen (or swerved!) on TOTP83 so far this year First of all, I am sorry to see Windy has taken retirement from writing his excellent previews to each episode, but I can fully appreciate what he is saying as I have just hosted a record (for me!) 17 quiz nights in the 31 days of January - and those things don't write themselves, so that's where I have been recently ! Finally got some time off today to have a good catch up and watched three episodes in a row. Let's be entertained, get sucked into Michael Hurll's "party party party" atmosphere, reminisce over the fashions worn by the girls and boys and just enjoy watching an iconic pop TV show at (or near) it's best period, regardless of the musical merits, coz we can't watch it now here in 2017 after all ... A professional live performance of "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes in the studio but totally lacking in any chemistry - they hardly looked at each other during the whole three and a half minutes ! . That'll do for now ! A briefer post next week when I get back in the old routine again ... just keep watching folks ! Welcome back Frank You certainly have had a busy January with 17 quizzes You're right TOTP 83 so far this year has been a tale of some good quality stuff , the novelty record and the dross. Records that dont chart litter TOTPs over the last few years. Who selects these tracks They need the boot and we could use the 3 mins for something better in the chart Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes. I find it hard to watch Joe sing. He looks in real pain as he delivers the lyrics, either that or needed to go .. Seriously though I enjoyed the live performance by Jen and Joe and their different styles work well on this record. I couldn't help thinking though that the song was divided up somewhat unevenly 80/20 in Joe's favour and Jennifer is merely a backing singer on most of it.
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Post by Frank Spencer on Feb 10, 2017 11:40:09 GMT
Is it that we have just got used to them or were the flamboyant dancers less conspicuous in the last two episodes ? I know Zoo were being phased out in 1983 but we hardly saw them this week save fora bit of rocking and a rolling to "Jailhouse Rock" over the end credits. I thought these were two nice solid shows, where we could just sit back and enjoy the performances of vintage 80s names like Depeche Mode, Thompson Twins, Level 42 and Wham! in the studio (boy, did George hog the limelight on those early routines !) and take in the creativity of top videos from Toto, Tears For Fears and of course Madness, who never fail to amuse and entertain now, even though I wsn't a fan at all at the time !! Trying too hard to be cool and dress / dance like George Michael ! It was nice to see fresh faces like Janice Long, Pat Sharp & Gary Davies finding their feet gradually hosting their first couple of shows recently, but inevitably after a good run we miss a couple of show during the next month, the 24th February episode being hosted by DLT with Andy Peebles and a fortnight later the Mike Smith situation arises again for the 10th March show along with Tommy Vance. As I am sure many on here know, it's always worth a look at the "Popscene" page to see if there's anything worth hunting down on You Tube or elsewhere that you may have liked to have seen again - here is the link to their 1983 TOTP Episode guide: z6.invisionfree.com/popscene/ar/t1210.htm Me, I am gutted at missing out on seeing David Joseph doing "You Can't Hide Your Love" - I had the dance moves to that song off to a tee on the floor of Sweeneys Discotheque in Basildon in Spring 1983, pulled nearly every Friday night back then in my burgunday box jacket, white socks and expensive Ravel shoes !!
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Post by Dirty Epic on Feb 10, 2017 12:40:43 GMT
Some interesting stuff over the last few weeks. My personal faves were Depeche, China Crisis, Echo & The Bunnymen, Thompson Twins and Central Line - the latter one being a bit of a proto-House sound in it too.
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