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Post by Dirty Epic on Mar 16, 2017 12:56:02 GMT
...also interested in seeing D Train too.
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Mar 16, 2017 22:06:25 GMT
I've got out of the habit of watching them every week so have lots to wade through to catch up.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Mar 17, 2017 12:07:53 GMT
Yeah I've been a bit like that with these TOTP repeats. Got to admit I'm viewing them more for the acts I like rather than as a whole and some of the chaff that's on these episodes I tend to focus off, fwd through too. Still some good gems now and then appear here lets hope BBC Four does the same for the rest of the 80's and even 90's episodes too.
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Post by Frank Spencer on Mar 17, 2017 18:59:12 GMT
Looking back on episodes 999 and 1001 this week ... yep ... as feared the BBC saw fit not to show the 1000th special ! Grrrrr ..... We've all said it many times before, they can edit shows when it suits them, but too often they just throw the whole thing in the bin. So, let's see who entertained us last week ... I have to say I preferred No:999 to No: 1001 - unusually for me (!) I found very little worthy of comment on the latter show, just a medium sized thumbs up for a very smart looking Belle Stars in their matching baseball outfits, enthusiastically performing "Sweet Memory", nice tune I could only just remember. But it was Agnetha from Abba who stole the show in her 15 seconds near the end looking stunningly beautiful whilst plugging her new solo LP & single and clearly making Messrs Read & Vance weak at the knees ! Episode 999 (so cruel of them to tease us constantly with that number knowing that we'll never see No:1000 !!) was full of seriously early/mid 80s fashion not only worn by Zoo, but with the "genuine" audience catching up a bit too now. Yes, most of it looks really naff, but you do feel likeyou are right there back in the 80s now. The eyebrow raising talking point of this episode was the inclusion of John Peel's amusing look at the European Charts and Kid Jensen reporting on the South East Asia scene. If you saw the "Story of 1983" special at the start of this year, you will know that there was NO scene there ! Seems The Kid was on holiday and they asked him to do a piece "while he was there" for inclusion only to discover they had no pop charts and very little pop music !! Awkward ... Just one video on this show and a disappointingly dull one it was too for Spandau Ballet's classic "True" - maybe they knew that their previous songs were in need of a big budget vid to help them along, whilst this song's success was all about the ...song ! Tears For Fears' Curt Smith gamely played through "Pale Shelter" in the studio without realizing part of his guitar was missing whilst Kissing The Pink did "The Last Film" again, although it was noticeable that compared to their last performance of the song, the different set and camera angeles seemed to take a little of their energy away. God I'm getting good at this !! Finally, we may never know who or what appeared at the end of the show after "True" to necessitate a brutal edit - Peel & Jensen looked a bit sheepish for some reason saying goodnight ...
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Post by Frank Spencer on Mar 22, 2017 12:26:16 GMT
All quiet on this forum this week, which is a shame, as the first of the last two episodes was a special one for me, being broadcast the day before my 21st birthday ! And a good solid show it was too with song after song bringing back strong memories of that time in my life, with the possible exception of "Blind Vision" by Blancmange accompanied by a video "amusingly" featuring various images of ... er... blancmange ! Gosh ! A great opening with D Train' s James Williams (the voice) and Hubert Eaves (everything else) singing and dancing their socks off in the studio to their second biggest hit (pity I don't recall their anthem from 1981 "You're The One For Me" beinf done on TOTP...) , James "D Train" Williams as he now calls himself is still lending his great guest vocals to dance tracks today occasionally - and another act on the show are also still going ... of not going strong ! New Edition featured a very young Bobby Brown, two years before wife to be Whitney Houston had her first UK hit - looking at the video he looks far too young for her even allowing for the two yeasr to evolve ! The rest of his career / life has been well documented, but the other four in the group all went on to achieve decent success too and I have several vinyl projects featuring Ralph Tresvant and the remaining trio called "Bell Biv DeVoe" in my collection, as well as recordings by Johnny Gill, who later replaced Brown in the group around 1985. Still fascinating seeing them all looking soooooo young though ! The track "Candy Girl" is still pants though ... I wasn't too impressed by David Grant's early solo career having really liked his group Linx in 80/81 and on this show he comes across as a 4th rate Michael Jackson with a really weak debut single, though later solo efforts were a big improvement, if not as good as his group work.... Nice to see the Wham promo too this week, one of the few vids I remember clearly from first time around, possibly because I was almost certainly trying to dress like George and / or Andrew at the time !!! Yazoo, Jo Boxers, The Beat & Fun Boy Three all do what I remember them doing best then we are on to the 26th May show ... ... which was a total throw away, rushed and squeezed into a 20 minute slot before the Brighton v Man Utd FA Cup Replay ! Highlight by far of a brief programme was The Police in the studio doing "Every Breath You Take", one of their five No:1s - bit of a giveaway though was that they are all wearing exactly the same clothes as they wore when making a quick guest appearance to say "hello" on the previous week's TOTP - I know from first hand experience that certain acts would often pre-record a slot for the next week's show due to their busy schedules, then hope and pray the record didn't go down the charts !! The next TOTP originally shown on 2/6/83 will be "Yew-treed" due to Mr Saville co-hosting with Tony Blackburn, so we miss out on the one and only appearance of Booker Newbury III singing "Love Town" - think I'll see if I can find it on "Yew Tube" instead !
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Post by Steve Austin on Mar 22, 2017 16:26:08 GMT
Yes, quiet times Frank. For my part it's mainly because I remain largely uninterested in this period music wise, with the odd exception. The Fun Boy Three being that exception for these two episodes. Not being a fan of soul/dance/new romance leaves little room for anything I do like.
I do, however, appreciate that not everyone is like me and I enjoy reading the reviews posted here.
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Post by Frank Spencer on Mar 29, 2017 19:42:18 GMT
I suspect I might be alone on here as a fully paid up "Soul Boy" of the 80s lapping up the occasional appearances of some of the acts that provided the soundtrack to my early 20s on TOTP each week ! But I do appreciate many of the other "pure pop" acts when they put in a good performance and especially those moments that don't quite come off too First though, here is the clip of Booker Newbury III doing one of THE 80s Soul Anthems "Love Town" that we missed out on seeing last time due to Jimmy Saville's vile lifestyle : Love Town TOTP 2/6/1983
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Mar 29, 2017 19:48:36 GMT
I suspect I might be alone on here as a fully paid up "Soul Boy" of the 80s lapping up the occasional appearances of some of the acts that provided the soundtrack to my early 20s on TOTP each week ! Thanks for your continued input into this thread Frank and fear not. We've all had a heavy long weekend at the forum meet in Newcastle that we're recovering from. Honestly the booze hounds that are on here Many of the lads were saying they are still watching TOTP 1983. I embarrassingly have 10 episodes now on the Tivo to wade through so i must get cracking.
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Post by Frank Spencer on Mar 29, 2017 20:05:44 GMT
I am just starting to get annoyed with the pretty young gyrating barely-dressed girls in "Zoo" getting in the way of some of the performances now . OK, with one or two of the duller acts, they provide a nice distraction, especially when wearing nothing more than a skimpy pink top and what can only be described as a "denim nappy" as was the case when Freeez opened up for Simon Bates & Peter Powell last week ( I really don't remember girls wearingall these 'baggy short shorts' at the discos I went to in 1983 !) I know they are on their way out soon from the start of year "Story Of 1983" documentary, but hopefully it is sooner rather than later - their routines have become quite laughable - doing some dreadful stereotyped "headbanging" to Twisted Sister, sitting on the floor nodding their head with their eyes closed at the start of "I Dream To Sleep" by H20 and other ridiculous over the top dance moves that must havedistracted the acts now and then ... I still have no idea what David Bowie's "China Girl" song or video were all about, much as I liked it as a pop song at the time, and though parts of the video are a bit more "obvious" than you would have expected from him (including a silly "slitty eyes moment" !) other parts still leave me baffled with 34 years of hindsight ... Ultravox looked ultra-cool doing "We Came To Dance" in the studio, although I think somebody must have thought they were going to do theiur previous hit "Visions In Blue" judging by all the blue light they were drowned in !! ... Elvis Costello performed suitably moodily cunningly disguised as "The Imposter" (it had John Peel fooled - NOT ! ) singing his anti-Thatcherism song "Pills & Soap" the day before the General Election - how did THAT get in there withall the BBC's strict "political" rules ?! Curiously, theis episode was broadcast a day early so as not to clash with the polling - did they think viewers would not vote because TOTP was on the telly ? Weird ... Two ladies on the second epsiode last week tried desperately to out-Zoo Zoo, Jill Saward of Shakatak dressed up in some sort of way too early Halloween costume, complete with hair so big it was almost in next week's show, and Maggie Reilly looking like a cross between anover aged school girl and a Morris Dancer wearing god knows what - mind you, once Mike Oldfield decided he wanted to be a rock star on stage at TOTP for once, she wisely sat down on the floor out of the way ... Not unexpectedly, John Peel provided the highlight of last week's broadcasts, in Amsterdam to present the next "Eurocharts" segment with a six-piece Dutch girl group called "Dolly Dots" in tow, their countdown of Holland's Top 10 and the various clips of some seriously naff "Europop" had me in stitches - and, hell, I know the Dutch speak really good English but one of the Dots even took that to another level by "getting" one of Peely's subtle quips and laughing out loud ! Respect ...
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Post by Frank Spencer on Mar 29, 2017 20:10:26 GMT
I suspect I might be alone on here as a fully paid up "Soul Boy" of the 80s lapping up the occasional appearances of some of the acts that provided the soundtrack to my early 20s on TOTP each week ! Thanks for your continued input into this thread Frank and fear not. We've all had a heavy long weekend at the forum meet in Newcastle that we're recovering from. Honestly the booze hounds that are on here Many of the lads were saying they are still watching TOTP 1983. I embarrassingly have 10 episodes now on the Tivo to wade through so i must get cracking. Cheers Del Boy - I keep my recordings for just over a week in case anybody spots something that my eagle eyes miss and I want to go back to, Windy was always good at that. Hope you all had a damn good session in Newcastle - I remember my one visit there in 2002, spending an evening on Bigg Market. Talk about an eye opener, I've never been the same since !!
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