Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds

TOTP 03 JUL 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

This list marks a true milestone for me. This is TOTP Rewind post No 700! Yes, if you combine all the 80s and 90s shows reviews together, the total is 700. How did I get here and more importantly, was it worth it? Well, I’ll leave the second part of that question to anybody who’s taken the time to read any of the previous 699 posts to answer. As for ‘how did I get here?’ (you’ve got “Once In A Lifetime” by Talking Heads running through your mind now haven’t you?), I’ll tell you. It’s taken me nearly nine years of watching, considering and writing to get me to 700. NINE YEARS! I must be either someone who’s very dedicated to a cause or a complete narcissist.

To mark the occasion, the gods of pop music nostalgia have plotted to provide me with one of the worst running orders in TOTP history but before we get to all that, we have a brand new presenter making their debut on the show in the form of Kate Thornton. A journalist initially (she was the youngest ever editor of Smash Hits magazine aged just 21), she made the transition to TV via ITV current affairs programme Straight Up and is widely credited as the person who placed “Candle In The Wind” centre stage as part of the national grieving process for the death of Princess Diana. Apparently, her bosses wanted some music to soundtrack a photo tribute piece for Diana and Thornton was tasked with sourcing something appropriate. As the news broke on a Sunday, the record library was shut and so Kate was left with whatever she had in her car. A copy of Elton John’s Greatest Hits was on the stereo and the rest is literally history. Big history. The BBC came calling and a place in the TOTP presenter roster was offered. I like that the producers made some attempt at humour by introducing her with a skit as if she’d been pulled out of the studio audience at random to replace a poorly Jayne Middlemiss. Maybe she had, though clearly not in the manner presented. She gives a very confident and assured performance on her debut and would become the host of X Factor in 2004. I never quite understood why she was replaced by Dermot O’Leary. I believe she’s to be found on Greatest Hits Radio these days along with all the other BBC presenters deemed not hip enough anymore like Ken Bruce and Simon Mayo although to be fair, I’m not sure if either of those two were ever hip.

Anyway, we start with a new face with a shiny, new hit from a famous family. Before 1998, the phrase ‘Eagle Eyes’ would have conjured up memories of Action Man toys from my childhood but Eagle-Eye Cherry (his actual real name!) came along to change all that.

The son of American jazz artist Don Cherry and Swedish designer Moki Cherry and the half brother of Neneh Cherry, he had early career intentions to be an actor and enrolled in the High School Of Performing Arts in New York (Fame and all that) being in the same class as Jennifer Aniston. However, he would ultimately choose music as his first passion and returned to his home of Stockholm to write his debut album “Desireless”. His instincts paid off when the album sold four million copies around the world, spearheaded by lead single and opening track “Save Tonight”. Irresistible for daytime radio controllers, it’s actually quite a simple song based around the well established and familiar chord progression of Am-F-C-G that is the backbone of many a huge hit including “Hey Jude”, “Wonderwall” and “Imagine”. It’s slick and smooth though with a vocal from Cherry that has enough interest in it to keep the listener’s attention. Great things were predicted for Eagle-Eye – my wife was enamoured enough to buy “Desireless” and see him live at the Manchester Academy – but the old diminishing returns and changing tastes seem to do for him and the hits had all but dried up come the new millennium. He still recording new material though with his last album released in 2023.

Sticking with the eagle theme come Hanson whose latest hit “Thinking Of You” includes the lyric “Fly with the wings of an eagle” running throughout its length. The fifth and final single taken from their “Middle Of Nowhere” album, listening back to it, you could understand why it hadn’t appeared earlier in the release schedule. The album’s lead single had been the No 1 “MMMBop” and, to paraphrase Kate Thornton in her intro, whether you found it adorable or downright irritating, you couldn’t deny it was insanely catchy. Sadly for “Thinking Of You”, it was no “MMMBop” despite its clear aspirations to be so. However, it was MMBop-lite which sounds like a diet version of a fizzy drink but you get my drift. It seems to have all the component parts but it doesn’t have that killer hook. It’s like an early demo of their most famous song before they’d worked it into shape as the pop mega-hit it became. “Thinking Of You” would be the band’s last hit of the 90s (though they’d have three more into the new decade).

As with Hanson before them, after a couple of years of hits, Space were coming to the end of their time as Top 40 stars. Conversely, this, their penultimate hit, was called “Begin Again”. Another track lifted from their Top 3 album “Tin Planet”, it would peak at No 21, their smallest ever chart hit. Now, I’ve championed Space a bit in previous posts and my wife had their first album “Spiders” but by this point, their quirky flavoured schtick was starting to grate a bit. That eerie sound that they’d cultivated which had initially charmed was becoming predictable. “Begin Again” was another track with swooping strings and a almost mariachi feel to it with singer Tommy Scott banging on about being a man who would kill for love whilst giving his usual wild-eyed stare to the camera. Give it a rest Tommy! After leaving their label Gut Records, the band released their music to the fanbase via their website until they split in 2005. However, they did ‘begin again’ in 2011 and are still a recording and touring entity to this day.

Here’s another link back to Hanson with another boy band. 911 were on to their seventh (of ten) consecutive Top 10 hits with “How Do You Want Me To Love You” which sounds impressive but was it really? Of those ten hits, they all debuted in their peak position in week one and none of them stayed inside the Top 10 for more than two weeks. Clearly their fan base were spending their pocket money to purchase the singles as soon as they were released when they would have been heavily discounted as well to create a high entry point but when the contributing factors of fanbase and discounting were taken away, there was no substance to sustain their chart lives. This one was a prime example. Week one in at No 10, week two dropped to No 35, week three out of the Top 40 altogether. Yes, they did have a No 2 and a No 1 hit but both were cover versions of well known songs so that diminishes those achievements in my book rather. They had three albums that peaked at Nos 13, 10 and 8 selling enough copies for one gold and two silver discs. Is that impressive? Mildly at a push I’d say. Away from the numbers (as Paul Weller once sang), this was a drippy, insipid pop ballad that was forgotten as soon as the last note sounded.

Oh come on! We’ve already had two boy bands and now a third?! And this one, as Kate Thornton tells us in her intro, has toured with 911. So hang on, they were the support act for a group that themselves were almost completely lacking in any discernible merit but who topped the bill ahead of them? Have I got that right? OK so what we’re saying is that Ultra were a poor man’s 911?! Dear Lord. Can you get any worse than that?! After scoring a hit with debut single “Say You Do”, these no marks were back with a follow up called “Say It Once”. Heavens! They couldn’t even come up with two song titles that didn’t crib off each other! This is really poor stuff to mark my 700th post. The bad news is that they had a further two hits after this. Say it ain’t so.

For Pete’s sake! No, for my sake and my 700th post! This is no way to mark the occasion – Hanson, 911, Ultra and now Aaron Carter?! You’ve got to be kidding me?! This guy was the little brother of Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys and he was just ten years old at the time of this broadcast. By comparison, the youngest Hanson brother was 12. Had we seen anything like this since Little Jimmy Osmond tormented us with “Long Hair Lover From Liverpool” in 1972? I can’t think of a similar act. What on earth was this all about and why was it happening? I’m guessing it was the most cynical act by the little blighter’s record company to cash in on the popularity of the Backstreet Boys but was it really that blunt? Well, he did support his big brother’s band on tour so maybe it was.

Apparently he’d already had three UK hit singles by this point so did we mercifully miss them or have I reviewed them and completely obliterated them from my memory banks? For the record, the fourth hit was a scandalous cover of “Surfin’ USA” by The Beach Boys. Watching the performance of it here just feels wrong. Not as bad as when Channel 4 aired the Minipops series in 1983 which was not just a dodgy idea but one of the most heinous concepts ever conceived and executed but still wrong. Oh, and the intro with Jo Whiley was absolute cringe. Why?! As is sadly often the way when fame comes to someone so young, Carter would have a traumatic and tragically short life dying in 2022 aged just 34 by accidental drowning in a bath following the taking of Xanax and difluoroethane.

TOTP Executive Producer Chris Cowey has finally relented and has allowed a video to feature on the show. Apparently, this was the first promo shown since 1st May 1998 after eight weeks of studio only appearances. I’m not sure why he introduced the policy in the first place nor why he made an exception for the Beastie Boys but in the case of the latter, I’m guessing Cowey couldn’t ignore the return of one of the biggest names in rap especially as their single crashed into the Top 5. I’ve said this before but just about everyone I ever worked with in Our Price over a 10 year period loved the Beastie Boys. Not the “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” version but the more mature and achingly cool era of the band exemplified by “Paul’s Boutique”*, the eccentricity of “Check Your Head” and the eclectic nature of “Ill Communication”. Accordingly, when “Hello Nasty” came out in 1998 after a four year gap, it was a big deal for many of my colleagues.

“Intergalactic” was its lead single and it came out swinging with a big sound and a video that seemed epic at the time but maybe isn’t viewed as that through 2025 eyes. A tribute to the Japanese Kaiju genre of films (Godzilla and the like) and featuring a giant robot battling an octopus-headed creature (?), it won the 1999 Best Hip Hop Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. The battle scenes between the robot and the octopus thing remind me of the Power Rangers franchise which I had to endure watching when my son was a young boy and it was one of the oddest TV series I think I’ve ever seen. How it ran for 30 years is beyond me. Whatever the merits or drawbacks of the video, and certainly after the crime against music that was NYCC’s brutally bad cover version of “Fight For Your Right” earlier in 1998, it was good to have the real thing back.

*Here’s another link back to Hanson. “Thinking Of You” that was on the show earlier was produced by the Dust Brothers (Michael Simpson and John King) whose other credits include “Paul’s Boutique”.

Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds are No 1 for a third week but any chance of the England football team winning the World Cup crown disappeared in dramatic fashion three days before this TOTP aired. They crashed out on penalties to Argentina in the Round of 16 after having had David Beckham sent off for petulantly lashing out at Diego Simeone whilst lay on the floor. For a while, Beckham was public enemy No 1 with even an effigy of him and a noose tied to a lamppost making headlines. With England out, there would be the inevitable drop off in sales of “3 Lions ‘98”. However, it would return to the charts eight times over the years when a football tournament has been played. The nation’s wait for a follow up to 1966 and all that continues however…

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1Eagle-Eye CherrySave TonightNo but my wife had his album
2Hanson Thinking Of YouNegative
3SpaceBegin AgainNah
4911How Do You Want Me To Love YouAs if
5UltraSay It OnceNever
6Aaron CarterSurfin’ USA Hell no!
7Beastie BoysIntergalacticNope
8Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds3 Lions ’98No

Disclaimer

I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).

All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002jy45/top-of-the-pops-03071998?seriesId=unsliced

TOTP 25 JUN 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

As host Jamie Theakston acknowledges in his top of the show intro, World Cup fever is still sweeping the nation as the England team remained in France. How much longer though was yet to be decided. Having comfortably overcome Tunisia in their opening game, disaster had befallen with a last minute defeat to Romania in the second match. All hope of progressing now hinged on the last group game against Colombia which was played the day after this TOTP was broadcast (presumably the show was moved to Thursday this week to avoid clashing with the BBC coverage of the game on the Friday).

As I said, Theakston talks about TOTP being the antidote to World Cup fever in his intro but then the first song in the show is a football song – “Vindaloo” by Fat Les. This was just a rerun of the performance from last week that incorporated both the EastEnders set and TOTP studio but in the intervening seven days, the ‘censored’ caption over the lady on stage who has an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction has been edited out. So what do we make of “Vindaloo” 27 years on? Was it an attempt to demonstrate the multiculturalism of England by getting the masses to sing a song that espoused Indian cuisine as an example of Englishness? Or was that message lost on/ignored by those same masses who instead adopted it as what many saw as a rallying call for the anti-social behaviour of the hooligan? Or was it both? Could it be both simultaneously? Certainly Keith Allen is on record as making the case for the former. However, I think we might have strayed into Alf Garnett territory with the infamous character created by Johnny Speight for the sitcom Till Death Do Us Part meant to be a figure of ridicule but for many of the watching TV audience, the satire of his portrayal was lost on them. In the political climate of 2025 and in the wake of flag-gate, who knows how it would be perceived? Rest assured, I’m not going there.

Now, when I saw this next song on the forthcoming new releases information sheet that we used to get on a weekly basis in the Our Price chain for whom I worked, it filled me with dread. My first thought on reading the title of this next song was “Oh god, someone’s doing a cover version of Nick Heyward – the greatest living Englishman!”. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. “Whistle Down The Wind”, as well as being the name of Nick’s debut solo hit from 1983, was also the title of the latest Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with the title song being recorded by “Chains” hitmaker Tina Arena. Based on the rather wonderful 1961 film of the same name starring a very young Haley Mills, it was initially not a success when it opened in the US and a stint on Broadway was cancelled. However, a reworked version that ran in the West End was better received and played solidly until 2001. Subsequent productions have toured the UK and US whilst the most recent incarnation came in 2022 at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury, Berkshire. However, I would argue that it remains one of Lloyd Webber’s lesser known and celebrated musicals.

As for the show’s music, Lloyd Webber collaborated with Meatloaf’s writing partner Jim Steinman including on the title track and it’s a suitably overwrought, soaring ballad that I found almost unlistenable to be honest. It’s more like a vocal warm up exercise than a song although Tina seems pleased with her own performance visibly mouthing “Yes!” at its climax and giving herself a double fist clench salute. The single would only make No 24 on the charts but the follow up single was extraordinarily successful. “No Matter What” by Boyzone would spend three weeks at No 1, be the fourth best selling single of 1998 in the UK and was voted the winner of the inaugural Record of the Year award. Despite all of that, I’m sticking by my assertion that Whistle Down The Wind is not one of the best known Lloyd Webber shows and that the Boyzone single is not immediately associated with it, having developed its own identity separate from its source.

I know I say this a lot in this blog but…WHO?! Imajin anyone? Well, back in 1998, according to Jamie Theakston, they were the latest US R&B sensation – like we needed another one of them. Their song was called “Shorty (You Keep Playing With My Mind)” and it’s all fairly routine stuff though the female contingent in the studio audience seem highly excited by the whole thing. Talking of 1983 as I was earlier re: Nick Heyward, watching Imajin (terrible name) I was reminded of another hit from that year – “Candy Girl” by New Edition and guess what? Imajin would feature on a cover version of that hit in 1999 with then 13 year old rapper Baby DC. And that is all my imagination can muster about Imajin.

After considering the patriotism/nationalism/loyalism (choose whichever term you are most comfortable with) angle to Fat Les earlier and quickly deciding not to go there, we have another contentious artist next. There was so many headlines about the fact that Dana International was transgender that it didn’t seem to matter what her song was like. Even host Jamie Theakston can’t resist making reference to her sex reassignment surgery in his intro whilst the pause in his outro whilst describing her as “quite extraordinary” suggests that he feels he should make another comment though he doesn’t really know what that should be. I guess it was a different time back then…or is it any different now? Gender identity remains an issue that generates enormous debate to the extent that it is used as a source of party political point scoring with exhortations to ‘define a woman’ being traded across the House of Commons. Again, I’m not wading into that subject here. What I will say is that, to my ears, Dana International’s song “Diva” doesn’t seem so out there and other worldly as perhaps it was represented as back in 1998. Its peak of No 11 made it the highest charting Eurovision winning song outside of UK or Irish artists since Germany’s Nicole took “A Little Peace” to No 1 in 1982.

Whatever happened to Karen Ramirez? OK, it’s not a question that’s keeping me up at night but it’s one that’s maybe deserves an answer. Appearing from nowhere and disappearing almost as quickly, she scored a Top 10 hit with “Looking For Love”, a dance version of an Everything But The Girl song (originally titled “I Didn’t Know I Was Looking For Love”) but who was the woman singing it and where did she go? Karen was born in North London but moved to Trinidad and Tobago at the age of six before returning to the UK to go to university. With ambitions to sing, her demo tape was picked up by Manifesto Records leading to a debut single release called “Troubled Girl” which just missed the Top 40. However, the follow up was “Looking For Love” and it remained in the Top 10 for four weeks and the Top 40 for eight, totally eclipsing the 1993 Everything But The Girl original which peaked at No 72. And after that…nothing. Well no, not nothing. A minor follow up hit and an album that didn’t make much of a mark and then nothing. Karen reappeared in 2006 with a iTunes only album and then…nothing again. So, we may never know if Karen found the love she was looking for but she left us one hit that basically took an Everything But The Girl song, gave it the “Missing” remix treatment and made herself famous for 15 minutes. It was almost like an artist covering an artist’s song covering an artist. There must be a name for that but I’m not going to spend any time looking for it.

Now in the past, whilst not defending the Lighthouse Family and their music, I’ve defended the right to like them – an ‘each to their own’ approach. However, this song – “Lost In Space” – is almost unforgivable. Firstly, it is one of the most soporific, dull, boring, lifeless, soulless, banal…I could go on…and I will…leaden, anaemic, dreary, grey, insipid tracks ever recorded. It just drones on..and on…and on with no changes of pace, no attention grabbing hooks, not even a jarring breakdown section. It’s just…there. Secondly, looking at its title, I’d assumed it was something to do with the film of the same name that was in the cinemas at this time – the big screen remake of the Irwin Allen 60s TV series. However, I can’t find a single link between the film and it. Certainly, it’s not on the soundtrack album so was this just some shameless band wagon jumping going on here, some manipulative cashing-in practice? And I thought they were nice, clean living boys at least!

Now if it’s a show in the Chris Cowey era, then there must be a repeated performance with very little in the way of justifying arguments for it. Lo and behold, here are B*Witched with “C’est La Vie” who are back on the show because…? Having been at No 1 for two weeks and dropping down to No 4, they’ve stayed at No 4 this week. And that seems to be good enough reason for Cowey, the King of Recycled Performances. And guess what? He’ll have it opening the show in a couple of weeks because it went up a place to No 3 and stayed there. I’ve tried to make a case for his policy in the past but this was just lazy overkill. In the previous week’s chart, the excellent Embrace was a new entry at No 6 but did we see them? No we didn’t. Right. Who said “C’est La Vie” at the back there? Grr! I oughta…

After two references to 1983 earlier this post comes one from 1984. The Kane Gang’s summer hit of that year “Closest Thing To Heaven” was one of the best of the decade to my ears. Sadly, or maybe happily, this was not Lionel Richie doing a cover version of it in 1998. No, this was a Dianne Warren penned yawn-fest that went absolutely nowhere and then stayed there in a circling motion for the duration. How was it possible in the space of three songs on the same show to find two of the most depressing and depressant tracks ever. This was money for old rope for Lionel and, for recording it, he should have taken a long hard look at himself in the mirror. Actually, maybe that’s not the best idea*

*Sorry Lionel!

Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds have resisted the claims and sales of Fat Les and remain at No 1 for a second week with “3 Lions ‘98”. I like the way that Frank Skinner looks so committed to the performance here like it really matters to him – indeed, maybe it did. Both Frank and David have been guests on Desert Island Discs and interestingly, the former didn’t select “Three Lions” as one of his choices as his modesty prevented him so he went with “Back Home” by the 1970 England World Cup squad instead. Baddiel on the other hand had no such issue picking “Three Lions” without compunction. Although it resurfaces at every major international tournament, has it almost been replaced by Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”?

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1Fat LesVindalooNo
2Tina ArenaWhistle Down The WindNick Heyward – Yes Tina Arena – No
3Imajin Shorty (You Keep Playing With My Mind)Never
4Dana InternationalDivaNegative
5Karen RamirezLooking For LoveI did not
6Lighthouse FamilyLost In SpaceI wish they were – no
7B*WitchedC’est La VieNope
8Lionel RichieClosest Thing To HeavenNo way
9Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds3 Lions ’98Nah

Disclaimer

I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).

All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002jy43/top-of-the-pops-25061998?seriesId=unsliced

TOTP 19 JUN 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

We’re still in World Cup mode here at TOTP Rewind. England have started their campaign off with a straightforward 2-0 win against Tunisia but its host nation France who look like the team to beat after winning their opening two games 3-0 and 4-0. In the singles chart, there was a much tighter duel with two football songs squaring up to duke it out for the No 1 slot but we’ll get to that.

Jayne Middlemiss is our host and we begin with Five who were fast establishing themselves as not just another here-today-gone-tomorrow boy band by notching up their third hit and biggest to this point with “Got The Feelin’”. However, after attempting to bend the perceived notion of what a 90s boy band should sound like on their first two singles which displayed their confident swagger and a funky backbone, their third effort seemed to resort to a more accepted pop sound as if they’d dumb themselves down. Yes, there’s some pretty slick rapping on it courtesy of J and Abz (I know there names because they’re on the back of the football shirts they’ve donned for this performance – topical lads) but the chanted “Nah na na na ner na na” chorus is especially weak and lowest common denominator. You could wave your hands in the air to it though (presumably like you just didn’t care) so maybe that was the whole point? As much as I thought this single was not up too much, their next release – the Joan Jett sampling “Everybody Wants Get Up” – was truly magnificent.

Jayne Middlemiss makes a reference to Glastonbury in her intro to the next act as they would be appearing at the upcoming festival that year. Twenty-seven years later they would be at Glastonbury again in the surprise special guest slot. We can only be talking of Pulp. In their 1998 Glastonbury appearance, they did play the song they are performing on this TOTP which was their latest single “A Little Soul”. Sadly, it didn’t make the cut in 2025. I say ‘sadly’ as I think it was a shame they didn’t perform this almost forgotten and pcertainly overlooked Pulp song. Now you could argue that this mid-paced, unspectacular tune was symptomatic of the commercial lull the band were experiencing that had been ushered in by the underperforming “This Is Hardcore” album. It sure was no “Common People” nor “Disco 2000” but why should it have been? In theory, any artist is entitled to write and record whatever style of song they wish to. Moreover, if Pulp had spent three years recording a follow up to “Different Class” that sounded exactly the same as its illustrious predecessor, surely they’d have been criticised for that as well?

“A Little Soul” is actually a beautifully crafted, wistful and considered song. Confirmation of its quality came in the form of an Ivor Novello nomination in the category of Best Song Musically and Lyrically. Written about growing up without his father who abandoned the Cocker family for Sydney when Jarvis was seven, the singer had nothing to do with him until he reached his thirties. I like the word play of the song’s title – a ‘little’ soul as in a small sized soul not a small amount of soul in its first usage but then the reverse at the song’s climax. It deserved better than its peak of No 22. Almost unbelievably, Pulp’s chart positions would be even smaller from here on in.

A truly infamous song next and I have statistical evidence to validate that claim. Des’ree would have the biggest hit of her life with the song…erm… “Life” but it was truly a double edged sword. Continuing the run of one sizeable hit from each of her studio albums – “Feel So High” from “Mind Adventures” in 1992 and “You Gotta Be” from 1994’s “I Ain’t Movin’” – “Life” was the most high profile track from 1998’s “Supernatural” album. A jaunty, upbeat track that was perfect for daytime radio and wisely released as the Summer was underway, it would debut at No 8 but then spend the next 10 weeks knocking around the Top 40 with some steadily consistent sales figures.

However, any commercial success or sonic merits are completely overshadowed by its lyrics and in particular this one:

“I don’t want to see a ghost, it’s a sight that I fear most

I’d rather have a piece of toast and watch the evening news”

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Des’ree Weekes / Prince Sampson
Life lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Utterly ludicrous. What was she thinking?! Written by Des’ree alongside one Prince Sampson, did they not look at each other after writing those lines down and say “Are we sure about this?”. Maybe they did but then how did they come up with the answer “yes”? And this isn’t just my opinion. In the 2007, BBC 6 Music Taxing Lyrical poll, those lines were voted the worst pop lyrics ever. Ever. “Life” had some stiff competition as well. Second in the poll was Snap!’s “serious as cancer” line from “Rhythm Is A Dancer” whilst Duran Duran’s “you’re about as easy as a nuclear war” from “Is There Something I Should Know?” was also in the running. Despite such awful rivals, I don’t think you can look past the ‘ghost-toast’ rhyming couplet. Sheesh!

Now here’s a band whose name I recall but whose back catalogue I’m not sure I’ve ever heard. How is this possible when I worked in a record shop for pretty much the whole of the 90s? I was busy working! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! It turns out though that I quite like Silver Sun. OK, this is based on listening to just one song and a song that isn’t even theirs but you have to start somewhere I guess. “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late” was originally a hit for Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams in 1978 which had never made much of an impression on me but this indie rock version is much more arresting. Recorded initially as a B-side as a bit of a laugh, it became the lead song on a four track EP made up entirely of cover versions. I must have missed it back in 1998 (I was working remember!) as I am bit of a sucker for this sort of thing (see also The Carpenters’ “Yesterday Once More” as covered by Redd Kross). Sadly for Silver Sun, it would prove to be their biggest ever hit despite only just squeezing into the Top 20. That lack of chart success led to them being dropped by Polydor in 1999 though they would release a further five studio albums either on independent label Invisible Hands Music or by themselves so there’s plenty of back catalogue for me to dive into if I want to hear more of the band having now discovered them. Sadly though, Silver Sun called it quits permanently in 2020 after the death from cancer of lead singer James Broad.

Dearie me. I’m glad I’d forgotten about this one. Does anybody remember a third single from Ian Brown’s debut solo album “Unfinished Monkey Business”? Well, there was and it was called “Can’t See Me” but I wish that it had been a case of “I can’t hear you” as this was a right racket. What a miserable sound and miserable performance to match. I guess Brown had a lot in his mind what with an impending court case* over an accusation of air rage and all.

*Brown was found guilty in October 1998 of threatening behaviour towards an air stewardess and sentenced to four months in prison serving two.

Supposedly, the track was written about Brown seeing John Squire in the village of Hale, Greater Manchester and waving at him but not being acknowledged by his old Stone Roses band mate who hid behind a newspaper. A couple of things here. When I first moved to Manchester in 1990, I knew one other person who lived there – a guy called Ian who I’d been at Sunderland Polytechnic with. Ian told me a story of how he’d been for a night out in Hale and had gone into a wine bar and asked for a pint. The barman beckoned Ian to him and whispered in his ear so as not to embarrass him “Sir, we don’t sell pints here”. That’s how posh Hale is/was.

Secondly, the track’s origin story reminded me of another tale that the late, great Pete Garner once told me. Pete was the bass player for the Stone Roses from 1983 to 1987 whom I worked with at Our Price in the 90s and he relayed to me how in the band’s early days, they unexpectedly found themselves on the bill for a gig as a replacement for Adam Ant who pulled out at the last minute. It was seen as a big deal and opportunity for the band but there was one problem. They couldn’t find guitarist John Squire anywhere. Despite efforts by his band mates to locate him, he couldn’t be found and the Roses missed out on their slot for the gig. It turns out that Squire had taken himself off to sit in a field for a bit of self contemplation. Remember, this was well before the ubiquity of mobile phones and tracking devices. So when Squire avoided talking to Brown in Hale, it wasn’t the first time he hadn’t wanted to be found by his old school pal and fellow Roses member.

And so the football songs begin as we get three on the trot that all feature in the Top 5 starting with Dario G and “Carnaval De Paris”. Having appropriated the chant hook from the marvellous “Life In A Northern Town” by Dream Academy for debut hit “Sunchyme”, the dance group (yes, they were a group not an individual) turned their attention this time to a football terraces chant that originated in Holland, was adopted by Sheffield Wednesday fans and ended up as an international hit when released as a tie-in with the 1998 World Cup. And when I say ‘international’, I mean truly global as supposedly it features instruments associated with every one of the competing 32 nations in the tournament including bagpipes, accordion and steel drum. Despite that mix of influences, the track has a definite samba feel to my ears despite it being based around the old American folk ballad “Oh, My Darling Clementine”. It must have been used by broadcasters to soundtrack their football coverage at some point as well surely? The performance here with a cast of what feels like dozens but is probably no more than ten people is perhaps more suited to a stage musical than TOTP and what was the deal with the bagpipe player who’s been made up to look like a rejected extra from a Mad Max movie?

After the undercard of Dario G come the two football song heavyweights battling to be No 1 on the chart starting with Fat Les and “Vindaloo”. This was just bonkers or was it, in fact, genius? You’ll have your own opinion but the truth of the matter is that this completely unofficial single was bigger both commercially and culturally than the FA sanctioned release by England United. The product of a drinking session at the Groucho Club by Blur’s Alex James and actor, comedian and broadcaster Keith Allen, it was written to parody football chants but became, if not one sung on the terraces, a mantra for the watching millions in the pubs and bars of England. In parts absurd (“Me and me Mum and me Dad and me Gran, we’re off to Waterloo”), in parts social commentary on our national identity (“We all love vindaloo”), it’s a riot of noise, nonsense and nah nah nahs. ‘Riot’ sound like the right word to describe this performance as well which takes the “Bitter Sweet Symphony” parodying video and transports it to the set of EastEnders before winding its way into the TOTP studio with a cast of characters that seemingly redefine the meaning of the word ‘random’. What was with the Max Wall lookalike, the sumo wrestlers and the French maid? Am I missing something? Was this surreptitious irony at play? One thing I do have an answer to is that censored caption. Here’s @TOTPFacts with the explanation:

OK then. I think the sumo wrestlers might have caused more offence. Apparently, Keith Allen earns at least £20,000 a year from his football related hits (he co-wrote the New Order 1990 No 1 “World In Motion” remember) which is not to be sniffed at and is another marker as to the impact of “Vindaloo”. I can’t imagine “(How Does It Feel To Be) On Top Of The World” turns over such a healthy return.

Emerging triumphant from the clash of the football song titans was “3 Lions ‘98” by Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds. An update of the song from two years prior, there are a number of differences between the two versions. In its first incarnation, it had been the official song of the England football team for the Euro ‘96 tournament as endorsed by the FA. When the 1998 World Cup came round, David Baddiel and Frank Skinner suggested they be the official song again but the FA went with the England United track instead. Yeah, that decision looks ridiculous in retrospect with the FA’s choice being hammered sales wise by not just one but two unofficial songs. Secondly, as this was an update of and not just a rerelease of the original 1996 No 1, “3 Lions ‘98” included brand new lyrics which mainly focused on that Euros ‘96 tournament and England’s semi-final defeat heartache and the team’s subsequent qualification for the ‘98 World Cup. Baddiel and Skinner were clearly as caught off guard as the rest of us by the omission of Paul Gascoigne from the squad as Gazza is mentioned in the lyrics that were written before Glenn Hoddle announced his selections for the tournament. (see also Stuart ‘Psycho’ Pearce). Finally, and this is pedantic but jarring, why did they rename it “3 Lions ‘98” and not “Three Lions ‘98”?

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1FiveGot The Feelin’I did not
2PulpA Little SoulGood song but no
3Des’reeLifeNegative
4Silver SunToo Much, Too Little, Too LateNo but I like it having discovered it
5Ian BrownCan’t See MeNor do I want to hear you Ian
6Dario GCarnaval De ParisNo
7Fat LesVindalooNah…nah ner nah
8Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds3 Lions ’98Nope

Disclaimer

I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).

All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002jmlp/top-of-the-pops-19061998?seriesId=unsliced