We’ve missed another Adrian Rose episode and find ourselves in March of 1992 already. That means we missed Everything But The Girl doing “Love Is Strange” from their “Covers EP” which is a downer but never mind as the ‘92 version of me is awaiting my beloved Chelsea playing in an an FA Cup quarter final for the first time in 10 years. The game took place four days after this TOTP was broadcast. It didn’t end well. I had been telling my Our Price colleague Justin all week that our name was on the cup this year. The morning after we lost the replay to Sunderland, he showed me the back page of the paper he was reading that was emblazoned with the headline ‘C-Hell-sea’ and said “name’s not on the cup now”. There was no argument from me. We had proven ourselves to be charlatans once again, coming on like potential cup winners only to be undone by unassuming lower league opponents. And talking of charlatans (ahem)…

After a couple of stand alone singles after the release of debut album “Some Friendly”, The Charlatans were back with a new track as a forerunner of sophomore album “Between 10th And 11th”. That track was lead single “Weirdo”. I didn’t think that much of it at the time but it’s aged pretty well over the intervening 30 years I think. For me this was a period of the band’s career that was all about the consolidation of their breakthrough success and building the foundations for their golden era that was ‘94 to ‘97.

Watching this performance back, their visuals are very Stone Roses whilst their sound comes quite close to Inspiral Carpets with that distinctive organ sound to the fore. Tim Burgess looks positively angelic up there and whilst it’s grossly unfair to compare that look to his present day image (I know I would come up short under such a comparison), I can’t help thinking that his blonde Andy Warhol hairdo is maybe not the route to go. These days of course, Tim is approaching (indie) national treasure status with his Twitter Listening Party endeavours to get us all through lockdown – I got a rather lovely hardback book for Xmas chronicling the best ones.

“Weirdo” peaked at No 19.

When Extreme scored a massive hit in the Summer of ‘91 with acoustic ballad “More Than Words”, it seemed to re-popularise acoustic / stripped back rock songs. In its wake would come “Everybody Hurts” by REM, “Wonderwall” by Oasis, “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)” by Green Day and…well…this one. Now I always thought that Mr Big were a hoary old rock band from the 70s who happened to strike it lucky in the early 90s with acoustic soft rock ballad “To Be With You”. It turns out that they’d only formed in 1988 and by the time of their biggest hit had only actually released two albums.

This mega hit came from the second of those called “Lean Into It” (the one with a picture of the 1895 Montparnasse train incident on its cover) but it wasn’t really representative of their usual musical output. They’d made their name as a metal band but so all encompassingly successful was “To Be With You” that you’d be forgiven for thinking they were a one hit wonder. It was No 1 in the US for three weeks and also topped the charts in fifteen other countries (but only No 3 over here). I thought it stank though, its place in the shithouse confirmed by the fact that it was covered by Westlife. Mr Big? I’d rather have Mr Benn thanks.

Ah it’s that “It’s A Fine Day” record by Opus III again. The last time she was on, vocalist Kirsty Hawkshaw entertained us with her ball skills (no sniggering at the back). This time she’s gone all Crazy World Of Arthur Brown and brought us FIRE! For those still unable to let go of the balls though, there’s a graphic homage to their swirlingness displayed on two monitors behind Kirsty. It’s all smoke and mirrors (or balls and fire if you prefer) as this homogenised dance hit wasn’t a patch in the spooky ‘83 original by (simply) Jane.

“It’s A Fine Day” peaked at No 5.

We transition from Opus III to The KLF via a segue made by Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond themselves on Mount Fuji in Japan. As such, they can’t be in the TOTP studio to perform their latest single “America: What Time Is Love?”.

Now Cauty and Drummond can justifiably be criticised for burning a million pounds for the sake of art but they were certainly early adopters of recycling. Sadly their brand of it was never going to help the save the planet as it was their music that they were into reusing. This single was a reworking of their 1990 Top 5 hit “What Time Is Love?” which itself was a remix of its original 1988 acid house version. It would also be their last UK Top 40 hit as The KLF. This wasn’t unexpected though with their retirement from the music business having been spectacularly announced the month before with a violently controversial valedictory performance at The BRITS alongside Extreme Noise Terror.

I think I prefer this more hard rock take on the track to the version that formed part of the ‘Stadium House Trilogy’ with its “Ace Of Spades” riff. The video has the band performing under duress in a storm lashed ship (if it’s meant to be referencing the pilgrims and The Mayflower it looks more like a Viking longboat) with Cauty and Drummond (I assume it’s them under the costumes) looking like Count Binface. Truly bonkers to the very end.

“America: What Time Is Love?” peaked at No 4.

Hear that? It’s the sound of a band breaking through into the mainstream. Crowded House had been in existence for seven years before people’s awareness of them and therefore their popularity mushroomed with the release of the single “Weather With You”. The third single taken from their third studio album “Woodface” was a hit all around Europe but crucially it went Top 10 in the UK where it remains their biggest ever hit. It’s also surely in the top two of their best known songs alongside “Don’t Dream It’s Over”. When the band released their Best Of album “Recurring Dream” in 1996 with the advertising slogan ‘you know more Crowded House songs than you think’, “Weather With You” was the first track on the running order. Surely a deliberate move by their record company.

The track features some distinctive and memorable lyrics including a reference to the address 57 Mount Pleasant Street. Apparently Neil Finn’s sister used to live on Mount Pleasant Road in Auckland, New Zealand though not at No 57. I’m sure I read somewhere that the band tracked down all the residents of the various 57 Mount Pleasant Streets around the world and invited them to a Crowded House gig. Presumably it was a publicity stunt though I can’t find any mention of it online.

Someone said on Twitter that the last time the band appeared on TOTP they had followed The KLF then too. I’m not sure if anything could or should be read into that but it did tickle my curiosity. I like their brief soft shoe shuffle / The Shadows impression at the song’s intro. I wonder if that was premeditated or organic?

Ah, it’s that sunny song by Shanice now. Was “I Love Your Smile” a jolly, bouncy, happy anthem or an insanely annoying piece of pop fluff? It’s a fine line. There’s a rap in the bridge section that wasn’t retained for the radio version (it’s in the video below if you’re interested). Apparently this was standard practice in the US back then to try and broaden a song’s appeal to the various musical genre specific radio stations. The rap was strategically positioned in the song’s structure at the bridge so it could be easily edited out for pop stations but left in for the R&B ones. Further examples include Shanice’s peers like Kym Sims and Ce Ce Peniston. Having listened to the rap, I can see why most radio stations didn’t play the version with it in. It’s pretty cringeworthy and feels very incongruous.

Shanice came to pop fame off the back of a TV career as a child. She was on the show Kids Incorporated and also on a talent show called Star Search. This route to adult celebrity was a well trodden one. The above named shows also helped launch the careers of Britney Spears and Fergie from Black Eyed Peas whilst The Mickey Mouse Club brought the world its first glimpses of Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake as well as the aforementioned Spears. Is there a UK equivalent of this junior star conveyor belt? Yes, we had X Factor and Pop Idol but they had a minimum age requirement that excluded children. The only thing I can come up with is the whole S Club 7 phenomenon which begat S Club Juniors and that doesn’t bear thinking about.

“I Love Your Smile” peaked at No 2.

Four Breakers this week? Gee thanks TOTP producers! And what’s that? Three of them we’ll never see again? FFS! What’s the point then?! What’s that? Just skip them then? If only I could but the completist in me won’t allow that! Better get on with it then. First up is the only Breaker we will see again. It’s also a song with one of the most well known back stories ever.

In March 1991, Eric Clapton’s four year old son Conor died after falling from a window of a 53rd floor New York apartment. Understandably, the tragedy turned Clapton into a recluse for a while and when he did re-emerge it was to score the soundtrack of the film Rush. As part of the creative (and presumably grieving) process, the song “Tears In Heaven” came about. Initially written just to help stop Clapton being engulfed by grief, he eventually agreed to its inclusion in the film on the basis they it might help others going through similar mourning. The track would become one of his biggest ever hits peaking at No 2 in America and No 5 over here. It sold nearly three million physical copies in the US alone and won three Grammys for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a male artist. The song was a big deal.

Before this TOTP repeat, if asked I would have said that it was the live version he performed for MTV Unplugged that was the single version that was a hit but I’m wrong. The single released to promote his Unplugged album was actually the version of “Layla” that he performed on the show but “Tears In Heaven” was in the B-side which maybe explains my confusion.

Clapton has rightfully received some harsh criticism recently over some of his political views both historical and current but it’s hard not to feel his pain at the circumstances behind this song.

From Eric Clapton to Joe Cocker. The Breakers this week were hardly full of young, hip, happening acts were they? Joe Cocker? What was he doing in the charts? All I really knew about The Cocker at the time was that he was from Sheffield, he was the guy with the growling voice and jerky arm movements who sang on “Up Where We Belong” and that his most famous song was a Beatles cover. I know a bit more now but not much. This track “(All I Know) Feels Like Forever” was from a film called The Cutting Edge which I don’t know at all but that Wikipedia tells me was a romantic comedy about ice skating directed by Paul Michael Glaser aka Starsky from Starsky And Hutch. As well as Joe Cocker, its soundtrack also featured Johnny Winter, Dan Reed Network and bizarrely “Ride On Time” by Black Box. The whole thing sounds a bit niche to me.

The single was a middling hit (No 25) but it rekindled enough interest in Joe to warrant a Best Of album release backed by a TV ad campaign and another hit single in his version of “Unchain My Heart”.

Joe Cocker would die of lung cancer in 2014.

Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker and now Barbara Streisand? Come on now! Look I know Babs is showbiz royalty but this surely is not what the Breakers section was created for?! As with Clapton and Cocker before her, her single “Places That Belong To You” was from a soundtrack the film of which starred Barbara herself. The Prince Of Tides was a romantic drama which saw Streisand star opposite Nick Nolte. I do recall the film being out though I have never seen it and consequently don’t know this song which was her first UK Top 40 entry since her duet with Miami Vice’s Don Johnson on “Till I Loved You” in 1988. One of my wife’s best friends has seen Babs in concert but the tickets are like gold dust apparently and can cost a fortune. Bloody ticket prices eh? Enough is enough I say (ahem).

“Places That Belong To You” peaked at No 17.

Finally! An act that isn’t some old timer flogging a song from a soundtrack! Let’s hear it for Curve! These rather spooky goth rockers are the first of two acts on the show tonight that owe their existence to Dave Stewart of Eurythmics who introduced vocalist Tony Halliday (nothing to do with Spandau Ballet’s lead singer!) to guitarist Dean Garcia. Despite limited commercial success – this single “Fait Accompli” was their biggest hit when it peaked at No 22 – the band did inspire a loyal following and can credibly say that they laid the foundations of success for the likes of Garbage later in the decade.

Curve went in a two year hiatus in 1995 before returning towards the end of the 90s and finally calling it a day in 2005. Both Halliday and Garcia continue to work on music projects.

After the name check for TOTP repeats denier Adrian Rose (Boo! Hiss!) at the top of the post, we arrive at another A.Rose and guess what?! Just like with Adrian, we are once again denied a full 1992 nostalgia experience. Where’s the proper video for “November Rain”?! It’s one of the most expensive music videos ever made and we just get this clip of Axl Rose sitting at a piano?! WTF?! Granted the official promo does have some footage of the band performing the song in a concert setting but this TOTP clip isn’t that.

This was the third single to be released by Guns N’ Roses from their “Use Your Illusion I” album and is just the pinnacle of overblown, overwrought, epic, wide screen panoramic view heavy rock power balladry. Just immense and a personal guilty pleasure. But the video man! It’s nearly as famous as the song. The huge pomposity of the track counter balanced against the sparseness of the desert backdrop and the TARDIS like chapel that appears tiny on the outside but can house a multitude of guests inside. Then the most famous scene of Slash striding outside to let rip that classic rock riff whilst being buffeted by a prairie wind. Quite why he would leave the ceremony directly after performing the Best Man duty of handing over the wedding rings though doesn’t really make any sense but who cares?! The second movement of the song with the strings and the Omen like chants then kicks in to coincide with the bride’s death and funeral. Brilliantly bonkers! Clocking in at 8:57 minutes long, it’s surely one of the longest ever chart hits though it wasn’t even the longest song on the album being beaten to that honour by the 10:14 of “Coma”.

Of course, the absurdity of the whole piece did leave it open to ridicule and ridiculed it was by French and Saunders….

And so we arrive at the second act that came about because of Dave Stewart. It was the hirsute Eurythmic who suggested that Marcella Detroit and his then wife Siobahn Fahey should come together as a band rather than Shakespear’s Sister being a Fahey solo project after witnessing the chemistry between the two in the recording studio. He also co-wrote “Stay” with the pair of course.

Aside from the link between Shakespear’s Sister and Curve there’s also a link between them and another of tonight’s acts as Marcella Detroit also co-wrote and sang on “Lay Down Sally” which was a minor hit for Eric Clapton in 1978. And that will do it for this week’s Shakespear’s Sister entry. Only another five weeks to go! Maybe Adrian Rose will swoop in and take care of at least one of those weeks?

Order of appearance	Artist	Title	Did I buy it?
1	The Charlatans	Weirdo	No but it’s on my Melting Pot Best Of album of theirs
2	Mr Big	To Be With You	Away with you more like! No
3	Opus III	It’s A Fine Day	Nope
4	The KLF	America: What Time Is Love?	I did not
5	Crowded House	Weather With You	No but I had the Woodface album
6	Shanice	I Love Your Smile	Nah
7	Eric Clapton	Tears In Heaven	No
8	Joe Cocker	(All I Know) Feels Like Forever	Negative
9	Barbara Streisand	Places That Belong To You	I didn’t even remember it let alone buy it
10	Curve	Fait Accompli	It’s a no
11	Guns N’ Roses	November Rain	No but it’s on their Best Of album I have
12	Shakespear’s Sister	Stay	Thought it was OK but not enough to buy it

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/m0013mbv/top-of-the-pops-05031992