The Cardigans

TOTP 30 OCT 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

It’s a case of someone old someone new in this episode of TOTP with some artists that have been around for literally decades in some cases mingling with acts making their debut on the show. Our host is Jamie Theakston (again!) and we start with a group who were definitely in the ‘old’ bracket. If this had been 1983, an appearance by Culture Club on the show would have been a big deal as they were one of the biggest pop bands in the world. Fifteen years later though, did the pop kids of 1998 know who they were and, if they did, were they bothered in the slightest that they were back? I say ‘back’ but “I Just Wanna Be Loved”, whilst a new song, didn’t immediately herald an album of never before heard material. Rather, it was a solitary new track to promote a Best Of album called “Greatest Moments”, a collection designed to cash in on a reunion tour. The tour was a success and did, a year later, lead to that album of new material with the release of 1999’s “Don’t Mind If I Do”. However, it seemed it was a case of audiences loving the hits live but not being arsed about hearing any new recordings and it floundered peaking at a lowly No 64 in the UK chart.

I’ve got to say that compared to some of the hits from their glory days*, “I Just Wanna Be Loved” does not compare. Some limp lovers rock sir? I’ll pass thanks as should have the band as this was somnambulistic rubbish. How did it get to No 4 then I hear you ask? A good promotion campaign backed with the tour and that Greatest Hits album I’m guessing.

*Apart from “Karma Chameleon” which is and will always be absolute garbage.

And what was the deal with George’s (and Mikey’s) headgear? I think @TOTPFacts sums it up nicely:

Having said all of that, I have a confession to make. I saw Culture Club on that 1998 tour. Me, my wife and some friends went though, in my defence, I was more interested in the two other artists on the bill, The Human League and ABC. I have to say that I got a bit pissed up before we went to the concert and so I can’t remember much about it other than Culture Club played the dog shit “Karma Chameleon” as the last song of the set with Boy George saying that it wouldn’t be a Culture Club gig without them playing that track which I guess is true. Various machinations in the band’s story followed including a period where Mikey Craig and Jon Moss recruited a new singer to replace George who was busy with other projects (it all came to nothing) and a BBC documentary about a planned 2014 tour that didn’t happen. Ultimately though, they got themselves together and have toured and had a Las Vegas residency as recently as 2023.

Next, we get some more of this backstage shenanigans nonsense that debuted last week. If the idea behind it was to demonstrate that the show remains a pull for some of the biggest names in pop/rock music, I’m not sure that Theakston saying that he’s there with Kele le Roc really makes that point. The whole thing is completely undermined anyway by using it as a segue to a performance by a band who aren’t actually there as we get a repeat showing of The Beautiful South doing “Perfect 10” from four weeks back. Yes, four weeks back in which time the single has fallen down the charts consistently from its debut peak position of No 2, albeit whilst remaining inside the Top 10 until it finally dropped out of it this week thereby creating a rather odd looking on screen caption reading ‘The Beautiful South – Perfect 10 – 11’. My first observation is why reshow it now and my second is ‘10 – 11’ – I don’t think it’s going to rival the current ‘six-seven’ slang meme.

From a band who’d been around for nearly a decade to someone making his TOTP debut. I knew the name Lyndon David Hall from working in a record shop and knew what type of music he made but I never actually heard any of it until now. I wasn’t expecting much especially from a song called “Sexy Cinderella” but I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, it’s all very bump ‘n’ grind which isn’t really my thing (I could do without the lyrics about getting freaky with blindfolds if I’m honest) but the guy could sing and, I don’t know, it just feels like a proper song with a degree of musicality to it unlike something like that which Dru Hill served up the other week. For a while, Hall was one of the brightest new lights in UK R’n’B winning a MOBO in 1998 and being the first UK artist to be voted ‘Best Male Artist’ by readers of Blues & Soul magazine in 1999. However, after releasing three albums and appearing in the hit film Love Actually, Hall was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and died in 2006 aged just 31 following complications resulting from the stem cell transplant he received in 2005. He had been in remission at the time of his death.

Theakston’s pinching my lines! In his intro to the next artist he says “Next up, looking more like Blondie than…erm…Blondie, it’s The Cardigans”. I made that connection in my review of the 16 October show when I said of the band’s performance of “My Favourite Game”:

“Persson looks effortlessly cool up there on stage in this performance with her peroxide blond hair backlit by the studio lights making her look more like Debbie Harry than Debbie Harry did in the late 90s”

OK, I’m not claiming that I was unique in coming to that conclusion – it’s hardly a startling revelation that nobody else could possibly have made. In fact, it’s a blindingly obvious comparison but even so. It’s more evidence to add to my increasingly large file named ‘Jamie Theakston’s a bit of a prick’. I may have more to add later.

Seemingly not content with this fake backstage set up, we were now getting more and more personal video messages from artists introducing their own promos. Last week we had Michael Stipe with a segue into REM’s latest release and now here was Bono to lead us into U2’s single “The Sweetest Thing”. Released to promote their greatest hits compilation “The Best Of 1980 – 1990”, it did what it said on the tin in that it is a sweet song with a sweet story behind it. Written by Bono for his wife Ali to apologise for being in the recording studio and forgetting her birthday, it was originally released as a B-side to the 1987 single “Where The Streets Have No Name”. However, it was polished up and re-recorded for inclusion on that aforementioned Best Of album.

The song is simple yet tuneful but is turned into something else by the attendant video which saw Bono on a carriage ride across the Georgian mile in Dublin. In an attempt to apologise to his wife, he enlists various performers to join him along the journey including Boyzone*, the boxer Steve Collins, members of the Riverdance cast, some Chippendales, and the Artane Boys marching band who not only had links to U2 (drummer Larry Mullen Jr was once a member) but to the wider rock world via the appearance of some of their number on the artwork for INXS’s 1992 album “Welcome To Wherever You Are”. All of this undoubtedly adds to the charm of the video but for me, it works mainly because Bono doesn’t attempt to mine along instead remaining facing the camera with his mouth closed throughout. With his hat and wraparound glasses he reminds me slightly of Elvis Costello here. “The Sweetest Thing” debuted at No 3 on a chart that made history with the entire Top 5 made up of brand new singles for the first time ever.

*Apparently Boyzone recorded their own version of “The Sweetest Thing” but the record company suits didn’t think it sounded like a Boyzone track and any plans for a potential release were permanently scrapped. Searches of the internet have not revealed any trace of their version of the song which is probably for the best.

After Lyndon David Hall earlier, we now get another UK R’n’B artist, also from London who also won a MOBO award (two actually), who was also making their TOTP debut and who I was also not expecting much from but whose song I surprisingly thought was not bad. Kele Le Roc (real name Kelly Biggs) whom I’m beginning to think of as a female version of Lyndon David Hall so closely did their career trajectories run in parallel, would have two Top 10 hits to her name by the end of the 90s starting with this one – “Little Bit Of Lovin’” featuring a vocal that reminds me of Randy Crawford. In 2001, she would team up with Basement Jaxx on the No 6 hit “Romeo” and would go on to work with such dance luminaries as Shy FX and T Power. She would trump all of the above though in 2020 when she collaborated on a version of Baby D’s “Let Me Be Your Fantasy” with Gok Wan – no really!

Back to 1998 though and “Little Bit Of Lovin’” was co-written by Robbie Nevil who had that hit “C’est La Vie” back in 1987. He couldn’t have had anything to do with coming up with Kelly’s stage name could he? “C’est La Vie”? Kele Le Roc? Please yourselves!

From a group who’d been around for 20 odd years (U2) to a TOTP debut (Kele Le Roc) to…how would you describe Alanis Morissette at this point in her career? An established artist? Yeah, let’s go with that. Certainly, the monster success of her “Jagged Little Pill” album had positioned her squarely in that category. However, with that level of profile comes expectation and the task of following her breakthrough third studio album was daunting to say the least. In the end, topping sales of 33 million worldwide proved unachievable and “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie” sold a quarter of the copies of its predecessor. Still, 8 million units shifted is hardly too shabby.

Lead single “Thank U” was a strong introduction to the album. A multi-faceted track based around an hypnotic drum loop sample from Sly And The Family Stone, it was also very suitable for daytime radio play – Morissette was canny enough not to veer too far away from the sound that had made her a superstar. Then there were its lyrics which added an extra layer of depth. Telling the tale of her inner epiphany of self knowledge following a trip to India, they were more personal in nature than many a mainstream hit would normally feature. However, what really caused a splash weren’t its sonic properties but the visual ones that went with the video. Featuring a totally nude Alanis wondering around various public locations in Downtown Los Angeles, it was an arresting promo to say the least. Thankfully there was no chance of Morissette being actually arrested herself on public indecency charges as it was filmed in a closed set. It would become her highest charting single in the UK when it peaked at No 5 as, despite “Jagged Little Pill” containing five hits, none of them got higher than No 7. It’s the video that we see here in another example of the relaxing of executive producer Chris Cowey’s no video policy albeit that we get a personal message from Alanis introducing it (another Cowey innovation).

And so we arrive at an artist whose first hit was in 1965! Yes, it’s Cher who, rather surprisingly, would have the UK’s biggest selling single of 1998 with “Believe”. Our host’s intro does, as I suspected, provide me with some more evidence for my ‘Jamie Theakston’s a bit of a prick’ file when he says of Cher “She’s no spring chicken but she’s still a top bird”. As this will be No 1 for seven weeks, I think I’ll just finish this post with some of its chart facts:

  • No 1 in 23 countries
  • As of 2017, “Believe” had sold 1,830,000 copies in the UK making it the biggest selling single by a female artist in UK chart history
  • As of 2025, it was certified 5 times platinum by the BPI
  • In the US, “Believe” was ranked the number one song of 1999 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot Dance Club Play charts
Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1Culture ClubI Just Wanna Be LovedNegative
2The Beautiful SouthPerfect 10Its a no
3Lyndon David HallSexy CinderellaI did not
4The CardigansMy Favourite GameGood tune but no
5U2The Sweetest ThingNope
6Kele Le RocLittle Bit Of Lovin’Nah
7Alanis MorissetteThank UNo
8CherBelieveI did not

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/m002ms9b/top-of-the-pops-30101998

TOTP 16 OCT 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

I ended the last post with the statement that pop was definitely back in 1998 having laid claim to the notion that many of artists who’d had the biggest and most hit singles that year had been almost defiantly of a pop nature. B*Witched, Billie, 911, Cleopatra and Five were just some of the names I mentioned. Well, as if they were forming an orderly queue to prove my point and say “Yes, he’s right”, three of those acts are featured in this show.

Our host is Jayne Middlemiss and we start with what was fast becoming a TOTP tradition let alone a practice – that of starting the show with last week’s No 1 which had now been deposed. I can’t comment about this anymore as I’m boring myself let alone any regular readers of the blog. All I will say is that this means we start the show with “Rollercoaster” by B*Witched who are “staying on for one more ride” says Middlemiss so that explains that executive producer policy decision then. Much is made of the group’s double denim fashion item of choice but for this single, they also employed an unlikely accessory in the form of boxing gloves which are utilised both in the promo video (which we don’t get to see) when they box a strongman in a fair’s boxing ring and on the front cover of the single. Well, they did say they fight like their da’s.

Why are we back in The Riviera again?! After Billie performed in Cannes Beach in the last show, we’re back in the exact same spot with the exact same stage seven days later. Were the BBC trying to sell TOTP to a foreign broadcaster or something at the Cannes TV festival? You know, I don’t think that’s a bad shout actually. On the Top Of The Pops Wikipedia page, it says that executive producer Chris Cowey was actively looking to export the brand overseas with localised versions of the show on air in France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Italy by the end of his tenure in 2003.

So if that’s what the Beeb was up to, which artist had they got lined up to promote the show? A big name surely? Oh…911…is that right? 911…the trio of a Dec Donnelly lookalike and two dancers who look like bouncers or extras from Brookside? That’s who they went with? OK then. In their defence, they were in the middle of a run of ten consecutive Top 10 hits which was maintained by their cover of “More Than A Woman” which gave them their then biggest hit when it charted at No 2. Originally recorded for a Bee Gees tribute album, it would also serve as the lead single from the group’s third studio album called “There It Is”. A pretty faithful rendition of a song that was recorded by the Bee Gees and Tavares on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, it did whiff a bit of jumping on the bandwagon when you consider how many other artists had turned to that album for a hit around this time. N-Trance, Adam Garcia, Take That, Kim Wilde and Tina Turner had all gone down that route. Buoyed by the success of their decision to join them, 911 would repeat the trick for their next single which was a cover of Dr. Hook’s “A Little Bit More” which actually got them to No 1.

Watching this Cannes Beach performance, the stage looks a bit overcrowded what with the three lads and three female backing dancers all throwing some shapes in a confined space. Indeed, said backing dancers seem to determined to elbow themselves into camera shot. If the performance was meant to create a buzz around the show then an assembled crowd of eight (presumably paid) women in TOTP T-shirts huddled together in front of the stage didn’t really achieve that.

I’ve said it before but here I am saying it again – are Garbage one of the most underestimated bands of this era? Sure, they had a good run of hit singles including six inside the Top 10 and a No 1, multi platinum album but do they get the credit they deserve? Do they routinely get mentioned as one of the top bands of this era? Maybe I should be directing this question at myself as I did pretty much ignore them apart from the big hits back in the day. I really must investigate their back catalogue more. Take “Special” for example. The third single from “Version 2.0”, I don’t remember it at all but it’s a cracking track that with a retro yet up-to-date sound that even references “Talk Of The Town” by The Pretenders in its outro (they did get personal clearance from Christie Hynde for its use). Then there’s Shirley Manson who is magnificent as the lead singer but is she regularly mentioned when there’s any discussion of the best front people of a rock band? I’m not sure she is. The band themselves are still recording and releasing new material so they possibly don’t welcome being talked about in the past tense but the name of this blog is TOTP Rewind so I’m afraid they’ll have to live with that. I’m a ‘special’ interest blogger as it were.

From one female fronted band to another as The Cardigans return with brand new material and a brand new sound. After the quirky but insanely catchy singalong that was “Lovefool” the previous year, the Swedish indie-pop outfit were back with a much harder style in the form of “My Favourite Game”, lead single from their fourth studio album “Gram Turismo”. Built around a recurring two note guitar riff, it fair stomps along until it stops to draw breath whilst Nina Persson teases out the “I’m losing my favourite game, your losing your mind again” lyrics that create an unlikely hook. It almost shouldn’t work as a track as it shuns established song structure but work it does and then some. Persson looks effortlessly cool up there on stage in this performance with her peroxide blond hair backlit by the studio lights making her look more like Debbie Harry than Debbie Harry did in the late 90s. They would follow “My Favourite Game” with another strong single in “Erase/Rewind”’ paving the way for the album to sell three million copies worldwide.

After Brandy last week, it’s time for her partner in crime Monica to re-establish her solo career this time in the wake of the huge success of their duet “The Boy Is Mine”. I couldn’t be doing with Brandy’s song at all but I’m finding myself a little bit more predisposed to Monica’s. A very little bit. A tiny bit. I believe that is because “The First Night” samples Diana Ross’s marvellous “Love Hangover”. Yes, that must be it as there’s not much else to recommend it although my eyes were drawn to Monica’s two backing dancers. No, not for any salacious reasons but because of the high octane dance moves that they’re busting (or something). Maybe they’re so noticeable because Monica only half joins in with them (sometimes) or maybe it’s because the studio audience, who are crammed together in a semi circle around the small stage area, only have room to perform a half-hearted nerd shuffle behind the dancers.

Unless you’re a superfan (and I’m sure they do exist), for the wider population, Natalie Imbruglia is always going to be predominantly known for one song – “Torn”. It’s really unfair and dismissive but it’s true even though she has released six studio albums and eighteen singles over the course of her music career. One of those singles was “Smoke”, the fourth and final single to be lifted from her debut album “Left Of The Middle”. Now this potentially had a lot going for it – intriguing, dramatic and atmospheric but it takes an age to get going and when it does it has an identity crisis. There’s shades of Tori Amos to it but when the strings kick in, it seems to have Bond theme pretensions. I couldn’t really get on with the “what’s up with that?” lyric either. It strikes me that it’s more of an album track than a single.

In 2007, Natalie released a Best Of album called “Glorious: The Singles 97-07” which would seem to dispute my claim about her only being remembered for one song especially as it went Top 5 and achieved gold sales status. However, of the 15 tracks on the album, five of them were new songs which kind of undermines the point of a Best Of collection no?

The time of Fat Boy Slim is upon us. I purposely didn’t use the name Norman Cook as the time of Norman Cook had been with us since about 1986 in his various guises. The Housemartins, Beats International, Freak Power, Pizzaman, The Mighty Dub Katz and then perhaps his most famous incarnation Fat Boy Slim. Even then, that particular alias had been with us a while. There had already been one Fat Boy Slim album – 1996’s “Better Living Through Chemistry” – although it had failed to make much of an impression chart-wise. Then in June of 1998, the single “Rockefeller Skank” had gone Top 10 though I don’t remember it featuring in any TOTP shows for some reason (Chris Cowey was probably still obsessing with Five or someone). However, when “Gangster Trippin’” came out and went straight to No 3, then we all had to stand up and take note. Parent album “You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby” was released the Monday after this TOTP aired and would debut at No 2 which was impressive enough. However, it exploded early in 1999 in the wake of the “Praise You” single going to No 1 and subsequently the album would match that achievement with four consecutive weeks at the top.

Before that though we have “Gangster Trippin’”, a track immediately recognisable as Fat Boy Slim but obviously made up of lots (and lots!) of samples of other people’s work including DJ Shadow and Dust Junkys both of whom were favourites of some of my much hipper than me Our Price work colleagues. Mention must be made of the Norman Cook cameo in the introduction to the video for the track (yes, a rare actual video in the Chris Cowey era). Voicing an intro from behind a cardboard cut out of the kid from the album cover, Cook confirms my earlier suspicion that he hadn’t been on the show before under the Fat Boy Slim moniker by saying it was his first TOTP appearance. That kid from the album cover is a bit of a mystery. The iconic photograph of him was taken at the 1983 Fat People’s Festival in Danville, Virginia and provided by the Rex Features photo library. His identity though remains a mystery despite many attempts by Cook over the years to find him in order to remunerate him for the use of his image. As for the video itself, it’s essentially just a load of furniture being blown up shown from different angles and in slow motion. Well, it was directed by Roman Coppola, son of Francis Ford Coppola whose many film credits include Apocalypse Now. Maybe Roman loved the smell of burning furniture in the morning.

Billie is No 1 this week with her second single release “Girlfriend”. She’s not in the studio because she’s not very well Jayne Middlemiss informs us so instead we get a presumably pre-recorded performance in what looks like a nightclub but without any patrons in it. Was this from her time in Cannes as well? Wasn’t there a video they could have shown? What was Chris Cowey’s aversion to promo videos anyway and why did he make an exception for Fat Boy Slim’s? “Girlfriend” would last just one week at the top but guess what? Billie will be back on the next TOTP performing it because…Cowey wanted her to?

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1 B*Witched RollercoasterNah
2911More Than A WomanAs if
3GarbageSpecialGood song but no
4The CardigansMy Favourite GameSee 3 above
5MonicaThe First NightI did not
6Natalie ImbrugliaSmokeNope
7Fat Boy SlimGangster Trippin’No but my wife had the album
8BillieGirlfriendAnd no

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/m002mggj/top-of-the-pops-16101998

TOTP 09 MAY 1997

Posted on by 80stastic

It’s the 9th May 1997 and I’m in China! Yes, Beijing to be exact visiting my old school pal Rob who is living and studying out there. According to my diary, this date was our second day there (I’d travelled with Rob’s brother Chris) and we’d so far been to Tiananmen Square, Ritan Park and spent a mad night in a karaoke bar. However, one of my abiding memories is that on our plane there had been a French youth orchestra who were going to play some concerts in China and as we flew over rice fields on the approach to Beijing airport, one of their number looked out of the window and exclaimed “Ah, le chinois!”. With my location confirmed, I can categorically say that I would not have watched this episode of TOTP. I wonder what I missed…

…not much if the opening act is anything to go by as it’s the same one that closed the last episode! I guess it’s understandable as Katrina And The Waves had won Eurovision for the UK the weekend before for the first time in 16 years so they probably deserved their moment in the limelight. “Love Shine A Light” was the track that brought the trophy home and although it was a deserved winner on the night, it didn’t live long in the memory. Katrina (Leskanich) herself has explained that the reason the band had never recorded it before was due to the fact that it was “too cheesy, too ABBA, too Eurovision”. Even the guy who wrote it, guitarist Kimberley Rew, didn’t want anything to do with it and Eurovision and didn’t join his band mates for their performance of it on the big night. According to Katrina, the song (and subsequently the band) didn’t endure because they didn’t have a gimmick like Bucks Fizz. What it did have though was an anthemic quality and a feel good vibe that clearly won the voters over at least temporarily. In 2020, it created its own legacy of sorts as its title was used as the inspiration for a show called Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light which was a live, two hour show arranged to replace the full Eurovision Song Contest which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Love Shine A Light” was performed by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra before also being reprised at the show’s finale by all the artists meant to have been in the official show with Katrina herself joining those on stage.

I should have said that Jo Whiley is tonight’s presenter and she’s positively effusive about the next artist who have a great track to be fair to them. There was always going to be in huge interest in what the members of the Stone Roses did next after the band was dissolved in October 1996. Mani* would join Primal Scream, Ian Brown embarked on a solo career to varying degrees of success and Reni went into hiatus hibernation.

*He came into the Our Price in Stockport where I worked one day and bought our entire stock of Primal Scream albums to learn the bass parts.

As for John Squire, he was first out of the traps with a new project in the form of The Seahorses. Unlike the Roses who couldn’t have been more Manc, Squire’s band were York-centric with lead singer Chris Helme having been infamously recruited after being spotted busking outside the city’s Woolworths store. Another feature of The Seahorses story that was being played out in the music press was that the band’s name was an anagram of ‘He Hates Roses’ or alternatively ‘The Rose Ashes’. Squire denied this as pure coincidence and speculation.

Anyway, their debut single was “Love Is The Law” and it was a banger. Recorded with Bowie and T-Rex producer Tony Visconti and naturally featuring Squire’s immense guitar work to the fore, it was an exuberant, indie rock song that had an immediacy that made it sound familiar from the get go. The lyrics though – well, they seemed to go under the censor radar…

“She was a rum old slapper and we always tried to get her pants off when she phoned…

Strap-on Sally chased us down the alley, we feared for our behinds”

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: John Squire
Love Is the Law lyrics © Polygram Music Publishing Ltd. Gb

Hmm. Anyway, in this performance, Squire has decided to come as a member of Mansun whilst Chris Helme looks like a cross between 60s era David Essex and Danny Macnamara from Embrace. The Seahorses would go on to have three further hit singles and a No 2 album in “Do It Yourself” but would split in 1999 after increasing tensions between Squire and Helme (who wished to pursue a solo career in tandem with the band) boiled over. Squire would eventually release two solo albums before the Stone Roses second coming in 2011 and just last year had a No 1 album with Liam Gallagher called…erm…”Liam Gallagher John Squire”. I don’t think that’s an anagram of anything but according to one user on Twitter, said album contains the track “Just Another Rainbow” which is an anagram of ‘Just to hear Ian Brown’!

Four days short of the one year anniversary of the release of his “Older” album, George Michael was still releasing tracks from it as singles. “Star People ‘97” was the fifth of those (and there would even be one more after that) and it kept up the remarkable record of them all peaking within the Top 3 chart positions when it debuted at No 2. And people talked about all the singles released from “Faith”!

This one was re-recorded (hence the ‘97 suffix) from the original album track to make it a bit more funked up and danceable. I’m guessing this performance was from the MTV Unplugged set that was recorded in 1996 where he also did a version of Wham!’s “Everything She Wants” which was released as an extra track on the “Star People ‘97” single. Want to hear it? Yeah you do…

In May ‘97, Mansun were still at the top of their game with “Taxloss” (or “Taxlo$$” as it’s stylised on the single’s cover) being their fourth consecutive Top 20 hit with all of them taken from debut No 1 album “Attack Of The Grey Lantern”. There was something different about this one though – not sonically as it was still that guitar-driven, epic soundscape that characterised the album. No, it was in its naming. All their other releases had been titled sequentially as EPs – hence “One EP”, “Two EP” etc with the last having been “Five EP” (though each was headlined by a lead track). However, for “Taxloss” it was just called…well…”Taxloss”. No reason has ever been forthcoming.

I said earlier that John Squire had turned up looking like a member of Mansun and blow me down, one song later here was the real thing and singer Paul Draper (bless him) confirms my observation by wearing his Army Surplus Store outfit front and centre. Something else about this TOTP performance was that, for a moment, I thought that The Seahorses drummer and the guy on the sticks for Mansun were the same person. I think though it’s just that they both had a goaty beard. I think. Oh and that video that Jo Whiley mentions, that really did happen. Not quite up there with The KLF burning a million quid but still…

As Jo Whiley says in her intro, it’s time to throw your pants at the screen as 911 get another outing for their single “Bodyshakin’” even though it’s dropped from No 3 to No 10 this week – I just can’t get along with these new TOTP appearance rules.

I’ve nothing else to say about this one except what was the deal with those tops they were wearing?! I’m no fashionista but they’re gross. As bad as they are though, nothing beats the legendary Carlisle United away kit from the mid 90s that was labelled ‘the deckchair’ due to its garishness. Why am I randomly talking about Carlisle United? Because it’s not random – 911 lead singer Lee Brennan was born in Carlisle and captained their football clubs under-14 and under-16 teams but was turned down for a professional contract on account of him being too short. A career as a pop star clothes horse awaited…

Jo Whiley goes all Blue Peter presenter in her next intro as she says that Jay Kay of Jamiroquai can’t be in the studio as his band are on tour “so here’s something they prepared earlier” as we get the video for “Alright”. That old cliche could also be applied to Jamiroquai as this track was almost an identikit replica of all their other hits it seemed to my uncultured ears. People who knew more about it (basically the music press so that might be a misnomer) reckoned it was the best track on parent album “Travelling Without Moving” with one Sam Taylor of The Observer commenting on its “effortless swank”. Yeah, he could have lost an ‘s’ there for me. “Alright” peaked at No 6.

Wait…Blackstreet had more hits than just “No Diggity”? Yes, yes they did including a further three Top 10 hits one of which was this – “Don’t Leave Me”. Now, if it sounds a bit like a 2Pac song that’s because it features the same sample used in the rap legend’s track “I Ain’t Mad Atcha” but said sample is from an unlikely source – DeBarge. The “Rhythm Of The Night” hitmakers from the mid 80s? The very same though the track in question is called “A Dream” from 1983. How do I know all this? I looked it up obviously. My R&B/rap knowledge doesn’t extend to those levels of detail. As such, it’s no surprise then that this song means very little to me and in fact, my apathy turned to displeasure when one of the group introduced it by saying “This song goes out to all the ladies in the house tonight”. Eeeww!

Gary Barlow has this week’s No 1 record with a song that wasn’t even his. “Love Won’t Wait” came out of the writing sessions for Madonna’s “Bedtime Stories” album and was a collaboration between Madge and prolific producer and songwriter Shep Pettibone. After all the flak I gave Robbie Williams initially for starting his solo career with a cover version (George Michael’s “Freedom’90”), blow me if Barlow’s second release under his own name wasn’t even one of his own compositions but a Madonna reject! You can hear why it didn’t make the cut – it’s a perfectly serviceable but oh so unremarkable dance/pop tune that isn’t as good as some of Take That’s best work which raises the question of why did Barlow record it? Was he having doubts about his ability to be a solo artist? After all, it had been over nine months since his debut single “Forever Love” which suggests that he didn’t have confidence in the songs he had already got together. Despite my questioning attitude, Gary still had a fanbase large enough to send him to No 1 for the second successive time in his solo career. As the performance starts you can clearly hear someone in the audience screaming “Gaaarrry!”. However, the writing was on the wall as follow up single “So Help Me Girl” would fail to make the Top 10 and within a year he wouldn’t be able to give his records away as Robbie Williams cemented his place as Barlow’s personal nemesis. Still, it all worked out pretty well for Gary in the end didn’t it?

The play out video is “Lovefool” by The Cardigans who spend a second week at No 4. Looking at the singles ahead of them at No 1 on those occasions – by Michael Jackson and Gary Barlow – it does seem somewhat of a travesty that “Lovefool” couldn’t quite get to the top (it peaked at No 2). Being up against new release singles that would have been heavily discounted when your’s had reverted to full price maybe had a part to play. Hits by the likes of No Doubt, R Kelly and Puff Daddy all had extended stays at the top of the charts which would seem to debunk that theory but what is true is that there had been five different hits at No 1 in five weeks earlier in 1997.

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1Katrina And The WavesLove Shine A LightNope
2The SeahorsesLove Is The LawThought I might have but its not in the singles box
3George MichaelStar People ’97Nah
4MansunTaxlossNo but I had the album
5911Bodyshakin’As if
6JamiroquaiAlrightAll wrong – no
7BlackstreetDon’t Leave Me NowNo
8Gary BarlowLove Won’t WaitThree guesses?
9The CardigansLovefoolNo but my wife had the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack with it on

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/m0027xn2/top-of-the-pops-09051997?seriesId=unsliced

TOTP 02 MAY 1997

Posted on by 80stastic

We’ve skipped a month due to the R Kelly issue and find ourselves at the start of May and what a time it was to be alive! Labour have won the 1997 General Election and the Tories have been booted out of power after 18 long years. Hurray! I was on holiday so I could stay up watching the election results come in and I remember waking up in the morning feeling that there was finally some good news and that hope had returned. As I walked into town, I recall that it was a beautifully sunny morning and contemplated that everything had aligned including the weather. Obviously, with the hindsight of 28 years, the promise of New Labour didn’t completely pan out but I hadn’t known anything but Conservative rule for my entire adult life and I was nearly 29 by this point so I was allowed to let myself get carried away a little. It was an exciting time and not just politically – in four days time I would be embarking on a visit to China to see my old mate Rob who was studying out there. I had arranged for someone to cover me at the Our Price store where I worked (we still didn’t have a new manager in place so I was effectively the acting manager) and I would be off for a couple of weeks. I was excited and desperate for a break but a little daunted at such a big trip.

For now though, it was time to kick back and enjoy the good vibes. This TOTP was broadcast at the earlier time of 6.25 and on BBC2 as, understandably, BBC1 was concentrating its content on the General Election aftermath. Whether I would have watched the latest chart tunes or the news coverage I’m not sure but probably the latter not that you could get away for the politics by watching TOTP as we start with D:Ream and “Things Can Only Get Better”. Now you don’t need me to tell you why this was back in the charts but I’m going to anyway. The Labour Party had co-opted it to spearhead their campaign for the election and if the landslide victory was anything to go by then it certainly had a positive impact. It presumably had a positive impact on D:Ream’s career as well which was pretty much in the dirt by 1997. Their 1995 album “World” had sold only a fifth of their debut “D:Ream On Vol. 1” and their last single had peaked at No 40. Step forward Tony Blair and suddenly they were back in the charts, back on TV and with a Best Of album released. Main man Peter Cunnah has lost the yellow and black checked suit this time around and also Professor Brian Cox who was presumably off doing something with the Large Hadron Collider or something. Cunnah also seems to have a little bit less hair. The band’s time back in the spotlight was fleeting though. The rerelease of “Things Can Only Get Better” only made No 19 this time around and their Best Of album flopped and the band split up. They reformed in 2008 and have released new material subsequently but it’s surely this song that they will always be synonymous with. I wonder if Howard Jones ever thinks “if only” when he sees Tony Blair in the news?

I should say that tonight’s host is Cathy Dennis who seems an unlikely choice in retrospect given her profile at this time. Yes, she’s had a hit with her cover of “Waterloo Sunset” this year but her next single released a month or so after this TOTP failed to make the Top 40 which effectively brought the curtain down on her career as a pop star before she became hugely successful writing hits for other people in the new millennium. Anyway, she introduces Robbie Williams as the next act despite the fact that he’s only just been on the previous week and had now dropped down the charts from No 2 to No 8 with “Old Before I Die”. That didn’t matter in this post Ric Blaxill TOTP universe though when songs sliding down the charts were still afforded exposure on the show. Cathy Dennis is given and gives us a line about it being Robbie’s second week inside the Top 10 as a reason for his successive appearance.

As for the song itself, although perhaps not his most celebrated or well known tune, for me it was the one that made me think perhaps Williams might just make a go of being a solo star. Now, the success of “Angels” is widely regarded as being that moment but “Old Before I Die” beat it to it in terms of being a decent rock/pop song. Sure, it drew accusations of being a rip off of his best new mates Oasis but importantly it wasn’t a cover version which his first single “Freedom” had been. That and the fact that one of the extra tracks on his debut as a solo artist had been an interview led me to ask the question “where are your songs mate?” but he answered me with “Old Before I Die”. I liked the play on words inspired by The Who classic “My Generation” and even the rather clunky and childish lyric about the pope getting high. It all hung together quite cohesively. Follow up singles “Lazy Days” and “South Of The Border” would prove to be missteps before “Angels” swooped in and saved the day and Robbie’s career. For now though, he seemed to be doing fine.

Another defining pop career moment next as this was the point when I realised “Shit! This lot aren’t going away!” as a mercifully short chart life is what I had predicted for 911. Alas, “Bodyshakin’” became their then biggest hit when it rattled its way into No 3. My underestimating of their hit potential clearly spilled over into my work life as I’m sure we sold out of this single in its first week of release – a heinous crime for a mainstream record shop but who knew that a Declan Donnelly lookalike, two dancers from The Hitman And Her and a song that recycled that ‘ner nah nah naaa ner nah nah’ riff could be such a big success. Not me clearly. Still, they were very good at synchronised dancing – I’ll give them that.

Next up is a song that has been described as pure pop perfection and who’s to say that’s not 100% true? Not me certainly. “Lovefool” by The Cardigans was originally a medium sized hit in September of 1996 peaking at No 21 but its inclusion on the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann’s treatment of William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet movie and the success of that film warranted a second stab at the charts and this time it rose all the way to No 2 – I’d forgotten it had peaked so high to be honest. I shouldn’t have been surprised though as it is a brilliant pop song. I must have also not remembered how big a success Romeo + Juliet was and, by association, its soundtrack. I saw the film and enjoyed it and years later, my son would watch it at school as a way of making Shakespeare more accessible to children studying the Bard. As for the soundtrack, my wife liked the music in the film so much she bought the CD which, as well as The Cardigans, featured such artists as Garbage, Radiohead, Des’ree and Kym Mazelle doing a cover of Candi Staton’s “Young Hearts Run Free”. It went to No 3 in the UK charts selling 300,000 copies and affording it gold status. It was even bigger in America and Australia where it sold over 3 million copies in the former and was the second bestselling album of the year in the latter. A choral version of Rozalla’s “Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)” which was also on the soundtrack would form the basis of a rather bizarre UK No 1 two years later when Baz Luhrmann himself released a single titled “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” which was essentially a spoken word track voiced by actor Lee Perry of an article published in the Chicago Tribune by columnist Mary Schmich on how to live a happier life. As I said, all rather bizarre.

Anyway, back to The Cardigans and “Lovefool”. The success of the single with its shimmering, seamless pop production full of hooks but with a nod to disco helped parent album “First Band On The Moon” to gold status in the UK. The band were tipped to be on the verge of greatness with the impossibly beautiful Nina Persson dominating their public image (much in the same way Gwen Stefani was for fellow chart stars No Doubt). Someone I worked with was so taken with them that she bought up their earlier back catalogue as well. “First Band On The Moon” wouldn’t provide any further massive hit singles but did pave the way for 1998’s “Gran Turismo” which contained the hits “My Favourite Game”, “Erase/Rewind” and “Hanging Around” helping the album to achieve platinum sales status in the UK and 3 million copies being sold worldwide. The Cardigans split in 2006 but reunited in 2012 as a touring entity only.

“It’s been a great few weeks for DJ Quicksilver. He’s replaced Sasha’s “Encore Une Fois” as the club floor filler that won’t go away. Here he is at No 5 with “Bellissima”

So says Cathy Dennis in her intro to the next act and you know what, that will do for this blogger’s comments about this one because I can assure you that anything else I would say would not be as kind as that.

Next to a young artist who was very much touted as being the next new UK R&B superstar and she won a BRIT and two MOBO awards to back that claim up. Shola Ama was just 18 years old when she burst into the charts with her cover of the Randy Crawford hit “You Might Need Somebody” and it would be another of those singles that defied the ‘debut very high, exit very quickly’ trend of many a chart hit at this time by spending seven weeks inside the Top 10 with five of them at lucky No 7. How did Shola do this? Well, the song that was chosen for her to cover was very radio friendly and also old enough for some young music fans to possibly be unaware of Randy Crawford’s hit with it from 1981. I myself only knew it because my wife had Randy’s “Secret Combination” album that it was taken from. Of course, appearing on TOTP three weeks on the trot probably didn’t hinder the single’s chances (although we missed the first two due to the R Kelly issue). Apparently Shola got so fed up of people not believing that she was singing live on the show that in the third appearance she missed a bit out to prove it was real. Having watched this third appearance back, I’m not sure I can spot this though I think there’s a moment when she appears to go towards the microphone but doesn’t sing. Is that it? Personally, I couldn’t hear what all the fuss was about and that she would disappear once “You Might Need Somebody” finally dropped out of the charts. She didn’t – her debut album “Much Love” made No 6 selling 100,000 copies and included three more hit singles. However, second album syndrome struck despite her working with a host of producers and writers including D-Influence and Babyface and Shola’s time in the spotlight was over within two years. She has carried on recording and has collaborated with artists such as Miss Dynamite and Frisco.

To say they only had four Top 40 hits of which none got higher than No 24, Kenickie’s strike rate for appearing on TOTP was pretty good. This was their second time on the show and I’d forgotten that not all of their songs featured lead vocals from Lauren Laverne. This one – “Nightlife” – sees Marie du Santiago doing the singing heavy lifting and I think I prefer her voice to Lauren’s. This track is a spiky little number that strides along wearing its attitude on its sleeve with pride like a hickey from a certain Grease character. You know, I probably should check out their back catalogue in more detail than I currently possess. After all it’s only two albums deep, coincidentally the same amount of Grease films that there are which reminds me that I used to work with someone who prefers Grease 2 to the original! I know! How do you even begin to explain that?!

I have to say that Cathy Dennis is not very good at this presenting lark – very lacking in any presence but then why should she have been any good at it? She’s made her mark as a pop star then as a songwriter – two successful careers is more than most of us manage. Anyway, Republica are on next with their biggest ever hit “Drop Dead Gorgeous”. Watching it back, I’m struck by what a strange song this is, especially in the verses where Saffron almost speaks the abrupt lyrics which are often just two words at the start. Eventually the chorus kicks in and that point, it sounds like it could have been a hit for Toyah back in the day. It can’t be just me surely? Something in the inflections in Saffron’s phrasing as she almost yelps the words out? No?

Anyway, at this point it seemed, as with No Doubt and The Cardigans, that Republica with their photogenic lead singer were set to conquer the world. What happened next was a complete collapse of their momentum. Second album “Speed Ballads” underperformed so much to the extent that most people didn’t realise that it had been released – indeed it wasn’t in the US after their label Deconstruction Records folded. The band would go into a state of stasis and split in 2001 before reuniting in 2008. Their first album since “Speed Ballads” 27 years ago is due for release in the Spring of 2025.

I know I was busy with preparations for my China trip and distracted by the General Election but how did I not notice what was No 1 this week? I did work in a record shop after all. I have zero recollection of this chart topper from Michael Jackson but maybe that’s a good thing as “Blood On The Dance Floor” is a stinker of the foulest stench. Taken from the remix album “Blood On The Dance Floor: HIStory In The Mix”, it’s just a funky backbeat that goes nowhere and is fleshed out by the usual Jacko yelps and screams as he bangs on about some woman called Susie. Apparently it was initially recorded for the 1991 “Dangerous” album but never made the cut which speaks volumes for its quality. Even the usually impeccable production on Jackson’s output is not up to scratch it seems to me as his vocals are really low in the mix at some points meaning you can’t actually hear him much. Perhaps that was intentional but either way, maybe we should just be grateful for small mercies.

Wikipedia tells me that the album went to No 1 in the UK, achieved platinum status and is the biggest selling remix album in the world EVER! Hmm. When I looked at the front cover of the album, it did bring back one memory which was of massive stocks of the album that we couldn’t give away so its sales figures are surprising to say the least. In conclusion, I say “Blood On The Dance Floor”? Nah, give me “Murder On The Dance Floor” any day. The director of Saltburn agrees with me at least.

We end with a plug for the UK entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest which this year was Katrina And The Waves. I know! Who’d have thought it! Well, Katrina And The Waves presumably as they submitted their entry “Love Shine A Light” (plus a £250 fee) to The Great British Song Contest which was the selection process that year to determine the UK entry. There are also rumours though that Jonathan King contacted the band to see if they had a song that was appropriate so take your pick. Predominantly known for the marvellously upbeat hit “Walking On Sunshine”, the band hadn’t been anywhere near the charts since 1986 when “Sun Street” rather unexpectedly made No 22. Pretty much nothing had been heard of them since but suddenly they were back!…albeit via the much maligned Eurovision Song Contest. I recall thinking that they were bound to win, somehow linking it with the General Election and the new government – if the Tories could be toppled after 18 years of rule, surely the UK could break our 16 year hoodoo and win Eurovision for the first time since Bucks Fizz. In reality, my confidence was probably down to hearing the bookies and media saying all week how Katrina And The Waves were odds on to win. And win they did and like the Labour Party two days earlier, it was by a landslide. Predictably, new Prime Minister Tony Blair was quick to congratulate the band on their victory as he sought to keep the good feeling vibe going. What was New Labour’s legacy ultimately? I’ll leave that for your own private thoughts – this is a music blog after all. As for Katrina And The Waves, “Love Shine A Light” surged to No 3 in the charts off the back of Eurovision though was nowhere near as durable as Gina G’s effort from a year earlier despite it coming nowhere in the contest.

I recall Katrina saying in an interview years later that once they had a hit again, she’d assumed that their career was sorted and they’d no need to worry about that anymore but they were unable to produce a successful follow up and they would split acrimoniously after their credibility as a rock band was tainted by their brush with Eurovision. Katrina herself has maintained ties with the competition though appearing in anniversary shows and even participating in the Swedish national final in 2005.

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1D:ReamThings Can Only Get BetterNot in 1994 and not this time either
2Robbie WilliamsOld Before I DieNo but I had a promo copy of his Life Thru A Lens album
3911Bodyshakin’Of course not
4The CardigansLovefoolNo but my wife had there Romeo + Juliet soundtrack
5DJ QuicksilverBellissimaNo
6Shola AmaYou Might Need SomebodyNope
7KenickieNightlifeNegative
8RepublicaDrop Dead GorgeousNah
9Michael JacksonBlood On The Dance FloorNever
10Katrina And The WavesLove Shine A LightAnd no

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/m0027xn0/top-of-the-pops-02051997?seriesId=unsliced