The Chemical Brothers

TOTP 30 JUL 1999

Posted on by 80stastic

Of the eight acts in this particular TOTP’s running order, it could be claimed that three were the equivalent of elder statesmen compared to their young upstart chart counterparts. They’d probably be described as ‘heritage’ acts today or, if they were football supporters then “legacy’ fans. Back in 1999, individually they might have been defined as ‘making a comeback’, ‘having an unexpected hit’ and ‘business as usual’. Who am I talking about? Let’s find out…

Our host is Jayne Middlemiss and we start with the artist having an unexpected hit. Up to this point in the 90s, Elvis Costello had only had one Top 40 hit throughout the whole decade – 1994’s “Sulky Girl” which made No 22. It wasn’t much of a return given that, in that period, he’d released three studio albums under his own name, one with The Attractions, a soundtrack, a collaboration with Burt Bacharach and a one off project with The Brodsky Quartet. To be fair to Costello, as far as I can tell, that album haul only resulted in ten singles being released but even so, a 90% failure rate for making the Top 40 seems like a very big number. Maybe his fanbase just weren’t that interested in buying singles – all of those albums listed above charted with two even going Top 5 so their was definitely still an appetite for his work just not the bite size versions.

Anyway, suddenly Elvis had a Top 20 single (his first for 16 years and, so far, his last) with a cover version of “She”, the 1974 No 1 from French/Armenian singer Charles Aznavour. Taken from the soundtrack to Notting Hill, both the original and Costello’s cover featured in the film. Bizarrely though, in the US release, only Elvis’s take on it was used as American test audiences didn’t react well to the Aznavour version. Maybe it wasn’t such an outlandish decision after all though as Costello’s vocal is just about perfect for the song, as if he was born to sing it. For many people, especially those not familiar with the original, his might even be considered the definitive version. In Japan for example, it is an absolute highlight of his live concerts.

The performance here was the first time Elvis has been on the show for five years and, aside from a replay showing of “Oliver’s Army” in a 2005 episode (for some reason), it remains his last. Although it’s a great version, it somehow seems a shame that Costello’s last hit and TOTP appearance were all about a cover rather than one of his original compositions.

Despite being a well established boy band with a string of hit singles and an adoring, teenage girl fanbase behind them, Five were still lacking that one thing that would put them up there with the likes of Take That and Boyzone – a No 1 single. Yes, their debut album had topped the charts but to cement them in the consciousness of the general public, they needed the profile that a cut-through-to-the-mainstream, instantly recognisable hit could bring them. Take That had, amongst others, “Back For Good” and Boyzone had “No Matter What”. Could “If Ya Gettin’ Down” do the same for Five? Not quite. It would debut and peak at No 2 meaning their last three singles had missed the top spot by a single place. They should have changed their name to Two.

As with the first of those No 2s “Everybody Get Up”, “If Ya Gettin’ Down” (make your minds up lads, up or down?) was based around a hit from the 80s. Whilst the former utilised Joan Jett And The Blackhearts’ version of “ I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll”, the latter sampled Indeep’s “Last Night A D.J. Saved My Life”. It worked pretty well to be fair but couldn’t hope to match the explosive power of “Everybody Get Up” which I’d actually rather enjoyed. That had featured Abz and J at the forefront what with all the rapping in it and it was a similar story with “If Ya Gettin’ Down”. With the slower tracks, Richie and Scott did the vocal heavy lifting. I’m not entirely sure what Sean did. Was he just there to do some dancing? If so, they clearly didn’t trust him even with just that judging by the battalion of backing dancers up there on stage with the band.

Five would finally get their No 1 with their next single release “Keep On Movin’”, the first of three chart toppers with the other two being a collaboration with Queen on a rendition of their anthem “We Will Rock You” and a track called “Let’s Dance” which thankfully wasn’t a David Bowie cover.

WHO??! The 3 Jays?! No, I’ve got nothing, zilch, zero, nada so I googled their name. Top result? A pub in Clacton. Says it all really. Or does it? After a bit more searching, I found out that the guys behind The 3 Jays (Jamie White, Jim Lee and Jeff Patterson – the three ‘J’s – geddit?) were also variously involved in the following chart hits:

  • Jeremy Healy & Amos – “Stamp!” – No 11 – 1996
  • PF Project – “Choose Life” – No 6 – 1997
  • Tzant – “Sounds of Wickedness” – No 11 – 1998
  • Mirrorball – “Given Up” – No 12 – 1999

Hmm. So maybe there was more to them than I first thought. Actually, maybe not as “Feeling It Too” sounded like it was just jumping on the sonic bandwagon that was popularised by Phats & Small and indeed, there was a remix by that pair of “Feeling It Too” available on the single.

Now, there was an 80s band called The Three Johns that my mate Robin liked who were nothing like the The 3 Jays being, as they were, a post-punk, indie rock band with politically charged, anti-Thatcher/anti far right lyrics. I’m betting they never did or would play that pub in Clacton whose MP, of course, is one Nigel Farage.

Next, that elder statesman act for whom another hit was just ‘business as usual’. How many albums do you reckon the Pet Shop Boys have released in their career? I’m just talking studio albums not Best Ofs or Remix compilations. Fifteen is the answer over a 40 year career. That’s one every two and a half years or so. That sounds, if not prolific then exceptionally consistent. A deeper dive into their discography (their actual discography and not their first ever Best Of from 1991) shows though that the first four came between 1986 and 1990 – just about one a year which is prolific I would argue. After that initial burst of youthful creativity, they settled down to a fairly regular release schedule of a studio album every three years. To this end, by 1999, “Nightlife” was released three years after their last album “Bilingual” which in turn came out three years after “Very” which was preceded by “Behaviour” three years earlier.

So what?” you may ask. It’s a valid question. Other than peaking my fascination with sequences (a run of football results has a similar effect on me), I’m not sure why I went down that route. Oh, hang on, yes I do. It was to provide some context as to my personal engagement with the output of Neil and Chris. Having been a fan throughout the 80s and early 90s, by the end of that decade I was entering “meh” territory. Sadly, “I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Any More” wasn’t going to reactivate my interest. It’s not that it’s a terrible song (though its title does nearly enter terrible territory) it’s just that it was…well…yes, a bit “meh” really. It had all the components we’d come to expect from a Pet Shop Boys release but it doesn’t have enough about it to take its place aside some of the duo’s classic singles. As such, I would argue that it really isn’t one of them.

My affection for the Pet Shop Boys was reignited when I saw them live on their Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Live tour a couple of years ago. I still can’t remember if they performed “I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Any More” though. Oh and I can’t not mention the backing dancers here. As with Five earlier, there’s loads of them but their number isn’t what requires comment. What was with all the juddering, arms-by-their-sides moves that made them look like fish literally out of water gaping for breath? Was it somehow linked to Chris and Neil’s onstage garb? The punk styled hair and shades look would also be used in the artwork for the album but what really grabs the attention is that they somehow invented the ‘slugs’ eyebrow phenomenon a good 20 years before it actually became a thing.

The 90s saw the UK record buying public display an insatiable appetite for Eurodance music. The charts were absolutely full of it meaning that yours truly has spent hours writing about a style of music I couldn’t really be doing with. At all. Throughout the decade artists such as Snap!, 2 Unlimited, Culture Beat, Haddaway, Corona, Ace Of Base and Dr. Alban had huge hits including No 1s (four of those names scored a chart topper!). And those were acts were just off the top of my head. I bet a deep dive of the internet would reveal many more…

*does a deep dive of the internet for Eurodance artists*

…Cappella, N-Trance, Real McCoy, Rednex, Sash!, T-Spoon, Vengaboys, Whigfield…oh God, I feel nauseous knowing how much of my life I’ve wasted commenting on all the above.

Yes! It’s a blogger epiphany! I’m not going to spend any more time in this blog on anymore Eurodance nonsense! Away with you….

…..oh, I just can’t can I? Bloody hell!! Right, D.J. Jurgen Presents Alice Deejay…so, this was a Dutch Eurodance project which, despite Jayne Middlemiss’s protestations, did have some DJs in it and was fronted by one Judith Anna Pronk. Their biggest hit of five was this one – “Better Off Alone” – which has accrued quite the retrospective legacy. For example, in March 2025, Billboard magazine ranked it as No 48 in their list of ‘The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time’. At the risk of sounding like my Dad when I myself was a teenager, it sounds like all those other Eurodance acts to my ears. And yes, I know Eurodance is a generic term and that there must have been loads of sub genres within it so to lump them all together is probably lazy but I really couldn’t care less.

As for this performance, there really was only two things that I noted about it. Firstly, and this is going to sound awful for which I apologise in advance but the lady at the back on the raised stage behind a keyboard (it actually looks a bit like an ironing board on first view), is it me or does she look a bit old to be a part of this nonsense? Secondly, and I’m certainly not complaining, but why did we only get 1:40 of the track which Wikipedia tells me the radio edit was 2:56 in length?

Definitely on the comeback trail are Madness who are making a second consecutive appearance to perform “Lovestruck”, their first new material single for thirteen years. I’m guessing this might be another of those double recording montages like we saw by Cher recently where the artist did two performances in the same one visit to the TOTP studio which are differentiated by a change of outfits just to convince the TV audience that they were recorded at least seven days apart. We know this as in last week’s performance Lee Thompson had a Bernie Clifton style jockey outfit on but this week he’s donned a…well…Jayne Middlemiss says it’s a worm costume but is it? It’s a bit green looking for a worm? A caterpillar maybe? Anyway, the abrupt cut away from our host to the performance is the conclusive piece of evidence for me that this was a second performance recorded in one sitting.

Suggs, of course, is a well known fellow fan of my beloved Chelsea even singing on the club’s 1997 FA Cup final song “Blue Day”. He nearly got sacked from the group in their early days for constantly missing Saturday afternoon band practice to go to Stamford Bridge to watch his team. I mention all of this because of the use of the word “Tottenham” in the lyrics. With Spurs being one of our fiercest rivals, I wonder how Suggs felt about singing those lines all these years? In fact, I wonder if he feels similar to another celebrity Chelsea fan who even refused to say the name ‘Tottenham’ in a recent Graham Norton interview? His reply to Graham’s question clearly riled another Graham…

Next up is one of the most pointless personal messages recorded by an artist for TOTP. The Chemical Brothers appear on screen to say this:

“Hi, we’re The Chemical Brothers…Sorry we can’t be there. Here’s some footage of us playing live in Red Rocks…Denver”

What was the point of that?! We then get said footage of them performing “Hey Boy Hey Girl” live in Red Rocks, Denver mixed in with shots of the TOTP audience dancing to it as it’s relayed on a big screen back in the studio. Again I say, “What was the point of that?!” Whatever you thought you were doing as executive producer Chris Cowey, it wasn’t working.

Despite the attempts by Five to put her off, Jayne Middlemiss just about gets through her intro to the No 1 which is Ricky Martin with “Livin’ la Vida Loca” for the third week which was quite the achievement in 1999 which saw many a one week chart topper. Perhaps even more impressive though was the fact that Martin became the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit No 1 in the UK. It would go double platinum over here making it our sixth best selling single of the year. Also “Livin’ the Crazy Life” is another Ricky Martin who was the winner of the eighth series of The Apprentice in 2012. The show’s BBC website says of Ricky:

“By day Ricky is a successful recruitment manager operating across the UK science industries, and by night and weekend a heavy hitting professional wrestler”

Wow! If he doesn’t use “Livin’ la Vida Loca” as his entrance music he isn’t doing it right.

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1Elvis CostelloSheYes I did for my wife who’s a big Elvis Costello fan
2FiveIf Ya Gettin’ DownNo thanks
3The 3 JaysFeeling It TooNegative
4Pet Shop BoysI Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Any MoreNah
5D.J. Jurgen Presents Alice DeejayBetter Off AloneCertainly not
6Madness LovestruckNo
7The Chemical Brothers Hey Boy Hey GirlNope
8Ricky Martin Livin’ la Vida LocaI 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/m002tl5r/top-of-the-pops-30071999

TOTP 11 JUN 1999

Posted on by 80stastic

After a rare, half decent show last week, could we be about to begin a run of better hits and performances? Well, I don’t know about that but what I am certain of is that seven of the eight songs on this one we haven’t seen before. However, we start with an ex-No 1 from a month ago which is back on the show because…? Because “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys had gone back up from No 9 to No 7. As Peter Crouch might say, “Big Deal!”. What’s that? It was a big deal? What because it sold 3 million copies in the US, because it was No 1 in just about every territory on the planet and because it was the 15th biggest selling boyband single of the 1990s in the UK selling 423,300 copies? Because of those things? Yeah, I don’t care. Big deal. NEXT!

In the late 90s mini-movement that was instrument playing all girl groups, after Hepburn and before Thunderbugs came 21st Century Girls. Though they had a name that suggested forthcoming longevity, this lot really were a case of blink and you’ll miss them. They were the protégés of music mogul Simon Fuller whose influence on the industry, though substantial, would become ever more pervasive in the years that followed. After being infamously sacked as the manager of the Spice Girls, he’d turned his attention to a Monkees-esque project for the 90s in S Club 7 but still had time to launch another all girl group. And this lot really were girls aged between 14 and 16 at the time that their debut single – also called “21st Century Girls” – hit the charts. Hailing from Dudley in the West Midlands, they’d formed a band st school and were spotted by a talent scout for Ian Allen’s Creative Management company. Allen managed Next of Kin who’d had a No 13 hit with “24 Hours From You” in 1999 so he had a track record for spotting young potential and getting them into the charts. He would duly do the same with 21st Century Girls but only after he’d given their demo CD to Fuller who immediately signed the group to his 19 Recordings label.

“I wanted something different – an antidote to all that is sterile and artificial about the music scene. I’m on a mission to take this band, which is pure and unadulterated and make them the biggest thing ever.”

Fulton, Rick; Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland); April 23, 1999.

Hmm. Methinks he doth protest too much especially as Fuller proceeded to spend thousands to promote his “pure and unadulterated” group, a saturation project that resulted in a No 16 charting debut single and an appearance on TOTP. Was that an acceptable return on Fuller’s investment? Possibly not but these were literally just kids we’re talking about – the weight of responsibility to succeed was completely unreasonable. Indeed, Fuller was on record as saying that 21st Century Girls would be bigger than the Spice Girls – strike unreasonable and replace it with intolerable. Then there’s the music itself. In its favour, it didn’t sound much like Fuller’s former charges what with their influences were Green Day and Garbage. In the debit column, it wasn’t very good nor original. Their song was full of forced raucousness and naive, clunky lyrics* with a sound that was a melting pot of Republica, Transvision Vamp and Shampoo. It was meant to be a heady brew but it ended up being a concoction that was flavourless.

*If they wrote them, their age is a defence. If they were written for them, I guess it was part of their image but still.

They would not release another single in the UK presumably because Fuller lost interest (and the fact that S Club 7 took off) though a follow up and album were made available in Japan where the aforementioned Shampoo had been similarly massive. And so ended the tale of 21st Century Girls who never even made it out of the 20th century.

When I think about the film Notting Hill, or more specifically the music from it, I think of Elvis Costello’s version of “She” or Ronan Keating’s take on “When You Say Nothing At All”. At a push, maybe “Gimme Some Lovin’” by Spencer Davis Group which soundtracks the car scene as Hugh Grant’s character tries to get to a press conference at the Savoy Hotel. Or even “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers which plays as the passing of time scene after Julia Roberts’ character has left London. At no point would my mind have turned to “From The Heart” by Another Level. Is it even in the film?

“Checks the internet*

Just as I thought; it doesn’t appear as a prominent background song during a main dialogue scene during the whole movie. Apparently, it features over the credits at some point but that must be well into them as “When You Say Nothing At All” plays at the end of the movie. Having said all of that, I don’t think Wet Wet Wet’s cover of “Love Is All Around” is heard in Four Weddings And A Funeral (which Notting Hill was a sequel to just about) until the credits have long since stated rolling. Anyway, my point is that I don’t recall Another Level’s contribution to the Notting Hill soundtrack at all and it’s one of those films I tend to watch if I happen upon it while channel hopping so I know it pretty well. Plus, we must have played the soundtrack in the Our Price where I was working a few times at least seeing as it went platinum in the UK. Punters in America who did buy the album however, got a slightly different track listing which omitted “In Our Lifetime” by Texas and instead included “No Matter What” by Boyzone. Why? Good question. That track doesn’t feature in the film at all what with it being from the soundtrack to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Whistle Down The Wind. What gives? AI tells me that the song was used in the promotion of Notting Hill in America with an alternate version of the song’s music video produced specifically featuring clips of Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant interspersed with the band. That still doesn’t explain why? What was the association? I don’t get it. What’s that? Ronan Keating is the link? That’s it?! Nah, I’m not having it. Pure nonsense. Eh? What about Another Level’s song? I repeat, I’m not having it. Pure nonsense.

The return of The Chemical Brothers next who were hoping to replicate the success of their previous No 1 hits “Setting Sun” and “Block Rockin’ Beats” from ‘96 and ‘97 respectively. They came close with “Hey Boy Hey Girl” which was the lead single from third album “Surrender”. This was, I believe, what was known as a ‘bangin’ tune’. With its distinctive, repeated lyric and insistent, almost alarm-like back beat, you just couldn’t ignore this one. Oh yeah, that lyric. I’ve never noticed this before but the order of the single’s title is reversed in the words spoken on the track. Look…

“Hey girls Hey boys

Superstar DJs Here we go”

Writer(s): Richard Lee Fowler, Charles Pettiford, Gregory Carlton Wigfall, Edmund John Simons, Jerry Bloodrock, Thomas Owen Mostyn Rowlands, Celita Evans

I wonder why that was? I don’t think it makes too much difference in the way that it scans. As for the “superstar DJs” line, that always reminds me of the staff rota at the Our Price store I was working in when this single was out. Why? This is really niche and probably of no interest to anyone else reading this but it is my blog so…for my own personal amusement when compiling the weekly staff rota of who was in and when, sometimes I would allocate nicknames to my colleagues. So Suzanne was Skipper (can’t remember why), Lisa was Looby-Loo (from Andy Pandy – again no idea why) and then there was a guy called Richard who only worked on a Saturday but who loved his dance music so he was…of course…Superstar DJ. Look, I did warn you that this anecdote wouldn’t be interesting to anyone else!

What was interesting though was the video that gets shown here. Starting with the story of a girl on a school trip to the Natural History Museum who fractures her arm, it follows her into being an adult and going to a nightclub. Dominant throughout the promo is the imagery of all the human beings she encounters as being reduced to just bones, literally skeletons. Again I ask, what was that all about? A tribute to the climatic scene in 1963 movie Jason And The Argonauts when the titular heroes have to fight seven armed skeletons – ‘the children of the Hydra’s teeth’?

The version shown on TOTP, as hinted at by host Jamie Theakston, is heavily edited with a scene of a couple having sex in a nightclub toilet both in the flesh and as skeletons removed. Having seen the full version, there was no way that was getting past the censors. Quite what the idea behind the cutback shots to the studio audience watching the video on a big screen was I’m not sure. It’s not as if they’re even dancing enthusiastically but rather just milling about. Sort of. Very odd.

There was a third single from Cher’s “Believe” album?! Yes, there was and a fourth actually but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Though she wasn’t averse to a cover version, “All Or Nothing” wasn’t Cher’s take on the Small Faces’ classic hit but yet another track with 90s disco anthem pretensions but to my ears it was just a watered down version of “Strong Enough” which itself was the poor relation of “Believe”. Did every song on the album sound the same? There’s a slight deviation in the middle where it goes a bit “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer but then that’s just copying someone else rather than yourself.

After some of her previous outfits down the years, Cher has come to the studio in a dress-down-Friday, casual style. Her bright red hair still hints at her sense of the glamorous life though. As was almost inevitable, all the singles released from the “Believe” album would peak at a lower chart position than the one before it with “All Or Nothing” making it to No 12. I guess it was unreasonable to expect every hit to be as big as the commercial whopper that “Believe” (the song) was.

If pressed, I would have said that Feeder didn’t turn up until into the new millennium but here they were in 1999 with their fourth Top 40 hit “Insomnia”. Clearly they didn’t register on my radar back then and I now realise that they can only have bleeped for the first time when “Buck Rogers” was a Top 5 hit in 2001. Listening to them in 2026, is it fair to say they were/are like a UK version of Green Day? After all, they did have an album called “Insomniac” (ahem). Ok, Ok – not a UK version but a Welsh one. I’m nothing if not fastidious about facts. To back that claim up, I should really say that they are a Welsh-Japanese hybrid with founding member and bassist Taka Hirose being from Japan.

Looking at Feeder’s discography, I was a little surprised to see that they have released twelve studio albums with the most recent coming in 2024. Having said that, the first one came in 1997 so that’s twelve in just under 30 years. Is that a lot or not that many? More than one every three years is pretty consistent I would say. And yet the extent of my knowledge of them is pretty much the aforementioned “Buck Rogers”. Sometimes I wonder what my credentials for writing a music blog are at all.

I had the briefest of dalliances with the Red Hot Chili Peppers back in 1994 when I could no longer ignore a rerelease of “Under The Bridge”. Having been a No 26 hit in 1992, my purchase of it two years later helped it to spend two weeks at No 13. The CD single I bought included a version of “Give It Away” which I also liked. That was as far as my commitment went though and I pretty much ignored 1995’s “One Hot Minute” album. However, even my lukewarm interest was reignited by 1999’s “Californication” album. Now, let me be upfront and open – I didn’t actually buy it but I could certainly appreciate its wares starting with lead single “Scar Tissue”.

This was the more melodic side of the band that had first drawn me in via “Under The Bridge”. Indeed, comparisons highlighting similarities between the two tracks wouldn’t have been that wide of the mark. Based around the marvellously meandering guitar riffs of the returning John Frusciante, it was a great example of the band at the height of their powers. Indeed, it was so popular in America that it spent a record breaking 16 weeks atop the US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. It should surely have hit higher in the UK than its No 15 peak. As a song to perform on their very first visit to the TOTP studio, it was certainly a high bar. “Californication” would become one of the band’s biggest ever albums going five times platinum in the UK and eight times platinum in the US.

We’ve arrived at one of the strangest No 1 records of not just the 90s but perhaps of all time. A bold claim but what other word would you use to describe the success of “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” by Baz Luhrmann other than strange. This one took me totally by surprise though many punters were one step ahead of me (despite my working in a record shop) and asking for it well before its official release. I clearly hadn’t been listening to Chris Moyles on Radio 1 who led a campaign to make it a hit. So what was it all about? The story of the record starts with the essay ‘Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young’ which was written by American journalist Mary Schmich and published in the June 1, 1997 issue of the Chicago Tribune. It was written as a hypothetical commencement speech given to graduating students, in which Schmich dispenses various pieces of advice for living a happy life with persistent references to using sunscreen having seen a young woman sunbathing and hoping she was wearing sufficient sun protection. An urban legend developed around the article suggesting that it was, in fact, a genuine commencement speech made by the author Kurt Vonnegut at MIT.

Enter Australian film director Baz Luhrmann who was working on a remix of Rozalla’s “Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)” for his “Something For Everybody” album, a track he’d used a version of on the soundtrack to his film William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. Aware of the supposed Vonnegut speech, he decided to use it in the remix but wasn’t sure he could get clearance from the author in time. Looking for Vonnegut’s contact details, he became aware of the true source of the speech and was able to get consent from Schmich. Narrated by Australian voice actor Lee Perry (not the ‘Scratch’ version) it would become a member of that most exclusive of genres – the spoken word hit alongside J J Barrie’s “No Charge” and “If” by Telly Savalas. To be honest, I’d forgotten how it went and listening back to it on this TOTP repeat, I found it completely underwhelming and myself nonplussed about why there had been such a huge fuss about it in the first place. Despite said hype and amid claims that it would be one of the biggest sellers of the year (it wasn’t), it lasted just three weeks inside the Top 10. The whole episode was completely bizarre.

So did this episode continue the quality of last week’s show? Probably not. There was an awful lot of crap though the Chemical Brothers and Red Hot Chili Peppers readdressed the balance handsomely with a mention in dispatches for Feeder.

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1Backstreet BoysI Want It That WayNever
221st Century Girls21st Century GirlsNegative
3Another LevelFrom The HeartNah
4The Chemical BrothersHey Boy Hey GirlNope
5CherAll Or NothingNothing then
6FeederInsomniaNo
7Red Hot Chili PeppersScar TissueLiked it, didn’t buy it
8Baz LuhrmannEverybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)I 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/m002sw98/top-of-the-pops-11061999

TOTP 04 APR 1997

Posted on by 80stastic

As widely predicted and discussed within the TOTP online community, BBC4’s repeats for 1997 are facing more disruption than the London Underground during a tube strike due to the various misdemeanours of some of the artists who had big hits this year. The first of these came at the end of March when the show that aired on the 28th of that month featured the video for R Kelly’s hit “I Believe I Can Fly”. The R&B singer is currently serving a 31 year sentence for racketeering and child pornography. Having checked the running order for that episode, my opinion is that we didn’t miss much with only the Pet Shop Boys and The Beautiful South being of potential interest to this blogger.

We’ll be jumping around for a while though as “I Believe I Can Fly” went to No 1 for three weeks and later in the year we have Puff Daddy/P Diddy/Sean Combs who spent six weeks on top of the UK charts with “I’ll Be Missing You” and who is currently facing charges of racketeering and sex trafficking. I’m assuming all shows that feature either R Kelly or Puff Daddy will be pulled and not re shown. For this episode though we are on safe ground with a load of dance tunes and those nice Spice Girls featuring. Our hosts are the irreverent pair Mark and Lard who had recently taken over the reigns of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show following the departure of Chris Evans.

We’re straight in – literally straight in as there’s no to camera piece from a featured artist nor even a presenter intro in these strange, new times – with the latest hit from Cast called “Free Me”. The lead single from sophomore album “Mother Nature Calls”, it was more of that so called ‘Britpop’ sound that had seen them become chart stars over the previous 18 months though possibly a bit more of an earthy sound and not quite as melodic. It was a decent tune – definitely not ‘filler’ but by no means ‘killer’ either. When reviewing their last hit, the standalone single “Flying”, I criticised the track’s lyrics for being basic and superficial. I have to say that this was also the case with “Free Me”. So simple are they that if they were a boy in a nursery rhyme, they’d definitely be called Simon. I mean, look at these:

Give me some time to be me, give me the space that I need

Give me a reason to be, give me some time to be

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Russell Glyn Ballard
Free Me lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

What? I wouldn’t have submitted that as an 11 year old if I’d been asked to write some poetry in an English lesson. Come on John Power – you were better than that! By the way, I’m not sure about your hat either. Must do better.

After Mark and Lard have reinforced their northern roots by insisting that you pronounce Cast as “Cast” and not “Carst” (they’re right of course), they introduce 3T who, unbelievably, were still having hits two years after their first. Happily, “Gotta Be You” would be the fifth and final time they would feature in the UK charts. Their discography informs me that this one featured a Herbie Critchlow who Wikipedia informs me is a producer and songwriter who has penned songs for the likes of Backstreet Boys, Rita Ora and…erm…Andy Abrahams. Is he the guy that comes on in the middle of this performance and raps something truly dodgy about zombie nymphomaniacs or something? Anyway, even he gets bored of the whole thing and exits stage left before the end of the song and he co-wrote the bloody thing! To paraphrase Morrissey when reviewing a Modern Romance single in Smash Hits, “there may well very well be a worse group than 3T but can anybody really think of one?”.

Next we have…what the actual f**k?! No Doubt?! AGAIN?! After venting my spleen in the last post that “Don’t Speak” had been shown in the 21 March show despite no longer being at No 1 and dropping down the charts, here they are once more. To quote from the extraordinary film Blazing Saddles, “What in the wide, wide world of sports is a-goin’ on here?” OK, the single had gone back up from No 4 to No 3 so in theory it was a chart climber, but this was the sixth time it had been on the show already and only three of those had been as the No 1 record. Sixth you say? YES! SIX! I’ve done my research and it was even on the 28 March show that we didn’t get to see meaning it was in three consecutive weeks after falling from the top of the charts. And it doesn’t even stop there as it was also on the 18 April show (which we similarly won’t get to see) meaning it was given a slot on the running order more often than when it was the actual No 1! This was just ludicrous! Who was the director during these shows?

*Checks internet*

It was that John L Spencer character again! Well, all I can say is never mind The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, this was The John L Spencer Bullshit Explosion!

When Mark and Lard looked at which acts would be featured in the show they would be presenting, what do you reckon they thought? I’m betting that when their fingers descended the list and alighted on N–Trance their reaction wasn’t “Brilliant! We’ve got N-Trance on the show and even better than that, they’re doing a cover of that old Ottawan hit!”. The descent of the people who gave us the dance floor classic “Set You Free” into a naff 70s tribute act was indeed a bizarre career move. It all seems to be down to the recruitment of rapper Ricardo da Force to their ranks who had previously featured on those huge hits by The KLF in the early 90s. He was at the forefront of N-Trance’s reworking of the Bee Gees classic “Stayin’ Alive” which had stunk the charts out in the Autumn of 1995 when it did a hit No 2.

Throwing out credibility for commercial success, they repeated the trick with “D.I.S.C.O.”. The original was gruesome enough but the 1997 version was just vulgar and the performance here, complete with 70s disco wigs and outfits (obviously) turned up the tacky-o-meter to 11. In case you’re not convinced by my argument, then here’s all the proof you need – it was covered by the King of Cheese himself Chico. It’s Chico time!….

What? There’s a counter argument? Which is?

*The guy who wrote and produced “D.I.S.C.O.” – Daniel Vangarde – is the father of Thomas Bangalter, one half of achingly hip dance outfit Daft Punk*

Daft Punk? Seriously? No, I don’t care. N-Trance can, to quote Norman Stanley Fletcher from Porridge, “Naff off!”.

Ah this is better – “North Country Boy” by The Charlatans. I recall that a record company rep turned up at the Our Price shop where I worked a couple of weeks before this all excited and carrying a pre-release copy of this single saying how it was really special and the best thing the band had ever done. Was he right? Well, music taste is totally subjective but he might have been in with a shout with that claim though it’s not my own personal favourite (which I think is “Just Lookin’”, today anyway). It’s probably one of their best known songs though, peaking at No 4 and coming from the album “Tellin’ Stories” which ushered in a period of great chart success for the band. The album itself went to No 1 while furnishing the band with four hit singles that achieved the following peaks:

3 – 4 – 6 – 16

I’m pretty sure that Mark and Lard liked this one – they even did their own version of it (sort of) under the guise of their alter ego spoof band project The Shirehorses. This is The Charley Twins…

This show really is dance heavy. After N-Trance earlier, we now get three more tracks from that (admittedly wide-ranging) genre back to back starting with DJ Quicksilver and “Bellissima”. Anybody whose stage name includes the letters ‘DJ’ in it immediately raises red flags for me and my pop sensibilities and in the case of Mr Quicksilver, I wasn’t wrong. His real name is Orhan Terzi which sounds like he’s Hull City’s latest Turkish midfield signing and I wish he had pursued a career in football rather than dance music. I can only assume that my brain can’t be wired the same way as the dance-heads that bought this single (it sold 600,000 copies- 600,000!) as I can hear nothing in the track that would have compelled me to shell out good money to buy it. It’s just the same beats all the way through with some strings sounds laid over the top of it. Repetitive, monotonous and moronic. I guess if you were tripping off your tits in a club it might make more sense but how could you listen to it in the privacy of your own home? The ballerina type dancer was a novel way to visually stage the track I guess but then she’s usurped by the usual women in PVC trousers and one in suspenders no less. Quicksilver himself gets a brief close up when he gurns down the camera lens and gives a thumbs up. Prat! It’s a massive thumbs down from me.

The second dance act on the show is that rare beast that had achieved a No 1 single. Back in 1995, Livin’ Joy rather surprisingly topped the charts with a rerelease of their No 18 hit “Dreamer” from the year before. They’d followed that up with two further Top Tenners but ultimately they would submit to the trend of diminishing returns.

This fourth single “Where Can I Find Love” would peak outside the Top 10 at No 12 and final chart entry “Deep In You” even lower at No 17. This one sounds a little too frantic for me, too much going on in the mix but who cares about that? What was going on with singer Tameko Star’s hat?! It’s enormous – I haven’t seen one that big since this fella was on our TV screens…

Did I say that dance acts having a No 1 hit were a rare beast? I was clearly talking out of my arse as here’s The Chemical Brothers with their second consecutive chart topper “Block Rockin’ Beats”. I think this might just have taken me by surprise at the time as it’s possible that I dismissed previous No 1 “Setting Sun” as having had an Oasis flavoured boost via the vocal contributions of Noel Gallagher. However, I must have underestimated the appeal of the Manchester duo as here they were again as the kings of the Top 40. Or had I? There was a lot of discussion at the time about how quickly the sales of “Block Rockin’ Beats” fell away in its second week of release as it slipped to No 8 just seven days after topping the charts. At the time, it was the ninth biggest fall from the pinnacle since charts were compiled. Was this down to the nature of it being a dance track with a lack of crossover appeal (say compared to something like “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt) or was it just more evidence of how the charts were being manipulated by record companies and their first week price discounting strategies.? Or perhaps a bit of both? I mean, they weren’t alone – both Blur and U2 had experienced similar chart slippage with their last two singles (though not quite as big as The Chemical Brothers). Did I just say ‘lack of crossover appeal’? Yet again, I seem to be spouting nonsense as when parent album “Dig Your Own Hole” came out a few weeks later, it went to No 1 and chalked up platinum sales. What was it Frank Zappa said? Writing about music is like dancing about architecture?

For the record, I quite enjoyed “Block Rockin’ Beats” and in a completely contrary stance to what I’d just said about Livin’ Joy, I liked that it sounded chaotic and all over the place. Musical opinion eh? Whatcha gonna do? The video features Perry Fenwick a year before he made his EastEnders debut as Billy Mitchell. I met his ex-partner and fellow actor Angie Lonsdale once when she was sharing a house with my mate Robin when he lived in London. She was nice. Yeah, it’s not a great story is it?

The play out video is “Mama” by the Spice Girls despite the fact that they have slipped from No 1 to the runners up spot this week. Yes, following in the footsteps of No Doubt and the nonsensical decision of temporary TOTP director John L. Spencer to show songs going down the charts, we get this one again. There were surely other hits in the Top 40 that could have been shown instead?

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1CastFree MeNah
23TGotta Be YouNo
3No DoubtDon’t SpeakNope
4N-TranceD.I.S.C.O.F.*.*.K. O.F.F.
5The CharlatansNorth Country BoyNo but I had the Melting Pot Best Of with it on
6DJ QuicksilverBellissimaNever
7Livin’ JoyWhere Can I Find LoveI did not
8The Chemical BrothersBlock Rockin’ BeatsLiked it, didn’t buy it
9Mama / Who Do You Think You AreSpice GirlsAnd 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/m0027pnq/top-of-the-pops-04041997?seriesId=unsliced

TOTP 11 OCT 1996

Posted on by 80stastic

Writing two of these blog posts a week can be quite a drain on the well of creativity. Consequently, I have returned to my 1996 diary for inspiration and it’s certainly thrown a memory up though not one that I’m very proud of. Two days after this TOTP aired, I was out in Manchester with my wife and a coupe of friends. The plan was to have a few drinks and then go to Chinatown first and then for a meal. And we did do all of that so what was the problem? Well, unfortunately I imbibed a few too many alcoholic beverages along the way and by the time I sat down to eat in the Yang Sing restaurant I was completely plastered, off my face, hammered. That would have been bad enough but here’s the real kicker and this was unbelievable. The table next to us had noticed my inebriated state and had engaged in conversation with us along the lines of “dearie me, is he alright?”. In an attempt to prove that I was indeed OK and more than that, not drunk at all, I proceeded to tell them that I had to be at work early the next day as I worked in the Our Price in Stockport and we were having our Christmas merchandising, signage and decorations installed. Back in those days, the company employed outside contractors to come in and do all that sort of stuff. By the end of my time at Our Price, I’m pretty sure the staff were expected to do all that sort of thing. Now we get to the really weird bit. One of the women on the next table the informs me that she works for the company putting up the merchandising and is doing the Stockport store tomorrow. Excellent! So literally in a few hours time when no doubt I will feel as rough as a badger’s arse, I’ll be opening the shop doors to the woman next to me who has witnessed me completely destroyed by drink. So, not embarrassing at all then. My diary doesn’t record what happened at work on the Monday other than it was a quiet day presumably meaning I was hung over and hiding in the stockroom away from the counter and other human beings. I wonder if this TOTP has anyone on it to match my level of humiliation?

Nothing embarrassing about opening act Manic Street Preachers who are in the studio to perform their new single “Kevin Carter”. The third track lifted from their “Everything Must Go” album, it was also their third Top 10 hit on the spin. To give this achievement some context, their previous 13 singles had given them just one. This really was phoenix from the flames stuff given that the band had suffered the loss of main lyricist Richey Edwards. Having said that, “Kevin Carter” was one of the songs demoed for Edwards before his disappearance and which he wrote the lyrics for about the titular Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist who took his own life in 1994 haunted by the images of famine and death that he had taken in Sudan.

It’s a very spiky track with a rhythm that judders and skitters about and not the strongest chorus but then there’s the middle eight trumpet solo by drummer Sean Moore which is actually quite exquisite. I guess it would have been difficult logistically to have him play the solo and be on the drums simultaneously in this performance. Such a striking piece of music was it that it was used as the theme music to the ITV Wales current affairs show Wales This Week. No, really. See…

Ooh now, here’s something that’s truly mortifying! What in the world was this all about?! Well, it’s the obligatory dance tune on tonight’s show and it arrives courtesy of Jeremy Healy & Amos. Jeremy, of course, started his music career as a member of Haysi Fantayzee but went on to carve out a diverse career as a superstar DJ and musical director for fashion house Victoria’s Secret and labels launched by the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani. Amos was that bloke from Emmerdale who ran the Woolpack pub. No, of course he wasn’t but he might have well have been for all the information I can find out about Healy’s partner in crime and let’s have it right, “Stamp!” was a crime of music. This track is all over the place. There’s some record decks scratching, funk style bass lines, some de rigueur dream trance keyboards flourishes and some repeated spoken word Spanish all in the mix. And then there’s the performance which is absolutely bonkers. I guess it’s trying to reflect the mishmash of styles on display with flamenco dancers, a ludicrously moustachioed man on bongos and in the centre of it all is Jeremy Healy gurning away and generally making a total prat of himself. There’s very little online about this hit – Healy’s Wikipedia page doesn’t mention it at all – and quite right too as we should all try and expunge it from our memories. A total embarrassment.

With their repertoire of sardonic, social commentary yet beautifully crafted songs, I don’t think The Beautiful South could be accused of being a national embarrassment. Indeed, Paul Heaton is more of a national treasure. He even offered to nationalise his songs so that every time they are played on radio the state would receive the royalties revenue and could use it to improve living standards. Predictably, the Conservative government of the time refused his generous offer of a gift to the British public.

One of those songs that would have been included in his proposal was “Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)” the lead single from fifth studio album “Blue Is The Colour”. Perhaps one of their most well known songs and one of their biggest hits (it peaked at No 5), it was inspired by the lack of a welcome Paul Heaton received in a snooty bar in Rotterdam which he perceived didn’t want ‘his type’ as part of their clientele. Paul has refuted the idea that it’s a criticism of Rotterdam itself but more of the type of people who consider themselves the beautiful elite whom you see everywhere. Heaton’s experience of this just happened to be in a bar in Rotterdam. There’s something about its barbed lyrics with its references to Liverpool, Rome and pickled people that appealed to the nation. Interesting to note that Heaton is happy to completely take a back seat in this performance and hand all the vocals to Jacqui Abbott. As of a 2020 interview in The Guardian, neither the band nor the duo of Jacqui and Heaton have ever played “Rotterdam” live in that city nor Rome but it always goes down well in Liverpool and anywhere in Ireland for the line “gargoyles dipped long in Irish stout”. It has also taken on a life of its own as a football chant with the chorus being adopted by home fans to taunt their away counterparts with “insert name of opposition get battered everywhere they go”. I must tell my football obsessed son where that chant comes from.

Next up are a band whose name I remember but as for their hits, I couldn’t name you a one. Apparently Damage were marketed as being the British 3T despite the fact that there were five of them (the clue was in the name guys – bit embarrassing) and despite my inability to name any of them, they would rack up nine UK Top 40 hits including four Top Tenners. This really was a boom time for British R&B/pop artists what with the likes of Eternal, Gabrielle and Michelle Gayle representing the women of the genre and MN8, Mark Morrison and Ultimate Kaos showing up for the men (well, boys in the case of Ultimate Kaos). It makes me wonder how there was room for another such act in Damage but their run of hits proves that there was. “Love II Love” was their breakthrough hit and its title has left me wondering if it was inspired by another UK R&B artist, that of Soul II Soul. Anyway, it doesn’t do much for me although the video is at least diverting with the band as puppets being controlled by a mean alien lady. The only other thing to delay us here is to mention that lead singer Jade Jones has been in a relationship with Emma Bunton since 1998 finally marrying her in 2021. The Spice Girls are on later but this can’t be where they met as it was Damage’s promo video that we saw on the show and not the real thing in the studio.

Now I wouldn’t call this next hit embarrassing, not at all. However, despite it being the artist’s biggest ever hit, it’s also one of their weakest to my ears. “Flying” by Cast was a standalone single presumably recorded and released to plug the gap between their debut and sophomore album that wasn’t released until April of 1997. It’s not that it’s an awful song (and I don’t recall having this opinion of it at the time) but there really isn’t much to it. It’s very repetitive – the chorus is also its intro with its lyric sung four times over – and said lyrics are so basic and uninspiring that they sound like they took about the same amount of time to come up with as the Liz Truss/Kwasi Kwarteng infamous and disastrous mini budget (now that was something that was truly shameful). Look at these:

It’s like flying through the air, you can make it if you dare

You live your life without a care, you know that love is everywhere

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: John T. Williams
Flying lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

I mean, come on. Was that the best John Power could do? I don’t think so. To be fair to him, I saw Cast live this year as part of a three band open air show along with Embrace and Ocean Colour Scene. We arrived late halfway through the set and only caught a bit of “Flying” which they were playing as we entered the venue but I have to admit it sounded better live.

This week’s ’flashback’ section features Madonna and “True Blue” which was No 1 in the corresponding week ten years previously. Here’s the post from my 80s blog in which I discussed it:

TOTP 09 OCT 1986

Next up is the most misunderstood song since Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The USA”. Babybird was basically a vehicle for songwriter Stephen Jones who had been churning out hundreds of lo-fi demos in his Nottingham flat without being signed to a major label until Echo Records (a division of the Chrysalis Group) offered him a deal. His first single release for them “Goodnight” was a No 28 hit spending just two weeks in the charts but it was second single “You’re Gorgeous” that would become the song that he would forever be remembered for. On first hearing, it may have seemed like a full blown, lush ballad but first impressions can be deceiving. I can’t recall the specific realisation that I (and so many others) must have had that not everything was as it seemed here but clearly the lyrics of the verses were at odds with that joyful chorus. The tale of a sleazy photographer manipulating his model with promises of magazine covers, it was a brilliant example of subverting the established love song narrative. And yet so many people didn’t get it. Even today, if you check out the comments on YouTube against its promo video you’ll find people saying that their Mums used to sing it to them when they were little or that the song makes the commentator’s spirit feel lighter or that the song has such fun, happy vibes. Should those people be embarrassed or is it a case of ignorance is bliss? Who am I to tell people how to consume or enjoy a song?

And for the third time in the TOTP studio we have Donna Lewis performing “I Love You Always Forever”. Seriously? What is there left for me to say about this one? Or should I be the one who’s embarrassed with my lack of creativity? OK, I’m just going to fling some stuff out there and see if any of it sticks or resonates…

  1. The song was inspired by the H.W.Bates 1962 novel Love For Lydia with the lyric of the chorus being lifted directly from the book.
  2. It was originally entitled “Lydia” but Lewis was talked into renaming it by her record label due to there being no reference to a ‘Lydia’ lyrics. Could it also have been to do with the fact that there was already a song out there called “Lydia” by Dean Friedman?
  3. It spent nine weeks at No 2 sat behind Los Del Rio’s “Macarena”. Surely the Ultravox/ Joe Dolce moment of the 90s?
  4. Despite not toppling Los Del Rio’s hit, “I Love You Always Forever” completely trounced it in the airplay chart being heard by 100 million radio listeners in one week compared to 19 million for “Macarena”.

That do ya?

Was this the moment that we all knew that the Spice Girls were here to stay? After the runaway success of almost novelty hit “Wannabe”, the decision on how to follow it up was always going to be crucial. Would they carry on into the extremes of bubblegum pop or go in an altogether different direction? I guess there two ways of reacting to “Say You’ll Be There”:

  1. It was a super smooth and slick pop/dance number with a dash of R&B that was so prevalent and popular around this time. Therefore it showed a maturity to the group that was not apparent in “Wannabe” and was a wise career move aimed at longevity.
  2. It was a safe and boring decision to jump on that pop/dance bandwagon and shows that the surprise of their debut hit had been sacrificed for guaranteed further success.

I’m not embarrassed to say that I was of opinion No 1. It was super radio friendly and the way that they divided up the vocal parts between the five of them promoted that gang mentality and also allowed for fans to pick out a favourite Spice Girl.

It’s another single that’s straight in at No 1 now as The Chemical Brothers top the charts in week one with “Setting Sun”. Working in a record shop, I was aware of Manchester duo Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands via my much hipper than me work colleagues – they had especially liked their debut album “Exit Planet Dust” which was a shop stereo favourite. However, perhaps like many, I didn’t really take that much notice of them until this single the publicity surrounding which was substantially heightened by the presence of the record of one Noel Gallagher. How much the Oasis man’s association affected sales we may never know but regardless, his input helped forge a spectacular dance tune that even I could get on board with. By all measurable criteria, I should have hated this. After all, “Higher State Of Consciousness” by Josh Wink hadn’t so much set my teeth on edge as trigger a full blown nervous breakdown in me every time I heard it and “Setting Sun” wasn’t a million miles away from that with its sprawling, squealing cacophony of sounds that metaphorically slammed you to the wall and kept you pinned there for the duration when it came on. Whether it was the presence of Noel I’m not sure but this track seemed to have more…what?…structure to it? Those sniffy elements of the music press would laud it as the best thing Gallagher ever did which makes for a good line but is a bit embarrassing on their behalf.

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1Manic Street PreachersKevin CarterNo but I had the album
2Jeremy Healy & AmosStamp!As if
3The Beautiful SouthRotterdam (Or Anywhere)No but I must have had it on something
4DamageLove II LoveDefinitely not
5CastFlyingNah
6MadonnaTrue BlueNope
7BabybirdYou’re GorgeousNegative
8Donna LewisI Love You Always ForeverI did not
9Spice GirlsSay You’ll Be ThereI can’t because I wasn’t – no
10The Chemical Brothers Setting SunAnd 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/m0024s0b/top-of-the-pops-11101996?seriesId=unsliced