Bus Stop featuring Carl Douglas

TOTP 29 MAY 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

It’s the end of May and, in international terms, there a lot going on. Civil unrest and riots in Indonesia, nuclear weapon testing being conducted by India and in America, there’s a tornadoes outbreak hitting places such as South Dakota and New York. However, in the UK, there were only two stories making the headlines and they pretty much broke at the same time sending the tabloids into a frenzy – Geri Halliwell announced that she was leaving the Spice Girls and national team manager Glenn Hoddle left Paul Gascoigne out of the England World Cup squad. All leave must have been cancelled within the offices of the nation’s newspapers as they scrambled to get the lowdown and inside story on these two huge events. And they were huge events despite my attempt to add some perspective to proceedings at the top of the post. The Spice Girls were a global phenomenon so losing perhaps their most prominent member was massive. Rumours had been circulating after Halliwell failed to appear with her band mates on an appearance on the National Lottery Show on the Wednesday before this TOTP was broadcast and then, four days later, a short statement was read out by her solicitor outside the offices of the group’s representatives Lee & Thompson in central London confirming that Geri had left the Spice Girls because of “differences between us” and with a cryptic P.S. added saying she’d “be back” which she was almost a year later with her debut solo single “Look At Me”. The remaining Spice Girls vowed to carry on which they did and, on the surface, with their success unaffected as their next three singles topped the charts. However, it was a fragile holding position and come the end of the decade, the group seems to be splintering with solo careers pursued and a hiatus called in December 2000…

Then there was Gazza. Despite coming towards the end of his career, he was still seen as the national team’s talisman and few would have seen his omission coming. The preliminary squad comprised 30 players of which eight needed to be discarded but when two declared themselves unfit and reduced the number to six, Gazza not making the cut seemed even more unlikely. Manager Hoddle wanted to go a different way though and two days after this TOTP aired, Gazza was given the bad news. It didn’t go down well and Gascoigne reportedly started to destroy Hoddle’s office with lamps broken and tables smashed. Was Glenn right all along though? It had been eight years since Italia ‘90 and Gaza’s tears and two years since his Indian Summer at Euro ‘96 and that goal versus Scotland. He was now plying his trade with Middlesbrough in the old first division and although they had won promotion to the Premier League, Gazza had made just seven appearances for them by this point. Internationally, England’s bright new hope was 18 year old Michael Owen and at 31, Gazza had to prove to his manager he was fit. In the end he didn’t and never played for England again. I bet he would have scored that penalty in the shootout against Argentina that David Batty missed though.

Inspiring Gazza-level of fury in me is Chris Cowey and his insistence on featuring the same songs on TOTP week after week. In this show, only three of the eight songs on view have not been on before. This is getting tedious. Our host is Zoe Ball who seems to have some insider knowledge on the whole Geri Halliwell story and is auditioning to be her replacement in her Union Jack design top. We start with The Corrs who have gone back up the charts with “Dreams” from No 10 to No 8 having fallen from its debut at No 6 which is more than enough justification for Cowey to have them on the running order again. To be fair, three consecutive weeks inside the Top 10 does rather indicate a strong, consistent seller so maybe Cowey gets away with this one. Despite being the focal point, Andrea Corr is actually the youngest of the group. I guess it’s a bit like The Osmonds where Donny was the poster boy. What? What about Little Jimmy Osmond? Oh…just forget I wrote that last bit!

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: In 1999, Andrea Corr dated Robbie Williams briefly whilst in 2000, Geri Halliwell was in a romantic relationship with him which goes to show celebrities inhabit just as small a world as the rest of us.

Less justifiable for a place on the show for a second consecutive week is the rise of one place from No 13 to No 12 for “Kung Fu Fighting” by Bus Stop featuring Carl Douglas. Really? A rise of a solitary position but that still doesn’t crack the Top 10? My perception is that this wouldn’t have happened back in the day though no doubt there would be examples to disprove my theory if I could be bothered to trawl back through the archives (which I can’t). Watching this back, the little bow all those on stage do before the performance starts – it’s actually called Bao Quan Li with an open left palm against a clenched right fist – reminds me of when I saw Morrissey at the Hull Ice Arena a few years back when, as I recall, Moz and his band came on in kimonos and bowed at each other before starting. Bao Quan Lah signifies respect, humility and gratitude so that would make sense as a way to instil a team ethic before kicking off a show. It’s also very theatrical so perfect for Morrissey. Apparently, when Geri Halliwell was in a relationship with Russel Brand back in 2013, the comedian’s cat was called Morrissey and the animal took an instant dislike to Geri’s dog and began attacking it when they first met. Miaow!

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: There’s no connection between Geri and Kung-Fu that I can find. Now if it had been Mel C and Kung-Fu…all those high kicks she used to do would have gone down a treat in this performance. As for Gazza, he once commandeered a bus (not sure if it was stationary at a stop) when he was stuck in a taxi in traffic and then rode it to a media awards ceremony he wasn’t invited to whilst conducting a sing sing with the passengers which sounds typical of Gazza.

Beverley Knight is one of those artists who seems to have been around for ages and whom you know something about (British R&B trailblazer with huge voice) and yet, how many of her songs could you actually name? I don’t think I could come up with one and certainly not this one – “Made It Back”. This was actually her second Top 40 hit and featured US rapper Redman though heaven only knows what his contribution to the track is as there previous little evidence of him in this performance. Maybe he was more heavily involved in a remix or extra track on the CD single? As for the song, it’s all a bit repetitive and seems more like a vocal exercise to demonstrate the power of Beverley’s voice than a song. Just my opinion of course. “Made It Back” was rereleased a year later as “Made It Back ‘99” where it peaked at No 19, two places higher than the original.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: Beverley is a huge Wolverhampton Wanderers fan and in 2003, Paul Gascoigne trained with Wolves in an attempt to regain enough fitness to be able to resume his top flight football career. After three games for their reserve team, no contract was forthcoming and Gazza had to accept the inevitable.

There have been loads of female singers who go by a single name. Cher, Adele, Madonna, Shakira, Enya, Beyoncé…How long though would it take before you got to Robyn in that list? If I hadn’t been doing this blog, I’m not sure I would have ever come up with her name to be honest. I don’t remember any of her three 90s hits and by the time of her 2007 No 1 “With Every Heartbeat”, I’d long since stopped following the charts. For what it’s worth, my take on this one – “Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect)” – has an almost nursery rhyme style chorus that is actually quite grating which I can’t really get past. In fact, it’s like a primary school playground taunt or something Horrible Henry might have said to his nemesis Moody Margaret – “ner ner ne ner nerr!”. It’s not for me. However, having read up on Robyn, there seems to be much more to her than my churlish comments would suggest and she has become quite the influence on modern day artists such as Charli XCX, Lorde and Ariana Grande as well as being the inspiration for the term ‘sad banger’ (which is an actual thing apparently) after the release of her song “Dancing On My Own”.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: None, not even one I can tenuously manufacture.

What the…? What is this?! Who were N.Y.C.C. and why were they in the charts with an horrific Beastie Boys cover?! Well, they were a German hip hop act who blatantly sought to cash in on the success of 1998’s uber chart topper “It’s Like That” by pinching its backbeat and laying it over “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)” which introduced us to the Beastie Boys back in 1987. Renaming it “Fight For Your Right (To Party)”, these berks somehow managed to take it to No 14 in the UK chart. Now potentially I suppose, there may have been punters who bought it who were too young to remember the original and so got off on its lyrics about teenage revolt (even though they were an ironic attack on such values) but even so. How could anyone have fallen for this horse shit?! It’s no shock, given that the sound of their hit has ripped off “It’s Like That”, that the staging of this performance lends from the Run-D.M.C. promo video with the two break dancers twirling about on a black and white surface the design of which makes it all look like the worst game ever of Twister but in monochrome.

Thankfully, this whole dirty episode seems to have been removed from our collective memory banks. I certainly didn’t remember N.Y.C.C. and they don’t have much of an online presence. If you google NYCC the top result is North Yorkshire County Council followed by New York Comic Con which is apt as N.Y.C.C. the group were absurdly comical. As for the real thing, the Beastie Boys would be back in our charts within a couple of weeks for the first time in four years with their biggest ever hit “Intergalactic” which made No 5.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: Well, there is this…

Ah damn! It’s The Mavericks again and, once more, it’s just a repeat of the same performance as every time so far. What else is there to say about “Dance The Night Away”? Well, it’s up to No 4 which would be its highest chart position after five weeks inside the Top 10 and it would spend a further three there before a slow descent of the Top 40 that would take just over two months before they exited for good. A quick search online for content inspiration sadly shows that lead singer Raul Malo is currently undergoing hernia surgery to address complications from previous cancer surgery treatment and, as such, the band are having to withdraw from touring commitments. Let’s hope all goes well for Raul in his recovery.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: There’s an obvious one and a tenuous one (of course there is!). Firstly, Gazza? Maverick? Come on – he was the very definition of a footballing maverick bringing back memories of those great 70s free spirits like Rodney Marsh, Stan Bowles, Tony Currie and Alan Hudson. The tenuous connection involves Raul Malo whose name is very nearly identical to someone who loomed large in one of the weirdest chapters in Gazza’s personal story…

You really don’t get many people called Lutricia do you? Apart from Lutricia McNeal who is back on the show with her single “Stranded”, I can only find one other ‘celebrity’ with that first name who is one Lutricia Norris who is an actor and producer who has been in the ITV show Bad Girls and The Importance Of Being Earnest alongside Rupert Everett and Colin Firth. She’s also worked on the music video for “Dancing Is Healing” by Rudimental apparently. As insignificant the above information is in relation to this blog, it’s still more interesting and relevant than “Stranded”.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: This one’s a hoot. In 2008, Geri Halliwell was stuck in a lift at the Lakeside shopping centre in Essex delaying her book signing appearance by an hour while firefighters worked to free her. Yes, she was literally stranded.

It’s taken six weeks but “Feel It” by The Tamperer featuring Maya has made it to No 1. Now admittedly it’s not the epic four months journey to the top that Celine Dion experienced with “Think Twice” in 1994/95 nor the nine weeks that it took All Saints to scale the heights with “Never Ever” but it was still not the norm in 1998. It sort of feels like it got there by default though what with no big, week one releases gatecrashing the charts (there were no new entries into the Top 10) and with last week’s No 1 by All Saints having already been at the top twice in non consecutive weeks. Unfair? Possibly but it only just made the Top 20 of the year’s biggest sellers. They would have two further big hits over the next six months so let’s not worry about them too much.

Gazza/Ginger Spice connection: “Feel It”, of course, borrowed heavily from “ Can You Feel It” by The Jackson 5 and there was a bloke in Lindisfarne with whom Gazza had a hit with his version of “Fog On The Tyne” called Ray Jackson. Too tenuous? OK, how about this? There was an American comedy series on Hulu called Pen15 which featured its two main characters dressing up as the Spice Girls in one episode and one of the characters was called Maya. No, you’re right. I’m not feeling it either.

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it ?
1The CorrsDreamsN
2Bus Stop featuring Carl DouglasKung Fu FightingNot likely
3Beverley KnightMade It BackNot for me
4RobynDo You Really Want Me (Show Respect)Nope
5N.Y.C.C.Fight For Your Right (To Party)Lord no!
6The MavericksDance The Night AwayNegative
7Lutricia McNealStrandedNah
8The Tamperer featuring MayaFeel ItI didn’t

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/m002j9qn/top-of-the-pops-29051998?seriesId=unsliced

TOTP 22 MAY 1998

Posted on by 80stastic

It might just be because I’m getting fed up of having to write something different about the same songs that keep appearing in these TOTP repeats every week but I’m starting to really dislike the Chris Cowey era of the show. Take this episode for example. It features nine songs of which only three haven’t been on before and this new practice of having the host list the names of the artists appearing on each show in their introduction isn’t convincing me. Was the landslide of names meant to distract the watching TV audience hoping they wouldn’t notice it was the same acts each week? It’s clever in a way – dazzling us with a cavalcade of names but which were blatantly the same ones each week. Talk about hiding in plain sight. Tonight’s list-reader (literally – the placard is shown on camera at one point) is the increasingly prevalent Jamie Theakston and we start with The Mavericks and their hit “Dance The Night Away”. Judging by the cutaway shots, this seems to be a reshowing of their previous performance on the show which got me thinking about just how many artists were actually in the studio with an audience on a weekly basis under Cowey? Was the show under budgetary restrictions meaning performances had to be recycled whatever their respective chart positions may be? Anyway, I think The Mavericks had a genuine case for being back on the show having risen to No 8after falling to No 10 the week before. It would rise to a peak of No 4 when the next chart was published and you know what that means…yes, they’ll be featuring in the next repeat as well. Here’s a thing though, whilst “Dance The Night Away” is undoubtedly their best known song over here, in America it seems it might be one of their least known if chart positions have any sway. Of their 15 entries on the US Country chart, only two have placed lower than “Dance The Night Away”. What does this mean? Does it, in fact, mean anything? I think I’m past caring.

OK so this next performance isn’t just a rerun of a previous one. You can tell by the camera shot that travels from Jamie Theakston positioned high up on a gantry down to the studio floor where we find Steps. Again. I think this is the third time they’ve been on performing “Last Thing On My Mind” but, as with The Mavericks before them, have a legitimate spot on the show having risen from No 9 to No 7 in the charts after falling two weeks prior. You can tell also that it’s a new performance as the group have changed their outfits to be dressed in all white. Was this to project an image of virtue and wholesomeness? To be fair, I can’t recall many Steps controversies in the press. Have there been any?

*checks internet*

Hmm. Well, there was the time Lee Latchford-Evans made some comments in an interview in 2000 that were perceived as racist that required an apology from the group’s representatives. Then there’s the upset caused by the announcement of their split on Boxing Day 2001 that some of their fan base felt was a betrayal. However, my favourite controversy is the disclosure by Lisa Scott-Lee that on the group’s 1999 US tour, Ian ‘H’ Watkins upset the other members by travelling for three months on the private jet of one Britney Spears whilst the rest of them slummed it on a tour bus. Ha!

It’s the third hit on tonight’s show in a row that we have already seen now as Imaani gets to enjoy the last few seconds of her 15 minutes of fame. She was, of course, the UK’s 1998 Eurovision entry but with the contest having been and gone nearly two weeks ago, interest in her and her song “Where Are You?” was starting to wane. That being said, she had moved up 17 places in this week’s chart which was the biggest leap of the year to that point but her position of No 15 would be where her trajectory stopped. Had she won instead of losing by a mere six points would things have turned out differently for Imaani? I’m not so sure. I just don’t think her song was that memorable. Gina G didn’t come anywhere near to winning two years before yet “Ooh Aah…Just A Little Bit” was a huge seller going all way to No 1 precisely because it was memorable whether you liked it or not. Instead, Imaani became the first UK Eurovision artist not to make the Top 10 since Frances Rufelle in 1994.

A new song! Finally! Yeah, but it’s that remake of “Kung Fu Fighting” so careful what you wish for…Officially credited to Bus Stop featuring Carl Douglas as it featured samples of the latter’s original No 1 from 1974, this was another example of that heinous trend for taking songs from the past and ‘updating’ them with the addition of a nasty Eurodance backbeat and a rap, the lyrics of which, read as if they were literally being made up freeform, on the hoof (see also Clock). Daz Sampson was the main guy behind Bus Stop who would go on to represent the UK at Eurovision in 2006 coming 19th out of 24 acts.

The original 1974 hit capitalised on the popularity of the martial arts films of Bruce Lee in the early to mid 70s and the TV series Kung Fu starring David Carradine and included prominently the ‘Oriental Riff’*, a Western trope to represent the setting of East or Southeast Asia. It’s also used in Aneka’s “Japanese Boy” and “Turning Japanese” by The Vapors. Is it in Iggy Pop’s “China Girl” as covered by David Bowie as well? Not sure.

*I believe the use of the word ‘oriental’ is not considered racist as long as it isn’t referring to a person.

It’s sometimes concluded by the sound of a gong. Off the top of my head, I can think of two songs that utilise that – “Big In Japan” by Alphaville and “Burning Sky” by The Jam but there must be more. Anyway, back to “Kung Fu Fighting” and it has twice been voted the No 1 One Hit Wonder in Channel 4 polls even though Carl Douglas had two other minor hits and despite the fact that the 1998 remake made it a hit all over again when it reached No 8. As for Bus Stop, they forged themselves a small pop career with two further remakes of songs that were hits way back when from Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Van Halen before doing us all a favour and knocking it on the head. I did quite enjoy the high kicking by the backing singer in this performance though, plus I noticed her doing that arm roll move that the Steps routine was based around. Was that a thing back then? Bizarrely, this was the second Kung Fu themed hit in this month after 187 Lockdown’s No 9 hit “Kung Fu”. However, my favourite song featuring “Kung Fu” in the title would be this…

It’s taken a while but Lutricia McNeal has finally released her follow up to “Ain’t That Just The Way” that debuted on the chart back in November 1997. I’m guessing that the reason for the delay was the chart longevity of that single which stayed inside the Top 40 for nigh on four months. Her management had to wait for the sales to subside so as not to affect those of any follow up. “Stranded” was said follow up and it was more of the same, radio friendly R&B/pop hybrid that was beloved of daytime radio controllers. I mean, it’s pleasant enough chugging away on a radio in the background but it was never going to grab my ears and make me want to turn the volume up LOUD! What’s more interesting to me than her song is the lighting on this performance. It seems to be in black and white except for some pools of spotlight of a blue-ish/purple hue. Was that Cowey trying to be all arty? Or is my TV on the blink?

It’s a third time on the show for The Tamperer featuring Maya with “Feel It” which, like the Bus Stop hit before it, was heavily based around a hit from a previous era – “Can You Feel It” by The Jacksons. Didn’t anyone have any original ideas in 1998? OK, that’s not really a fair comment. The notion of combining The Jacksons with a little known track by a little known outfit in Urban Discharge and creating one of the most unlikely but memorable hooks of the decade with the line “What’s she gonna look like with a chimney on her?” was creative inspiration in action. After two more hits though, Maya went missing in action and left the project. Well, she wasn’t exactly missing in action. She actually went to join the cast of Rent on Broadway and when her contract with her record label was up, it wasn’t renewed. Mystery solved. Maya Days would continue her acting career with roles in Jesus Christ Superstar and Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida. As far as I can tell, she has yet to play a character that involved wearing a chimney.

Now I thought my knowledge of Shed Seven hits was pretty good – not infallible but not bad at all. However, I find myself undone by this one – “The Heroes”. Nothing to do with Bowie’s classic track – the addition of a definite article in the title makes that clear and in any case, if they were tempted to do a cover version then Oasis had already beaten them to it – this was actually the third single taken from their third studio album “Let It Ride”. In my defence, it lasted only two weeks on the Top 40 suggesting that it was just the completists in their fan base buying it. It doesn’t sound strong enough to be a single to me – much more of an album track. It’s… well… a bit downbeat and glum. Maybe they should have released a cover of “Heroes” after all.

Eh? All Saints have gone back to No 1 after being deposed by Aqua last week? Looking at the rest of the Top 10, I’m thinking it wasn’t the biggest week for new releases with the highest being Lutricia McNeal at No 5 which might have accounted for this. To mark the occasion, we get both songs of their double A-Side single “Under The Bridge / Lady Marmalade”. Who did All Saints think they were? Oasis? The Jam? It’s just the previous appearances on the show spliced together though rather than a new exclusive performance.

In a couple of weeks, another all girl group will be at No 1 and it’s not the Spice Girls. Que Será Será or should that be C’est La Vie?

Order of appearanceArtistTitleDid I buy it?
1The MavericksDance The Night AwayI did not
2StepsLast Thing On My MindNever happening
3ImaaniWhere Are You?Negative
4Bus Stop featuring Carl DouglasKung Fu FightingNope
5Lutricia McNealStrandedNot for me thanks
6The Tamperer featuring MayFeel ItNah
7Shed SevenThe HeroesNo
8All SaintsUnder The Bridge / Lady MarmaladeNo but my wife had the album I think

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/m002j0xt/top-of-the-pops-22051998?seriesId=unsliced