Luther Vandross

TOTP 02 FEB 1995

Posted on September 26, 2023 by 80stastic

OK, we’re moving into a new era of TOTP with this particular edition. It’s taken a whole year but executive producer Ric Blaxill has finally turned his attention to the show’s logo, theme tune, titles and set. The much ridiculed ‘weather vane’ title graphics are gone and replaced by just seven seconds of some golden hued torsos indulging in vaguely musical activities involving a microphone and headphones and finally holding up a plaque with the new logo on it. It’s all very underwhelming. The logo itself was soft launched on the retro archive spin off show Top of the Pops 2 five months previously and is a much more basic design than its immediate predecessor with the ‘of’ and ‘the’ rather oddly highlighted within a blue box. As for the theme tune – “Red Hot Pop” composed by Erasure’s Vince Clarke – it’s main riff reminds me of something I can quite put my finger on…give me a moment…got it! The intro to “Rasputin” by Boney M! No really! It does! Blaxill hasn’t chucked everything out though. He’s retained the increasingly pointless artist to camera piece at the very top of the show (this week it’s Luther Vandross telling us Stingray like ‘not to go anywhere for the next half hour’) as well as the ‘golden mic’ presenter feature. As it’s a special week, he’s got a big name in to do the honours – it’s Kylie Minogue in a scorching hot, red latex dress! Blimey!

We hardly have time to take that image in before we’re into the first act though who are M People with “Open Your Heart”. This would turn out to be the band’s seventh in a run of eight consecutive Top 10 hits and was the second single release from their “Bizarre Fruit” album. Given those numbers, clearly the record buying public hadn’t had enough of the M People formula just yet though they were arguably teetering at the top of the hill named success and about to start coming down the other side.

“Open Your Heart” ticked all the usual boxes – perky backing, uplifting chorus, powerhouse Heather Small vocals, parping sax courtesy of Mike Pickering and yet I don’t remember this one at all which suggests to me that I, at least, was tiring of M People. Their next single release was “Search For The Hero” which would deviate from the template rather and remains one of their most well known tunes. Could it be that even the band themselves had got a little bored with their sound?

Ah, now then. It’s time for that weird period of 90s pop when there were a flurry of hits that were all based around a riff that went ‘nah, ne, ne, nah, ne, ne, ne, nah, ne’. This example comes from MN8 whose debut single “I’ve Got A Little Something For You” went all the way to No 2 and was the first of seven UK chart hits.

Off the top of my head there’s “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan which was a hit in the early Summer of 1995…

Then a year later the abysmal Peter Andre recycled the riff to score a No 1 no less (no really) with “Flava”…

There’s possibly more examples but anyway, back to MN8 who…erm…emanated from Surrey and comprised of KG, G-Man, Kule T and Dee Tails (I’ve no idea what there real names were but I bet they are along the lines of Kevin, Keith, Gordon and Dean). Coming on like Ultimate Kaos’ hormone filled, elder brothers (the six pack exposing strip in this performance was a bit gratuitous lads), this lot briefly threatened to be a big deal. Tour support slots with Boyzone, East 17 and even Janet Jackson only strengthened the notion. However, after their deal with Sony expired, the band concentrated on live shows and then took time out to decide what they wanted to do next. We weren’t talking a few weeks here though – the lads’ sabbatical is now at 25 years and counting. Apparently they did reconvene in 2013 to record an album that remains unreleased.

This inactivity hasn’t affected the band’s ego though. Also in 2013, G-Man declared in an interview on BBC1 Xtra of MN8’s legacy, “How are you going to write a story about the best acts of the past fifteen years and not mention us”. G-Man’s confidence clearly wasn’t matched by his ability to count – at the time of the interview, MN8 hadn’t released any new material for sixteen years. Ah.

Here’s another ‘Na-na-na-nah’ song and it’s a third outing on the show for the video for “Here Comes The Hotstepper” by Ini Kamoze next. Although there is an obvious emphasis on the word ‘Hotstepper’ given its appearance in the song’s title and chorus (it’s patois slang for someone on the run from the police), there’s also the reappearance later in the lyrics of a phrase that I only knew from Kris Kross and their 1992 hit “Jump”. I refer to ‘Mack Daddy’ (or is it ‘Daddy Mack’?). So what did this one mean? Well, apparently it’s another patois term and means ‘a conspicuously successful pimp’! Did Kris Kross’s parents know what they were rapping about?!

In the ocean of mainly sub standard dance tunes that was the UK Top 40 at this time, here’s a life buoy of a tune that I have a particular connection to. Scarlet were Cheryl Parker and Jo Youle who met at Wolfreton school in Hull. Now Hull, of course, is where I have been living for the past twenty years but that’s not the connection I was talking about (obvious though it is). No, it’s that my wife (who is also from Hull)…no, she doesn’t know Cheryl or Jo (that really would be obvious)…no, it’s that my wife had heard of them well before “Independent Love Song” was a hit.

I’m not sure where but she’d heard one of their early singles released on indie label Haven Records “Shine On Me Now” and liked it so much she asked me to try and find out about it/them what with me working in a record shop and all. Clearly my research skills weren’t up to the job as we don’t own that single. However, I did try honest. Look, here’s the note that I made of it in my Filofax (yes, I had one!).

Anyway, three years later, Scarlet were signed to WEA and their second major label single release (the first was “I Really Like The Idea” recorded with third member Joanne Fox who left before success hit) propelled them into the charts. And what a song! It swoops and soars, ebbs and flows and has an epic chorus. It stood out like a firework against the dark night sky to me. It really should have got higher up the charts than No 12. In fact, Scarlet should have had a much bigger career but they only had one more chart hit after “Independent Love Song” – the follow up single “I Wanna Be Free (To Be With Him)” which made it to No 21. They released two albums “Naked” and “Chemistry” – the former made No 59 whilst the latter disappeared without trace. Jo Youle is now chief executive of Missing Persons, a charity that gives support to those searching for lost loved ones whilst Cheryl Parker started SongwritersWorldwide, a website for new acts to find songs.

By the way, I finally found “Shine On Me Now” (if only YouTube had been around back then). A version of it appeared on “Naked” retitled as just “Shine”.

It’s time for Luther Vandross now who, as previously mentioned, did the message to camera piece at the top of the show earlier. He’s here to perform the latest single from his covers project “Songs” which had been a No 1 album and had already given him a Top 3 single courtesy of his duet with Mariah Carey on “Endless Love”. The track chosen as the follow up was “Always And Forever”. Nothing to do with the debut album of last week’s hosts Eternal* but a hit for Heatwave in 1977.

*The Eternal fall out story broke just after I’d published hence why I didn’t comment on it in the post

It’s a bit of a dirge to be fair and Luther’s straight down the middle version doesn’t do anything to alter my opinion. It was written by Rod Temperton who hailed from Cleethorpes (just down the East coast from Hull) who also wrote “Thriller”, “Off The Wall” and “Rock With You” for Michael Jackson! However, for me his masterpiece remains Heatwave’s “Boogie Nights” which has one of the best intros ever…

I’ve been critical in the past of the live by satellite exclusive performances that TOTP promoted going all the way back to the 1991 ‘year zero’ reboot I believe. My main issue with them was that there wasn’t anything very…well…‘exclusive’ about them with the majority being filmed in empty theatres and concert venues (presumably in the middle of the night due to time differences) that could have been from anywhere and were certainly no better than a turn in the TOTP studio. I get that it was a way for the artist to appear on the show if they couldn’t be there in person due to touring or promotional commitments but surely these satellite slots weren’t even as good as an expensively produced video were they?

Well, I can’t accuse this particular satellite performance of being anaemic but I’m not sure it’s entertaining either. It’s just…well, bonkers. Beaming in from Japan, are REM performing “Crushed By Eyeliner” on a stage along with a crowd of extras some of whom are dancing on a podium. Having watched the official promo video, perhaps they are trying to recreate it on stage. Perhaps. But the three stooges in bear costumes?! What the f**k was that about? It all just smacks a bit of “look at us being so zany and subverting the mainstream”; so much so that rather than promote the single, it distracts from it. Still, Blaxill didn’t miss the chance to promote the TOTP brand by emblazoning the new logo on the arse of one of the bears!

“Crushed By Eyeliner” was the third single from the band’s “Monster” album and it was probably the last one of theirs that I took any real notice of. I kind of lost sight of REM after this. Their final two albums of the 90s – “New Adventures In Hi-Fi” and “Up” – passed me by completely. This track is still a winner though and its No 23 peak probably doesn’t do it justice.

“How many of you remember the original?” asks Kylie and the end of this next track. Me Kylie! Me! And it was better than this bastardised version! Back in 1982, Pigbag went all the way to No 3 with “Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag”, an instrumental with a genuinely once heard never forgotten brass riff. The success and legacy of the track (its distinctive refrain was even adopted as a football terrace chant especially by QPR fans) meant though that Pigbag became one of those artists where the song became bigger than the band. In fairness, they did their best to make sure that fate didn’t become them when they pushed their post punk anarchist agenda by being escorted out of the TOTP studio after one of the band performed steaming drunk on a live show and swore at a BBC producer after the cameras stopped rolling. Pigbag split in 1983 but their hit refused to go away.

Fast forward to 1995 and here it is again remodelled by Perfecto Allstarz as “Reach Up (Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag)”. Whereas Pigbag struggled to be known as a band and not a song, Perfecto Allstarz weren’t a band at all but rather a vehicle for Paul Oakenfold and his Perfecto brand. The trance DJ and record producer would dominate the 90s dance world and work with everyone from Moby to The Rolling Stones via his Perfecto remix team and record label. His remix of U2’s “Even Better Than The Real Thing” was the first time I heard the name Perfecto and a fine remix it was too. “Reach Up” though was awful. The original was a classic that I would argue couldn’t be improved upon and certainly not by adding a strangulated house style vocal imploring us to ‘Reach Up’ to it. And what was with the skeleton costumes? Maybe Blaxill had watched Live And Let Die that week and run with the idea…

I feel as if I should make more of a big deal of Celine Dion finally making it to No 1 with “Think Twice” after twelve weeks on the Top 40 including three consecutive at No 2 but seeing as it’s going to be the UK’s chart topper for the six more after this, I can’t really be bothered.

OK, this is new (sort of). Instead of playing out with the No 1 record we’ve got a preview of a new song that wasn’t even released until the Monday following this broadcast. Annie Lennox (or Annie Lenn-ox as Kylie curiously pronounces her surname) had been away from the charts for two years since the runaway success of her debut solo album “Diva” and with no sign of Eurythmics getting back together she moved onto a follow up. Nothing out of the ordinary there except that as her sophomore effort, she chose to record a set of cover versions. Wasn’t that the sort of thing an artist would do to fulfil a contractual obligation with a record company? Whatever reason was behind the decision, Annie chose to cover songs from the likes of Paul Simon, Bob Marley, Neil Young and, in an act of musical heresy, The Clash. Entitled “Medusa”, it received mixed reviews in the music press though just about everyone agreed that the lead single was actually rather good. Given the stellar names of the other artists whose work Annie covered, the choice of taking on obscure 80s act The Lover Speaks was straight out of left field. Or was it? The Lover Speaks were the duo David Freeman and Joseph Hughes who sent a demo tape to Dave Stewart of Eurythmics who signed them to his publishing house. He sent their demo to Chryssie Hynde who sent it to producer Jimmy Iovine who got them signed to A&M. You don’t even need all six steps of separation to draw a line back to Annie.

Now then, back in the Summer of 1986, big things were being predicted for The Lover Speaks. They were being touted as The Walker Brothers of the 80s and their debut single “No More ‘I Love You’s’” was attracting lots of airplay. I think I first heard it on the Gary Davies show on Radio 1 as he seemed to play it everyday and what a glorious thing it was. My friend Robin described it as “a poppy Cocteau Twins” and I think he’s spot on. A shimmering diamond of a song that was full of melody and drama that pulled at your heartstrings every time you heard it (well, mine at least). I was so impressed I bought their album but in truth, a bit like Annie’s “Medusa”, nothing else on it matched its quality. As with many a single that I adored in the 80s though, “No More ‘I Love You’s’” didn’t even make the Top 40 peaking at No 58.

Given all of this, despite Annie’s version not being anything near as good as the original, I was pleased when it became a huge hit peaking at No 2. A song that good deserved to be heard by a wider audience. I’d had similar thoughts back in 1987 when Alison Moyet released a very poor version of “Weak In The Presence Of Beauty”, a wonderful song which was originally released by Floy Joy also in 1986 and which also failed to become the huge hit it deserved to be when it peaked at a lowly No 85. And guess what? It turns out that The Lover Speaks collaborated with Alison on her album “Raindancing” from which “Weak In The Presence Of Beauty” came. Kevin Bacon’s got nothing on The Lover Speaks!

Now, as I recall, there was quite a bit of reaction to Annie’s performance on this TOTP but then I guess that’s what she wanted. I mean, you don’t take to the stage with four drag queen ballerinas by accident do you? Annie herself though is rather out there as well. The extravagant headwear that made her look like Minnie Mouse and the weird performing as if under duress when being buffeted by the ballerinas towards the end? All very strange but at least it made for a memorable appearance.

Order of appearance	Artist	Title	Did I buy it?
1	M People	Open Your Heart	No
2	MN8	I’ve Got A Little Something For You	As if
3	Ini Kamoze	Here Comes The Hotstepper	No but I think my wife did
4	Scarlet	Independent Love Song	Call the fuzz! Where’s my copy of this gone?!
5	Luther Vandross	Always And Forever	Nope
6	REM	Crushed By Eyeliner	Nah
7	Perfecto Allstarz	Reach Up (Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag)	NO!
8	Celine Dion	Think Twice	I did not
9	Annie Lennox	No More ‘I Love You’s’	No but I had The Lover Speaks album with the original 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/m001qp2q/top-of-the-pops-02021995

TOTP 24 NOV 1994

Posted on June 22, 2023 by 80stastic

It’s a busy a show this one with eight of the nine songs on it making their debut. Only the No 1 record had we seen before. The effect of the machinations of the Christmas release schedules I guess. We’re back to the Radio 1 DJs as host after last week’s ‘golden mic’ slot was filled by Michelle Gayle and thank god it’s not Simon Mayo but the dull yet much less irritating Mark Goodier in the chair.

We start with a band who I had forgotten had so many hits and therefore so many TOTP appearances though sadly for them, this would be their final one in the studio. It was quite a run though. Ten consecutive Top 40 singles up to this point (they had a further two minor ones subsequently) between June 1991 and November 1994 though only one made the Top 10. Who am I talking about? Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine obviously though their success was anything but obvious. A pair of not especially attractive grebos playing a brand of indie power pop with clever clever lyrics? It doesn’t sound like the template for guaranteed commercial triumph and yet they were brilliant and a welcome breath of fresh air to some of the crud clogging up the charts during their own tenure there. “Let’s Get Tattoos” was the lead single from their fifth studio album “Worry Bomb” and would get to No 30 whilst the album would peak at No 9.

Apparently the semi naked male dancers that we see here are also in the promo video and their gyrations and thrusts illicit the desired response from the studio audience but I’m guessing their inclusion here is to make some sort of ironic comment about how pop music was being promoted? Or they were sending themselves up with the most unlikely backing they could think up? Whatever the reason, you would have thought that they would have found some guys with actual tattoos given the title of their song wouldn’t you? I can’t see any across those four torsos. Maybe they weren’t as ubiquitous back then as they are today? In fact when did the world become obsessed with tattoos? Maybe I should add the word ‘visionary’ to that earlier description of mine of Jim Bob and Fruitbat?

https://youtu.be/rPn3BucE7nQ

Whatever happened to Jimmy Nail? From 1984 to the end of the 90s, he was a colossus of the entertainment world. The star of ratings gobbling TV shows like Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Spender whilst simultaneously having a career as a pop star with huge hits like “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” and “Ain’t No Doubt”, the guy was everywhere. By the time 1994 was coming to an end, he was on to his next successful project which combined both worlds. Crocodile Shoes was a TV series that told the story of a Newcastle factory worker who becomes a county and western star with Nail not only in the starring role but also writing it. It ran for two series and thirteen episodes finishing in 1996.

Nail also wrote half the songs on the album that accompanied the series with Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon also contributing three tracks. Off the back of the success of the show, the album was also a runaway sales monster becoming the Christmas No 2 album that year. That’s some units shifted right there. The title track was the lead single and the biggest hit (No 4) from the album as well as being the theme tune to the series. I have to say that I don’t mind Nail and his rather acquired taste voice but “Crocodile Shoes” never really appealed to me that much, being a bit too maudlin for my ears. The follow up, “Cowboy Dreams” written by the aforementioned McAloon, is a great tune though. Maybe if I’d actually watched the show (which I somehow managed to miss despite having liked his previous projects), I might have had more fondness for it.

After the second series finished (which gave rise to a second album of tunes from the show), Nail moved into films with a role in Evita (alongside Madonna) and then returned to more familiar territory with the movie Still Crazy about a fictional 70s rock band (clearly based on the Pink Floyd story) in which he played bassist Les Wickes. It’s not a bad little film although some of the performances by the likes of Bill Nighy and Timothy Spall are a bit hammy. In the meantime, Nail kept recording music with an album called “Big River” coming between the Crocodile Shoes soundtracks and an album called “Tadpoles In A Jar” in 1999 as well as a Best Of called “The Nail File” in 1997.

And then…well, if not nothing then very little. There was one final album in 2001 and that was it for the musical arm of his career and acting wise, he just seemed to stop working. He played a character called Clayface the Goblin (no seriously) in something called The 10th Kingdom in 2000 and then only resurfaced eight years later with a show I don’t know at all called Parents Of The Band which he co-created and starred in. The only trace of him since then was his stint in Sting’s musical The Last Ship on Broadway in 2014. I hope the guy’s OK these days. His Wikipedia entry under the section Personal Life just says he has two children, lives in London and supports Newcastle United but then doesn’t everyone from Newcastle?

https://youtu.be/7bcUrdMS9hk

We all know “We Have All The Time In The World” by Louis Armstrong from the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (the one with George Lazenby as 007) but it didn’t actually become a hit until 25 years later when it was used in a Guinness advert. And yet I can’t recall this rerelease at all despite it going all the way to No 3 and being tipped for the Christmas No 1 spot at one point. To be honest, I barely remember the advert despite it being very stylish and classic looking. The ‘surfer’ ad with the horses bursting from waves? Absolutely – it’s iconic. That bloke doing weird dancing whilst waiting for his pint to settle? Of course and selling bucket loads of that “Guaglione” mambo tune? This one though that was named “Infinity” by the ad agency? Nope.

Obviously the record company couldn’t use the actual Guinness advert to promote the single so this hastily cobbled together looking promo had to do instead. Some of the imagery used where the film is in black and white with splashes of over exaggerated colour as a counterpoint seems to me to have echoes of the girl in the red coat sequence from the Schindler’s List film that came out this year which seems an odd choice given the subject matter of that movie. Maybe it was coincidence. The little girl in the video looks like Mara Wilson from the Matilda film though I don’t think it is. Talking of coincidence though, the woman who played Miss Honey in Matilda was also in Schindler’s List. I’m going off on a tangent now though. Back to Satchmo and predictably, a Greatest Hits album was released called “The Pure Genius Of Louis Armstrong: We Have All The Time In The World” after the success of the single. Never missed a trick did they these record companies?

Right who’s this? New Atlantic/U4EA featuring Berri? WHO?! My research tells me that there was a hit called “I Know” in 1992 by New Atlantic but I can’t recall it (and I probably reviewed it as well) but it seems this was the same people (a duo from Southport as it goes). So that’s the introductions done but this whole thing is completely confusing to me. Firstly, this dance version of “Sunshine After The Rain” (originally a hit for Elkie Brooks in 1977) probably isn’t the single that people remember as being a hit around the mid-90s. There was another release of the track the following year which was credited just to Berri and somehow that subtle change of marketing turned it from a No 26 hit in 1994 to a No 4 hit in 1995. The other reason that I find this hit troublesome is that I always conflate it with “Sunshine On A Rainy Day” from 1991 by Zoë. You know what? I’m going to give my poor brain a break and just leave this one at that until it does a Carly Simon and comes around again in the 1995 BBC4 TOTP repeats.

https://youtu.be/hAKEAIZ_Wf4

Here’s another hit I don’t remember and to be fair to the artist who is routinely accused of making music that all just sounds the same, this one is slightly different so you might have thought it would have stuck out in my memory cells but no. Sorry Jay Kay.

Yes, it’s Jamiroquai who are performing live by satellite from a rooftop somewhere in Paris. Now the main thing that I’m taking from this ‘exclusive’ is how badly executed it is. What’s the most famous landmark in Paris? The Eiffel Tower yeah? Has to be. So when they set up this location shoot, presumably somebody asked if the Eiffel Tower can be seen in the background? “Yes” would have come the reply. Surely the conversation should then have gone “Great! Position the cameras so that it’s in shot the whole time while Jay Kay is singing” shouldn’t it? That would have been a perfect example of head producer Ric Blaxill’s vision for this slot as demonstrated by Bon Jovi performing against a backdrop of Niagara Falls recently. Instead, one of the most instantly recognisable structures in the world spends most of the time tantalisingly just out of sight. What a wasted opportunity!

For the record, “Half The Man” was the second single from sophomore album “The Return Of The Space Cowboy” and peaked at No 15. However, if you want a record about not being the man you used to be, may I respectfully suggest this instead:

I seem to spend a lot of time writing the words “I don’t remember this” in my blog despite the fact I spent the time they were in the charts working in a mainstream record shop and here I go again but how the hell do I not remember this one. Or rather this video. When I think about the emergence of Kylie Minogue from the shackles of her Stock, Aitken and Waterman past as a serious dance artist, the two things that come to mind are her No 2 single “Confide In Me” and that she was signed to trendy dance label Deconstruction. I don’t recall any of the follow up singles of which “Put Yourself In My Place” was the first. I can only conclude that I can’t have caught this particular TOTP that showed Kylie’s video for the song in which she goes nude. Intentionally an homage to the famous scene in 1968 sci-fi film Barbarella starring Jane Fonda, it probably loses sight of its primary function which is to promote the song but instead it created more of a story about itself. Maybe the director was working on the adage any promotion is good promotion.

The song itself is pretty good, a slick piece of pop balladry that Kylie’s traditionally criticised vocals suit perfectly. It probably deserved better than a peak of No 11 and certainly deserved better than being overshadowed by its infamous video.

To say that Sinéad O’Connor is such a recognisable name in the world of music, her collection of Top 40 singles is rather small. This one, “Thank You For Hearing Me”, was only her fifth under her name alone since her debut hit “Mandinka” in 1988 and the only subsequent chart entries she had were as a featured artist on records by the likes of Ian Brown, Shane MacGowan and Massive Attack. Somehow though, she seems to have clocked up a fair few TOTP appearances in 1994. I think this might be the third. There was one for her song from the soundtrack to In The Name Of The Father which didn’t end up being a hit and then wasn’t she on the other week in the album chart slot doing “Fire On Babylon” from her “Universal Mother” album? I think she was. This one though was for a bona fide Top 40 song when “Thank You For Hearing Me” peaked at No 13 as the official lead single from the album. It was a deserved hit as well. A hypnotic, almost hymnal composition; this was the kind of material that suited her voice perfectly and was a good vehicle to get people talking about her talents again rather than her sometimes controversial antics.

Four days before this TOTP aired, ex The Byrds and Crosby, Stills And Nash member David Crosby was not having a good time. He’d been in hospital having a seven hour liver transplant operation. Happily, it was successful and he lived for just under another 30 years before his death earlier in 2023 aged 81. One of his co-members of that California supergroup, Stephen Stills, was presumably having a better time of it as his 1970 solo hit “Love The One You’re With” was having a bit of a revival courtesy of Luther Vandross who had recorded it for his covers album “Songs” and released it as a single. He’d recently been in the charts with a cover of Lionel Richie’s “Endless Love” as a duet with Mariah Carey of course. Having got used to not being on stage on his own, he’s recruited a huge choir to back him on his performance here. It all kind of sits together pretty well but it didn’t win over the UK record buying public and it peaked at a lowly No 31. Mind you that was six places higher than the Stephen Stills original (it was a much bigger hit in the US) and a whopping sixteen places higher than the cover by Bucks Fizz in 1986. The follow up to the surprise, career reviving “New Beginning (Mamba Seyra)”, its lack of success was seen as the final nail in the coffin of their time as chart stars and they never returned to the UK Top 40 again.

https://youtu.be/H4MBp7DZLXw

Pato Banton’s time at the top of the charts has come to an end as Baby D takes over for a two week stint with “Let Me Be Your Fantasy”. Now, a quick listen to the lyrics of this one should be enough to get a handle on what the song is about. Apparently nobody at the BBC was listening otherwise there would have surely have been a “We Call It Acieed” style furore. It’s essentially a musical exaltation of the effects of the drug ecstasy. Check these lyrics out:

Come take a trip to my wonderland
Let’s spread our wings and fly away
Lotions of love flow through your hands
See visions, colours everyday
Let me feel your warm embrace
Release the colours in your mind

Songwriters: Floyd Dyce
Let Me Be Your Fantasy lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Bucks Music Group, The Royalty Network Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc

The track uses words like ‘trip’, ‘higher’ and, in one line, even the word ‘ecstasy’. Good job Mike Read had long since left the BBC.

Order of appearance	Artist	Title	Did I buy it?
1	Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine	Let’s Get Tattoos	I didn’t…buy the record or get a tattoo
2	Jimmy Nail	Crocodile Shoes	Nah
3	Louis Armstrong	We Have All The Time In The World	No
4	New Atlantic/U4EA featuring Berri	Sunshine After The Rain	Negative
5	Jamiroquai	Half The Man	Nope
6	Kylie Minogue	Put Yourself In My Place	I did not
7	Sinéad O’Connor	Thank You For Hearing Me	It’s a no from me
8	Luther Vandross	Love The One You’re With	Not for me thanks
9	Baby D	Let Me Be Your Fantasy	And 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/m001mnym/top-of-the-pops-24111994

TOTP 15 SEP 1994

Posted on May 25, 2023 by 80stastic

After a ‘golden mic’ guest presenter spot from East 17’s Tony and Brian last week, we’re back to the roster of Radio 1 DJs and guess who we’ve got again this week? Yes, it’s Simon ‘Smug’ Mayo! I know I bang on about him on a regular basis but he really is/was insufferable! I think it’s the way he seems to think that the audience had tuned in to see him and what he had to say rather than the artists and the music on the show that really irks me. You weren’t the main attraction Mayo, you really weren’t. I know I’ve accused fellow presenter Mark Goodier of being a bit dull in the past but at least he realised why he was there and got on with the job in an unassuming way. Somehow, Mayo’s ego wouldn’t allow him to follow suit. Right well, let’s see how many times he can piss me off in this particular show. Rant mode engaged…

Mayo kicks off his demonstration of his witty repartee with this pathetically weak intro:

“Franklin D. Roosevelt…John F. Kennedy…and Sophie B. Hawkins…”

That’s it. No welcome. No promotion of the show. Just an incredibly tenuous exercise in name association. Assuming that he came up with his lines himself, did he really think that was good enough? It’s not a start that bodes well.

As for Sophie herself, it’s quite a memorable performance of her hit “Right Bedside You” with her strapped to a bongo drum throughout. I can’t work out what the parked bicycle on stage was all about though other than it was…well…right beside Sophie. Going back to her name though, I wonder why she used the affectation of a middle initial? Was there another Sophie Hawkins whom she wanted to avoid being confused with? I’ve looked online and the only other Sophie Hawkins I can find is someone who designs jumpsuits for a living. Damn! I wish I wore a jumpsuit? Nah, it doesn’t quite work does it?

More buffoonery from Mayo next but this time he tries to illicit some humour from the song title rather than the artist’s name. The former is “Rollercoaster” and the latter is The Grid so Mayo sees it as a perfect opportunity for some physical comedy by asking the TV audience to put their arms in the air as if they are on an actual rollercoaster. With his own arms aloft, he gestures to some off camera minion to put a microphone to his mouth so he can continue to speak as he says “Here we goooo…”. It’s about as funny as whiplash.

As for The Grid, their huge surprise hit “Swamp Thing” had only just dropped out of the charts after a marathon run but they were back in immediately with this follow up. I’m sure people who know about these things would say that it was a ‘banger’ or something but all I know is that it didn’t have that distinctive banjo hook that its predecessor had and therefore didn’t cut through to a mainstream audience in the same way. “Rollercoaster” peaked at No 19 whilst “Swamp Thing” went to No 3.

After trying some physical comedy, Simon Mayo attempts a play on words in his next intro. “Lend your ears to Lisa Loeb” he delights in telling us. Careful your sides don’t split everyone!

After being part of the satellite segue the last time she was on, this time we get the official video for “Stay (I Missed You)”. Directed by her friend Ethan Hawke who was also the reason that the song ended up in the film Reality Bites after he made it available to director Ben Stiller, it’s simple to the point of boring but yet somehow effective. Lisa just singing direct to camera as she wanders around a sparse New York apartment in an almost confessional way with just a cat for company (that belonged to Hawke by the way) shouldn’t really work but kind of does. It was even chosen by Spin magazine as their video of the year.

Ever wondered what was the reason behind the naming of her band? The single is officially credited to Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories after all. Well, apparently Nine Stories was taken from the collection of short stories by J.D.Salinger one of which was called The Laughing Man. Hmm. No doubt Simon Mayo would have taken that as a nickname. Psst. Simon. We’re laughing at you not with you.

Wicked! Wicked! Junglist Massive! Oh God. The era of ‘jungle’ is upon us. As a pop kid, I was never going to get on board with this and listening to it now, I feel the same as when I first heard it – what a racket! It fell upon M–Beat featuring General Levy to bring jungle to the masses via their twice released track “Incredible” (it was originally out earlier in the year when it made No 39 before this rerelease took it into the Top 10). Now I always thought that the General was shouting “Jungle Ist Massive” rather than “Junglist massive” though neither really make much sense but apparently ‘Junglist’ originally referred to a person living in an area of West Kingston, Jamaica called Jungle but which was later hijacked to mean a dedicated enthusiast of jungle music with the ‘Massive’ part being the community.

Another element to this that I found confusing was the difference between jungle and drum ‘n’ bass. I’m still not sure what it is or if it even exists. At some point as the movement gathered pace, they seemed to become interchangeable. Despite my perplexity and reticence, I was convinced by my fellow Our Price colleagues to explore the jungle by going to an appearance at the legendary Hacienda club by drum ‘n’ bass heavyweight LTJ Bukem. And you know what? I had a good night. I could hear and feel how the music made sense in that setting. Did I want to listen to drum ‘n’ bass on my stereo at home? No chance.

Apparently, the success of “Incredible” went to General Levy’s head and he made a statement in an interview in The Face magazine that he was “runnin’ jungle” which led to a backlash from the rest of the scene and a campaign against the song with some pirate radio stations refusing to play it. Eight years later it would feature in the film Ali G Indahouse which gave the world Ali G and Shaggy’s track “Me Julie”. Hmm.

What’s that? Simon Mayo’s intro? Oh it was some bollocks about Roy Wood’s beard being a jungle. Tosser.

Having already tried physical comedy and word play, Mayo now attempts what Ben Elton used to call “a bit of politics” when introducing REM. With their new single being called “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?”, Mayo makes reference to the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke saying the real question should be “what’s the interest rate going to be Kenneth?”. Hysterical I’m sure you’ll agree.

The lead track from hotly anticipated new album “Monster”, “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” didn’t disappoint. Built around a huge, reverberating guitar sound, it was, to quote Madness, a “heavy, heavy monster sound”. I recall that we sold out of the CD single on the day of release in the Our Price I was working in though we had plenty of the cassette version left. This seemed to me more evidence (if any were needed) that they were now a long way from their early beginnings as indie darlings and had transitioned into rock behemoths, selling CDs Dire Straits style as quickly as they could be pressed. The album was another huge unit shifter selling 9 million copies worldwide but that was only around half of what its predecessor “Automatic For The People” sold.

Ever wondered what the song title was all about? Well, it’s not the most pleasant story. Here’s @TOTPFacts:

The title of "What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?" refers to an incident in New York City on 4 October 1986, when two people attacked news anchor Dan Rather, while repeating the phrase "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" #TOTP
— Top Of The Pops Facts (@TOTPFacts) May 12, 2023

The incident remained a mystery until 1997, when the main assailant was confirmed to be William Tager, a man convicted of killing an NBC stagehand outside The Today Show studio in 1994. #TOTP
— Top Of The Pops Facts (@TOTPFacts) May 12, 2023

Tager believed that television networks were beaming signals into his brain – hence his desire to find out what frequency they were using, so he could block the signals. #TOTP
— Top Of The Pops Facts (@TOTPFacts) May 12, 2023

At least Mayo didn’t try to make a joke out of that.

An exclusive performance from Sinéad O’Connor next to plug her latest album “Universal Mother”. After 1992’s covers album “Am I Not Your Girl?” received a lukewarm reception from critics and a controversy courting promotional appearance on Saturday Night Live in which she tore up a photo of the Pope, I’m guessing her record company needed a solid outing for her next collection of songs. However, what they got was an album that once again divided opinion. Featuring songs that dealt with family trauma, it wasn’t an easy listen. Here’s Sinéad herself commenting on it:

“That album was the first attempt to try to expose what was really underneath a lot of the anger of the other records. George Michael told me he loved that record, but could only listen to it once because it was so painful. He had to hide it.”
Doyle, Tom (October 2005). “The Mojo interview”. Mojo. No. 143. p. 43.

The track performed here – “Fire On Babylon” was released as the second single from the album but didn’t chart in the UK though lead single “Thank You For Hearing Me” made No 13. Sinéad unleashes her usual transcendental vocal on top of a mesmerising backbeat but it’s a bit too intense for my ears. By the way, Simon Mayo makes no attempt at any humour whilst introducing Sinéad – probably scared of her.

Something from the album chart now. Elvis Presley had been dead for 17 years by this point (as Mayo delights in telling us in his intro) but that didn’t stop his vast back catalogue from being raided and repackaged. “Elvis -The Essential Collection” was a 28 track compilation album released by RCA that featured just about everything the casual fan would want to hear in one handy album. Not that there hadn’t been such Best Of packages before. I’m pretty sure there was a double album released in 1987 that had been a big seller and according to his discography on Wikipedia, there exists 115 posthumous compilations.

The track chosen by TOTP for an outing is “Return To Sender” which was the UK’s Christmas No 1 of 1962. It featured in the film Girls! Girls! Girls! which was one of those mostly dreadful Elvis musical comedies that he did (a lot). The plot (such as it is) according to Wikipedia is that Elvis plays a Hawaiian based fisherman who dreams of owning the boat he built with his father. Oh, and he’s caught up in a love triangle and has to choose between two women (obviously). I just wish we could have returned Simon Mayo to sender.

My wish is granted! Well, in a staged hijacking kind of way but I’ll take it. Just as Mayo begins his intro for Mariah Carey and Luther Vandross, last week’s presenters Tony and Brian from East 17 gatecrash proceedings and bundle the Radio 1 DJ off screen so that they can do it instead. Nice one lads! Whatever Mayo would have said, it wouldn’t have been as amusing as hearing Brian pronounce Luther’s surname as ‘Van – de – Ross’. Mind you, that’s better than a late night North East local radio DJ doing a love songs show that my mate Robin once heard introduce in a seductive manner as “Luther…V…D”. Erm…

Mariah and Luther are in the studio to perform their cover of the Lionel Richie / Diana Ross (sorry – Miss Diana Ross) sing “Endless Love”. There’s a curious bit right at the start where the producers seem to cock up who the camera should be on. As Mariah draws breath between her first and second lines, the camera suddenly reverts to Luther for a nano second for no reason. Maybe Tony and Brian hijacker’s the TV gantry as well.

https://youtu.be/cZ-Kc1r_8s0

After 15 long (some may say torturous) weeks, we finally have a new No 1. Whigfield is her name or rather it wasn’t. Her actual name is Sannie Carlson and the name of the act was Whigfield (see Blondie and Toyah also). To add to the confusion, the act originated from Italy via producer Larry Pignagnoli but Sannie herself was / is Danish. Anyway, “Saturday Night” was another of those Summer time hits imported from Europe that always charted just as we entered Autumn as the holiday making herd returned home and wanted a copy of that record they kept dancing to in the clubs of the continent. Ah yes, the dance. “Saturday Night” came with its own dance just as “Superman” and “Agadoo” by Black Lace had back in the mid 80s and like “Macarena” by Los Del Rio would have a few years later. I can’t recall exactly how it went but I think there was some laying of hands on shoulders and hips and jumping forward with your feet together. Apparently, Sannie never did the dance herself and wasn’t keen on promoting it. Nobody is sure who came up with it but the best guess is a gym instructor used the song to soundtrack a fitness class and the moves were taken from there and repeated in the clubs. Or something. Whigfield will be at No 1 for 4 weeks in total. Oh dear.

There’s a change of format at the death as the play out song over a montage of clips from the show we’d just watched is ditched. Let’s be fair, it was a crap idea that never worked. In its place is a plug for the brand new retro show TOTP2. A retread of the show’s archives narrated initially by Johnnie Walker, the programme would be trailed at the end of the regular show by showing a clip of a song that would be featured that week. I’m not going to start reviewing those as part of the blog as it kind of disrupts the timeline and makes an outlier of the track chosen. In any case, if it’s something from 1983 onwards, I’ll have reviewed it anyway.

Order of appearance	Artist	Title	Did I buy it?
1	Sophie B. Hawkins	Right Beside You	Nope
2	The Grid	Rollercoaster	I did not
3	Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories	Stay (I Missed You)	No
4	M-Beat featuring General Levy	Incredible	Never happening
5	REM	What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?	Liked it, didn’t buy it
6	Sinéad O’Connor	Fire On Babylon	Nah
7	Elvis Presley	Return To Sender	My Mum is a huge fan but no
8	Mariah Carey and Luther Vandross	Endless Love	Negative
9	Whigfield	Saturday Night	And 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/m001lst6/top-of-the-pops-15091994

TOTP 01 SEP 1994

Posted on May 18, 2023 by 80stastic

OK, before we get into the music, there’s a bit of housekeeping to take care of. Firstly, we’ve missed a whole episode which hasn’t happened for quite some time. Nothing to do with Operation Yewtree nor presenters who hadn’t signed the waiver for BBC4 to broadcast the repeats they featured in – no this was a matter of a technical nature. The tapes for the TOTP shown on 25 August 1994 held in the BBC archive were deemed to be not of broadcast quality and so we miss out on what was surely one of the more interesting guest presenters in Malcolm MacLaren. Despite being a bit of an arse I’m sure, I’ve always had a soft spot for Malcolm and could listen to his drivel for hours. At least he led an interesting life. I’ve checked the running order for that show and I don’t think we missed much. Many acts we’d already seen before including Red Dragon, Shampoo and unbelievably Let Loose again! We did however miss Dinosaur Jnr which might have been distracting at least plus the return of Kylie Minogue with her first new material since leaving PWL as she entered her ‘Dance Kylie’ phase. Oh well.

The other bit of housekeeping is regarding tonight’s host who we haven’t seen before. So who was / is Claire Sturgess? Well, she’s a voice over artist and DJ currently working on Absolute Radio where she’s been since 2015. Back in 1994 though, she was a Radio 1 DJ presenting the rock show on Sunday evenings. She would stay at the BBC until 1997 but only hosted TOTP one more time before being replaced by Lisa I’Anson.

Right, on with the tunes and we start with one that perhaps more than any other (with the possible exception of “Common People” by Pulp) has come to be associated (rightly or wrongly) with the Britpop movement. Think of “Parklife” (the song) by Blur and what comes to mind? Phil Daniels? Of course. The “vorsprung durch technik’ line? Yep. The iconic video with Damon in that tracksuit top camping it up whilst an ice cream van drives by. Without doubt. They’re all woven into the fabric of the time but sometimes I think we forget what a strange song “Parklife” really is. A track where all the verses are spoken in a cockney accent, a chorus that you could imagine Dick Van Dyke singing in one of those musicals he starred in and lyrics about brewer’s droop, dirty pigeons and habitual voyeurs. And yet it all hangs together perfectly to the point that we didn’t bat an eyelid when it was released but instead accepted it as another example of Blur’s pursuit to celebrate ‘Englishness’. Except it wasn’t. Here’s Graham Coxon courtesy of @TOTPFacts:

Graham Coxon on "Parklife": "A lot of people thought it was a celebration of Englishness, but it was actually very sarcastic. [It] wasn't about the working class, it was about the park class: dustbin men, pigeons, joggers – things we saw every day on the way to the studio." #TOTP
— Top Of The Pops Facts (@TOTPFacts) May 5, 2023

In this performance, Daniels is word perfect and Damon, relieved of the stress of doing all the heavy lifting vocals wise, seems to be enjoying his freedom to ham it up on stage more than usual. My personal memory of this song though would come three months later at Christmas. I was asked to co-coordinate the works Christmas do for all the Our Price shops in the area. I found a venue and we got one of the staff at the Piccadilly, Manchester store to do the DJ-ing (if you worked in a record shop there was always someone who was either in a band or a DJ on the staff). The manager I organised the shindig with (Rick) was a bit nervous on the actual night about whether people were having a good time or not and especially about the music being played. Our DJ put on “Girls & Boys” which seemed a safe choice but which only served to agitate Rick into shouting at him “Give ‘em Parklife Will, give ‘em Parklife!”. Such was the influence of Blur and that song in particular in 1994.

P.S. I think Will did indeed give ‘em “Parklife” at some point in the evening.

Oh great! Another soap star turned pop star. This time the actor is from EastEnders reviving bad memories of Nick ‘Wicksy’ Berry and Anita ‘Angie’ Dobson. Sean Maguire’s stay in the soap had been short (January to December 1993) but he had been a big hit with the audience (especially the teenage female section of it). It was almost inevitable then that he’d give the old pop star lark a go and here he was, eight months after leaving EastEnders, back on our screens on the BBC’s premier music show. Unbelievably, despite not being able to shift any meaningful amount of units of either of his two albums, he would rack up eight Top 40 singles over a three year period. The first of those was “Someone To Love” and it’s a decent slice of late summer pop which seems to have pinched a bit from Kool And The Gang’s “Celebration”. Maguire sells it well enough and there’s been less likely pop stars (Stefan Dennis anyone?) but I’m guessing that his record label couldn’t have envisaged another six hits after this one. They were all pretty consistent as well. Look at these chart positions:

14 – 27 – 18 – 22 – 16 – 12 – 14 – 27

They’re not too shabby for a soap actor turned pop star. Maguire played Irish wannabe footballer Aidan Brosnan in EastEnders. Hmm. A footballer called Maguire who went onto have a career as a singer. Man Utd’s Harry Maguire as a pop star anyone?

I referenced this record the other week but it wasn’t really pre-planned – it just sort of played out that way. I’m talking about “Endless Love” by Mariah Carey and Luther Vandross. I mentioned their version as the record that knocked Boyz II Men off the No 1 spot in New Zealand but I’d already referred to the Lionel Richie / Diana Ross 1981 original when stating that I hadn’t heard a song basically regurgitated as a different track as I believed Boyz II Men had done with “End Of The Road” and “I’ll Make Love To You” since Lionel Richie rewrote “Endless Love” as “Truly”. I’d actually forgotten that this duet existed until these TOTP repeats aired but exist it does so I’ll have to discuss it. It came from a whole album of covers recorded by Luther called, rather blandly, “Songs” which already had a Lionel Richie song on the track listing in “Hello” but Sony president Tommy Mottola and his then wife Mariah decided that they could boost the album’s chances of success by having her appear on it and so the cover of “Endless Love” came to be. It was a sound business strategy – Mariah was perhaps at the very peak of her popularity with her latest album “Music Box” achieving huge global sales and indeed her contribution helped “Songs” to platinum sales and a No 1 chart position in the UK alone. The single also performed well going to No 2 in America and No 3 here. For me though, it’s a very faithful reproduction and rather pointless and anodyne. I suppose there was a gap of 13 years between the release of the original and the cover so maybe it’s possible there were people out there who didn’t know the Richie / Ross version and so came to it as a brand new song? Or perhaps people did know it and were reminded how much they’d liked the original but in those days before streaming and Spotify, they couldn’t just get access to the song and so bought what was available, the Vandross / Carey remake? I don’t know. I’ve given up trying to work out how some of these songs managed to be hits – and I wrote a dissertation about it whilst a student at Poly.

Next we find Terrorvision having a very steady year of consolidating their success and building their fanbase as they are back on TOTP performing their fourth Top 40 hit of the year “Pretend Best Friend”. And when I say steady, I mean incredibly consistent. Look at these chart peaks for those four singles:

29 – 21 – 25 – 25

A fifth single was released before 1994 was out and it made it to No 24. Their first single of the following year peaked at No 22. Like I say, incredibly consistent. As for the song itself, I don’t recall it but it kind of sounds how I expected it to with Tony Wright launching into a high speed rap that is vaguely reminiscent of “Ant Rap” before the almost shouted chorus. There’s also a bit where it all slows down and Tony wields a megaphone which is all rather incongruous. Good song title though.

After the exclusive of a double live by satellite section in the show last week, head producer Ric Blaxill has gone in hard on the idea by repeating the ‘satellite segue’ (as they’ve named it) for this week. We start off in Philadelphia with a curiously dull performance by the aforementioned Boyz II Men of “I’ll Make Love To You”. Now, my knowledge of the geography of Philadelphia is mostly limited to the scene in Rocky where Sylvester Stallone runs up the 72 steps leading to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the iconic training scene. Luckily for me, I think that’s near to where this performance takes place with the mini stage erected in the Benjamin Franklin Parkway right in front of the Washington Monument. The whole set up seems to be adhering to Blaxill’s stated desire to get the live by satellite slots to feature well known landmarks that have nothing to do with the music per se but which are a step up from the performances in empty theatre halls we have seen previously. It’s all a bit odd though. The parkway has people wandering through it minding their own business or joggers doing their own version of the Rocky training regimen whilst four guys are singing “I’ll Make Love To You” whilst they pass by. Shouldn’t be allowed really.

The second part of the satellite segue stays in America but transports us to New York and specifically to The Bottom Line club in Greenwich Village where we find Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories. Now it might not be recognisable as a landmark like the Washington Monument before it but this venue was legendary in its own right. Owners Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky put on a huge amount of musical talent in the 30 years the club was open including the likes of Prince, The Police, Benatar, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Miles Davis, Dolly Parton….and in the fall of 1994 Lisa Loeb. But who was she?

Well, for someone who is a one hit wonder in the UK (she managed a few more hits in the US), Lisa has quite the biography and discography – her Wikipedia entry is sizeable to say the least. She had been recording music and performing live since the late 80s but it was a friendship with neighbour and actor Ethan Hawke that gave Lisa her lucky break. Having met through the NYC theatre community, Hawke gave Loeb’s song “Stay (I Missed You)” to Ben Stiller who was directing the film Reality Bites that Hawke was starring in and he made the decision to use it over the end credits. The rest really is history. The track’s pretty, folk-infused pop melody proved irresistible to the American public who sent it to No 1 making Lisa and her band the first ever artist to top the chart there without being signed to a label.

Lisa looked a bit like Nana Mouskouri’s hipper younger sister but there was more to her than her trademark glasses. As well as being a musician, she also runs a number of businesses including one for fair trade coffee and, making use of that glasses association, the Lisa Loeb Eyewear Collection with each frame being named after one of her song titles. She’s also written children’s books and done some acting though one of her credits is for one of the worst films of all time – Hot Tub Time Machine 2. If you haven’t seen it and stumble across it whilst channel flipping then heed my advice – Don’t stay (you’ll be glad you missed it).

One of last week’s satellite segue acts are in the TOTP studio this week as Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry move up to No 3 with “7 Seconds”. The staging of this one starts out simple yet effective with a single spotlight centred on first Youssou and then Neneh as each takes the vocal lead in turn. However, the production team can’t have been totally won over by the idea as by the time the first chorus comes around, they’re both floodlit and there’s a multi screen video installation behind them showing the official promo film that accompanied the single. Shame. I thought a more paired back, minimalist setting would work best for this particular track but the show disagreed and went for Youssou N’More.

https://youtu.be/GUua-NUYlsg

It would take a braver man than me to start a political rant about this government’s despicable deportation to Rwanda scheme in a pop music blog but I am inevitably put in mind of it by the next song which is “Love Can Build A Bridge” by Children For Rwanda which was a charity single to raise money for Save The Children. If this all sounds familiar but not quite how you remember it then it’s quite possible you’re thinking of the version by Cher, Chrissie Hynde and the aforementioned Neneh Cherry that was released for Comic Relief just 6 months on from this and which went to No 1 for a week. Sadly for the Children For Rwanda single, it failed to sell nearly as well and peaked outside the Top 40.

We’ve reached week 14 of 15 (we missed week 13 due to the broadcast quality issue discussed earlier) for Wet Wet Wet’s reign at No 1 with “Love Is All Around” and whilst I’m really struggling to say anything of interest about it after so many appearances on the show, it seems like Ric Blaxill might be finding it difficult to keep us all interested as well. To shake things up a bit, he’s doubled down on the live by satellite feature and has the band beaming in from LA. This definitely falls into the category of performing in front of a world famous landmark with the Hollywood sign prominent in the background. The end is coming though. There’s only one more week and the story behind it’s demise will be discussed in the next post.

The play out song is “We Are The Pigs” by Suede. 1994 was a year of massive upheaval for the band most notably due to the departure of guitarist Bernard Butler who formally left their ranks on 8th July following tensions whilst recording sophomore album “Dog Man Star”. As if that wasn’t enough, difficult second album syndrome raised its ugly head. Not that the band didn’t make the album they wanted to; they did, but the direction they took confused critics and some of the fans after their electrifying eponymous debut. Many saw its grandiose soundscapes as pretentious and although it sold well enough, it was seen as a bit of a step backwards commercially in comparison to its predecessor. History has been kind to the album though and revisionism has it hailed as an under appreciated and misunderstood at the time classic. When the band played five nights at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 2003 with each night dedicated to one of their studio albums, it was the tickets for the Dog Man Star show that sold the quickest.

As for its lead single, “We Are The Pigs” is certainly dark in nature and tone but it’s still a huge tune. There’s even a bit in it which sounds like that reverb sound in “Peter Gunn” by Diane Eddy and subsequently The Art Of Noise. Do you think that’s totally innocent or knowingly inserted?

The almost post apocalyptic video with burning crosses, cars afire and masked gangs roaming the streets puts me in mind of the climax of The Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes, the ending of which had to be reshot as audience reaction at test screenings deemed it to violent and pessimistic. Similarly, the promo for Suede’s single got little airplay due to it being banned for being too violent. This may have contributed to the track only making it to No 18 in the UK Top 40.

Order of appearance	Artist	Title	Did I buy it?
1	Blur	Parklife	Not the single but I had the album obviously
2	Sean Maguire	Someone To Love	No
3	Mariah Carey and Luther Vandross	Endless Love	Never happening
4	Terrorvision	Pretend Best Friend	Nope
5	Boyz II Men	I’ll Make Love To You	Nah
6	Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories	Stay (I Missed You)	Nice song but no
7	Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry	7 Seconds	I did not
8	Children For Rwanda	Love Can Build A Bridge	Negative
9	Wet Wet Wet	Love Is All Around	Another no
10	Suede	We Are The Pigs	Could have done but 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/m001ln6m/top-of-the-pops-01091994

TOTP 21 MAY 1993

Posted on August 19, 2022 by 80stastic

A rare Friday night appearance for TOTP which has been shifted from its historical Thursday slot to accommodate the previous night’s FA Cup replay. This would be the last time it would ever happen after occurring three times consecutively in the 80s and a further time in 1990. Was it worth the extra 24 hours wait? Let’s find out but it does include nine ‘new’ songs so I guess that’s a good thing?

…or maybe not. Has there ever been a more lifeless opening to an episode of TOTP? “Stars” was the third hit for British DJ and producer Francis Wright aka Felix though I’m not entirely convinced that it even qualifies as a dance track so lacking in energy is it. It’s not helped by the guy fronting the song. Talk about a lackadaisical performer?! Seriously, put some effort into it!

I didn’t know this until now but apparently “Stars” is a cover version of a song originally recorded by Sylvester – yes that Sylvester, the disco ‘queen’ of “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” fame. I have to admit that’s the only track I know from his back catalogue and even then only via the Jimmy Somerville cover from 1990. As such, I had to look up his original version of “Stars” and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s superior to the Felix take on it in every way. I’m no disco aficionado by any stretch but a tone deaf music hating hermit can hear the difference.

“Stars” was already at its peak of No 29. Felix would have two more chart singles, both of which were remixes of debut hit “Don’t You Want Me”.

OK a dodgy start admittedly but the next song would turn out to be the second biggest selling single of 1993! Given the way the year has panned out so far though, I’m not sure that’s much of an accolade. The song is “(I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You”, the band is UB40 and both are protagonists in a tale as old of time of commercial popularity not always equating to cultural worth.

Without a Top 10 hit since the Robert Palmer collaboration “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” in late 1990, UB40 were suddenly back with their first ever single to enter the charts inside the Top 10. Well, 1993 was the year of reggae/ragga/dancehall I guess so why wouldn’t the UK’s most well known reggae band want a piece of that action? Except there was an element of the accidental about this future No 1 record that belies the notion that this was pure cynicism on behalf of the Brummies. Their cover of the Elvis 1961 hit was recorded for submission to the soundtrack of a rom-com starring Nicolas Cage called Honeymoon In Vegas with said soundtrack being made up of cover versions of Elvis tunes. What the band didn’t realise was that there version of the song wasn’t the only one recorded and a version by U2’s Bono was the one selected for inclusion.

In fairness, the soundtrack was a very country music affair with the likes of Trisha Yearwood, Dwight Yoakam and Willie Nelson featuring so UB40 would probably have been an outlier in such company. Their recording lay in the Virgin vaults unused and unloved (even by the band themselves most of whom didn’t want it put on their latest album “Promises And Lies”) until it was discovered by film music supervisor Tim Sexton who convinced director Phillip Noyce to use it in his erotic thriller flick Sliver. I think therein lies some of the problem for UB40 and their version of the song in that it is associated with a film that is generally perceived to be a duffer, hogwash, a right old stinker. Clearly all involved were hoping for a Basic Instinct 2 – Sharon Stone, who infamously made her name by crossing her legs in that film, was even on board. It was universally panned by critics and received nominations for the Golden Raspberry Awards in just about every category. Maybe subliminally, the brickbats the movie received tainted people’s view of UB40’s track.

Or maybe not. Maybe I’m the one spouting hogwash? After all, it topped the charts both in the UK and in America where it was No 1 for seven weeks. It’s just that retrospectively it doesn’t seem to have stood the rest of time too well. Compared to say Pet Shop Boys’ treatment of “Always On Your Mind”, it just doesn’t seem very cherished in the canon of Elvis covers. I’m not a fan I have to say. It’s all very clunky sounding and what was with the altering of the song title and the adding of brackets? Was that meant to imply that this wasn’t just a cover and that they had in fact literally made it into another song entirely or as the infernal Louis Walsh would say ‘made the song their own’? Do you know what, I think that’s enough time spent on it for one post. After all, it’ll be back on soon enough.

We stick with the new songs with a man who, despite being famous for having one of the sweetest of soul voices, had never pulled up many trees when it came to having big hit singles in the UK. Prior to his No 2 duet on “The Best Things In Life Are Free” with Janet Jackson the previous Autumn, Luther Vandross never had a Top 10 hit in this country. Sure his albums had sold well but somehow it has never quite translated into singles success. Given that Janet Jackson boost though, could “Little Miracles (Happen Every Day)” bring him a huge hit under his own steam? Well, ‘No’ is the blunt but honest answer as it topped out at No 28 making it the second single on this TOTP that an appearance on the show failed to propel any further up the charts. Was the programme losing its power to generate sales or were these just anomalies?

Luther Vandross has never done anything for me I have to say, either his uptempo numbers or slow ballads of which this single falls into the latter category. It sounds like a vocal exercise in search of a tune to me. Maybe if they’d spent the budget for the performance on a gospel backing choir (which clearly exists on the record) instead of his Showaddywaddy style jacket then maybe things might have turned out better.

Next we get to gatecrash that Bon Jovi party as host Tony Dortie promised at the start of the show but quite what did he mean by that? Surely not exclusive access backstage or to the after show party at some swanky nightclub. Well, no of course. It’s as another of those ‘live’ crossovers to a concert date, this time in Glasgow. Wasn’t the last time they did this for Bruce Springsteen also in Glasgow? I think it was. Must have had some sort of arrangement with the venue which Wikipedia tells me was the SEC Centre. Jon Bon Jovi’s singing on “In Your Arms” here sounds a little bit strained like he’s singing from his throat rather than his diaphragm but Richie Sambora is always reliable with his double neck guitar to the forefront. Attaboy Richie!

After using up my Jon Bon Jovi waxwork story in the last post, I’ll have to resort to pulling out the tale of my disgrace on the dance floor of a Sunderland nightclub this time. Having imbibed too much alcohol on a night out when a student at Sunderland Poly, I crashed out in the toilets of Rascals club and made rather a mess of a toilet bowl. My friend Robin came to check out if I was OK and, seeing the state of me, suggested we call it a night and leave. “I’m not going home ‘til I’ve danced to the Jovi” came my reply from the cubicle. “OK, let’s get back out there” encouraged Robin. “I can’t stand up” I declared in a sorrowful tone.

“In Your Arms” peaked at No 9.

Another new song and another turkey. What do Charles And Eddie have in common with the aforementioned Luther Vandross? Nothing really except they both recorded songs called “House Is Not A Home”. Well, almost. Luther’s was a version of the marvellous Bacharach and David tune which actually includes an indefinite article ‘a’ in its title and which Dionne Warwick famously had a hit with. The Charles and Eddie song was written by the latter and was a bit shit. Oh come on! It was! Some nondescript soul on a faux Motown tip? No thanks.

The whole Charles And Eddie phenomenon was basically a one trick pony revolving around that horribly catchy “Would I Lie To You” chart topper. Nothing else they released came close to its success and six months on from it nobody was that interested in the duo any more as evidenced by the No 29 peak of this single. Still, at least they could say incontrovertibly that they were not a one hit wonder.

Someone in the TOTP production team must have been a big Runrig fan! The Celtic rockers bagged (or maybe blagged) themselves a first ever appearance on the show with previous hit “Wonderful”, a single that only made it to No 29 in the charts, and now they were back in the TOTP studio with the follow up “The Greatest Flame” and this one only made it to No 36! Surely these were Breakers at best?!

What’s that you say Tony Dortie? They were at No 2 in the album charts? Oh, is that why they made the show’s running order? They were in the album chart feature? Only, the onscreen caption doesn’t say that and, having checked the chart record of parent album “Amazing Things”, something else doesn’t quite add up. Yes, it did go to No 2 in the charts but that was in its first week of release in March. By the time of this TOTP show it had dropped out of the chart altogether so it would appear Tony was telling some porkies.

As for the song, it’s so laboured and slow. It never picks up at any point – just one monotonous dirge. And I thought Felix were bad. They look like the most uncomfortable, unconvincing band ever to play the show. Last time the lead singer wore a leather jacket but he’s outdone himself this time in the naff stakes with a sleeveless version. I’m sorry if this sounds harsh but they look so out of place. Was this really what the kids wanted?!

Some Breakers now starting with Dire Straits and a taster from their live album “On The Night” which I’d forgotten all about (I was quite prepared to stay in utter oblivion of its existence to be fair). The “Encores EP” was recorded to capture the band’s On Every Street Tour and included four tracks including “Your Latest Trick” which was the fifth and final single from their iconic “Brothers In Arms” album. Yes, despite my previous derogatory comments, it is an iconic album whether we like it or not. Looking at the track listing for “On The Night”, four of the ten tracks on it were from “Brothers In Arms”, the same amount as from the “On Every Street” album the tour was promoting. Make of that what you will.

Of the other three tracks on the EP, I only know the theme from Local Hero. I’ve tried with this film, I really have but I just don’t get it. I have a friend who swears by it but I can’t see it. Literally. Nothing happens. I mean, yes there’s a plot but it’s so slow. Look, I can appreciate nuances and that not everything has to be all bangs and crashes like a Jerry Bruckheimer film but come on! I need something a bit more engaging.

Anyway, back to Dire Straits and I’m wondering if they’d have been better off choosing “Money For Nothing” to promote the EP. Surely more well known than “Your Latest Trick”. I mean, if the EP was purely designed just to help sell the live album. I’m basing that on the fact that the “Encores EP” only made it to No 31 in the charts. All part of the walk of life I suppose.

A song now that instantly reminds me of 1993 and which I think probably gets an unjustified bad rap. The Spin Doctors looked a bit like Nirvana and sounded a bit like a poppier version of Extreme when they weren’t doing acoustic ballads – too glib and uninformed? Probably but I’ve only got so much space in one blog post to describe these things so needs must. This lot were one of those bands that we cottoned on to long after the US audience had shown an interest – their debut album “Pocketful Of Kryptonite” had been released nearly two years prior to this appearance with the singles “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” and this one “Two Princes” both having been hits months before they transferred over here.

The latter was the first and biggest hit the band had over here ultimately peaking at No 3. A funky, jumping number with an instant hook that attached itself to your brain immediately refusing to let go, it was a genuine crossover hit that allowed the band to traverse from their alternative rock trappings into the mainstream. It was a great airplay hit as well helping it to swell sales. I liked it a lot. So did a friend of mine who was so enamoured he asked me to purchase the album for him on my Our Price store discount – I’ve never asked him what he made of the album.

A few more hits followed but “Two Princes” would be the song that the band would be remembered for and it seemed to me that they paved the way for a number of American rock bands with an alternative edge but pop sound to make inroads into our charts like Gin Blossoms, Semisonic and Hootie And The Blowfish.

Somehow though “Two Princes” became an albatross around the band’s neck. It was rated No 21 in Blender magazine’s 50 Worst Songs Ever poll and featured in a sketch on the Sarah Silverman Program as evidence of someone having something wrong with them when “Two Princes” is the only song on their iPod which they’ve owned for five years.

Some songs are just so ingrained in our brains/hearts/cultural lives that it’s hard to remember their initial impact on us or even their backstory. For instance, I had totally forgotten that “Jump Around” by House Of Pain was originally released in October of 1992 and had only made No 32 in the UK charts. It was rereleased seven months later and went Top 10.

This was literally a huge record both in its sound and reach. I heard this played at every Manchester nightclub I went to around this time (not that many admittedly but a few) and was guaranteed to fill the floor, turning it into a heaving, sweaty mass moving in cohesion just like the scenes in the single’s video. It’s the high pitched squeal that is repeated 66 times during the course of the record that makes it. The origin of the source material is disputed. Some say it’s from Prince’s “Gett Off” while others have posited the theory that it’s “Shoot Your Shot” by Junior Walker And The All Stars. The band themselves say it’s actually Divine Styler’s “Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’” which samples “Shoot Your Shot”. Whatever the truth, it made “Jump Around” one of the most instantly recognisable tracks of the 90s.

An American hip-hop trio comprising Everlast, Danny Boy and DJ Lethal, they styled themselves as Irish-American urchins both in their music (their follow up was called “Shamrocks And Shenanigans”) and their image and branding (their logo included a shamrock and the legend ‘fine malt lyrics’). They never came close to replicating the success of “Jump Around” and split in 1996. Everlast forged a successful solo career and the band gave reunited in 2010 and again in 2017.

Tina Turner is on the rise with “I Don’t Wanna Fight” after her TOTP appearance last week. Taken from the soundtrack to her film biopic What’s Love Got To Do With It, it will peak at No 7. That soundtrack did even better going all the way to No 1 and selling 300,000 copies in the UK alone. I was surprised at the time about its success given that Tina’s “Simply The Best” compilation had been a huge seller over Xmas of 1991.

However, the music supervisors of the film were clever as the soundtrack wasn’t just another Greatest Hits under a different name. The track listing was mostly made up of re-recorded versions of songs from the Ike And Tina Turner era rather than her massive rock hits from the mid 80s onwards so there was very little overlap with “Simply The Best”. The film’s plot is mainly based around that part of Tina’s life leading up to the climax of her finally leaving her abusive relationship with Ike. Only two tracks feature on both albums – “What’s Love Got To Do With It” (unsurprisingly) and “Nutbush City Limits”. Add to that the power of a popular film and its ability to sell soundtracks (look at how The Bodyguard OST flew off the shelves) and I don’t really know why I was surprised at its success at all.

There were two sets at Glastonbury this year that I watched in full (on TV you understand as we established weeks ago that I’ve never actually been to Glastonbury). One was Paul McCartney (along with millions of other people) but the second was a bit more of a surprising choice – to me as much as anybody – and that was Saint Etienne. I found myself alone in the house on the Saturday afternoon with wife and child out and so I tuned into the Glasto coverage. Saint Etienne were on and I watched their whole set from start to finish and enjoyed it.

I was surprised at how deep their catalogue was and that they had far more decent tunes than I remembered but more than that I enjoyed their live performance which was a huge improvement on the last time I saw them 30 years previously. Yes, around 1993 I caught them in Manchester on the So Tough tour. They were supported by a pre-mainstream Pulp who were by far the better band on the night. Sarah Cracknell and co played for 43 minutes with backing tapes and at the end of their set Sarah said “We don’t do encores, we’re not a rock band”. I wasn’t impressed.

Fast forward to 2022 and Sarah seemed in a much better mood and genuinely happy that the band could still command an audience. She was even still rocking the feather boa look she wore on this TOTP and her backing singer still had the same bob haircut. The song they perform on the show here – “Who Do You Think You Are” – was actually a double A-side with “Hobart Paving” with the former actually being a cover of a 1974 hit from Opportunity Knocks winners Candlewick Green. No really. I mean that most sincerely folks (ask your parents, kids!).

The single peaked at No 23 but they would return with the wonderful but cruelly ignored Xmas single “I Was Born On Christmas Day” with national treasure Tim Burgess of The Charlatans.

Oh and one final thing. Why is Ian ‘Mac’ McCulloch* of Echo And The Bunnymen on drums in this performance?!

* I know it’s not really him

That didn’t take long! Ace Of Base are No 1 already with “All That She Wants”. After the second best selling single of the year made its debut earlier in the show via UB40, here comes 1993’s third best selling single. Not surprising really as it was No 1 in just about every country in Europe and also in the US.

I didn’t get it though. Sure it was catchy but it was also intensely annoying which is not something I’m looking for in a record. Apparently though Ace Of Base have quite the legacy with artists like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Clean Bandit and even Beck have quoted them as an influence.

Perhaps rather stupidly I always thought the line ‘all that she wants is another baby’ meant that the song’s protagonist literally wanted another baby (i.e. becoming pregnant). It turns out – and I surely would have realised this if I’d bothered to listen to the lyrics more closely – the word ‘baby’ referred to a sexual partner and perhaps more explicitly a one night stand. The clue is in the very next line ‘she’s gone tomorrow’. How did I misunderstand this?!

https://youtu.be/dp8SKcXLQPI

Order of appearance	Artist	Title	Did I buy it?
1	Felix	Stars	As if
2	UB40	(I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You	Nah
3	Luther Vandross	Little Miracles (Happen Every Day)	No
4	Bon Jovi	In Your Arms	No but I had the album as a CD promo
5	Charles And Eddie	House Is Not A Home	Never!
6	Runrig	The Greatest Flame	Nope
7	Dire Straits	Encores EP	Not for me thanks
8	Spin Doctors	Two Princes	Thought I did but can’t find it anywhere
9	House Of Pain	Jump Around	My wife had the 12″ single
10	Tina Turner	I Don’t Wanna Fight	I did not
11	Saint Etienne	Who Do You Think You Are	No – that 1993 gig put me off
12	Ace Of Base	All That She Wants	And 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/m001b0cd/top-of-the-pops-21051993

TOTP 13 AUG 1992

Posted on March 19, 2022 by 80stastic

The curse of Adrian Rose has struck again meaning we have missed another show and therefore gone straight to the middle of August 1992 and what an exciting time it was. Two days after this TOTP aired, the all new, singing and dancing (literally in the case of Sky Sports cheerleaders the Sky Strikers) FA Premier League started. My beloved Chelsea prepared for this new era by signing striker Robert Fleck from Norwich City for a club record £2.1 million just 24 hours previously. It would prove to be a disastrous waste of money as Fleck scored just 4 goals in 48 appearances for Chelsea and started a ongoing trend of the club buying big reputation forwards that would turn out to be flops.

Tonight’s opening act similarly came with a big reputation as pop’s next big thing and although they suffered a few flops initially, they would eventually find the form to bag themselves a shed load of massive chart hits and certainly more than the four times Fleck rippled the net.

Having scored their first chart hit with “It Only Takes A Minute” just a few weeks before, Take That weren’t hanging around when it came to a follow up. Now I always thought that like its predecessor, “I Found Heaven” was a cover version but it isn’t. It was written by producer Ian Levine and singer Billy Griffin, the guy who replaced Smokey Robinson as lead vocalist of The Miracles. It turns out that the band always hated the track with a passion. Gary Barlow described it in his autobiography as “truly fucking awful” and “the worst song of my and Take That’s career”. Ouch! It is the only song recorded by the group, aside from covers, that was not written by themselves. It features both Barlow and Robbie Williams on joint lead vocals hinting at the competition that was to define their relationship as the band’s fame grew. Poor old Jason Orange didn’t get to sing on it at all apparently as his vocals weren’t considered good enough. Bit like when Robert Fleck didn’t play for Chelsea for six months after being dropped as he was basically pants.

“I Found Heaven” peaked at No 15. Though not completely disastrous, given that “It Only Takes A Minute” had gone to No 7, this probably wasn’t the result that their management team and record label had hoped for. At the very least it must have increased the pressure on their next single release to outscore its predecessor. In the end, they turned to the Gary Barlow penned ballad “A Million Love Songs” to provide another winner and it duly did the business returning them to the Top 10 and securing their continued success. Their cover of Barry Manilow’s “Could It Be Magic” would give them a fourth consecutive hit when it went all the way to No 3 over Xmas. In comparison, it took Robert Fleck the best part of two years to put the ball in the net four times for Chelsea.

Fleck wasn’t the only striker involved in a high profile transfer around this time. On 7th August, Manchester United signed Dion Dublin from Cambridge United for £1 million. Like Fleck, the future Homes Under The Hammer presenter didn’t have a great time at his new club as a broken leg restricted him to just 12 appearances for them. He still scored more than double the goals Fleck did in those games but that’s not the point. The reason I mention him is because I was working in the Our Price store in Market Street, Manchester at the time of Dixon’s signing and one day he came into the shop! My colleague Justin was a big United fan and soon came onto the shop floor to ask him for his autograph. For some reason Justin decided to get him to sign a picture of Dublin’s team mate and England star Bryan Robson. Why Justin thought that was appropriate or why he had a picture of Robson with him at work I know not. Dion seemed to take it all in good humour though and duly signed.

Back to the music and we find one of the more curious hits of the year. A dance version of a Gerry Rafferty easy listening classic? Are you sure? It seemed an insane proposition but then I have personally witnessed in the flesh Robert Fleck score for Chelsea so anything is possible. Seen by some purists as the lowest form of dance music, the masses disagreed and sent “Baker Street” by Undercover spiralling up the charts to No 2.

So who were these chancers? Well, they were a London trio consisting of vocalist John Matthews plus Steve Mac and John Jules who rode a wave to short lived fame much in the same way that KWS did with their cheesy cover of KC and the Sunshine Band’s “Please Don’t Go” earlier in the year. What with those two and, as referenced by host Tony Dortie in his intro, East Side Beat’s danced up treatment of Christopher Cross’s “Ride Like The Wind” in ‘91, this was fast becoming a very lucrative craze.

The unlikely nature of these hits could not be explained by watching the acts performing them on TOTP. Look at this appearance by Undercover for example. Jon Matthews is hardly shimmering with star quality though he has turned up in his best grown up party clothes bless him. The whole thing reeks of the entertainment on a ferry crossing. Actually, I’m not that far off from the truth with that observation for Undercover were a part of the story of that inaugural Premier League season. Whilst watching the documentary Fever Pitch: The Rise Of The Premier League, I noticed that amongst the razzmatazz that Sky brought in to help launch their coverage which included cheerleaders and giant inflatable sumo wrestlers, they also had pop acts do a turn at half time. The idea was that they could do better than the traditional military band that was wheeled out for cup finals during the break. Guess who is clearly sighted as the entertainment in one of the clips? Yep, Undercover.

They would repeat the trick with their next release, their version of Andrew Gold’s “Never Let Her Slip Away” which would be a No 5 hit. One final chart entry (Gallagher and Lyle’s “I Wanna Stay With You”) followed before the game was well and truly up.

One final thing – when Tony Dortie describes it as the “drum ‘n’ bass version of Baker Street“ – what was he thinking?! Here’s Tony with the answer:

I think you'll find I have no idea what I'm talking about, so ignore anything I type x
— Tony Dortie (@TonyDortie) March 19, 2022

From football to the Olympics as the one chart hit that everyone could have predicted happening this year did indeed…erm…happen. I couldn’t stand “Barcelona” by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé first time around in 1987 and its inevitable rerelease for the ‘92 Olympics in Barcelona didn’t change my opinion. What I had never realised was that the track had always been intended to soundtrack the games but had been recorded as early as it was as the selection process for the Olympic theme took place in 1988. As well as being the official song of the games, the BBC used it for the music to their coverage of the action. It was inescapable.

The video shown here has some inserted sporting footage highlighting Team GB successes including Linford Christie, Sally Gunnell, Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent and the Searle brothers Greg and Jonny and their very emotional cox Garry Herbert.

There is a football connection with “Barcelona” as it was performed by Caballé along side a video of the sadly departed Mercury before the 1999 Champions League final between Manchester United and Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona. I didn’t see that performance though as I was working in Our Price in Altrincham that day and was rushing from pub to pub to try and find one that wasn’t packed out already to watch the game.

And another Tony Dortie conundrum – why does he call it Basss–er–lona?

Breaking news! Check this out! More Dortie madness! Dion Dublin and Tony Dortie joined together by the power of #Laterz!

Wow this is madness can some1 please tweet her and ask coincidence or what… hey @GRB1 can you help our #totp Friday Hustlers get to the bottom of this..I've actually never ever heard any1 else ever say #Laterz on TV besides me B4 https://t.co/HmM9fd1SoC
— Tony Dortie (@TonyDortie) March 20, 2022

Stand by for another Twitter outpouring of swooning and lust as it’s time for Betty Boo again! “Let Me Take You There” is her latest single but little did we know it would be her last ever chart hit. I think I’ve commented on what happened to Betty (real name Alison Clarkson) before but in the light of her return to making music under her own name this year, The Guardian did an interview with her just days ago. They asked her about disappearing from the world of pop and the circumstances behind it. She’d lost her Mum, Dad and Aunty within a short space of time and so retreated into family life, looking after her Gran. As Alison described it:

“To be a pop star you have to be full-whack all the time and I just melted.”

The last time she was on the show, Betty had an all female backing band but this time the TOTP producers have got her completely solo and performing against some sort of Summer beach background complete with palm trees, a deck chair and sea shells. They’ve obviously decided it’s a Summery song and should be styled accordingly. Would you wear that check outfit Betty has on to the beach including high heels though?

“Let Me Take You There“ peaked at No 12.

We might all have been forgiven for thinking this would be the last we would see of 2 Unlimited. A run of three Top 5 singles all taken from their “Get Ready!” album was brought to an end when a fourth single release “The Magic Friend” didn’t make the Top 10. Had we finally got fed up of their brand of brainless Euro techno rave? This one was particularly banal with it seemingly just consisting of a collection of disparate synthetic noises held together by a headache inducing synth riff, some Jean Michel Jarre flourishes and Ray chanting “The magic friend is what I am”. To mix it up a bit Anita would chime in with “The magic friend is what he is”. Ah, I see what she did there. I for one did not predict them returning the following year with a No 1 album and single in “No Limits”. The year of TOTP repeats for 1993 is shaping up to be utterly dreadful.

There’s five Breakers this week – one more than Robert Fleck’s two year total goal tally for Chelsea! We start with Queensrÿche who I knew little of then and my knowledge hasn’t improved over the last 30 years. What I did know though was that they weren’t from Germany as Tony Dortie informs us – they’re from Bellevue, Washington in the US Tony!

Apart from sounding like a song title Muse might come up with, “Silent Lucidity” was a single from their “Empire” album which is the only album of theirs that I could name but I certainly don’t remember how it went. Let’s have a listen now…

…hmm. A lot more melodic sounding than I was expecting. I thought they were a heavy rock act. Must have been one of their more reflective moments. “Silent Lucidity” was the band’s biggest hit peaking at No 18.

For the first half of 1992, if you were browsing the racks in your record shop of choice, the chances were that when you got to the divider that said The Smiths on it you’d find an empty space. They was certainly the case in our shop anyway. After Rough Trade went bankrupt at the end of the 80s, the band’s back catalogue was purchased by WEA Records (later to become Warner Music). As they planned a whole re-issue strategy for the band’s music, once any existing copies were sold they could not be reordered. I guess the plan was to aggrandise The Smiths material thereby creating a whole new appetite for it.

The first release that WEA put together was a compilation called “Best…1”. At the time, one of my work colleagues was Our Price legend ‘Knoxy’ who’s brother worked for Warner and who was heavily involved in The Smiths re-issue project. He may have even been responsible for choosing which tracks would go on “Best…1”. It was a thankless task as the band’s fan base were/are very protective of and precious about their heroes’ material. These things mattered. The album was finally released the Monday after this TOTP aired and despite mostly unfavourable reaction from fans and press alike to the track listing which seemed a bit random and included B-sides and album cuts as well as singles, it went straight to No 1 on the album chart. A second volume followed in November but only managed a high of No 29.

“This Charming Man” had been decided upon as the single to promote the album – their first chart hit and one of their most recognisable songs. It made sense I guess. So much has been written about the track (including by me in my TOTP 80s blog) that I don’t intend to regurgitate its history again here. Suffice to say that the 1992 rerelease went to No 8 in the singles chart making it, at a stroke, the band’s biggest ever hit.

Who’s this? Felix? Felix da Housecat?

*checks Wikipedia*

No, that’s someone else apparently. This Felix was a guy from Chelmsford, Essex called Francis Wright and who was responsible for this dance anthem “Don’t You Want Me”. Unlike Betty Boo’s recent return to pop music with her “Love Action (I Believe In Love)” sampling new single, this was nothing to do with The Human League. As with many these dance tunes, I remember the riff but I couldn’t have told you the artist or track details. Maybe that was the whole point – if you were off on one in a club, just recognising the riff might be enough to trigger you into action on the dance floor? Did you need to know who was behind the tune or what it was called? I dunno. I wasn’t in any clubs at this time as I was skint.

“Don’t You Want Me” was a hit three times in the 90s in various remixes but none were bigger than this 1992 original which made it to No 6.

They’re doing that weird thing with the Breakers again in allocating one of the slots to an act we’ve already seen on the show in full due to an exclusive performance or in the case of Jon Secada, the US charts feature. “Just Another Day” is up to No 8 this week which surely makes it a bona fide big hit rather than a Breaker?

The video is Jon performing with his band mainly in black and white apart from when he’s cavorting about on a beach when the film turns a sepia tone. Apparently Gloria Estefan turns up at the end of the video but I can’t be arsed to watch the whole thing just to confirm or deny this on account of the whole thing being terminally dull.

The final Breaker is a duet from Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson taken from the soundtrack to a film I never got round to seeing – Mo’Money. People seemed to go crazy for “The Best Things In Life Are Free” as it soared up the charts to No 2 though it did very little for me. It was one of those songs that also hung around the charts for ages clocking up 13 weeks in total. Apparently this was a New Edition reunion of sorts with Bell Biv DeVoe and Ralph Tresvant appearing on the track (the latter’s involvement though was restricted to one spoken line).

The video doesn’t actually feature Luther or Janet (even though the lyrics do when they name check themselves) but instead has the leads from the film Damon Wayans and Stacey Dash lip synching to it set against the backdrop of a fairground.

The best things in life are free eh? Someone should have told Chelsea in 1992 – Robert Fleck wasn’t free at £2.1 million and he certainly wasn’t the best.

It’s another ‘exclusive’ performance again and a second one this year for Annie Lennox I believe. “Walking On Broken Glass” was the third single from her “Diva” album (we seem to have missed her second single from it “Precious”) and like lead single “Why”, it was a huge airplay hit. Radio ubiquity aside, there were no other similarities with its predecessor certainly not in musical terms. Sprightly where “Why” was downbeat, its spiky, jagged strings lay down an engaging foundation for Annie to layer her soulful vocals on.

The staging for this one with orchestral string backing and a shed load of candles works pretty well. The show did seem to throw some resource at these ‘exclusive’ slots I have to say. Annie herself looks great. She recently released a no filter/no makeup photo of herself at 67 years of age and she still looks amazing.

BBC4 had a mini Annie evening last Friday showing a gig of hers from 2009 at LSO St Luke’s and an interview from 1992 to promote her “Diva” album. In the interview she said that she wasn’t missing Dave Stewart after two years of not working with him but give it another seven years and the two would reconvene for one final Eurythmics album in 1999 called “Peace”.

“Walking On Broken Glass” would go Top 10 just as “Why” had and as I recall helped instigate another wave of sales for an album that had already been out four months.

There’s a Top 10 countdown in the proper place in the show finally as we segue in a timely fashion into the No 1 record which is Snap! with “Rhythm Is A Dancer”. Taken from the group’s “The Madman’s Return” album, I had always assumed it was the lead single from it but it wasn’t. There was a single before it called “Colour Of Love” which was a massive hit all around Europe…except here. In the UK it was a flop peaking at a lowly No 54.

Not even we could resist the follow up though which went to No 1 in a dozen or so countries. Apparently rapper Turbo B had insisted on “Colour Of Love” being the lead single as he hated the ‘serious as cancer’ lyric in “Rhythm Is A Dancer” but the group’s producers had disagreed. They won the battle for the follow up single though and the rest is history. Turbo B would leave the band before the third single “Exterminate!” was released.

Postscript: Robert Fleck left Chelsea in 1995 to return to Norwich City. He played four times for Scotland scoring zero goals (obvs). After a spell in football management , he now works as a Teaching Assistant at a school for children with special needs. He also funded trips for 18 months for a child with a terminal condition. Robert Fleck then. Terrible Chelsea striker but one of life’s good guys.

Laterz!

Order of appearance	Artist	Title	Did I buy it?
1	Take That	I Found Heaven	Of course not!
2	Undercover	Baker Street	No
3	Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé	Barcelona	Barce-no-na
4	Betty Boo	Let Me Take You There	No but I had a promo copy of the album
5	2 Unlimited	The Magic Friend	Hell no!
6	Queensrÿche	Silent Lucidity	Nah
7	The Smiths	This Charming Man	No but I have Hatful of Hollow with it on
8	Felix	Don’t You Want Me	No I didn’t
9	Jon Secada	Just Another Day	Nope
10	Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson	The Best Things In Life Are Free	Negative
11	Annie Lennox	Walking On Broken Glass	No but my wife has the album Diva
12	Snap!	Rhythm Is A Dancer	And 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/m0015f8z/top-of-the-pops-13081992

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My memories of 90s chart music

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