Robert Palmer

TOTP 28 JUL 1994

Posted on May 3, 2023 by 80stastic

It’s back to the regular presenters this week after the distraction of Julian Clary last time out and it’s the revitalised Bruno Brookes in the chair who I’m starting to have a sneaking regard for second time around. I couldn’t stand the bloke in the 80s but 90s Bruno seems more likeable somehow. Maybe it’s just that he isn’t Simon ‘Smug’ Mayo who has been more irritating than dandruff in these TOTP repeats. Maybe I should take the advice of that Hammerstein and Rodgers tune and “Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair”. Well, I’ve got just the thing in the first act on tonight – it’s Shampoo! Don’t worry, I’ll be getting me coat later.

Anyway, I said in the last post I’d take a deeper dive into the story of Jacqui Blake and Carrie Askew so here goes…Like most of us I’m guessing, I wasn’t aware of Shampoo until this hit “Trouble” made the charts but they had already released two singles before that which had received encouraging reviews in the music press but didn’t…ahem…’trouble’ the chart compilers. I found them both on YouTube (they don’t seem to be on Spotify) and they’re definitely spiky of attitude but low on production values. Wikipedia describes them as being typical of the ‘riot grrrl’ movement – I’m not sure I know enough about that particular subculture to make any judgement on that statement but I always thought that bands associated with that scene were a bit more hardcore than our two girls from Plumstead.

Regardless, “Blisters And Bruises” and “Bouffant Headbutt” brought them to the attention of Blur’s record label Food and resulted in the release of the much more radio friendly “Trouble”. The tale of two party girls who’d stayed out too late and missed the night bus home, it was, depending on your point of view, a breath of fresh air to liven up a stagnant chart or just plain dumb. I think I was in the former camp. On reflection though, hadn’t we seen this all before. Whilst there were comparisons made with the bubblegum rock of Transvision Vamp and even the post-punk of The Slits, the most glaringly obvious example was Fuzzbox. An all-girl band with a punk look who released some edgy material on an independent label before being picked up by a major who polished up their sound, image and even their name and turning them into bona fide pop stars. It’s a valid comparison I think.

“Trouble” would rise to No 11 and saw Jacqui and Carrie on the front cover of Smash Hits. Somehow they seemed to have successfully trodden a path between credibility and commerciality. An album (“We Are Shampoo”) duly followed but that’s where the spell appeared to break. Despite doing well in Japan, it stiffed in the UK only making No 45 on the charts. It did furnish two more minor hit singles but “Trouble” would be their defining song, its profile raised by being included on the soundtrack to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers film causing the single to be re-released in 1995 (it made No 36).

Jacqui and Carrie do a pretty good job of selling the song in this performance with the former pioneering the schoolgirl look well before Britney Spears came along. I watched this TOTP with my wife in the room and she said “Trouble” sounded like something from Horrid Henry. She might have a point.

It’s those EYC berks again next. How was it possible that these US boy band lightweights managed to get six UK Top 40 hits? I’ll tell you how – because the charts were completely bonkers when it came to any sort of identity. Just in this week alone you had the following artists all rubbing shoulders with each other:

The Prodigy
Mariah Carey
Michael Ball
PJ & Duncan
Galliano
The Three Tenors
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Kate Bush and Larry Adler

Pick the bones out of that lot! Not included on that list were our own boy bands in the shape of Take That and Bad Boys Inc which you might have thought fulfilled the boy band quota for one week but no, there was still room for one more and so EYC gladly took that spot. “Black Book” was the fourth of those aforementioned six hits and also the biggest when it peaked at No 13. EYC stood for ‘Express Yourself Clearly’ but with this track, they expressed themselves as clearly wanting to sound like Michael Jackson. Actually, let me express myself more clearly – a third rate, piss poor Michael Jackson impersonator more like. It’s bad to quote the King of Pop himself.

Not this lot again! The problem with having a stagnant chart with lots of records hanging around for ages was that it meant they warranted multiple repeat appearances on TOTP. How many times is this for All 4 One now? Three? Four? They’re showing that live by satellite performance of them walking along the beach while singing “I Swear” this week. The track stayed at No 2 for seven consecutive weeks and would end the year as the UK’s fifth best selling single outperforming a host of No 1 records by the likes of Mariah Carey, Tony Di Bart, Take That and Prince.

The track was originally recorded by country singer Jon Michael Montgomery and it actually makes more sense when done in that style to me. More of a solid song somehow as opposed to the drippy, harmonies-fest that All 4 One turn it into.

And here’s another of those songs that hung around the charts like a particularly eggy fart. Just like All 4 One before them, this must be the third or fourth time on the show for Let Loose. Also just like All 4 One, their single (“Crazy For You”) would end up in the Top 10 of the best selling singles in the UK for 1994 despite never getting to No 1 clocking in at No 8. Their guitarist seemed to still have Chesney Hawkes hair three years on. Even Chezza had given it up as a bad idea by then. Meanwhile, the drummer seemed intent on showing the watching millions that he really had perfected that trick of twirling one drumstick in the air whilst carrying on playing. And the lead singer? He looks like that annoying best looking guy at school who always had girls flirting with him whilst the rest of us spotty herberts looked on enviously. Git.

https://youtu.be/ZVkrduKT61w

If it’s 1994 (or indeed 1993), there must be at least one reggae-infused song on the show every week (I think it was the law) so here’s one we haven’t seen before. “Compliments On Your Kiss” by Red Dragon with Brian and Tony Gold was a mouthful to say but it didn’t stop punters going up to the counter of their record shop of choice and asking for it as it would sell enough copies to go all the way to No 2.

So who were these hitmakers? Well, Red Dragon was Leroy May, a Jamaican DJ who played with a number of sound systems and recorded for King Tubby in the 80s before founding his own label and moving into production. As the 90s rolled around, he returned to recording and collaborated with Sly and Robbie who co-wrote and produced “Compliments On Your Kiss”. As for Brian and Tony Gold, they weren’t actually brothers (real names Brian Thompson and Tony Morrison) who had been working together since competing in Jamaican talent contests in the mid 80s.

Enough of their biographies though, what about the song? Well, on reflection, it sounds like it belongs to another era altogether with its gentle, lilting melody…until Mr Red Dragon himself (I’m assuming that’s him up there on stage) starts toasting and drags it into the 90s. He bangs on about some woman having a sexy body and driving him crazy (how predictable) and even gets in that “number one girl in the world” line that was so prevalent around this time. For some reason it reminds me of that song “Hello Darling” by Tippa Irie from the 80s. Similar vibe. Leroy May died in 2015 aged just 49. “Compliments On Your Kiss” was his only UK chart hit.

It’s The Three Tenors time again who are in the charts with the double A-side single “Libiamo / La Donna E Mobile”. This was of course José Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti but it always seemed that the former two were in the latter’s shadow (no size jokes please). Even Bruno Brookes refers to them as Pavarotti and pals. I guess he was a dominating figure with his frame and beard but I wonder if ‘the other two’ ever felt slighted? They look like they’re all getting on in this performance taken from the 1994 World Cup concert and was that French actor Alain Delon that the camera picks out in the audience at one point?

Oh, what a surprise a reggae/pop crossover song. After Red Dragon earlier, here’s another one from China Black. Maybe it was a legal requirement back then! Is it just me or does “Searching” sound a bit like “Don’t Turn Around” by Aswad and a cover of which was back in the charts at this time courtesy of Ace Of Base? Anyway, as the TOTP caption says, Errol was still working as a town planner while “Searching” was in the charts which got me thinking about how many other pop stars were still holding down ‘normal’ jobs simultaneously? It’s quite a hard category to pin down. There’s plenty of pop stars who had regular jobs before they were famous and also a big list of ex-chart acts who went onto to more mundane careers after the hits dried up but actually holding down a 9-5er whilst in the charts at the same time? Not so easy. One I do know of though is Haircut 100 percussionist Marc Fox who was still working as a German teacher whilst playing with the band and left some exam papers on a British Midland plane whilst flying back from a gig in Scotland.

Which duo’s had more Top 10 hits than The Everly Brothers and Pet Shop Boys? Well, Erasure according to Bruno Brookes in his intro. Was that true? Let’s do a quick bit of counting…

*Checks discographies*

No it bloody isn’t by my adding up! “Run To The Sun” was Erasure’s 14th Top 10 hit up to this point in time. The Everly Brothers had 13 but Pet Shop Boys had 15 – that’s if we’re going on UK Top 10 singles (I haven’t counted hits in every country). I hate it when the TOTP presenters make claims that are best disputed and worst just wrong. As for the song itself, I’d lost touch with Erasure by 1994 and don’t remember this one at all. but then it’s not that memorable. All a bit basic and too linear. All the typical Erasure components are there but it was starting to sound a bit too familiar by then – to me anyway. Sorry guys.

https://youtu.be/aSsj-nYxHUA

It’s nine weeks at No 1 for Wet Wet Wet and “Love Is All Around”. I’m nearly out of things to say and there’s another six weeks to go after this!

OK, how about a reference to the version that appears in Love Actually courtesy of Billy Nighy. What was Richard Curtis thinking?! Well, presumably he thought it worked for me in Four Weddings And A Funeral so I’ll just use it again except this time, as it’s a festive film, I’ll add the word ‘Christmas’ into it. Correct me if I’m wrong but plot wise, isn’t it meant to be an awful rendition of the song and therefore, the fact that it ends up as the Christmas No 1 is a comment on the nation’s bizarre buying habits come December? Mr. Blobby anyone? In that case, why was it released as an actual single in the real world? Was it to construct a perfect example of life imitating art as it did when the single made the Top 30? Or was it just an observation that the good old British public would buy any old shite if it meant getting to see some bloke waving his dick about on telly? For those who haven’t seen the film and who are confused by that last comment, the Bill Nighy character Billy Mack is a fading rock ‘n’ roll star who tries to revive his career with a Christmas record and promises in an interview with Michael Parkinson that if it gets to No 1, he’ll go naked on TV. And that’s me done for this week’s instalment of ‘Finding something to say about Love Is All Around’. Join me next week where I’ll cobble together some more…well…cobblers to say about it.

As has been the case most weeks, it seems head TOTP producer Ric Blaxill was still struggling to know what to do with the play out song section of the show as he searched for a permanent identity for it. He’d already tried showcasing newly released singles that would ultimately end up not making the Top 40 and also doing away with the section altogether by just letting the No 1 play over the credits. This week was another new idea as we got a track from an album that wasn’t released as a single. The album was “The Glory Of Gershwin” which was a tribute album featuring various artists to celebrate the 80th birthday of American harmonica player Larry Adler who was a lifelong friend of George and Ira Gershwin. The album was a massive seller going to No 2 in the charts and included contributions from perhaps what could be described as the usual suspects like Sting, Elton John and the aforementioned Kate Bush whose take on “The Man I Love” was released as a single. However, that isn’t the track that TOTP chose to go with. No, that honour went to “I Got Rhythm” by Robert Palmer even though it was never released as a single. I think Blaxill must have been a bit of a Robert fan as the super smooth singer was on the show earlier in the year with “Girl U Want” which only got as far as No 57. No complaints from me as I like a bit of Palmer now and then but his inclusion here doesn’t seem to help establish the identity of the show.

Order of appearance	Artist	Title	Did I buy it?
1	Shampoo	Trouble	No
2	EYC	Black book	As if
3	All 4 One	I Swear	Nope
4	Let Loose	Crazy For You	No but my wife did
5	Red Dragon with Brian and Tony Gold	Compliments On Your Kiss	I did not
6	The Three Tenors	Libiamo / La Donna E Mobile	Negative
7	China Black	Searching	Nah
8	Erasure	Run To The Sun	It’s a no from me
9	Wet Wet Wet	Love Is All Around	Didn’t happen
10	Robert Palmer	I Got Rhythm	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/m001l56l/top-of-the-pops-28071994

TOTP 16 JUN 1994

Posted on April 13, 2023 by 80stastic

It’s the middle of June 1994 and before we get started on this week’s TOTP, it’s time I popped back into my personal life to see what I was up to back then. After three moves in four months at work, I’d ended up back where I’d started my career at Our Price at the Market Street store in Manchester. Despite being apprehensive initially, I’d kind of settled into being back there and was about to clock up a solid six months when everything changed again. The store manager took me aside one day and told me that he’d got a job at HMV (traitor!) and would be leaving soon. Fair play, good luck to him and all that but his change of employer would have ramifications for me.

The manager asked to replace him was my old boss at the Market Street store who I liked and so I had no concerns about him coming in. Unfortunately, he had some concerns about me. It was nothing personal but he was overseeing the start up of two new Our Price stores at Manchester airport and would continue with that as well as managing the Market Street branch. As such, he wouldn’t be around that much and wanted a more experienced Assistant Manager than me in place and so a guy from down South who wanted a move up North was transferred into my position.

So where did that leave me? Area management shunted me up the road to the Piccadilly store. It was my worst nightmare come true. The Piccadilly store had quite the reputation for a…let’s say ‘colourful’ clientele. In other words it’s where all the scallies and shoplifters hung out. They employed a full time security guard there (we didn’t have one at Market Street). Plus, they were a single floor store and the trading area was massive which made it hard to police plus a lot of work to make it look appealing to customers. We had two floors at Market Street but they were much smaller in size and much more manageable. To say I wasn’t keen on going there was an understatement. Somebody jokingly wrote in my leaving card that he’d heard they’d installed gun turrets at Piccadilly to control the scallies. Gulp! In the end, I lasted about five months in Piccadilly and hated nearly every minute. Not long after I arrived, the security guard left and a new guy came in. I’d had a look in the previous incumbent’s security log one day and it was full of entries that just said ‘nothing to report’. My experience of the store couldn’t have been further removed from that assessment. The new security bloke was shit hot at catching shoplifters and I spent most of my days sat with him and his latest capture in the shop kitchen waiting for the police to arrive. The previous guy had worn a security outfit and spent most his time chatting to the staff as far as I could see. This new fella wore ‘undercover’ clothes and loved nothing more than apprehending thieves and there seemed to be lots of them to catch. I just wanted to sell some records to punters. I didn’t want any of this. My time there will probably influence my opinions on the songs on TOTP for the next few months as most of them I associate with my miserable experience in Piccadilly. You have been warned.

Right. With all that said, it’s time for the show and we have another ‘golden mic’ guest presenter this week in the form of Angus Deayton. You remember him. The gangly looking bloke who hosted Have I Got News For You and was in One Foot In The Grave as Victor Meldrew’s neighbour. Whatever happened to him? Well, the short answer is cocaine and prostitutes. In May 2002, The News Of The World exposed his extra curricular activities leading to an excruciating appearance on HIGNFY where he was mercilessly teased by Paul Merton and Ian Hislop. After more allegations in the October, Deayton was dismissed from the show and despite continuing to work in TV and radio, his media profile has never been as high since. Back in 1994 though, his choice as TOTP host made perfect sense. He was a confident presenter and his suave demeanour even led to him being labelled as ‘TV’s Mr Sex’ in Time Out magazine. Oh the irony.

The first act Deayton has to introduce are The Grid who are riding high in the charts with their hit “Swamp Thing”. There’s a lot going on in this performance and most of it is pretty weird. I have to start with the banjo player who is hooked up to some machinery which is giving me heavy A Clockwork Orange vibes, specifically the scene where Alex undergoes aversion therapy with his eyes pulled permanently open. Then there’s the guy who seems to have fashioned himself a crown of safety pins. Finally, the fact that everyone on stage is dressed head to toe in white and safety pin guy has the slogan ‘No pain, no gain’ in big black letters on his top makes it all look like you’re watching Wham! performing “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” in their ‘Choose Life’ T-shirts but if you were coming down from a bad trip. As I said, decidedly weird.

Just when I thought the time of 2 Unlimited was coming to an end and despite their last single being on its way down the charts at No 32 this week, the TOTP producers have still managed to manufacture yet another slot for them to appear on the show. “No One” was a track from their album “Real Things” which, rather surprisingly to me, was the No 1 album this particular week. It would eventually be released as a single three months later and peaked at No 17 which presents the frightening prospect of it being on the show again a few weeks down the line. For all the accusations against them that their songs all sounded the same, this one was slightly different. I mean, it wasn’t a big ballad or anything but it didn’t t seem to have that 2 Unlimited bpm urgency. In fact, it sounds like any other Eurodance hit of the time which wasn’t a good thing either in my book. Oh, and what was with the oversized wrap around glasses the backing band are wearing? Was it meant to represent anonymity, as in ‘No One’. I’m probably overthinking it which I doubt 2 Unlimited did.

https://youtu.be/15ucWhy9eKQ

It’s the video for “Anytime You Need A Friend” by Mariah Carey next. You may recall that she flew over to appear on the show in person to perform the song the other week. Wikipedia informs me that this was the first promo in which Mariah has straightened hair as opposed to her cascading curls. And the world was never the same again.

Talking of world altering events, an NHS choir called Breathe Harmony recorded a version of the song during the COVID-19 pandemic with contributions from over 100 staff recorded at home on mobile phones that were put together into one video. That film came to the attention of Mariah herself who tweeted that it had brought tears to her eyes (in a good way). The recording was eventually released as a single to raise money for two NHS charities. Mariah’s original peaked at No 8 in the UK.

Finally a D:Ream hit that isn’t a re-release of a previous single. After “Things Can Only Get Better” (once) and “U R The Best Thing” (twice) had been given the re-release treatment to great effect realising No 1 and No 4 hits respectively, here comes “Take Me Away”. However, like its predecessors, it was a track on the band’s debut album “D:Ream On Volume 1”. Truth be told, it’s not a great song and this was reflected in its chart peak of No 18. It probably should gave remained an album track. Peter Cunnah sounds ever so slightly out of breath doing a live vocal here and he’s also not wearing his trademark chequered suit. Maybe the two are related – no suit equals laboured vocals, like Samson and his lack of strength once his hair was cut off.

Professor Brian Cox watch update: That’s not him again is it?

Twice in the same show?! After pulling a fast one to get 2 Unlimited on the show once more, the TOTP producers have done the same again for Toni Braxton. Not content with having been a regular on the show for the whole of 1994, Ric Blaxill and co have come up with a way of squeezing her into the running order despite not having a single that was in the charts at the time. Again like 2 Unlimited before her, “Love Shoulda Brought You Home” would would eventually be released from her album and become a No 33 hit. Unlike 2 Unlimited, the song was actually her debut single release (in the US) back in 1992. It also appeared on the soundtrack to the Eddie Murphy movie Boomerang alongside Boyz II Men’s “End Of The Road”.

As for the performance here, is this the first time Toni has been in the TOTP studio in person? In the past she seems to have done a lot of those live by satellite turns. A more pertinent question though might be why has she been styled to look like Halle Berry in the film version of The Flintstones?

We do have a live by satellite performance next but as Toni Braxton was over in the UK anyway, the slot has gone to Spin Doctors who are showcasing their song “Cleopatra’s Cat”, the lead single from their sophomore album “Turn It Upside Down”. I don’t wish to be unkind but this was utterly pointless from start to finish. Firstly, the song is dreadful – it sounds like it was worked up out of a noodling jam session and some nonsensical lyrics were overlaid as a guide vocal. Ah yes the lyrics – some meandering bollocks about Roman general Mark Antony not being able to outwit the cat of his girlfriend Cleopatra, the ruler of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC. I’m sure it’s probably a metaphor for something but really, who cares? It was certainly no “Two Princes”.

Secondly, theres the staging of it. How we were meant to get excited about seeing some disheveled hippy types performing on a boat on the East River surrounded by some skyscrapers, I’m not sure. “Cleopatra’s Cat” peaked at No 29 and was their last UK Top 40 hit.

Still with Chaka Demus and Pliers? In the Summer of 1994? Fear not though as “I Wanna Be Your Man” would be their penultimate UK Top 40 hit. Yet another track from their “Tease Me” album, this one is nothing to do with the Lennon -McCartney song recorded by both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones but rather is the usual staple we’d come to expect from the duo with Pliers singing about a “sexy lady”and getting the “cherry from the cherry tree” before Chaka Demus blows in like a foghorn with his toasting. He even begins with a “Here me know” – please spare us.

After one final hit with “Gal Wine”, they would try (and fail) to score a further hit in 1996 with a cover of “Every Kinda People” by Robert Palmer talking of whom…

I don’t think Robert Palmer had been on TOTP since he performed his Marvin Gaye mashup hit “Mercy Mercy Me / I Want You” in 1990. The most likely reason for this would be that he hadn’t had any UK Top 40 hits since then and this new single “Girl U Want” would not reverse that trend peaking at No 57. So why was he on the show then?Maybe it was a change of direction brought in by new producer Ric Blaxill where the artist’s name and fame was considered bigger and more important than their chart position? In any case, it fitted in with the unconventionality of this particular show being, as it was, the third song on that wasn’t a current hit single after 2 Unlimited and Toni Braxton.

I didn’t know until now that this was actually a cover of a track by US New Wavers Devo but it is although it’s definitely been given the Palmer treatment. He’s made it sound like a companion piece to his 1988 song “Simply Irresistible” which is no bad thing in my book. Bob looks as suave as ever in this performance though I do wonder if many of the youths in the studio audience had a clue who he was. Tragically, Palmer would be dead in nine years from a heart attack.

Right, how many weeks are we up to for Wet Wet Wet’s version of “Love Is All Around” being at No 1? Three is it? Just another twelve to go after this then! Maybe it’s time to discuss the original recording of the song now. Asked to name any songs by The Troggs, I’d have got “Wild Thing” and “Love Is All Around” and probably nothing else. It turns out though that in addition to those two, they had another six Top 40 hits between 1966 and 1968 including a No 1 (“With A Girl Like You”). After that point, the hits quickly vanished and a reluctance to tour in the US until 1968 meant they failed to consolidate on the success of “Wild Thing” topping the charts over there.

Changes of record label failed to improve the band’s commercial fortunes and even resorting to the extreme option of re-recording “Wild Thing” with Oliver Reed and Alex Higgins failed to make a splash (if you don’t count Reed’s infamous drunken promotional appearance on The Word). They did, however, earn some credibility points when they recorded an album with REM called “Athens Andover” in the early 90s. The collaboration came about after Michael Stipe and co had covered “Love Is All Around” in concert. Wanna hear it? OK then…

Better than the Wets version? I’ll leave that for you to decide. Troggs lead singer Reg Presley famously spent the royalties from it on researching crop circles and UFOs releasing his findings in a book published in 2002 called Wild Things They Don’t Tell Us.

The play out song this week is another cover version – “Word Up” as done by Gun. Originally a hit for Cameo in 1986 of course, these Scottish rockers recorded it for the lead single of their third album “Swagger” to reactivate a career which had stalled rather since their debut hit “Better Days” in 1989. As we have seen so many times in these TOTP reviews, cover versions are a great way of securing a chart hit when one is needed and so it was with “Word Up” which gave Gun their biggest ever hit when it made No 8. I always quite liked their rock-tastic take on the track but I would have sworn it came out later in the decade than 1994. Five years on, Mel B also had a hit with a cover of “Word Up” taking her version to No 13.

Order of appearance	Artist	Title	Did I buy it?
1	The Grid	Swamp Thing	No
2	2 Unlimited	No One	As if
3	Mariah Carey	Anytime You Need A Friend	Nah
4	D:Ream	Take Me Away	I did not
5	Toni Braxton	Love Shoulda Brought You Home	Nope
6	Spin Doctors	Cleopatra’s Cat	No chance
7	Chaka Demus and Pliers	I Wanna Be Your Man	Never happening
8	Robert Palmer	Girl U Want	Negative
9	Wet Wet Wet	Love Is All Around	I didn’t
10	Gun	Word Up	Liked it, didn’t buy it

Disclaimer

I make no claim to the rights of this show and all ownership and contents including logos and graphics belongs totally to the BBC or copyright holder(s).

All opinions on the music and artists featured are my own. Sorry if you don’t agree.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001kkll/top-of-the-pops-16061994

TOTP 24 JAN 1991

Posted on June 8, 2021 by 80stastic

A truncated edition of the show this week – the BBC seemed to have lopped 5 minutes off it which means no play out video after the No 1 single and no Breakers. I’m guessing this is to do with additional news coverage of the continuing Gulf War. It is, however, back in its usual Thursday time slot. The host tonight is Simon Mayo who I am beginning to find increasingly smug and annoying – whether I felt like this at the time or not, I don’t know.

There’s a definite theme of recycling in this TOTP as we start with a song that was originally a Top 10 hit for Patrice Rushen back in 1982. “Forget Me Nots” was given the UK electro dance treatment 9 years later by Tongue ‘N’ Cheek to very little effect and with very little just cause to my ears. This seemed to be a desperate attempt to grind out another Top 40 hit after their last single “Nobody” had failed to consolidate on their breakthrough hit “Tomorrow”. It doesn’t seem to add that much to the original but would be part of a brief movement of old songs given the dance treatment around this time (see also Quartz doing Carole King’s “It’s Too Late”). Although it secured them a No 26 hit, it would be the last time Tongue ‘N’ Cheek appeared in the Top 40 and they would split soon after. However, “Forget Me Nots” would go onto have a life way beyond its dalliance with Tongue ‘N’ Cheek. It was sampled by George Michael for his 1996 No 1 single “Fastlove” and also by Will Smith the following year for his chart topper “Men In Black”.

After the recycling of “Forget Me Nots” a few times over comes Robert Palmer doubling down on his green credentials by regenerating not one but two Marvin Gaye numbers into a whole new song of its own. “Mercy Mercy Me / “I Want You” would be Palmer’s last ever Top 10 hit in the UK and whilst his back catalogue includes some wonderful songs , I’m not sure if that ever translated into the chart success they deserved. Looking at his discography, he had 12 Top 40 Uk hits (if you include his work with The Power Station) of which 5 were Top 10. It’s not a bad haul but when you consider his music career spanned nearly 40 years and took in 14 studio albums until his death in 2003, it maybe doesn’t seem that much either. Throw in the possibility that, for many people, he’s just the “Addicted To Love” guy and it seems an outright injustice.

There always seemed to be more attention on his sartorial style than his music it seemed to me. For example, in 1989 he received two Brit Awards nominations but won neither yet he did top a Rolling Stone magazine poll for the best-dressed rock star of 1990. This is reinforced by Simon Mayo’s description of him in his intro as ‘Mr Suit’ and ‘Mr Smooth’ and even ‘a singing version of Robert Kilroy -Silk'(remember him?!). “Mercy Mercy Me / “I Want You” peaked at No 9 and I’m guessing this Robert’s final TOTP appearance. Thanks for the memories Bob.

Next a song that must have been the bane of many a young woman’s life back in 1991. How many of the nation’s female population had to endure having ‘wiggle it, just a little bit’ shouted at them as they went about their business by lairy neanderthal men around this time? I know of at least one who had this happen to them. 2 In A Room were the architects of this nonsense and “Wiggle It” would become a No 3 hit in the UK. Only in Australia did it chart so high on the national chart. Hmm.

Inevitably, the video features lots of bikini clad ladies…erm…wiggling it on the beach whilst a male counterpart (who looks very much like Jerry Seinfeld) gets the exact opposite treatment of being fully covered up by being buried in the sand. Once again, hmm. I genuinely thought until this moment that the lyrics were ‘wiggle it just a little bit, I wanna see you wiggle it just a little bit ACID GROOVE!’ but it turns out that they’re singing ‘as it grooves’ and not ‘acid groove’. I’m not sure which makes more sense to be honest but then how do you make any sense of this piece of garbage?

It may be a new decade but we haven’t left novelty records back in the 80s. After the ghastly Bombalurina last year comes The Simpsons with “Do The Bartman”. I’m pretty sure I didn’t know much about The Simpsons back in 1991. For a start it had only been on UK television for less than 6 months by this point and even then it was only on Sky which hardly any of us had. We certainly didn’t in our little rented flat. It would take another 6 years before the show became available on terrestrial TV. It seems unimaginable now, so much a part of our cultural lives have Homer, Bart, Maggie and the rest become but this was genuinely the case back then.

My first introduction to them being this record didn’t bode well. It didn’t even seem that funny to me but then I had never seen the show nor know its characters. And why were they all yellow? A bigger question was how on earth did it get to No1 in the UK? It wasn’t just a matter of taste – genuinely, how did a novelty record from an American TV show that most of the population almost certainly didn’t have access to top the charts? There was no internet or streaming services back then either remember. Most novelty records that have been successful have not been imports – “Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)”, Orville The Duck, Grange Hill (a UK TV show of course)….I’m sure there must be loads of others. “Do The Bartman” seemed to be a different beast. It was taken from an album called “The Simpsons Sing The Blues” which would spawn another Top 10 hit in “Deep Deep Trouble” later in the year. Oh deep, deep joy.

I’ve still got very little to say about Off-Shore and “I Can’t Take The Power” not least because I hardly remember it. I did post the theory last time it was on about whether it was meant to be some sort of repost to Snap!’s ‘The Power” and that’s given a bit more credence by this tweet from @TOTPfacts:

You've probably noticed that the vocal "the power!" rather resembles the one in Snap!'s "The Power", sampled from "Love's Gonna Get You" by Jocelyn Brown: https://t.co/kQhz8kUAV1… #TOTP
— Top Of The Pops Facts (@TOTPFacts) May 28, 2021

And then this one aswell:

It's believed that's been cut together with an "I can't take" from "Weekend" by Class Action (1983), to make the new phrase. https://t.co/ZcbtsT7JLg #TOTP
— Top Of The Pops Facts (@TOTPFacts) May 28, 2021

Listening to this back, it really is very repetitive. It’s just that cut and paste sample over and over again to an Italian House piano riff backing. It’s like they hardly put any effort into it at all and it doesn’t lend to self to a studio performance. No wonder TOTP had to intercut it with bits of the official promo video to make it even slightly watchable. Off-Shore – they couldn’t take the power but they did take the piss.

Simon Mayo seems to slip in an unofficial plug for a non BBC product at the song’s end when he says you can find the lyrics to the Off-Shore song in No 1 magazine. That wasn’t in the rules surely? He then follows it up with some cryptic clue about a vocal performance from a Radio 1 DJ on the next song which is “Can I Kick It?” by A Tribe Called Quest. According to Mayo, it’s Pete Tong who says A Tribe Called Quest towards the end of the song. Is that right?

*checks internet*

Huh – seems it is according to Wikipedia anyway:

In the official Boilerhouse mix of the song, the name of the band “A Tribe Called Quest”, is spoken by the British radio DJ Pete Tong

If you want a story about spoken word samples on “Can I Kick It?” though, this takes some beating:

The voice saying "Er, you can?" & "Then do so, at once" appears to be Jon Pertwee. But the source is unclear – the leading theory is SuperTed, but we don't believe something just cause it's on Wikipedia. A record seems more likely. If anyone has hard evidence, let me know #TOTP
— Top Of The Pops Facts (@TOTPFacts) May 28, 2021

Apparently it’s from the kids cartoon SuperTed in which Jon Pertwee voiced a character called Spotty although the twitteratti can’t agree for sure. Also, the comment about not believing Wikipedia puts some doubt on the Pete Tong claim for me. Anyway, all of this shouldn’t distract from how good the track is. Another example of recycling with its heavy use of Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side” it also, inevitably due to its title, led to it being used in many a footballing montage and indeed advertising campaign beginning with this one from Nike in 1992:

The success of “Can I Kick It?” led to a previous single from their album being re-released in “I Left My Wallet in El Segundo” which was pretty cool too but it failed to get anywhere near the Top 40 peaking at No 86. A Tribe Called Quest would not have another UK Top 40 single for five long years.

I’m not sure what was more shocking about Rick Astley‘s 1991 comeback – his new sound exemplified by the gospel tinged ballad “Cry For Help” or his long hair! I mean, just look at it! Where had that boy next door, preppy look gone?! Apparently he hadn’t had a haircut for over a year by this point – always ahead of the game Rick, modelling lockdown hair 30 years before it was a thing.

What about his song though? Sure it was different but was it any good? Well, I thought so and so did my wife who bought it. It was also a wise move in my book – if you’re the biggest pop star in the country and you just walk away from it for a whole two years without so much as a by your leave, then when you come back, you better have come up with something new in the intervening time. For my money, he would have looked ridiculous making a comeback with “Never Gonna Give You Up Part II”. “Cry For Help” was written by Astley with Rob Fisher (one half of both Naked Eyes and Climie Fisher) whilst all but three of the parent album album’s tracks were either written or co-written by him. That album was called “Free” and seeing as he had totally ditched his association with Stock, Aitken and Waterman for the project, you don’t need many guesses to work out what the title was referring to. The single and album would go Top 10 but it was a short lived revival. Subsequent singles failed to chart and although the album reached gold status, it was a far cry (for help) from his multi platinum SAW heydays.

I think I’ve worked out what has been annoying me retrospectively about Simon Mayo – it’s his continuous banging on about how any breaking chart hit had been the Breakfast Show ‘Record of the Week’. He makes that claim for Rick Astley in this show but has also done it loads of times previously. ‘Ooh look at me – I’m in it for the music really and not the fame and profile’ seems to be his message. Yeah, whatever mate.

Right, as its a shortened show, the final song of the evening is the No 1 and it’s not only new to the top spot but it’s gone straight in on its first week of sales. This had happened just a handful of times in the 80s and it still was hardly a regular occurrence by the early 90s. By the end of the decade however it would be a weekly occurrence due to heavy record company discounting. “Innuendo” was the title track of Queen‘s final album to be released in Freddie Mercury’s lifetime and it was pretty much…bonkers. I mean seriously, it sounded all over the place to me. Can you imagine the conversations in the jam session which led to its creation?

“I’ve got a great idea for a Boléro themed opening”

“Oh well, if we’re going down that route, I vote for a flamenco guitar breakdown but it has to be performed by Steve Howe from Yes”

“Look, you can have what you want in it but it must be 6 and a half minutes long”

Just your typical song composition really! Did I like it? Not much. Its complex structure brought inevitable comparisons with “Bohemian Rhapsody” but I’ve never been a fan of that either. Before the end of the year, Freddie would be gone and “Bohemian Rhapsody” would be at No 1 all over again. Oh and if I thought “Innuendo” was bonkers, then the point was really hammered home with the title of their next single -“I’m Going Slightly Mad”.

Order of appearance	Artist	Title	Did I buy it?
1	Tongue ‘N’ Cheek	Forget Me Nots	Nope
2	Robert Palmer	Mercy Mercy Me / I Want You	No but it’s on My Best of CD of his
3	2 In A Room	Wiggle It	A massive no
4	The Simpsons	Do The Bartman	Give over
5	Off-Shore	I Can’t Take The Power	Nope
6	A Tribe Called Quest	Can I Kick It?	Though I maybe did but apparently not
7	Rick Astley	Cry For Help	No but my wife did
8	Queen	Innuendo	Nah

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.

TOTP 10 JAN 1991

Posted on May 29, 2021 by 80stastic

Already 10 days into the new year of 1991 here at TOTP Rewind and yet tonight’s host Jakki Brambles still takes the opportunity to wish us a Happy New Year. Keep up Jakki! This show mainly features songs that were ‘new’ to us back then and we start with one from Bananarama and “Preacher Man”. Not to be confused with Dusty Springfield’s “Son Of A Preacher Man”, this was the second single to be released from the nanas fifth album “Pop Life” but actually came out a whole six months after lead single “Only Your Love” due to Sara Dallin contracting meningitis which delayed its release. Despite its difficult birth, it would end up being the most successful of the four singles released from the album when it peaked at No 20.

The single was well received critically as being a strong, hooky pop song but for me it doesn’t stand out as being one of their most memorable tunes. I think it’s the reedy sounding vocals that let it down. The “Karma Chameleon” style harmonica solo in the middle doesn’t help either. As ever with Bananarama TOTP performances, Keren and Sara mark themselves out as the power couple of the trio by wearing the same outfit while Jacquie is still very presented as the new girl and odd one out three years on with her alternative togs. This sartorial separation was also evident even when Siobhan Fahey was still in the group and the signs had been there for some time that she was not on the same page as the other two – it wasn’t the biggest shock ever when she departed.

Bananarama would not return to the Top 20 for another 14 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV0sQB8xyRQ

Here’s Whitney Houston next with one of her trademark power ballads. After the uptempo “I’m Your Baby Tonight”, it wasn’t a surprise that she reverted to this genre and indeed, “All The Man That I Need” didn’t seem that different to the likes of “Didn’t We Almost Have It All” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”. Oh, check this out – on the The Bodyguard World Tour of 1993–94, she performed the song as part of a love song medley that included …yep…”Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”. Well there you go – identikit Whitney. You have to admit though that she had the pipes to be able to pull it off.

In the US, it gave her a 9th No 1 single from 11 releases but it stalled at No 13 over here. Maybe we didn’t like the video which is as dull as a night down the pub with George Eustace. It’s just Whitney mooching around various rooms in a big house (one of which includes a John Lennon “Imagine” type white piano) before she is joined by a gospel choir for the climax.

The song had already been recorded by Sister Sledge and someone called Linda Clifford before Whitney got her mitts on it and then, in 1994, Luther Vandross preformed a gender swap on it by recording at as “All The Woman That I Need”. There can’t be that many songs where that has occurred can there? Top of my head I can think of “I Saw Him Standing There” which was Tiffany’s version of The Beatles “I Saw Her Standing There” and sticking with the Fab Four, there’s The Carpenters take on their “Ticket To Ride” when Karen Carpenter changes the lyrics from ‘the girl that’s driving me mad’ to ‘the boy that’s driving me mad’. Oh and Tracey Ullman converting “My Girl” by Madness to “My Guy’s Mad at Me”.

This is more like it! This is what the kids wanted! Some grebo rock! Or were they a hip-hop/dance/rock sample heavy hybrid? Whatever, “X, Y & Zee” became Pop Will Eat Itself’s biggest ever hit up to his point when it peaked at No 15. It was also their fourth Top 40 hit as well after “Can U Dig It?”, “Touched by the Hand of Cicciolina” and the delightfully entitled “Dance Of The Mad Bastards”. Oh and I make it their 10th single Jakki, not their 13th as you suggest in your intro.

Part of the extraordinary story of how the West Midlands market town of Stourbridge became the epicentre for…whatever we’re calling this genre…when it spawned not one, not two but three bands in The Wonderstuff, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and Pop WIll Eat Itself. How did this happen? I’m not sure but there’s surely a film to be made out of this phenomenon (if there hasn’t been one made already). There is definitely a book on the subject in existence – the rather wonderfully titled of The Eight Legged Atomic Dustbin Will Eat Itself.

Back to “X, Y & Zee” and I always quite liked this wistful track with a twist and its brilliantly quirky lyrics like:

Mother Nature and Father Time
Used to be good friends of mine
But now we’ve put them in a home
Filed them under “uses unknown”

Apparently, lead singer Clint Mansell went onto become a Hollywood film score composer creating soundtracks for the likes of Requiem For A Dream and Black Swan. I haven’t been that surprised since a lovely lad I used to work with at Our Price called Scott ended up being a bank manager. Scott was a right laugh and the most unlikely future bank manager I could ever imagine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taX4YvL-sXI

We’re back with that “Grease Megamix” by John Travolta and Olivia Newton John next. Presumably its sales had been helped by Xmas and New Year’s Eve parties across the nation. The last time this was on TOTP, they only played the “Summer Nights” section of the mix but this time they feature the other two tracks in “You’re The One That I Want” and “Greased Lightnin'”. Now of course, the latter song has some lyrics that probably wouldn’t be suitable before the watershed and indeed the following line has been edited out.

You know that it ain’t shit, we’ll be gettin’ lots of tit, greased lightnin’

However, the censors clearly didn’t know what they were doing as they left in:

You are supreme, the chicks’ll cream, for greased lightnin’

and

You know that I ain’t braggin’, she’s a real pussy wagon

What did they think Travolta was singing about FFS?!

“Grease Megamix” peaked at No 3.

Right, don’t remember this one at all. “I Can’t Take The Power” by Off-Shore anyone? Even the ever reliable @TOTPFacts could only come up with this info about it.

Off Shore was the project of German DJs/producers Jens Lissat and Peter Harder. A couple of other DJs/producers were involved in this single release: Eric Kupper provided some keyboards, and Justin Strauss remixed it. #TOTP
— Top Of The Pops Facts (@TOTPFacts) May 21, 2021

Oh and apparently the titular sample is from “Love’s Gonna Get You” by Jocelyn Brown. Was it supposed to be some sort of response record to Snap!’s “The Power”?

Whatever. “I Can’t Take The Power” peaked at No 7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR-z7QdskBc

Yes! TOTP on it tonight with what the kids like! After Pop Will Eat Itself comes Jesus Jones and although not from Stourbridge, they were definitely in the same musical universe. “International Bright Young Thing” ushered in an era of a band at the peak of the powers.

No doubt about it – Jesus Jones were big…for a time

Taken from their forthcoming second album “Doubt”, it would become their biggest ever hit whilst said album would go to No 1. It had, without… erm…doubt…been one of the most enquired about albums over Xmas (along with “Spartacus” by The Farm) in terms of when it was coming out. The world really did seem to be at their feet. Sadly, the band suffered a press backlash (maybe the ‘International Bright Young Thing’ tag was too much for some publications) and they would wind up being seen as very irrelevant very quickly especially after grunge happened.

For the moment though, they are leading the gang of dance/rock groups who are in the charts with their long, flicky hair and wayward keyboard players – look at the state of the Jesus Jones ivories tinkler here; a total dereliction of playing duties and clearly under the influence of something.They’d have been banned from the show back in the early 80s for much less (Pigbag were for a very similar offence).

“International Bright Young Thing” peaked at No 7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxj1AoxxbFk

A couple of videos we’ve seen before next starting with MC Hammer and “Pray”. I’m sure this has been on a couple of times already but it’s a climber of two places within the Top 10 to a peak of No 8 so I guess its presence again could be justified by the TOTP producers.

There were numerous remixes of this track including:

Slam The Hammer Mix
Slam The Hammer Piano Dub
Jam The Hammer Mix
Hit ‘Em Hard Mix
Nail ‘Em Down Chant

The titles of the remixes sound like they more belong to an Iron Maiden track than the pious Mr Hammer. Check out this from @TOTPFacts again:

Speaking of praying: MC Hammer was previously in a Christian rap group called The Holy Ghost Boys. He became a preacher in the late '90s, with a Christian ministry programme on Trinity Broadcasting Network. #TOTP
— Top Of The Pops Facts (@TOTPFacts) May 21, 2021

The second previously seen video is for “Sadness (Part 1)” by Enigma. This is up to No 2 and will be top of the heap soon enough. Watching the video back, it’s all a bit Wicker Man. For a start, the scribe encounters Auguste Rodin’s The Gates of Hell (depicting a scene from Dante’s Inferno) which kind of relates to Police Sergeant Howie’s discovery of all the pagan Celtic imagery on Summerisle. Even more of a parallel though is the fact that the scribe seems to be being tempted by the undressed woman on the other side of the gate who whispers all that ‘Sade, donnes moi’ (‘Sade, give it to me’) Marquis de Sade malarkey to him. Remember that scene in Wicker Man when the Britt Ekland character tries to seduce Edward Woodward through the walls of his room in the pub? Come on! It’s the same thing! Well, almost.

The ever suave Robert Palmer is up next with his Marvin Gaye mash up single “Mercy Mercy Me / “I Want You”. It was a brave move to cover not one but two Marvin Gaye tracks (Palmer himself admitted to being very nervous when he debuted the song on US Television during an appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show) but I think he gets away with it.

Palmer was becoming quite the regular hit-maker by this point. This would be his second consecutive Top 10 hit following his UB40 collaboration on “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” at the back end of 1990 and would help propel parent album “Don’t Explain” into the Top 10 as well. It would be the last time he would have either a single or album in such upper echelons of the charts though.

Oh, and is that Boon Gould from Level 42 on bass up there with Robert? Could be.

The aforementioned Iron Maiden are still at No 1 with their sneakily released “Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter” single. I’ve commented before on that book that Jakki Brambles mentions at the end of the song written by Bruce Dickinson (Lord Iffy Boatrace) – it’s complete bawdy filth including a character who invents the ultimate sex machine. Didn’t mention that did you Jakki?

A musical heavyweight is the play out video. For all his success with The Police, Sting‘s solo career had not resulted in anywhere near the size of hits that his band had generated. By the 90s, he had yet to achieve a Top 10 hit and in fact, of the 10 solo singles he released in the 80s, only 3 of them made the Top 40. However, he had begun the new decade in better shape when a Ben Liebrand remix of “Englishman in New York” made the Top 20 in 1990 to be followed by this, “All This Time”, the lead single from his new album “The Soul Cages”.

I remember the release of the album being seen as a big deal and the Our Price store I was working in certainly had lots if stock of it. Big sales were expected but although it went to No 1, I don’t recall selling many. It would achieve gold status for 100,000 copies sold but was far less than his previous solo albums “…Nothing Like the Sun” (platinum – 300,000 sales) and “The Dream Of The Blue Turtles” (double platinum – 600,000 sales).

For all that talk of disappointing sales figures, I quite liked “All This Time”. Despite its dark lyrics referencing the recent death of his father, it had an uplifting melody and although he can be a complete knacker at times, I’ve always quite liked Sting’s voice. Interesting that he’s only the play out video though, not deemed worthy enough of kicking off the show or having his own little premiere moment in the middle of it. Sting would regroup and return in 1993 with the much more successful “Ten Summoner’s Tales” album when he would also finally get that Top 10 hit when “All For Love” from The Three Musketeers soundtrack went to No 2 in the charts…but it was with Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams so I’m not sure if that actually counts.

“All This Time” peaked at No 22.

For posterity’s sake, I include the chart run down below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEVyOkowBoM

Order of appearance	Artist	Song	Did I Buy it?
1	Bananrama	Preacher Man	Nah
2	Whitney Houston	All The Man That I Need	Nope
3	Pop Will Eat Itself	X Y & Zee	Liked it, didn’t buy it
4	John Travolta and Olivia Newton John	Grease Megamix	Negative
5	Off-Shore	I Can’t Take The Power	Buy it? I don’t even remember it!
6	Jesus Jones	International Bright Young Thing	No but it was on that first Q magazine album that I did buy
7	MC Hammer	Pray	It’s a no
8	Enigma	Sadness (Part 1)	No
9	Robert Palmer	Mercy, Mercy Me / I Want You	No but it’s on my Robert Palmer Best Of CD I think
10	Iron Maiden	Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter	Definitely not
11	Sting	All This Time	I did not

Disclaimer

OK – here’s the thing – the TOTP episodes are only available on iPlayer for a limited amount of time so the link to the programme below only works for about another month so you’ll have to work fast if you want to catch the whole show.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000w6t9/top-of-the-pops-10011991

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.

TOTP 15 NOV 1990

Posted on April 7, 2021 by 80stastic

It’s the exact mid-point of November 1990. I’m coming up to my one month wedding anniversary and have been employed in a temporary sales assistant position with Our Price for about two weeks. Xmas is fast approaching but for Maggie Thatcher, there are more issues afoot than the impending festive celebrations.1990 has not been a good year for Thatcher’s government; the introduction of the deeply unpopular Poll Tax had led to a riot in Trafalgar Square, inflation was pushing 10% meaning by late 1990 the economy was in the first stages of recession and at one point The Conservatives trailed Labour by 20 points in the polls. Dissatisfaction with Thatcher within her own party led to a challenge to her leadership from Michael Heseltine announced the day before this TOTP aired. Her time as Prime Minister was nearly over…hurray!

Away from politics, another type of of contest was being eagerly awaited. Boxing fans had been clamouring for a bout between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank on the back of a very public rivalry between the two pugilists. That fight finally came to fruition on 18 November 1990 and was described by referee Richard Steele as “The most dramatic fight I’ve ever refereed”. It went the way of Eubank in round 9. I’m not a big boxing fan I have to say so why do I mention this fight here? Well, in 1990 Nigel Benn decided to cash in on his fame and release a single – rather predictably it was called “Stand And Fight” and was credited to The Pack featuring Nigel Benn. OK, so what? Well, ‘The Dark Destroyer’ as he was nicknamed came to the Our Price store I was working in to do a PA to promote it! I can’t recall if this was pre or post the big fight. There was a photo taken of Benn with the shop staff (including me) that appeared in a WH Smith news letter (Our Price was part of the WH Smith chain at that point). I had a copy for many years but I don’t know where it is now. I got Nigel’s autograph for my elder brother who was a fan. What? The song? Oh it was utter garbage….

Anyway, on with the show and the proper music although I’m not sure that Black Box‘s version of “Fantasy” strictly counts as ‘proper’ music. There seems to be some copyright issue with their TOTP studio performance so the official video will have to suffice for the purposes of this blog. To be fair, that performance doesn’t have a lot going on in it. Katrin Quinol is still fronting the whole sham, lip syncing away to vocals we all knew weren’t hers while the two guys at the back bang away on their keyboards with their heads down. One of them has that 90s long hair look that requires an alice band while the other guy has a top on with ‘Boys Wander In’ emblazoned across it. What’s that supposed to mean? So dull is the whole thing that during the instrumental break the cameras revert to crossing to the gantry to show some very unenthusiastic hand clapping from the studio audience. They looks so lifeless and flat that you would believe that, given the choice, they would rather eat their own arms than us them to clap along with. “Fantasy” peaked at No 5.

OK, I know that Inspiral Carpets released something called “Island Head EP” but I couldn’t have told you any of the songs on it or how they went. As far as I can see none of the four tracks on it featured on their debut album “Life” (at least not the UK version). “Biggest Mountain” performed here sounds pretty mournful to me. I’m not entirely sure why it was released to be honest. Their album had only been out six months and they’d not long been in the charts with “She Comes In The Fall”. Maybe they just had some new songs they wanted the fans to hear? Or maybe they were just jumping on an indie bandwagon – let’s not forget that EPs seemed to be a thing in 1990 with The Wedding Present and Ride both having released their own recently. And yes, mention must be made of those haircuts. Tom Hingley looks like a lockdown version of Mr Spock whilst Clint Boon…well just …Clint Boon! The “Island Head EP” peaked at No 21.

Next up are Robert Palmer and UB40 with their rendition of Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight”. It strikes me that those cheeky Brummies have done rather a lot of collaborations during their career. Of course there are those two recordings with Chrissie Hynde in “I Got You Babe” and “Breakfast In Bed” neither of which I liked but there’s also “Reckless” with Afrika Bambaataa and an 808 Sate remix of “One In Ten”. There’s even two whole albums of collaborations in “UB40 Present The Dancehall Album” and “UB40 Present The Fathers Of Reggae” which featured some of their musical heroes like Toots Hibbert, John Holt, Alton Ellis and the Mighty Diamonds. And lest we forget Ali and Robin Campbell being credited on Pato Banton’s No 1 single “Baby Come Back”? Hmm…maybe we should all try and forget that one.

I wondered in a previous post how Bob Palmer and UB40 came to be working together and it was down to an individual called Dave Harper who managed both artists. Now I had no idea but this guy was steeped in rock history. He’d been Jim Morrison’s roadie and looked after Bob Marley and the Wailers even mixing their “Live at the Rainbow” album before moving onto manage Robert Palmer and UB40. As I said, I had no idea of any of this so when I googled Dave Harper I found a result for:

Dave Harper Bagpipes | Wedding Music | Easy Weddings

That couldn’t be him surely I found myself asking. No, no it wasn’t. That Dave Harper has been playing the bagpipes for 45 years and offers professional, expert bagpiping services across Norfolk, Norwich and the East Anglia for a wide range of events (according to his website). Still, UB40 and bagpipes! There’s a collaboration made in Hell. “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” peaked at No 6 and that new UB40 single that host Bruno Brookes mentions? It was actually called “Impossible Love” not “It’s Impossible” as Brookes claimed and it peaked at No 47.

An unusual event next. I’m guessing that not many singles that made it onto TOTP had a chart track record of just 1 week in the Top 40 at No 40 but that’s exactly what happened with Caron Wheeler‘s “UK Blak” single. The title track from her debut album, dropping out of the Top 40 completely after securing a studio performance (so not even just a Breaker slot) must have been a shock to the system for both Caron and her record label.

“UK Blak” would be Caron’s final appearance in the UK singles charts but the following year she recorded a song called “Don’t Quit” for a film called Career Opportunities and taking her own advice and perhaps inspired by the movie’s title has continued her musical career up to this day including on/off spells with Soul II Soul.

Three Breakers next and these are “all good records” according to Bruno Brookes so let’s see if he is right…

…we start with The Mission who have turned out to be one of the most consistent chart entry makers of this whole TOTP blog thing. “Hands Across The Ocean” (nothing to do with Paul McCartney’s “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”) was their 9th consecutive Top 40 hit (and their fourth of 1990 alone) and yet none of them even made the Top 10. The only other artist that I can think of with such a discography would be Siouxsie and the Banshees.

I have to admit to not knowing this one at all although on listening to it now, it does sound very reminiscent of something else that I can’t quite put my finger on*.

Bruno Brookes ‘all good records’ clapometer score: Not bad

*Got it – the verses are like U2’s “Where The Streets Have No Name” whilst the chorus sounds like Scottish popsters The Big Dish.

There was a second single from Jon Bon Jovi‘s Young Guns II project? Yes, his “Blaze Of Glory” album furnished us with “Miracle” which very much sounds like Jon doing his best Bruce Springsteen impression to me. It didn’t have the same dramatic appeal of the title track single and was accordingly a much smaller hit – “Blaze Of Glory ” was a US No 1 record and a No 13 hit over here whilst “Miracle” peaked at No 12 in the States and a lowly No 29 in the UK.

The accompanying video has very little connection to the Young Guns II film. There are no clips from it as the promo is set in the present day with Jon riding his big motorbike around what looks like Mexico setting. And yes that is a pre-Friends Matt LeBlanc catching the señorita’s eye (How you doin’?) and Jeff Beck playing guitar in the cantina.

Bruno Brookes ‘all good records’ clapometer score: Boring

Ooh now here’s something interesting. Twin Peaks appeared out of some dark hole of David Lynch’s imagination and was like nothing we had ever seen before – one of the biggest TV phenomenons of not just the 90s but of any decade. Mixing horror, mystery and the supernatural into one dramatic entity, it was almost like the most bizarre soap opera ever. Its slogan of ‘Who Killed Laura Palmer?’ was the hook that caught all of us who dared to engage in it. Its run on BBC2 started just as my wife and I had moved to Manchester and was all everybody at the Our Price store I was working in was talking about so we took the plunge. Sheesh it was weird! The final scene of series two (and the denouement of the whole story at that point) remains one of the most disturbing things I have seen on TV.

Part of the show’s creepy appeal was its soundtrack composed by Angelo Badalamenti who had worked previously with Lynch on the frankly disturbing Blue Velvet and it was to him that Lynch returned for Twin Peaks. Theme tune “Falling” would also bring back into the fold someone else who had been involved in Blue Velvet project but the name Julee Cruise will forever be associated with Twin Peaks. The song was eerie, chilling (especially for viewers of the series) and yet delightful in its delicate beauty. It (and Cruise herself) featured prominently in the series and the show’s popularity would propel it to No 7 in the UK singles chart.

Bruno Brookes ‘all good records’ clapometer score: Fantastic

What?! How was Jive Bunny still a thing in late 1990?! Wikipedia tells me “Let’s Swing Again” was their sixth hit single out of eight. What! There’s still two more to come after this?! No, sorry but f**k this! I am not wasting any more of my time or words on reviewing any more f*****g Jive Bunny singles. No. I mean it.

Right. With that declaration of intent made, who’s next? What’s that Bruno? The guys behind Jive Bunny are also behind this next act called Megabass?! You have got to be f*****g kidding me?! WTF?! Ok, well I will have to retract my previous statement. It turns out that “Time To Make The Floor Burn” was one of those medley singles like Latino Rave and The Brits 1990 that were basically an advertising campaign for a compilation album. I do recall the Telstar ‘Megabass’ series from my early Our Price days but I do wonder who the intended market for them were. Some of these tunes were ancient in terms of chart lives – “Ride On Time”, Pump Up The Jam”, Big Fun” – these were all well over 12 months old. Ah to Hell with them! Next!

Nice. It’s the Kim Appleby performance of her debut solo single “Don’t Worry” from the other week. However, like Black Box earlier, that clip has infringed somebody’s copyright and is no longer available so here she is on some European music TV show instead. Although Kim would go on to have a couple more Top 20 hits, her solo career never really progressed from this point on. I get the impression that recording the album of songs she and her late sister Mel had been working on was what had kept her going in the months after the tragedy and once that task had been completed, then Kim’s desire for the music business went cold.

A third of four weeks at the top for The Righteous Brothers with “Unchained Melody” which inevitably led to a clamour to get more of the duo’s product out there (and just in time for Xmas too!). So which song got re-released to follow “Unchained Melody” in to the charts? Yes of course it was probably their best known song “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” which had been heavily featured in the Top Gun film which had only recently received its UK terrestrial TV premiere and which had led to the re-release of Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”. What a tangled web of re-issues we weaved.

I recall hearing disgraced TV and radio personality Jonathan king stating that the record label should have switched the release to the B-side which was a song called “Ebb Tide”. Wanna hear it? OK…

Hmm…I’m not sure. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” did well enough anyway thanks Jonathan peaking at No 3.

The play out video is “New Power Generation” by Prince. This was where it all started getting very confusing for me with Prince. New Power Generation was also the name of Prince’s new backing band who would continue in that role until 2013. The phrase “Welcome to the New Power Generation” was first mentioned in a track on the “Lovesexy” album whilst New Power Generation was used for the first time as a band name in the 1990 film Graffiti Bridge. Then there was the single “New Power Generation” and whilst Prince was in dispute with Warners and he became ‘symbol’ in 1993, he use the NPG as a way to release music outside of his contract. However, up to that point, any new Prince music was credited to Prince and The New Power Generation but between 1994 and 1997, the NPG had three Top 40 UK hits in their own right plus two whole albums. Still with me? I think I’ve confused myself actually.

Disclaimer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000tpzf/top-of-the-pops-15111990

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.

Some bedtime reading?

TOTP 01 NOV 1990

Posted on April 1, 2021 by 80stastic

It’s November 1990 and having got married just 12 days earlier, another huge moment in my life has occurred – we’ve moved to Manchester! Yes, despite knowing only two other residents of Manc land between us, my wife and I have chosen to move to that great city to begin our married life together. We arrived back from our honeymoon exactly one week after the wedding day and moved that very day to Manchester. I hadn’t even seen the rented flat we were going to be living in as my wife had sorted that out. That small studio flat would be our home for the next four years and we loved it. The big events kept coming as after the wedding, the honeymoon, moving city, moving into a flat, I then started work on the Monday at Our Price. After two days training in the offices above the Piccadilly store, I was despatched to the Market Street shop down the road. By the time this TOTP was broadcast, I would have completed two whole days there (If my dates are correct). Given that this was such a momentous time for me, I must surely remember all the songs that were on the show?

Tonight’s host is Simon Mayo who I don’t recall being so smug but that’s the exact word I would use to describe his performance here. Certainly not smug though is the opening act – if anything I would think she was the exact opposite – unsure and apprehensive. Kim Appleby was of course one half of Mel & Kim who had torn up the charts in the late 80s with their SAW dance tunes and ‘up yours’ attitude. Tragically, Mel had died of cancer-related pneumonia at the start of 1990 but Kim resolved to carry on and record some of the songs that they had been working on during her sister’s illness. “Don’t Worry” was the first of those to see the light of day but Kim’s hesitancy about going it alone was revealed in a Smash Hits interview:

“I don’t know how people are going to react to my record but all I can say is I’m doing my best.”

She needn’t have… erm…worried because “Don’t Worry” was a fantastic pop song. Was it a million miles away from her Mel & Kim era? No, of course not (even though it was not produced by SAW) but it had an added sense of maturity to it from that unexpected, gentle fade in to the uplifting lyrics promoting positivity – there was no showing out or getting fresh going on here.

If Kim was nervous about her return to the world of pop music, she disguised those anxieties with an energetic performance here although quite what she thought being dressed like Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen would add to the overall effect, I’m not sure.

“Don’t Worry” surely exceeded Kim and her record label’s expectations after being away for so long by peaking at No 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLBC43xoNE0

Robert Palmer already had a reputation for being a musical chameleon with his back catalogue combining elements of soul, jazz, rock, pop, reggae and blues. Quite what he hoped to get credibility wise out of a collaboration with UB40 then I’m not sure. Not only that but it wasn’t even an original song that they might have cooked up between them but a cover version. “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” was a Bob Dylan song from his “John Wesley Harding” album and given how many artists have interpreted Dylan songs down the years*, was Palmer just jumping on a well ridden bandwagon? To be fair, the version he and the Brummie reggae boys came up with didn’t sound much like Dylan with its calypso lilt and jaunty rhythms. It still doesn’t explain the reason why the two acts chose to record it though. It wasn’t as if either had been languishing in the chart doldrums for a sustained period. Indeed, both had clocked up Top 10 singles within recent memory. Maybe they just knew each other and got along?

Palmer’s album “Don’t Explain” (from which “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” was the lead single) would go onto be certified Gold although the only other chart hit from it was another cover version – “Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me” whilst “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” would peak at No 6.

*The history of recorded music is littered is with Dylan covers by a multitude of artists but if you want a really out there one, how about “Subterranean Homesick Blues” by Lofty from Eastenders?

After coming over all smug and superior with his ‘look at how much I know about pop music’ tone when advising us all that “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” was actually a Bob Dylan song, Simon Mayo is at it again when introducing Black Box.

“Well, cover versions are all the thing. We’ve already had one, that was the UB40 song. Here’s another one…” he starts off. He’s like the most patronising Jackanory presenter ever. ‘Let me tell you a story about cover versions…’ he might as well have said. Git. Technically he is right of course in that “Fantasy” is the song by Earth, Wind And Fire but his tone is so condescending.

This was Black Box’s fourth consecutive UK chart hit but it would prove to be the last time that they would visit the Top 10 when it peaked at No 5. I’m not sure that their version actually adds anything at all to the original being a fairly faithful reproduction of it. Also, surely the cat must have been out of the bag by this time that the woman up there front of stage (Katrin Quinol) wasn’t the actual vocalist on any of these hits. The singer on this one was Martha Wash who did most of the vocals on their “Dreamland” album. Apparently the guys behind Black Box didn’t care a jot though and were boldly brazening it out like Boris Johnson shamelessly disregarding yet another cronyism scandal. In ‘Borisworld’, the PM would no doubt have Jennifer Arcuri up there lip syncing away whilst declaring that all her vocals had been laid down in complete propriety and that the recording sessions were all there on public record for anyone to see.

More ‘look how clever I am’ – ness from Mayo next as he references Robert Palmer / UB40’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” (yet again) with Whitney Houston‘s “I’m Your Baby Tonight” as the song titles sound very similar. Well done Simon, what an amazing insight you provided. In all honesty though, whilst I’m criticising Mayo, I’ve very little else to say about this one myself other than I have a memory of selling the “I’m Your Baby Tonight” album on tape whilst working at Our Price that Xmas and the shop chart cassette buyer (a guy called Steve who I am still friends with all these years later) sitting near the chart cassette filing one Saturday afternoon trying to order some more as we had almost sold out and asking me to go away and sell something else as he was nearly out of stock. Yeah, right, not sure how that was supposed to work Steve? I don’t think I had an ‘Actually, would you mind awfully buying something else otherwise the buyer’s going to have a breakdown’ in me. Oh, hang on – was it the Jimmy Somerville Best Of album now I come to think of it? Amazing insight from your blogger there I’m sure you’ll agree.

“I’m Your Baby Tonight” (the single) peaked at No 5.

Some Roxette next with a re-release of their “Dressed For Success” single. When I started at Our Price there wasn’t much of a dress code; certainly there wasn’t a staff uniform (although that would come in later years). You could pretty much wear what you wanted within reason. One woman turned up in a catsuit one day and asked me if I thought it was a bit much for work. I didn’t know where to look! I’ve no memory of what I’d chosen to wear for my first day in the shop but I do remember being mercilessly ribbed the day I decided to come in wearing a white shirt and a black waistcoat. Cue lots of comments about Ray Reardon, snooker and…erm…cues.

Back to Roxette and Mayo is still shoehorning in references to Bob Dylan b-sides (even though there is no relevance here whatsoever). Some eagle eyed viewer reckoned that this performance must have been recorded for the initial release of the single back in ’89 (you could tell by the BBC logos or something) and that does make sense as the cut to the duo clearly indicates that they were not there for the actual recording of the show. This of course raises the question of why a performance would have been recorded for a song that didn’t get in the chart on first release? I thought the show was meant to have a strict Top 40 only policy? What? They had ‘the look’ and were ‘dressed for success’ and that got them the gig? Sorry – that was lame.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKY6ec7HSdg

Another song we’ve seen before recently now as Rita MacNeil sings us a tale of a “Working Man”. Although the song’s sentiments were very worthy, there was very little here to hold my attention. It was all a bit Lena Martell (who had been a favourite of my parents during my childhood) meets “Every Loser Wins” by Nick Berry. Rita never had another UK chart hit and sadly died in 2013.

When I think of The Cure‘s remix compilation album “Mixed Up”, the track that comes to mind is “Never Enough” which was the single chosen to promote it. I had totally forgotten that a second single was released from it. “Close to Me – Remix” was that single and of course was a remix of their 1985 track from their “The Head On The Door” album. I really cannot see the point of this 1990 version though. It sounds exactly like the original but just slowed down a bit doesn’t it? Or am I missing something? The gentle intrigue of the 1985 original gets lost in the mix for me.

It took me a little while to realise that the video for the remix single was a continuation of the original promo which I thought was very clever, playing on the theme of claustrophobia with the band performing under duress within the confines of a wardrobe. Unfortunately, the second video doesn’t really work as well. Carrying on where the first video ended with the wardrobe (and its content of band members) falling off the edge of a cliff into the sea Young Ones style. The story board of the second video had the band escaping from their potential watery grave only to be attacked by an octopus and a starfish. The 1985 video was genuinely ingenious – there didn’t seem to be much thought gone into its 1990 counterpart although I’m guessing they were both directed by the band’s long time collaborator Tim Pope. The sea creature costumes make it all look a bit Mighty Boosh but without the laughs. Actually, maybe the video was was a source of inspiration for Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt. I can imagine Fielding in particular being a big Robert Smith fan.

“Close to Me – Remix” peaked at No 13 (as did “Never Enough”) which was 11 places higher than the much better original. We would not see The Cure in the charts for another 18 months when they would return with their “Wish” album.

OK, for me, this next song is peak Kylie Minogue. I might be looking back through nostalgia-tinted glasses of a much happier and simpler time but “Step Back In Time” was a great pop-dance track and yes, I realise that means I am commending a SAW produced track! Essentially one of those tribute songs like “Nightshift” by The Commodores and… erm…”Tribute (Right On)” by The Pasadenas with its 70s disco referencing lyrics, it’s got a great hooky chorus whilst the bridges that lead into them (‘Remember the O’Jays…’) are brilliant. One of my Xmas co-workers at Our Price in 1990 was a girl called Lucy who loved this track and she was bang on the money. Also, the dance routines on show in this performance really are impressive. Say what you like about Kylie but she really was very good at jumping in time.

“Step Back In Time” was the second single from Kylie’s “Rhythm Of Love” album and peaked at No 4.

Well that didn’t take very long did it? “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers is No 1 after just two weeks! Know-it-all Mayo feels the need to once more furnish us with his pop music knowledge by giving us the details of other artists who have recorded the track by name checking Jimmy Young, Harry Secombe and Des O’Connor (all the greats then). Look Mayo, if you wanted to dazzle us with charts statistics then here’s how you do it courtesy of @TOTPFacts:

"Unchained Melody" was first a UK hit for Les Baxter in 1955, peaking at 10. The top 20 for 17-23 June 1955 included four different recordings of the song: Al Hibbler's version at 2, Jimmy Young at 3, Les Baxter at 17 and Liberace at 20 – a record! #TOTP
— Top Of The Pops Facts (@TOTPFacts) March 26, 2021

Last week I mentioned that the video for this had confused me when I first saw it as there was only one person (Bobby Hatfield) singing and I wondered where the other Righteous Brother Bill Medley was. Well, Simon Mayo, the guru of pop trivia , had the answer for me in his closing link. At the song’s end, he says “the other one was in the loo or something, I don’t know”. Simon Mayo there doing his best Mike Read impression.

The play out video is George Michael with “Waiting For That Day”. Another video mystery with this one as last week I posited the notion that I didn’t think George had done a promo for this (much as he had refused to film one for previous single “Praying For Time” due to his dispute with Sony). All that I could find was a clip from The South Bank Show which showed George discussing the song’s origins in the studio. However, TOTP seemed to have secured a video which was solely a performance of the track in the said same studio. I’ve worked out what the deal was here though. If you go to the final minute of that South Bank Show clip, there is that very performance. Bit of clever editing going on there then I think by the TOTP producers.

“Waiting For That Day” peaked at No 23.

For posterity’s sake, I include the chart run down below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yvHXM9Ur5E

Order of appearance	Artist	Song	Did I Buy it?
1	Kim Appleby	Don’t Worry	Don’t think I did – great pop song though
2	Robert Palmer / UB40	I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight	No but it might be on my Robert Palmer Best Of CD
3	Black Box	Fantasy	Nope
4	Whitney Houston	I’m Your Baby Tonight	Negative
5	Roxette	Dressed For Success	Nah
6	Rita MacNeil	Working Man	No
7	The Cure	Close To Me – Remix	Another no
8	Kylie Minogue	Step Back In Time	No but I think my wife has her Greatest Hits with it on
9	The Righteous Brothers	Unchained Melody	It’s a no
10	George Michael	Waiting For That Day	No but my wife had the album

Disclaimer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000th90/top-of-the-pops-01111990

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.

Some bedtime reading?

Page 1 - Smash Hits - Issue 311 - 31st October - 13th November 1990

TOTP Rewind – the 90s

My memories of 90s chart music

TOTP 28 JUL 1994

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TOTP 16 JUN 1994

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TOTP 24 JAN 1991

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TOTP 10 JAN 1991

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TOTP 15 NOV 1990

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Some bedtime reading?

TOTP 01 NOV 1990

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Some bedtime reading?