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Post by o on Sept 23, 2017 21:02:27 GMT 1
Did people know there would be a FGTH album, and maybe they wouldn't buy it, I didn't, but I bought Relax on 7", and Two tribes on 12", and then the power of love on 7". It just shows their total chart dominance at this point, I remember when following the charts, and I loved it!
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Sept 24, 2017 8:41:07 GMT 1
19/7. Powell and Skinner. Skinner makes an odd remark that is essentially "everyone is miming". We kick off with Wah!, who have added The Mighty to their name. And mighty is a perfect epithet for this single. Not sure the bassist has ever held a bass before. Also looks like they've dragged a girl from the nearest red light district to stand there looking bored for the backing vox. But neither can detract from this being an utterly glorious, soaring, exhilarating track. Ah. Maybe Skinner saw in rehearsals how TMW would deal with the lack of violins.
Prince at no. 5 with "When Doves Cry". In the classic albums thread I recorded my total disappointment with this album. Like Thriller, it is filler rather than killer, which made me feel iller.
From one American to a success in America. Billy Idol. Another urine-poor mimer. Weird how someone whose finest moments hitherto came with a few lower-chart-scrapers with a handful of pop-punk singles half-a-decade ago has suddenly struck it big with a rather tender ballad.
That was 33, this is 30. Highest new entry. Must be a rather static chart. The Kane Gang. Oooh, this is yuppie sh*t. Hate hate hate.
Blancmange covering Abba. Sign of genius or desperation? At least they've picked on one of the less successful tracks. Ahead of the game now "The Day Before You Came" is considered one of their finest works? Hm. I've come to the conclusion that this does not work. The track is too upbeat and bouncy for the enigmatic melancholy of the lyrics.
We chart ourselves up. Windjammer? Who? Is that the old Dave Davani track? Divine is at 26 and live. Oh God. Who in the name of f*** bought this? Fat ugly transvestite who could not carry a tune in a bucket the size of the Albert Hall. It's not even wryly amusing on level at all. f***ing hell. Three years ago the chart was full of OMD and Altered Images and Adam & The Ants and Toyah and Kim Wilde and so on and now it has degraded to publicity campaigns and this utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, utter, shitwank f***stain.
Back to the charts. Shannon is at 25. Has she f***ed off the entire BBC? She seems never to be on. I note Galaxy has gone all Diana Ross And. Thompson Twins non-move at 11 but they still get a play with their tribute to Andrew Eldritch. I like the word "eldritch". Don't like this single though. Backwards step for TTT.
Top 10. Background has gone pink. neil has broken the FGTH stranglehold of the top 2. But not the top spot. Oh, Shannon does at least get the play out. One of the people on the credits is called Wadge. Related to Amy? Anyway, at least we're not missing much with Shannon, this could have been created by a computer, it is so formulaic.
Great start. Nothing more.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Sept 24, 2017 9:09:43 GMT 1
Dos augustos. Bates and Davies start us with "Agadoo". After last week's programme this comes across as a breath of fresh air. Unlike most, I have no objections to this song. It's nothing more than it pretends to be, basically a good-time party thing for the mostly drunk. Is there any different between this and, say, "Chime", let alone "Despacito", other than the clientele?
Well, I can whizz through the next two, as Prince and Kane Gang were on in the last one. And I prefer "Agadoo" to both. And I can keep whizzing because next up is Tina Turner. We go from one bizarre barnet to another. A Flock Of Seagulls. No chart position so they've obviously slept their way on. Mike Score has ditched the Sue Catwoman look for the Michael Bolton As Wino look. This is OK. Needs a bit more kick. Maybe a better vocalist.
Bates says something which he says is an interesting thing about the guitarist, and then garbles it incomprehensibly. Bit of chart, it's mostly static, and we go back outside the 40 (again) for a dull bit of reggae from someone who looks disturbingly like Junior Giscombe. Do you think he turned up at the offices, TOTP thought "hey! Junior! Get him ONNNNNNN!!" and then realized their mistake too late to un-book him?
Charts again. Turquoise background now. The short arm of the cross has moved to the left. We stop at 12 because we're going to see a world exclusive, as 50% of Wham! has recorded a hit. This is really sh*t. And obviously it's going to dethrone the FGTH bandwagon. My God, the charts have really plummeted in quality. Even the video is atrocious. At least there is some action in Duran Duran's.
Top 11 have a salmon background. Top 5 is static. No neil this week? Oh God. Why the f*** are they playing out with Divine?
OK. So like last week the best track is the first. It is a sign of how degraded music has got that "Agadoo" is clearly the best record to put before the British public.
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Post by suedehead on Sept 24, 2017 9:28:56 GMT 1
Did anyone else see Only Connect later on Friday evenng?
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Post by Earl Purple on Sept 24, 2017 14:27:03 GMT 1
Neil was on the yewtreed episode.
I was in Israel during the whole of this summer and have not seen any of these TOTP episodes. They totally snubbed White Lines by Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel. One of the great songs of teh summer. I don't know if they thought it would encourage drugs, it was an anti-drugs song..
Others have been noticeably not played. Billy Joel has had 3 hits since "Tell Her About It" and neither was on. Lionel Richie's "Stuck On You" was never on but they had Trevor Walters on covering it.
It may be a lack of video and the artist not prepared to come to the studio to perform it live to explain why some of them are not on. In the yewtreed edition they had Jeffrey Osborne perform in the studio and said he had flown over from the USA. Shannon was on once with her latest song but not with "Let The Music Play", her better known song. So I guess that may be a reason? Prince had a video so they could play that.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Sept 24, 2017 19:30:39 GMT 1
You remember where you were in Easter 1984?!? It's good it's not just me (in this case suedehead) who can remember where they were when watching TOTP or listening to the chart! If this gets to 1993 you'll be getting a similar post from me! I suspect I'll still remember it even if it's 10 years away. I'm hoping they get to 1990 so I can work out which was the first TOTP I ever saw. I'm pleasantly surprised by how much stuff like this I can remember actually, I can tell if I haven't seen/heard something and why (as I've discovered whilst watching old Gladiators episodes recently). Anyway sorry for gatecrashing the thread.
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vya
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Post by vya on Sept 26, 2017 21:19:34 GMT 1
These summer 84 episodes of ToTP (and more to the point, the pop scene they present) are getting really dire. Indeed I agree with Vas that they have the amazing consquence of making "Agadoo" sound pretty decent in comparison with the competition.... Such a long way down from 1981, 1982....when will it all rise again....? (Obviously in retrospect I know when, but, well, there's some way to go yet.)
Gotta be all Paul Weller's fault - all this mindless yuppie wine-bar characterless jazz; Groups who want to be the Style Council. Why would you want that? Kick out the Style, bring back the Jam. (yeah that was a line from a song from when it precisely did finally start to perk up)
[as for the decline of A Flock Of Seagulls......sums it all up]
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Post by Earl Purple on Sept 29, 2017 16:08:54 GMT 1
I haven't noticed bands wanting to be the Style Council.
I'm seeing a lot of "high energy" music. Yes, Stock Aitken Waterman have already arrived to destroy the music scene we loved.
But don't worry, it's not going to die just yet. In fact I will give it another 25 years.
Tears For Fears will have a new album out soon. So things will start to improve again. And they're going to be huge, in fact they will rule the world. Well everybody wants to do that..
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vya
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Post by vya on Sept 29, 2017 19:41:51 GMT 1
I haven't noticed bands wanting to be the Style Council. I'm seeing a lot of "high energy" music. Yes, Stock Aitken Waterman have already arrived to destroy the music scene we loved. But don't worry, it's not going to die just yet. In fact I will give it another 25 years. Tears For Fears will have a new album out soon. So things will start to improve again. And they're going to be huge, in fact they will rule the world. Well everybody wants to do that.. Not exactly wanting to be the Style Council - but with a broadly (and only broadly) similar style of fairly light and unchallenging jazzy wine-bar (or ,indeed, changing beverages, "cappuccino kid") sort of vibe: to name names, Matt Bianco (and their predecessors), Carmel (albeit with a degree of talent), the Kane Gang (although actually I don't mind "The Closest Thing To Heaven"). Shakatak (who I previously found quite tolerable) turning a bit dull. And Phil Fearon and Galaxy. That apart, there is the thing of seeing really high quality acts (OMD, Human League, not to mention Scritti Politti) going off the boil a bit... Maybe I should point the finger more in the direction of China Crisis for being too dull for words, and starting this all off.... Still, I've just come across a great Scottish act called Friends Again, who look very promising. New album out soon....
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Post by Earl Purple on Oct 1, 2017 0:26:27 GMT 1
You have to compare like with like.
1984 has Phil Fearon & Galaxy but compare that with Linx having hits in 1981. Similar sort of music perhaps?
1984 has "Agadoo" high in the chart but 1981 had the Birdie song and Ottawan's "Hands Up" - similar silly summer party music.
Rhythmic music was very much in in 1981 - Beggar & Co also called Light Of The World were on loads of shows and the bongo drums were all over with Spandau Ballet's hits and Haircut 100's "Favourite Shirts". So Matt Bianco having a bit of that is just a slightly different flavour. Of course we'll have to wait until 1988 for Wap Bam Boogie.
1981's Jam content, Funeral Pyre and Absolute Beginners, weren't their best works either.
And 1981 had that medley craze in the summer. 1984 had more original songs reach #1 than any other year, in fact only one cover version reached #1 the entire year. In 1981, the biggest selling single of the year was a cover version (albeit a classic one).
Where you can also compare the years is the "sensation" of 1981 which was Adam & The Ants, and that of 1984 which was Frankie Goes To Hollywood. So take your pick. They are both different and were both huge in the particular year under question.
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SheriffFatman
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Post by SheriffFatman on Oct 1, 2017 8:34:28 GMT 1
I am often bemused by the seemingly accepted wisdom on Haven that in terms of the singles charts the early 80s were significantly better than the rest of the decade.
There was lots of great music in the early 80s, but there was also chart toppers for Fern Kinney, Charlene, Nicole, Kelly Marie and St. Winifred's School Choir. Conversely, the late 80s may have been cursed by boy bands and Stock / Aitken / Waterman, but there was also incredibly good dance music, hip-hop and the emergence of the Madchester scene.
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Post by o on Oct 1, 2017 9:23:15 GMT 1
Loved how fgth changed the drummer and guitarist around, probably what they did live as well, as they were supposed to be awful? I think like any period of music, there is good and bad.
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Post by Earl Purple on Oct 1, 2017 12:37:30 GMT 1
Out of interest this was our combi-chart for the week that appears to be the most recent one shown:
12 1) Howard Jones - LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL 111 points (12-1) 2 weeks PEAK: 1 3 2) George Michael - CARELESS WHISPER 109 points (7-3-2) 3 weeks PEAK: 2 1 2) Laura Branigan - SELF CONTROL 109 points (10-6-2-1-1-1-2) 7 weeks PEAK: 1 (3 weeks) 2 4) Kane Gang - CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN 93 points (27-16-10-4-2-2-4) 7 weeks PEAK: 2 5 5) Hazell Dean - WHATEVER I DO (WHEREVER I GO) 83 points (20-8-5-5) 4 weeks PEAK: 5 9 6) A Flock Of Seagulls - THE MORE YOU LIVE, THE MORE YOU LOVE 75 points (25-18-11-9-6) 5 weeks PEAK: 6 26 7) Alphaville - BIG IN JAPAN 73 points (26-7) 2 weeks PEAK: 7 4 7) Blancmange - THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME 73 points (13-6-3-4-7) 5 weeks PEAK: 3 6 9) Prince - WHEN DOVES CRY 64 points (6-3-1-1-2-4-6-9) 8 weeks PEAK: 1 (2 weeks) NEW 10) Miami Sound Machine - DR BEAT 62 points (10) 1 week PEAK: 10
7 11) Thompson Twins - SISTER OF MERCY 54 points (13-8-7-8-8-7-11) 7 weeks PEAK: 7 7 12) Queen - IT’S A HARD LIFE 51 points (17-10-7-12) 4 weeks PEAK: 7 16 13) Rod Stewart - SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK 45 points (22-16-13) 3 weeks PEAK: 13 17 14) Tracey Ullman - SUNGLASSES 43 points (38-17-14) 3 weeks PEAK: 14 13 15) Echo and The Bunnymen - SEVEN SEAS 39 points (33-11-12-14-13-15) 6 weeks PEAK: 11 11 16) Billy Idol - EYES WITHOUT A FACE 37 points (31-32-20-13-12-11-13-11-16) 9 weeks PEAK: 11 20 17) Black Lace - AGADOO 35 points (28-23-23-29-29-31-33-22-20-17) 10 weeks PEAK: 17 19 18) Jeffrey Osborne - ON THE WINGS OF LOVE 34 points (25-19-18-19-18) 5 weeks PEAK: 18 NEW 19) Elton John - PASSENGERS 33 points (19) 1 week PEAK: 19 NEW 20) Scandal featuring Patty Smyth - THE WARRIOR 32 points (20) 1 week PEAK: 20 17 20) Shakatak - DOWN ON THE STREET 32 points (36-29-21-15-15-17-20) 7 weeks PEAK: 15 NEW 20) Tears For Fears - MOTHERS TALK 32 points (20) 1 week PEAK: 20
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SheriffFatman
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Post by SheriffFatman on Oct 9, 2017 9:53:57 GMT 1
There's been some pretty bad episodes lately, packed with dull minor hits. I guess that's just a reflection of the general ebb and flow of the pop charts, quality wise.
I find Black Lace grimly fascinating. Their second performance, when they were on their first week at number 2 and had a dancing pineapple on stage, had me gripped. The lead singer is the least pop-star looking pop star in history, he looks like someone you would expect to bump into in a working men's club in Doncaster in the mid-afternoon. He just has a look about him that says "I am 100% aware of how absolutely crap this is, but many generations of my family have worked down the pits, and if putting on a loud shirt and pretending to be happy while dancing with people in fruit costumes means I don't have to do that, then any notion of shame or embarrassment just goes out of the window".
On a different note, it would be interesting to see some sales totals for Sister Sledge singles. They actually made the trip over the Atlantic to appear in the studio for the re-issue of Lost In Music, and were rewarded with a number 4 hit, only 5 years after it originally peaked at number 17, and 9 years before a second re-issue went to number 14. We Are Family has also been a top 40 hit 3 times, including twice in the top 10.
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Post by Earl Purple on Oct 9, 2017 10:40:00 GMT 1
Agadoo is only being what it is meant to be - a silly beach-party pop song.
After initially being the UK's entry for Eurovision in 1979 sounding like Smokie's "Oh Carol" after which they were never going to be taken seriously as a musical artist, they found their place as a - shock horror - cabaret act.
Yes, they may have had a career playing cruise-ships and silly parties, but it's a career in music and entertainment nonetheless.
If you don't like it, just go and pour yourself a few pina coladas and then grab a fruit costume and get up on stage with them and dance along..
The song is a cover version and was originally in French and spelt Agadou. And it mentions ukulele so it can't be all that bad.
Compare that with "I Just Called To Say I Love You" - supposed to be a "serious" song but just a dirge by someone who has done a lot better. That it was such a big hit is somewhat more annoying than Agadoo's success.
With regards to Sister Sledge, interesting how they were able to just return with their old material, as Thinking Of You was also not a new song even though it wasn't a single previously. But it brought their name back into the limelight in time for their big moment a year later.
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Post by o on Oct 9, 2017 13:01:32 GMT 1
Did I spot Ade Edmondson in Tracey Ullman's video for Sunglasses?
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Post by suedehead on Oct 9, 2017 13:26:59 GMT 1
Did I spot Ade Edmondson in Tracey Ullman's video for Sunglasses? Yes, it was indeed him.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Oct 9, 2017 21:53:21 GMT 1
Did they skip a whole episode just because it had Gary Glitter in it? Couldn't they just have edited him out? I rememeber a 1970s episode on BBC 4 with one of his performances left in, I couldn't believe it and thought they would edit it out at least. This episode had David Soul on it, so it might have been late 1973. Why didn't they do the same with that and of course this episode?. I find it bizarre, it's not like they cut him out of the chart rundown! I can understand not showing episodes because of the presenters (though I do think it's a shame the Mike Smith episodes aren't able to be shown) - it will help them get to the 90s quicker anyway! But they edited out that song before (the Thorn Birds theme?) as they didn't have the rights which meant a shorter show so they could have done the same for Glitter. Having said all that I'm just wondering if it maybe was a live show and too difficult to remove the performance and keep the presenter links in?
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vya
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Post by vya on Oct 9, 2017 22:38:29 GMT 1
I think a big part of the problem was that Glitter was the first act on the show, so it would have been difficult to cut it out while retaining the introduction from the presenters.
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Post by suedehead on Oct 9, 2017 23:41:14 GMT 1
Some of the edits have been pretty clumsy so I don't see why they were so reluctant to make an even more clumsy one.
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