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Post by thehitparade on Nov 25, 2017 23:43:52 GMT 1
Suspect the title of that Dandy Warhols song was a double-edged sword, it was more memorable and distinctive than if they'd just used the lyrics but maybe in the long run casual listeners didn't associate the title with the song.
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Post by thehitparade on Nov 16, 2017 0:43:12 GMT 1
If we didn't know what we now do about George & Elton, Wrap Her Up would be a bit of a creepy song. As it is it's just rubbish.
Of course, George didn't have chart credit at the time, I presume for contractual reasons or something.
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Post by thehitparade on Nov 12, 2017 20:11:07 GMT 1
Pedantically speaking, Ric Ocasek was married to somebody else at the time Drive was released.
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Post by thehitparade on Nov 8, 2017 1:03:02 GMT 1
I remember a docu that had on it a clip from some record exec circa 1973 talking about what was selling - "Slade, T Rex, both Glitters..." I had wondered if it was just to avoid over-saturating the charts with Gary Glitter. A little going a long way. Coincidentally I've just read this post about the G Band: www.toppermost.co.uk/the-glitter-band/
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Post by thehitparade on Nov 4, 2017 14:39:29 GMT 1
But the Glitter Band didn't actually play on Gary Glitter records did they? I thought they were just the live backing band while Mike Leander did the work in the studio.
Presumably they did play on their own hits though. However, I don't remember hearing much of their music before 1997 either. I guess they could have been "rediscovered" by now if it wasn't for the name though.
Pop fact: Peter Phipps from the Glitter Band also drummed on two XTC albums, meaning he did the drums on 'Love On A Farmboy's Wages' which doesn't really sound much like glam rock.
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Post by thehitparade on Oct 21, 2017 13:45:38 GMT 1
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Post by thehitparade on Oct 15, 2017 12:19:59 GMT 1
I was whiling the time away in Ed's American Diner at Euston Station a few weeks ago when Deck Of Cards came on. I hadn't heard it for years, and wondered what compilation they were playing which had that on. For some godforsaken reason my Dad had the 7" single when I was a kid, I think it's in my loft now. Those American spoken word singles with tales morality involving simple folk just like you and me were universally dreadful, probably the worst of all being JJ Barrie's UK number one No Charge. Their appeal baffles me, they seem to be for people who like being patronised. I suppose the modern day equivalent is those "My Mom means everything to me, share if you agree" style Facebook memes. How would I know? I've never even met your "Mom". Yeah, say what you like about Facebook it's reduced the number of hits that sound like that. And of course there was the interim when it was all on forwarded e-mails instead. I do have a version of 'Deck Of Cards' on a compilation, it's an album of records banned from BBC radio 1931-57. It's T. Texas Tyler's version in that case, but the sleeve notes do record that Wink Martindale's rendition appeared only on chart broadcasts; so whatever the reason was for it charting in the UK, it wasn't airplay. They also point out that the maths isn't completely accurate.
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Post by thehitparade on Oct 15, 2017 12:11:13 GMT 1
I don't know how true it is, but I once read that the original lyric was indeed 'Semi-Detached Suburban Mr Jones' (a more obvious choice, especially for Dylan fans) and was changed to avoid the implication that it was about Paul Jones. I notice there's still the reference to "Mr Most" though.
Boy From Nowhere doesn't seem to be on any of the Tom Jones hits compilations and neither is it on Spotify. Perhaps there's some contractual issues around it but that might also be why it's so forgotten.
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Post by thehitparade on Aug 20, 2017 15:04:44 GMT 1
Sorry to be Captain Obvious here, but Louisa Johnson seems a bit out of place in this lineup.
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Post by thehitparade on Aug 15, 2017 17:14:14 GMT 1
The wouldn't have shown the very short one if it was presented by DLT.
(Sorry, I see what's already been said)
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Post by thehitparade on Aug 14, 2017 23:26:23 GMT 1
I'm not sure whether this single is itself all that bizarre, but the fact that somebody I associated with reading out clues on game shows and pro-celebrity golf tournaments had an underground club hit with a funky disco track in 1983 is a little odd.
(I know now that he co-wrote Small Faces songs, was the first person to cover a Beatles song etc)
It's also a bit weird that he co-wrote one of the other tracks on the album with an ex-tennis player who was later thrown out of UKIP for being too racist, but that's another story.
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Post by thehitparade on Aug 14, 2017 22:35:30 GMT 1
Not to boast, but I know all the lyrics to those.
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Post by thehitparade on Aug 14, 2017 18:00:38 GMT 1
Can't find a YouTube of the exact recording, but it seems topical to mention that this peaked at 53 in the singles chart in 1999
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Post by thehitparade on Aug 13, 2017 23:24:49 GMT 1
Now you come to mention it, I wonder whether TotP ever did "punish" acts who turned down an offer to appear (as opposed to those who were out of the country or whatever)? Not saying that's what happened to the Cocteaus, obviously, I've no idea whether they were ever approached. But I wonder whether it ever happened to anyone else, apart from the Clash.
I haven't really been keeping score of the playout tracks in this era, but aren't they mostly more danceable in nature?
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Post by thehitparade on Aug 13, 2017 15:52:26 GMT 1
There is a Cocteau Twins video but to be fair I don't know whether that was finished in time for this episode. I certainly can't imagine them going on in person.
I was also going to say that whilst 'Thieves Like Us' is one of my favourite singles of 1984, that live performance is terrible. I don't know whether New Order's actual concerts were that bad or whether it was just the studio set-up.
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Post by thehitparade on Aug 13, 2017 0:17:49 GMT 1
One notable fact about the Steptoe & Son hit is that Harry H Corbett had to overdub one line onto the single to explain a visual joke.
Never heard the Decimal Song before. It's... something.
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Post by thehitparade on Aug 12, 2017 0:51:18 GMT 1
Staying with that kind of theme...'Rhinestone Cowboy' Just been looking through the thread to see if anyone had posted this before and indeed they had.
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Post by thehitparade on Aug 12, 2017 0:31:14 GMT 1
A pedant writes: Freddie Mercury did shave his moustache for the ballet scenes in the video.
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Post by thehitparade on Aug 4, 2017 22:32:48 GMT 1
It was apparently a deliberate in-joke that Sandie Shaw wore shoes and the Smiths didn't for that performance. I suppose Morrissey didn't have anything to contribute to that performance, but I kind of imagine that if he did it now he probably would insist on turning up and pretending to play tambourine or something.
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Post by thehitparade on Jul 28, 2017 0:00:48 GMT 1
Yep, I've just looked it up the latest permissible release date was 21st July so I stand corrected on this point. Even Declan McKenna would theoretically be eligible though of course I don't know whether he actually entered.
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