vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 6, 2020 23:57:39 GMT 1
26/4. Bruno Brookes and a posse who look like they've fallen out of a wine bar. Pat & Mick with a straight, if dull, cover of an Odyssey chart-topper. This is a charity release, apparently. Do you have to be 35 to get a TOTP ticket? Pat looks like he's been to an Adam Ant convention, Mick has just come from an accountants' board meeting.
The background is another cover version, but we cut to Natalie Cole. The chyron has changed, they're not using that hideous font and creating shapes with it before, it's just a number on a sunburst and regular text. Natalie "I Would Never Have Had A Career Without My Surname" Cole, with something they're pitching as a vogue single but it patently isn't. It's difficult to project yourself as wild when you look as dangerous as Singing Corner.
Charts. They've gone fecking overboard with the clipart for the charts, we've got lines, circles, Saturn, squares and Tetris as background. Brookes says there are 20 dance tracks in the top 40, maybe that's why the charts are so sh*te.
Unique 3. There's an oxymoron. I don't recall this at all, it's a poor man's De La Soul. The rap is fast. It's OK, maybe the daisy age is taking off.
Paula Abdul, go away.
Breakers. All About Eve, that's a major change of pace. This is floating down a river surrounded by greenery and mystery. Kid Creole, wow, where did he come from? August Darnell one of the under-rated performers. This is louche. And of course we get f***ing Sinitta even though she's at 38 because the whole programme is basically set up to get interviews with the Minogue midget. How the f*** does this get on when so many better and higher records are ignored? There needs to be a police investigation into the f***ing producer, he's obviously taking massive bribes.
Jesus Jones, see above.
Charts again. As an aside, the 1980 graphics lasted about five years, have the recent ones lasted five months? Sometimes less is more.
Phil Collins and after the theatrical extravagance of the last video we have a live concert through the eyes of a dog. It's nowhere near as good. Video or song.
Tongue & Cheek. Heh, they're dancing like Five Star, keytars and all. But it doesn't sound like Five Star, sounds more like Shakatak. Not my tasse de thé.
Top 10, Madonna, feck off. Playout is Bruce Dickinson. Given the preponderance of dance in the main programme, this should have been in it, should have stuck Abdul in this bit. This is almost pop rock. Shows off Dickinson's voice a treat. Does he have tattoos? The video is a bit literal. HOw long did it take to half-fill a room with mud? They're giving it a proper play though, we're getting a lot post-credits.
I dunno, it had promise, but the grovelling to the SAWmill is obnoxious and repugnant.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 8, 2020 11:50:00 GMT 1
Heh, new page, good, means I am not tempted by reading vya's reviews first, we tend to have similar perspectives.
Fibonacci sequence before 8. Mayo is wearing SHORTS. Sports casual. Mentions that Vanity Fare disappeared down the pop plughole before calling up Sinitta. Heh. I'm not denying she is PHENOMENALLY attractive, and she is exploiting that to the max with Daisy Dukes, but it is obnoxious that this got recorded and even more obnoxious that it gets the oxygen of publicity that proper acts deserve.
Another pointed barb from Mayo when he says "now the best of British". I suppose Sinitta is technically American? Anyhoo, it is Soul II Soul, and this is far less immediate a blatant pop hit, but it is all the better for that; it might be their best single yet, there is a lot going on, it's a much better representation of the Vogue sound than Ms Ciccione yet it is still fresh. Indeed sounds fresh now.
Charts. Propaganda is the pick.
New in at 12, Morrissey, no backing on stage at all, just him with a King Kurt kwiff and looking vaguely like a performance artist. This sounds like The Cure. Haven't a clue what he's going on about. Wouldn't be a hit without it being by him, but, like Soul II Soul, I like it for that.
Adventures Of Stevie V. This is at 5, and I'd forgotten about it. I don't see the appeal at all.
OK, breakers. En Vogue, looking incredibly classy, sexy, and sassy in their LBDs. This is quite relaxing. Billy Idol, who, having had a new entry AND a climber, is entitled to a full play, but he's not Sinitta. My God, this video is eyecatching. The full video is even better. Had no idea why the geek wasn't like "BLOODY HELL SHE TOTALLY WANTS IT" and is more bothered about his stupid crockery. Bolton, who is gash. And guess which one they miss out? Propa-f***ing-ganda.
28. BBG. Who? No, that's a different group. Nope, don't recall this at all. I can see why, despite the efforts of a very cute lead singer this is ultra-formulaic. Can imagine this being knocked out in 10 minutes to fill time. It has overtones of Shakatak, which is NOT a Good Thing.
Charts. Now the biggest new entry at number 12, Bruce Dickinson, when it's a climber to 18. Mayo's having a f***ing mare there. The literalist video.
However Mayo has a spoiler alert. "Do you want to see next week's number one?" Hello, has he seen sales flashes? Adamski, at no. 4. Does that however mean we still have that sh*te at no. 1? I wonder why Seal isn't credited? His vocals really make it.
Top 10. Allanah Myles, apparently. The top 2 is atrocious. Who is the playout? Propaganda? Nope, it's a song that's not even in the feckin charts. Jesus.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 12, 2020 0:59:48 GMT 1
CB slang for relay message. Davies with massive eyebrows. Highest new entry is the Minogue project. Must admit she's looking gorgeous. And this is easily her best song. Albeit we're talking very low hanging fruit here, indeed, it's like being offered a bogey after eating rabbit sh*t. But they could have plugged literally anyone in to perform that. There's no personality in it.
Video, the Stuffies at 21 as per Davies, or 20 as per the graphic. God, the quality control is going downhill. Dead cheap video, touches of Madchester mixed with the janglepop.
Charts. Emma at 40, which probably means she'll get a play. Propaganda up three, they should be on. So should James with their first newie, and Paul Young, and Sam Brown, and Pasadenas. Instead we cut to Mantronix in the studio with something that sounds pretty similar to their last one. Wondress has forgotten which bits she oohs and aaahs in.
Another newie at 8, it's NKOTB with something that anyone with the slightest modicum of self-respect would have shat out. This is embarrassingly bad, it's like it's been written for Playschool. Oh God, and they've dragged out a five year old for a stage appearance. Who the f*** is buying this? This is plumbing depths that even Peter Jackson couldn't reach in his little sub.
And another newie at 18, jeez, has everyone been holding their songs back for this week? Beats International with what was already a minor hit for the Cookster, and it wasn't very good then. No, this is just a cheap cash-in because they had nothing else ready. Poor show. Very poor show.
Charts. Thunder new in at 25. Bolton goes up to 22 and he's going to be on. Jesus f***ing Christ. About a gazillion new entries and they are going to waste time showing f***ing Bolton who is f***ing sh*t and was f***ing on last week? This is an utter disgrace. The producer should be fired. From a cannon. Into a brick wall.
Davies asks some 45 year old who has a ticket whether she likes Michael Bolton and of course she says yes because the desperate middle-aged are his audience. Jesus, this is worse than his last one. Starts in the falsetto.
We then get an En Vogue video, again on last week, and Adamski is indeed number one. The playout is Spinal Tap, sorry, Thunder, with some boilerplate metal.
That show was a liability. The charts were stuffed full of interesting new entries, actually the one show where having a breakers section was justified, and they didn't hold one. And instead wasted 10 minutes showing songs that had been on the previous week. What's more, American acts for whom the British market means sod all, thus expelling British acts who would otherwise have been making their debut or trying to build on an early success. The song choice was disgusting. Utterly nauseous. With no thought whatsoever as to how to grab casual interest or build a narrative.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 12, 2020 11:13:45 GMT 1
Achtzehn-funf. Campbell and Hothouse Flowers to start, they're still a thing. Vocals sound live, much louder than the instrumentation. This sounds very similar to their second single. In fact there is something very off with the sound balance, you can barely hear the song. Shame, it's quite good.
Pasadenas. Something of the New Jack Swing about this, something of the funk. It's reminiscent of 1971 Motown. Again though, the sound. The vocals are rather quiet. Too much emphasis on dancing as well. Wrong way around. The Temptations were vocals first, moves second.
Charts. Who should be on? Motley Crue, B52s, Little Angels, James, and we've already seen Hothouse Flowers. No Propaganda so TOTP has f***ed them over.
New at 16, The Chimes, with a U2 cover. And it follows the rule that if you're going to do a cover, do it very differently. Am I hearing gospel in the soul somewhere? It has that air with those lyrics. Not my tasse de thé, but at least they're trying.
Eurythmics in at 27, they're trying SO SO SO hard to make An Epic, which I don't like, it's just too blatant, too much of an obvious plea. And it's the fourth from an album, very gougey.
Charts. Don Pablo's Animals, Depeche Mode, Stansfield, Paul Young, all entitled to a play. We get Sam Brown, who should have been on last week, with a rather lovely and sweet song, which nevertheless suits her smoky 3am voice. She ought to be a huge star. Would it be ungalant of me to suggest we should have put this into Eurovision and just blast the feck out of it?
Paul Young, another cover. This time of a stone-cold classic by The (English) Congregation. Yes, Paul has a great voice, but this is anaemic. The original was a standout for its gradual incorporation of a choir and the gravelly bluesy power of Brian Keith. Who ended up covering his own version for a Top Of The Pops album. But this one has no oomph. It's like the whole song is an introduction.
Playout is Depeche Mode, were I Lisa Stansfield I'd be a bit f***ed off. Twice entitled to be on, twice overlooked for lower-placed artists. This one is a bit rubbish as well.
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mfr
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Post by mfr on Dec 12, 2020 20:14:56 GMT 1
To save you the bother of complaining about the song choices in these 2 weeks and every other week, the chart itself decided the content. All the eligible tracks were featured on the May 10th show, the cutoff being Thunder at number 25. On the May 18th show the lowest featured was Hothouse Flowers at number 31 and presumably Don Pablo's Animals weren't available (they were for the next show).
Blame the public for buying what they bought but don't blame the producers.
By the way, Lisa Stansfield was on the May 18th show, but was apparently edited out for the BBC4 repeat because of a reference to Cyril Smith made by Nicky Campbell, perhaps saying he was her MP. I suppose BBC4 could have found a way to play it anyway.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 12, 2020 23:34:53 GMT 1
The producers are definitely to blame for not including breakers when there are loads of new entries. And for having breakers on in consecutive weeks squeezing out songs that therefore do not get a play. E.g.on the 10.5 show they could have had 3-4 songs instead of En Vogue, who couldn't be bothered to come over.
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vya
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Post by vya on Dec 12, 2020 23:56:21 GMT 1
May 10th
The Wooooh Man
Kylie Minogue - "Better The Devil You Know" Ah, a mystery is solved. Once upon a time SAW made lots of perfectly average, occasionally more than average, pop records, and distributed them more or less equitably among their clients. Sam Fox, Rick Astley, Sinitta. All OK. None outstanding, none atrocious. Then, at some point (possibly inspired by "I'd Rather Jack" making the top 10), they realised they could have big hits with any old rubbish (so: Sonia, Jason, Big Fun, here you go), while saving up stuff they could actually be proud of for a select few acts (mostly Kylie. But don't overlook Lonnie Gordon. Maybe even only those two). Definitely a further step up for Kylie, after a step up the previous year too. She is also notably adopting a "less is more" approach to clothing, too. Definitely maturing/seeking a more sophisticated audience. Maybe she will publically melt down every remaining copy of her versions of "The Locomotion" to seal the deal. That'd be good.
The Wonder Stuff - "Circlesquare". Again showing their folky side. I can't help think that they'd have been great to see live in some intimate, almost certainly smoky, definitely drink-sodden, venue, probably next to a canal in the Black Country. On vinyl they rarely really made it.
Mantronix ft Wondress - "Take Your Time" Essentially the melody of "Got To Have Your Love" speeded up a bit, with its highlight (the bassline) taken out, and a new keyboard riff added. Can't blame them for doing it, but where it sits on the line between "pleasant" and "not unpleasant" is probably the main point of debate.
New Kids On the Block - "Cover Girl" Worse than "Hangin' Tough". And as for the video...
Beats International - "Won't Talk About It" Falls into the Jamtronix track of messing up a track that didn't need to be messed up (which given it was their own track to start with takes some doing), with ludicrous and inappropriate samples and vocal bits thrown in. Not often you can say "The Billy Bragg version is better", but how it is.
Michael Bolton - "How Can We Be Lovers" Musically, this is a hilarious pistache of 80s hair rock, the stuff that filled acres of those "Soft MetaL" compilation albums. It's all there: the overblown guitars, the impassioned female backing vocals, the key changes. Lyrically and vocally, though? Bolton going full bunny boiler for the second single in a row. Steer clear, ladies. One thing worse than this record is the thought of men in the situation he's singing about buying this record as a gift to try and win their ex or soon-to-be ex back, or making a mix tape for them with it on. Pure emotional abuse. F off Michael.
En Vogue - "Hold On" There's some real talent here in their voices, I feel. This is a worthy introduction to the act, but we'll see if they blossom further in due course I suppose.
Adamski - "Killer" I didn't realise that Adamski looks nearly as young as the girl being serenaded in the NKOTB video earlier. Naturally the BBC cut it off too soon.
Thunder - "Backstreet Symphony" Trying to be kind about this would require more creativity than went into making the track. It does at least provide an answer to the question du jour: of Thunder and the Little Angels, which are more talented? I imagine Thunder think this is their epic, their BoRap. Nah mate, Spinal Tap.
All in all, after Kylie, this was not a good episode.
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mfr
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Post by mfr on Dec 13, 2020 0:33:15 GMT 1
The producers are definitely to blame for not including breakers when there are loads of new entries. And for having breakers on in consecutive weeks squeezing out songs that therefore do not get a play. E.g.on the 10.5 show they could have had 3-4 songs instead of En Vogue, who couldn't be bothered to come over. Of course, En Vogue might have been on tour in the US, or on a US show, at the time. They are in the studio for the next show. The Breakers slot presumably counted as a video slot, so it may be they were less likely to be included when there were more videos anyway.
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vya
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Post by vya on Dec 13, 2020 12:03:26 GMT 1
Nicky Campbell, trying to be too clever for his own good, constantly. ("I'm underappreciated at Radio 1, give me a job at Bannister's GLR, where I can be knowing and ironic")
Hothouse Flowers - "Give It Up" The usual thing record companies did was say, "look, this act had a big hit with "Don't Go", can't we find some other young upcoming group to do a watered down imitation of it, maybe get a medium-sized hit out of it, some moolah will roll in that way". Here though - looking for return on their 1988 investment, the trick is to get the act who did "Don't Go" in the first place to do the same thing. It's not really very good.
(Lisa Stansfield "What Did I Do To You" video edited out, although not a classic, not abysmal either, and her voice is LOVELY)
Pasadenas - "Love Thing" Also has a small hint of record companies seeking to cash in on their 1988 investments. Not really fair, as the Pasadenas are better than that, they're pretty much an old school Brit soul act, and there's a show and performance aspect as well as the competent and attractive music. As a come back single, this is less gripping than "Tribute" was, and seems a bit incidental, while welcome.
The Chimes - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" Glasgow's finest exponents of the nu soul sound that is gradually bubbling up in other cities in the UK (almost all in England, really), Pauline Henry can sing, powerfully, and this passes the cover version test, arguably on both points, of "do it better or do it differently". Imagine how much better it would be with orchestral backing and real instruments instead of a drum machine though.
Eurythmics - "Angel" Sad, melancholic track that I'm not sure is suited to single format, and certainly not to the way it is molested on this edition of TOTP. Annie Lennox's voice, of course.
Sam Brown - "Kissing Gate" Sam Brown's talents are so distinct, and special, that I can't help think that she'd have been better served as a member of a group based around them, rather than so much reliance on session musicians and (not in this case) ill-judged choices of singles. (cf Toni Halliday). In other words this is really rather splendid, not heartstoppingly epic like "Stop", but warm and eccentric. A good good thing.
Paul Young - "Softly Whispering I Love You" Very watered down compared with the original, and also evidencing, I think, the damage to Young's vocal cords that happened after his earlier period of success. Not at all unpleasant, but the way he uses a guitar as a prop is Jason Donovan-esque.
Adamski - "Killer" see passim
Depeche Mode - "Policy of Truth" Maybe (even more than "Shake The Disease") the moment when they came of age in public. Superb.
A bit of a mixed show, but on balance more good than bad. Campbell is annoying (and more like the previous generation of Radio One presenters that he is trying to distinguish himself from that he realises) though.
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vya
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Post by vya on Dec 18, 2020 22:27:38 GMT 1
"When a woman learns to walk, she's not dependent any more": A Turner but not a Tina.
B-52's - "Roam" Lovely acapella introduction, and this is fine bit of power pop, sweet and only slightly quirky. And (just like most Sugarcubes tracks) all the better for the male vocalists' silence. Better than "Love Shack".
Mantronix ft Wondress - "Take Your Time" "No need to rush cos it only gets better". Sadly not true here. OK.
En Vogue - "Hold On" Second act in the studio, and the second track with an appealling (and here, lengthy) acapella introduction. Remarkably it doesn't fell like the act is cut off prematurely at the other end. Demonstrably a class act. And it does get better as the beat becomes more hypnotic.
Breakers: Movement .98 ft Carroll Thompson - "Joy and Heartbreak": delightful underrated number based around some Erik Satie Gymnopedie, with the queen of lovers rock on vocals. The 12" mixes are better. Remarkably they don't play the chorus; Betty Boo - "Doin' The Do" - obvious and insistent and probably not quite too cute, maybe; Little Angels ft Big Bad Horns - "Radical Your Lover" - big bad horns in evidence, quite unironic and 80s, but vastly better than that last Thunder record fighting over similar audiences; Talk Talk - "It's My Life": masterful and beautiful, finally in the charts a few years after its original release. Brilliant track, the best on this edition by far.
Beats International - "Won't Talk About It" Yeah, shut it.
Michael Bolton - "How Can We Be Lovers" We can't.
Don Pablo's Animals - "Venus" Like the Beats International atrocity, this has layer upon layer after samples (including, well over two years after it first featured in a top 40 hit, that "wooh yeah" bit from Lyn Collins' "Think"). Unlike that, it is well structured and composed, and fits together like a kaleidoscope, not an eyesore. Seems a bit "summer of 89" though (Raul Orellana and that), so not sure a career awaits the animals.
Adamski - "Killer" The video this time. Like the track, at places creates a mood of 1981, the previous optimum age of exciting and innovative electronic music.
Was Not Was - "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" Always a pleasure to have such an accomplished act as the Wasses in the charts, and this is a competent and well-performed cover of a classic (uncertain about the value of the rap interjection, though, although it's not objectionable, unlike those in numerous other contemporary hits)
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vya
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Post by vya on Dec 18, 2020 22:57:18 GMT 1
End of the month, Mayo. In a range of World Cup football tops.
Black Box - "Everybody Everybody" The sound of the walls falling off the bus of this Italian job. Not horrible, but there is surely no future in this.
Talk Talk - "It's My Life" Near perfect. (Record company presumably acknowledging, correctly, that the current incarnation of TT will never make anything remotely commercial again, so finding a perfect opportunity to dig out lost gems like this)
Sam Brown - "Kissing Gate" Still rather lovely.
Erasure - "Star" Competent and pleasant but a bit workaday by the standards of a group who elsewhere innovate wildly and successfully. More good than bad for sure.
Jane Child - "Don't Wanna Fall In Love" I've always loved the forcefulness and pace and drive of this - expected it to be as big a hit in the UK as it had been in the US, but probably a bit too US FM radio for UK ears. Another lost minor gem.
(charts: NWA - "Express Yourself" in at no 26 on its second release. Now that is a real classic. But will there be a hint of it here?....no chance!)
Chad Jackson - "Hear The Drummer (Get Wicked)" Hacienda DJ remix/remodel/popped-up take on the 45 King's "The 900 Number", which had managed 30 weeks in the top 100 without ever getting higher than no 60 since early 1989. A sprinkling of Madchester never improved anything though.
Betty Boo - "Doin' The Doo" Oh in a very 1990 touch the video is taking the "sexy little schoolgirls" approach. For female rappers gainin respec in a cool British dialec, well, I prefer the Cookies. This is all just too obvious.
EnglandNewOrder - "World In Motion" A real cultural watershed moment, for both pop music and for football in England. And it passes the test of time, easily. (Although Barnes' brilliant moment maybe says - ah, the "Anfield Rap" got their first, we just weren't paying attention).
Adamski - "Killer" So you want to be free.
Charlatans - "The Only One I Know" Like the Inspirals, unfairly lumped in with "Madchester" for broad geographical reasons. Much deeper and stronger in sound, and haunting.
Wow. the best edition for ages.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Dec 22, 2020 22:28:22 GMT 1
A lot of catching up to do, been meaning to post for a while.
5th April Don't know whether it was just a coincidence that this was during the Easter holidays and so I had more time to watch, but this is my favourite episode of the year so far.
Enjoyed Step On, been waiting for Vogue to appear as that was the first number 1 I remember loving, liked Black Velvet although I think I appreciated it more when hearing it on the radio (still the case now).
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Post by o on Dec 22, 2020 22:34:20 GMT 1
B 52's Roam and Talk Talk the highlights recently by far, I loved the B 52s male singer just stood there hitting a tambourine looking bored.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Dec 22, 2020 22:42:13 GMT 1
12th April
Opposites Attract - For me the video made the song, it was what attracted me to the song in the first place, loved it at the time.
19th April Killer and Dirty Cash both classics. I'm sure I wasn't the only one at the time who thought Seal was Adamski!
Forgot to add, Black Velvet also a classic.
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Post by Shireblogger on Dec 22, 2020 23:03:51 GMT 1
Slightly peripheral to this thread, but I've just watched the 1995 Christmas Special presented by Jack Dee & Bjork. A decent show, until the end, when they announced the 1995 Christmas #1 as Mike Flowers Pops. The caption reinforced this.
Anybody know what went wrong with this edition, as I didn't think "Wonderwall" actually made #1 ?
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Dec 23, 2020 23:01:25 GMT 1
Slightly peripheral to this thread, but I've just watched the 1995 Christmas Special presented by Jack Dee & Bjork. A decent show, until the end, when they annoufnced the 1995 Christmas #1 as Mike Flowers Pops. The caption reinforced this. Anybody know what went wrong with this edition, as I didn't think "Wonderwall" actually made #1 ? Haven't got round to watching yet (thought it was a sign of BBC4 desperation that they were showing it, though it was a 1995 night..) didn't realise/had forgotten that. Guessing it was pre recorded ages in advance so they thought it would be the number 1? Wasnt there loads of pre orders?
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 26, 2020 15:14:06 GMT 1
24/5. Anthea Turner dressed as Julie Walters in the Victoria Wood afternoon programme take-offs. B52s with an a capella opening for "Roam" which I totally do not remember. How hot is Cindy looking? I think this is better than "Love Shack". It's a brilliant pop song, like REM's "Stand".
Mantronix get a play even though it's the same as their previous single and is therefore effectively down. f*** it.
Charts and Turner introduces the act at no. 5 without actually saying who they are. En Vogue in LBDs. Très chic. Again a capella opening. Seems to cut off. Maybe they should have been live.
OH NOW THEY PLAY f***ing BREAKERS NOW ALL THE GOOD RECORDS ARE NO LONGER THERE. Movement 98 which is not a punk or New Order thing but a bit of Brit-jazz that barely exists. Betty Boo, be still my heart. Her voice is rather cartoonish but bloody hell she is hotter than the core of a blue supergiant. Little Angels with something that I could have knocked up in about three minutes. Talk Talk with a reissue that instantly sounds several steps ahead of most of the dross in the charts.
Beats International. Meh. Charts. Given that this show is basically the show of 2 weeks ago, we naturally get Michael f***ing Bolton.
Don Pablo's Animals "with their version of Venus". Which is the original with computer percussion added and the vocals removed. What. Is. The. f***ing. Point. You would have to have had several lobotomies to buy this. Why didn't whoever have the rights release the Shocking Blue version as a spoiler? This is one of the most morally objectionable curls of sh*t that has ever been released, and given that there have been things like USA For Africa and there will be things like KWS that's saying a LOT. Is this how f***ing easy it is to have a hit? Take a record and take the vocals off? And TOTP is giving this animal waste airplay but wouldn't play Propaganda. Mr Programme Selector, please volunteer for some nasty medical experimentation.
Top 10, Adamski, video this time which looks astoundingly cheap. Playout is Was (Not Was) with a bold idea - covering a Temps classic. It's not as good as the original, but it does work, thanks to some stellar vocal work and some interesting sharp background cuts. But. Let's parse the show. A copy by Mantronix, a re-issue from Talk Talk, covers from DPA, W(NW) and BI. That's an absolute travesty. What current music scene?
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 26, 2020 21:43:41 GMT 1
Pridie kalends Iunii. Mayo in an Italy shirt. Albeit it looks to be a knockoff. Black Box with their fake singer and fake song. Prime advert for Brexit.
Now Mayo is in an RoI shirt. Allegedly Talk Talk are Jackie Charlton's favourite band. I somehow doubt that. "It's My Life" with a video shot in a zoo and with lots of library footage of animals. Linking to their Best Of being called Natural History. Everything about this screams class, the production work, the surprisingly warm synths, the twists in the tune, the surreality of it. It's a diametric opposite of Black Box. The mainstream charts really have gone down the toilet in recent years, haven't they?
Mayo now rockin' Spain. Charts. You know, this stupid theme tune is genuinely awful, and, what's more, I think now it is deliberately so. "Whole Lotta Love" and "Yellow Pearl" were strong and powerful productions, with a hint of drama. They are both so so so far above what is in the charts at the mo that it would be an embarrassing contrast. It just has nothing in it, does it? There's no tune, no hook, nothing at all that is memorable. Bit like Black Box.
Sam Brown, still going up bit by bit, and another act who goes retro to show up the poverty of the sh*te around. Think this is the same performance as before.
Mayo is now f***ing the Falklands. Erasure with an ubercheap FX video. They're going the literal route. "Blue Savannah" saw them blue, "Star" sees them in space. This is quite good but it smacks of album-gouging. Again, would have been a better Eurovision entry than Emma.
Mayo in Brazil. Jane Child, with a song that was in a very tight 3-way for the top of the US charts with Lisa Stansfield and Tommy Page. And you can see why, it's so utterly blando dando formulaic, seemingly aimed with the sole purpose of getting played on US radio for an audience that doesn't like music. She's got Limahl's hair and weird piercings so you'd think she'd be more Joan Jett than Janet Jackson. This could have been done by almost literally anyone, Taylor Dayne, Gloria Estefan, Pat Benatar, total plug and play with any scintilla of personality drained out.
Scotland. Charts. Big newie at 12 and we get to hear it. A couple of years ago The 45 King had a b-side was about eight seconds of sampled sax but which was looped for several minutes; a Fast Show of a track. Chad Jackson has taken this and turned it into a proper choon, with extra drumbeats and lots of extra samples and a funky bassline. I quite like this, it has moxie. Maybe it needs a bit more oomph to take it over the top, so there's something more memorable than the minimalist lyrics and the sax sting. There's a female Bez there. Peace, unity, love, and havin' fun. Stick that on a motto in Latin. Pax, unitas, amor, et ludens. Sounds good.
Mayo now wearing a World In Motion t. I could do with one of those. Not right now, it's about 2. Betty Boo. Talking of moxie. I'd certainly do the do. And she's good at chemistry.
Mayo in the England change kit. New Order with their biggest ever hit in its first chart week. Steve MacMahon in the video. A coward and a thug. Should never have been within a thousand mile of the three lions. Three lions? That has a ring to it. Novel move for England to go for a non-football-type song. John Barnes putting the C in rap. Keith Allen is involved. Gillian looks totally bemused.
Mayo: you know it's going to be a number one, don't you? And as if to celebrate he's in the white. Top 10, Adamski holding on to no. 1, which is quite an effort given the New Order behemoth about to land.
Playout is The Charlatans. Surely this should have been in the main show and Child relegated to the playout? This is miles better. Basically baggy plus organ. They've been knocking around the top of the indie charts for a while and now they've broken through with something rather good. Quam clarum. Hm.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2021 23:05:45 GMT 1
To save you the bother of complaining about the song choices in these 2 weeks and every other week, the chart itself decided the content. All the eligible tracks were featured on the May 10th show, the cutoff being Thunder at number 25. On the May 18th show the lowest featured was Hothouse Flowers at number 31 and presumably Don Pablo's Animals weren't available (they were for the next show). Blame the public for buying what they bought but don't blame the producers. By the way, Lisa Stansfield was on the May 18th show, but was apparently edited out for the BBC4 repeat because of a reference to Cyril Smith made by Nicky Campbell, perhaps saying he was her MP. I suppose BBC4 could have found a way to play it anyway. That was a pathetic edit out by the BBC really. We lost a good song just cause of a Cyril Smith mention. The BBC has no backbone! It was probably something about the best thing to come out of Rochdale since Cyril Smith something along those lines think they're both from Rochdale. Can't find the clip on youtube. It was only a video anyway so here it is
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2021 23:23:05 GMT 1
Slightly peripheral to this thread, but I've just watched the 1995 Christmas Special presented by Jack Dee & Bjork. A decent show, until the end, when they announced the 1995 Christmas #1 as Mike Flowers Pops. The caption reinforced this. Anybody know what went wrong with this edition, as I didn't think "Wonderwall" actually made #1 ? I think they recorded different options for No.1 Here's the original link
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