We’re back to the usual format after last weeks Comic Relief special and it’s another outing for the Radio 1 Breakfast Show team of Simon Mayo, Sybil Ruscoe and Rod McKenzie as joint presenters.
First on tonight are New Order whom we find in the middle of their balearic period. Latest single “Round And Round” was not an unlikely cover of the Spandau Ballet track but was taken from their “Technique” album and is supposedly written about the band’s increasingly fragile relationship with Factory Records owner Tony Wilson. Indeed, the band didn’t even want “Round And Round” released as a single; they preferred the track “Vanishing Point” but were overruled by Wilson.
In this performance, we see lots shots of the studio audience which, as mentioned in a previous post, seemed to be part of the new staging and look of the show. It was as if the TOTP producers were trying to create the impression that we were actually witnessing a concert rather than a pop music show.
This period in New Order’s history didn’t so an awful lot for me – maybe because I wasn’t likely to find myself out clubbing in Ibiza till all hours. “Round And Round” has all the New Order sonic trademarks but it just doesn’t seem to go anywhere to me.
Now I never knew this before but “World In Motion” wasn’t the first time that New Order had attempted a football themed song. No, the B-side of “Round And Round” was a song called “Best And Marsh” which was the theme tune to a Granada TV show hosted by the aforementioned Tony Wilson called Best And Marsh – The Perfect Match. The show was pretty much as it sounded with Wilson interviewing ex-footballers George Best and Rodney Marsh about their 1970s glory years. As for the track, it isn’t much kop in my opinion.
“Round And Round” peaked at No 21.
Talk about getting your money’s worth! This is the third time that the show has used the same clip of Gloria Estefan performing “Can’t Stay Away From You” in the TOTP studio. Maybe its usage was linked to the song’s length. Certainly in this version (which may well have been edited for the show) it clocks in at a just under two minutes. No wonder they showed it a few times!
“Can’t Stay Away From You” was at its No 7 peak.
Yet another song (and performer in this case) that I just can’t recall at all. Chanelle? Did she do a couple of singles with Alexander O’Neal?
*checks internet*
Nope – that was Cherrelle apparently. I can’t actually see much about Chanelle online at all. All my searches keep finding Chanelle Hayes from Big Brother who was one half of the ‘Chiggy’ couple and who also confusingly had a go at being a pop star in 2008.
The 1989 Chanelle is in the charts with “One Man” which sounds like it could easily have been a Ce Ce Peniston hit from the early 90s. Apparently it got to No 16 but it clearly passed me by.
The Breakers are back and start off with Alyson Williams and “Sleep Talk” and guess what? I don’t remember this one either! I know her name (probably because of the unusual spelling of her first name) but this track? Nada. Did she have another hit?
*checks internet again*
Yes she did with something called “I Need Your Lovin” in 1990.
*plays “I Need Your Lovin”*
OK – That one sounds familiar but “Sleep Talk”? I must have (ahem) sleep walked through it.
This next one I do remember as my wife (girlfriend in ’89) is a big Elvis Costello fan and she bought the album that “Veronica” is taken from (“Spike”) on the day of release. Now she won’t like me saying it but in my opinion, this was still a period in his career when Elvis wrote proper songs with discernible melodies before it all went a bit too earnest and he forgot to add a tune to his lyrics.
Around this time, there was also a big fuss made about the collaboration between Costello and Paul McCartney who co-wrote a number of tracks on the album including this lead single. In return, Elvis helped write three tracks on McCartney’s next album “Flowers In The Dirt” including his lead single “My Brave Face”. It was a symbiotic relationship that bore fruit for both parties. “Veronica” saw Elvis return to the Top 40 for the first time in three years whilst “Spike” achieved gold status sales. Meanwhile, McCartney’s album did even better going to No 1 in the charts and going platinum with sales of 300,000 units.
I quite liked this era’s material from both these musical giants. In 1994, I saw Elvis live in concert at Manchester (alongside my wife obviously) and he put on a great show I have to say.
Kim Wilde‘s purple patch that had lasted since the Summer of ’88 and included three Top 10 hits and a platinum selling album was just starting to over ripen by this point. It was probably pushing it a bit for label MCA to have released a fifth single from that album (“Close”) and therefore its peak position of No 32 shouldn’t have been a big surprise. “Love In The Natural Way” isn’t a bad pop tune with its almost euphoric chorus but it didn’t have the immediate appeal of something like “You Came” to my ears. Although probably one of Kim’s least remembered hits, it does have its own little unique place in her career as it was her last release and hit of the 80s, the decade that launched her and saw her become the biggest selling British female solo artist.
Another New Model Army single?! Weren’t they in the Breakers just the other week? Well I’ve checked and they were with the “Stupid Questions” single. Like its predecessor, this one (“Vagabonds”) was taken from the “Thunder And Consolation” album and also like its predecessor, it peaked outside the Top 30 (No 37 if you’re counting). In a case of remarkable consistency , the album would spawn one further single release and guess what? That did exactly the same chart wise peaking at No 37 as well (I did say exactly).
As with “Stupid Questions”, I don’t recall “Vagabonds” at all and whilst not really something I would have been listening to back then, it sounds pretty good to me now. I may have mentioned this before but I have a friend who met her husband via a New Model Army fan forum. I’ve also got a friend who met their partner via a shared disliking of ex Man Utd midfielder Paul Scholes. However, I don’t know anybody who loves New Model Army and hates Paul Scholes.
How about this for a transformation?! Not only have this next lot had a complete image overhaul but they’ve even changed their name (well shortened it anyway). I first became aware of Fuzzbox back in ’86 when they went by the name of We’ve Got A Fuzzbox And We’re Going To Use It and their single “Rules And Regulations” somehow found its way onto Radio 1’s playlists. I say somehow because it was quite an anarchic sound with its punky guitars and Poly Styrene style vocals. Then there was their image – all day-glo coloured , gravity defying hair and DIY dress sense. They were very unlikely pop stars which may explain why they’d only breached the Top 40 once before this point with their “Love Is The Slug EP”.
Fast forward a couple of years and they looked and sounded unrecognizable in this performance to promote their new single “International Rescue”. Where were the crazy haircuts and what was with the co-ordinated outfits? Yes, I got it that it was in keeping with the Thunderbirds theme but even so. They looked so groomed and stylized. Plus, there had obviously been a deliberate decision to promote singer Vickie Perks as some sort of sex symbol, pushing her out front with a distinct amount of flesh on display. When asked in Smash Hits magazine if the rest of the group got fed up with her getting all the attention, Vickie replied “Um, well, I don’t think so. I think they prefer it” before telling the readers that the rest of them weren’t arsed about having their photos taken and anyway, she wanted to go on and do solo stuff and acting so it was good practice for her. Perhaps an insight here into why the group never lasted.
As for their new sound, it was so polished compared to the rough and readiness of their earlier material. It seemed liked a very conscious decision to finally make them into the proper charts stars that their newly signed to major record label WEA clearly believed that they could be. It all seemed to be panning out swimmingly as well. “International Rescue” missed the Top 10 by just one place and follow up single “Pink Sunshine” went Top 20 as well. One further chart hit and a Top 5 album (“Big Bang!”) were achieved before their time in the (possibly pink) sunshine was over.
Watching this performance back, whilst Vicky seems to have taken to her new role effortlessly, the rest of the band seem a bit bemused by it all and unsure of what they should be doing to me. Eventually though they relax a bit and certainly drummer Tina O’Neill has got her countdown cameo down to a tee.
I liked this new version of the band and thought they probably should have got even more success than they did. The new music was definitely poppier but with an edge to it as well. Sybil Ruscoe describes the band at the song’s end as being “Possibly the best thing to come out of Birmingham since Aston Villa I think”. One in the eye for all Birmingham City fans there then.
After a year’s sabbatical throughout the whole of 1988, Madonna finally re-emerged and brought a shitload of controversy with her. In a previous post I mentioned that the Pepsi sanitized commercial to promote her comeback single “Like A Prayer” had aired around the world one day before the release of the official promo for the track on MTV. The multinational corporation had been pleased with the viewer response and all boded well for their commercial tie in with Madge. Fast forward 24 hours and they found themselves caught up in a worldwide backlash against the singer and were forced to drop their entire association with her. Madonna was accused of blasphemy and looking to sell her music on the back of it. Even the Pope got involved and urged fans to boycott her shows scheduled for Italy.
I’m not sure where I was when I first saw the “Like A Prayer” video (it may have been on this very episode of TOTP) but whenever and however the circumstances, the video itself was unforgettable. That’s not to say it was good but the imagery used in it and the controversy it evoked have stayed with me these past 30 odd years.
Watching it back from that temporal distance, it strikes me as what my old Poly friend John would have described as a ‘confused mess of a film’. Quite what was it trying to say? There’s so much going on in the video that it’s hard to process it all. You’ve got all the religious imagery, racial tension and stereotyping themes and of course possibly the most controversial element of all, the burning crosses.
The song – yes there was an actual song in among all this which tends to get overlooked – indeed it was Madonna’s first new material in nearly three years so should have been a big enough deal anyway – would quickly go to No 1 here and in the US so there’ll be ample more opportunity to dissect it all but for now I’ll let the people at Everything Wrong With give their take on the video…
‘A happy face, a thumpin’ bass, for a lovin’ race!’ Yes! It’s Soul II Soul time. At the forefront of the UK soul funk scene, the band would leave a legacy of ground breaking work that it still revered to this day. I say band but they were more of a collective really with Jazzie B and Caron Wheeler its two most recognizable faces. “Keep On Movin” was actually their second single (though the first I had ever heard) and took them direct into the mainstream with a Top 5 hit. Debut album “Club Classics Vol. One” would become a No 1 seller whilst also achieving critical plaudits as well. Indeed , in 2004 Q Magazine voted the album No 28 in its list of the 50 Greatest British Albums Ever.
I wasn’t a big Soul II Soul fan though I have to admit. I quite liked follow up single and No 1 hit “Back To Life” but I would be lying if I said I was really taken by them. Just being honest.
Top 10
10. Living In A Box – “Blow The House Down”
9. S’Xpress – “Hey Music Lover”
8. Michael Ball – “Love Changes Everything”
7. Gloria Estefan – “Can’t Stay Away From You”
6. Paula Abdul – “Straight Up”
5. Sam Brown – “Stop!”
4. Donna Summer – “This Time I Know It’s For Real”
3. Bananarama and Lalaneeneenoonoo – “Help”
2. Madonna – “Like A Prayer”
1. Jason Donovan – “Too Many Broken Hearts”: Right, I’ve double checked the facts with my friend Robin and his/my Jason Donovan story is cleared for take off. So, I’ll begin…
Robin worked for the BBC for many years and in that time came to know the CBBC presenter Andi Peters. When Peters left the BBC to take charge of music and youth programming at LWT, one of the shows that he made in that role was called The Noise which aired in the Autumn of 1996 for 12 episodes in the slot just before ITV’s The Chart Show. The Noise was a pop music show featuring live in-studio performances, interviews and features and Peters invited my mate Robin to help out on the show behind the scenes.
On one show, Robin happened to walk past the green room and saw a guy looking very perplexed at the coffee machine, tapping the sides of it, frustratingly pushing buttons etc. Actually managing to get some coffee out of it seemed beyond him. Robin went over to help him and it turned out that the confused individual was in fact Jason Donovan who had been booked as a guest on the show. Jason was not in the best of states as he’s been out on a ‘bit of a bender’ the night before* and had turned up at the LWT south bank studios with sick still in his beard. Robin decided the best course of action was to escort Donovan to make up where they de-fooded his stubble and made him presentable for national TV. Apparently it wasn’t his finest TV appearance – he couldn’t remember the names of any of his hit singles and didn’t realize when the live broadcast had actually finished. Oh dear.
*On a serious note, Donovan admitted to having had a drug habit in the mid to late 90s but has been drug free since the birth of his first child in 2000.
Fortunately for Jason, there doesn’t seem to be any footage of his appearance available on the internet. Fortunately for Robin, neither is there any footage of him doing the conga with The Spice Girls who also appeared on a later show. Indeed, all I can find is the show’s title sequence below:
Including his duet with Kylie, Jason would notch up four No 1 singles during his pop career whilst his debut album “Ten Good Reasons” was the biggest selling LP of 1989.
For me, “Paradise City” was the point where Guns N’ Roses really became a big deal in the UK. They had already long since achieved this status in the US but over here, we had a been a bit slower on the uptake. Previous singles “Sweet Child O’Mine ” and “Welcome To The Jungle” had both been Top 40 hits but both had only managed a peak of No 24 (with the latter song needing to take two attempts to achieve even that). “Paradise City” changed all of that as it went Top 10 (No 6 to be exact). Supposedly Slash’s favourite Guns N’ Roses song, it would kick start a run of 13 UK Top 20 hits (including 11 Top 10 and 4 Top 5).
Having been previously impervious to the band, I have a memory of seeing the video on ITV’s Chart Show and thinking ‘OK, I get it now. These guys are in it for the long haul’. I think it was the double time finale to the track where it all goes a bit apeshit that finally convinced me.
In the aftermath of the single’s success, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was duly re-released in the UK and it matched the success of “Paradise City” by also peaking at No 6. Guns N’ Roses were here to stay …until they weren’t but that’s a whole other blog in itself.
| Order of appearance | Artist | Song | Did I buy it? |
|
1 |
New Order | Round And Round | Nope |
|
2 |
Gloria Estefan | Can’t Stay Away From You | But I could stay away from you Gloria – no |
|
3 |
Chanelle | One Man | Never heard of it |
|
4 |
Alyson Williams | Sleep Talk | Yawn – no |
|
5 |
Elvis Costello | Veronica | No but my wife had the album |
|
6 |
Kim Wilde | Love In The Natural Way | Nah |
|
7 |
New Model Army | Vagabonds | No |
|
8 |
Fuzzbox | International Rescue | Don’t think I did |
|
9 |
Madonna | Like A Prayer | No but it’s on my Immaculate Collection CD |
|
10 |
Soul II Soul | Keep On Movin’ | That would be another no |
|
11 |
Jason Donovan | Too Many Broken Hearts | No but my younger sister had his album |
|
12 |
Guns N’ Roses | Paradise City | Not the single but I think I had the album |
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/m000f8x5/top-of-the-pops-16031989
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 bed time reading?
http://likepunkneverhappened.blogspot.com/2019/03/march-8-21-1989.html
TOTP Rewind - the 80s 