It’s mid April 1989 and the end of my three year stay in Sunderland Polytechnic is not far away now. I’m still burying my head in the sand about this impending eventuality with no plan whatsoever about what I will do next.
However, all of these concerns were put into perspective two days after this TOTP aired when the tragic events of 15th April 1989 that occurred at Hillsborough football stadium became known to the world. Like millions of others, I was tuned into Grandstand that afternoon to follow the day’s football scores including the two FA Cup semi final matches that were being played. By 3.05 that afternoon, it was becoming apparent that something was dreadfully wrong at the Liverpool v Nottingham Forest game. I’m pretty sure there were other people in my student house with me at the time but all those details have been scorched from my brain by the images that were being relayed on our TV.
In 1985, I’d watched the Heysel Stadium disaster in my family home – I remember that I should have been revising for a school exam the next day but that all went out of the window as the night’s events unfolded – so I knew that football and tragedy had a history but Hillsborough seemed so unreal. How was this happening? The fact that simultaneously, some 90 odd miles away, the other semi final was being contested between Everton and Norwich City at Villa Park to a conclusion in favour of the Merseyside team just seemed to add to the feeling of unreality. It felt like the outcome of that game really didn’t matter at all. How could it?
In early January I had traveled to Cumbria to watch my mate Robin’s beloved Carlisle United play Liverpool in the FA Cup 3rd round. Despite them knowing that I was a committed Chelsea fan, this led my parents to be concerned that I somehow may have been at Hillsborough as well. In a time before mobile phones, I really should have found a payphone to reassure them I suppose but it never really occurred to me that they may think I would somehow have been at the game. I can’t remember what I did on the night of that fateful Saturday but I’m sure my mood, like the nation’s, would have been very sombre.
OK, let’s go back 48 hours earlier though to a time before the events of Hillsborough changed the world where we find a solo Mark Goodier on presenting duties. There’s no explanation given as to why there aren’t two hosts this week but there aren’t any Breakers either so maybe they thought two presenters for just the nine acts this week would have been overkill or something.
The first act tonight are Cookie Crew with “Got To Keep On” and despite the fact that he doesn’t get an official credit on the record, the Clapham rappers have managed to persuade Edwin Starr to appear with them. Well, I suppose it was a nice day out for him at least. So what were they actually rapping about? I looked up the lyrics for this one and it seems to be some sort of mission statement about the Cookie Crew and their sound.
‘That we’re down from the southside so you can confide, In the Cookie Crew, cause we’re true’
Was Clapham the southside? Well, it’s south-west London so I suppose….maybe? What say you Wikipedia about Clapham?
‘By the 1980s, the area had undergone a further transformation, becoming the centre for the gentrification of most of the surrounding area. Clapham’s relative proximity to traditionally expensive areas of central London led to an increase in the number of middle-class people living in Clapham’
Hmm…it doesn’t really sound like Cookie Crew were from the hood exactly then. Look, rap and hip hip wasn’t really my thing so maybe I should look for a more valid source when evaluating Cookie Crew …like the heroes of UK hip hop website which had this to say about them:
‘They were a borderline commercial rap group who gained respect from the hardcore hip hop heads for some of their harder tracks.’
There you go then. They were bad asses it seems. Or something. Moving on…
…to a remarkable gaff from Goodier.
“The Cookie Crew showing the Americans a thing or two. Now another… American band.”
Fine work there Mark – not sure attempting to slur their nationality is the best way of introducing the next act though who are Ten City with “Devotion” and it’s yet another song that I cannot recall at all. I just about remembered their previous hit “That’s The Way Love Goes” when it was on the other week but this one? Nothing.
When Goodier introduced the song as “Devotion” I thought it was going to be that “I Want to Give You Devotion” song but it turns out that was by Nomad and in any case wasn’t in the charts until 1991. This “Devotion” did/does absolutely nothing for me. It just sort of meanders along with a house beat and that falsetto vocal over the top. Where’s the tune in it? Maybe it was a club thing? Can’t recall it being played much down at my Sunderland nightclub of choice Rascals though.
“Devotion” peaked at No 29 and Ten City never troubled the UK chart compilers again.
Did Goodier just say ‘It’s Top Of The Baps’ in the intro to the next act?! That’s a completely different type of show surely?! Right, this must be the last time we see T’Pau on the show in the 80s? By this point the band had adopted a full on rock star look. Carol Decker has a studded leather jacket on (complete with fringed sleeves no less) whilst her partner Ronnie Rogers has a well cultivated rock god mop of hair atop his head. Meanwhile the lead guitarist clearly thinks he is playing in U2 rather than some pub rockers from Shrewsbury and has even adopted an image to make him look like The Edge.
Going back to Rogers, he always had that strange stance where he would push the neck of his guitar out at a right angle to his body as if he was trying to measure a distance. Either than or it was his Corporal Jones impression and he’s pretending to wave a rifle about whilst shouting ‘Halt! Who goes there?’. His straight arm technique might have worked better for him if he had been a goalkeeper but it looks bizarre for a guitar player.
“Only The Lonely” peaked at No 28.
Next up are INXS with “Mystify” which also happens to be the title of the recent Michael Hutchence documentary. Around this time, Hutchence had a rather drastic haircut and all his trademark long locks disappeared overnight. In the documentary, this is referenced when one of the band recounts a story of Michael attending an awards ceremony with his new hairstyle. The band member (Tim Farriss I think) turns to his wife sat in the audience and says ‘you can stop spending on the credit cards now, we’re done’ such was the concern about how Hutchence’s new image might damage the band’s commercial fortunes.
This Sampson effect had been seem before I think when Marc Bolan lopped off some of his curls and it made headline news so maybe Farriss was thinking of that when he made his comment. As it turned out, INXS returned with another huge selling album in “X” the following year by which point though Hutchence had regrown his hair so maybe there was some direct correlation between the length of his hair and the band’s chart positions.
It seems strange to recall now but there was a time (and that time was 1989) when Fine Young Cannibals were superstars in the US. In that year, they recorded two No 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart – previous single “She Drives Me Crazy” and this one “Good Thing”. I was never the biggest fan of the latter. I mean, it was good but I didn’t quite get the fuss about it. It seemed a very simple tune based around a version of a 12 bar blues structure but Roland Gift’s unique vocal stylings added on top do make it stand out I guess. His cartwheel over to David Steele on piano in this performance was typical of his stage craft which often included star jumps and the splits and it certainly elicits some squeals of delight from the studio audience.
I thought it must have been at least a Top 3 hit over here but was surprised to discover that it got no further than No 7 in the UK charts. It certainly had the profile of a much bigger hit given that it seemed to be played every other hour on the radio. A total of six tracks were released as singles from the parent album “The Raw And The Cooked” but none of those that came after “Good Thing” made the Top 10.
After that guy from T’Pau earlier in the show trying to convince himself that he was in U2, here comes the real thing. What was with all that fuss that Mark Goodier is making about the video that TOTP are showing for their latest single “When Love Comes To Town”about though? Something to do with a re-edited version that includes footage that isn’t in their “Rattle And Hum” film? Was that such a big deal? Maybe I’m too used to YouTube and streaming platforms these days – is it possible that I could have forgotten how the thrill of seeing something exclusively on TV felt back then?
As for the song itself, I really wasn’t arsed about it. For me, the singles from the “Rattle And Hum” album fell into two distinct camps. There were the strident, bluesy songs (“Desire and “When Love Comes To Town”) and the more typical U2 sound of “Angel Of Harlem” and “All I Want”. I was definitely more in favour of the latter camp.
Did I know who B.B.King was back in 1989? I’m ashamed to say I probably didn’t. Fast forward a couple of years to the start of my Our Price days and we would have specialist music mornings when the shop would have an allocated musical genre (not rock/pop) and only artists from the particular chosen genre could be played on the sound system. B.B. King would feature heavily whenever it was blues morning.
“When Love Comes To Town” peaked at No 6 in the UK charts.
Adeva is next with “Musical Freedom”. Now I mistakenly believed that the “sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air” line had been pinched by The Source featuring Candi Staton for their huge 1991 hit single “You Got The Love”. What I didn’t realize was that “You Got The Love” was originally released in 1986 (the 1991 version was a remix) so it tuns out that Adeva stole it from them!
Either way, “Musical Freedom” didn’t liberate me musically at all and certainly didn’t open my eyes to expanding my sonic horizons.
Top 10
10. Soul II Soul – “Keep On Movin”
9. Holly Johnson – “Americanos”
8. Donna Summer – “This Time I Know It’s For Real”
7. Transvision Vamp – “Baby I Don’t Care”
6. Jason Donovan – “Too Many Broken Hearts”
5. Kon Kan – “I Beg Your Pardon”
4. Paula Abdul – “Straight Up”
3. Madonna – “Like A Prayer”
2. Simply Red – “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”
1. The Bangles – “Eternal Flame”: The LA quartet have usurped the Queen of Pop for their first and only UK No 1. I began this post writing about the Hillsborough disaster and there is a connection with “Eternal Flame”. The Hillsborough memorial at Anfield which features the names of the 96 who lost their lives also has an eternal flame. I listened to a BBC documentary about Hillsborough a few years back and I’m sure Brookside actress Sue Johnston made reference to “Eternal Flame” (the song) in it. The memorial was located next to the Shankly Gates before it was moved to the front of the redeveloped main stand in 2016.
The play out video is “Of Course I’m Lying” by Yello. Despite a career lasting over 40 years, somehow this song is one of only two Top 40 singles that Dieter Meier and Boris Blank ever achieved in the UK. “Of Course I’m Lying” peaked at No 23 and features one of the UK’s best ever (and most underrated) singers, the much missed Billy Mackenzie on backing vocals.
| Order of appearance | Artist | Song | Did I buy it? |
|
1 |
Cookie Crew | Got To Keep On | Nah |
|
2 |
Ten City | Devotion | Nope |
|
3 |
T’Pau | Only The Lonely | And no |
|
4 |
INXS | Mystify | Sure it’s on the Greatest Hits CD which I have |
|
5 |
Fine Young Cannibals | Good Thing | No but my wife had their album The Raw And The Cooked |
|
6 |
U2 and B.B. King | When Love Comes To Town | I did not |
|
7 |
Adeva | Musical Freedom | No |
|
8 |
The Bangles | Eternal Flame | Presume it’s on their Best Of CD that I have |
|
9 |
Yello | Of course I’m Lying | Don’t think I did |
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/m000frf9/top-of-the-pops-13041989
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/2019/04/april-5-18-1989.html
TOTP Rewind - the 80s 