The Rolling "Top of the Pops" BBC4 Revival thread.

was wondering if the beat were trying to distance themselves from the two tone thing in what they were wearing (ie colours). and then wondered whether you'd call it ska or whether it was something more. i think the classic ska backbeat was in there but hidden under the guitars (teardrop vox restrung left-handed by the look)

There's a bit of an afrobeat vibe to that Beat song. Maybe a bit Talking Heads inspired, as well.

It was a good track, I liked it.

the beat have been, i think, a bit overlooked, possibly due to not being on two tone (apart from that one single). but the best-of has a ton of hits. i'm not familiar with the lps though.

(oh, there's a cd box set with the 3 lps and a disc of singles for £11 on amazon marketplace. that'll do nicely...)

the beat had a run of about 4 amazing singles in 1980, just about my favourite band that year. and yeah, definitely a lot of afropop going in the rhythms and andy cox's guitar playing, but the other guitar sound on 'Too Nice To Talk To' is quite post-punkish, always reminds me of siouxsie & the banshees. actually i think robert smith played a vox at that time too?

I have just downloaded their greatest hits.

Strung lefthanded with a really weird tuning.

<3 Ranking Roger

1981 starts on thursday

but i think this is aposite today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEvUil9d74g&t=26s

(oh, apologies for the savile at the start of that - i did add a t=26s to the url to skip his intro but i think the ilm parser borked that)

No worries, we're all grown-ups.

but that vest... nobody should be exposed to that...

Show from '81 now. 70s rockabilly revival hanging in there with the awful Matchbox doing a version of "Over the rainbow", I think I had the 45 of that). Shakin' Stevens was popular around this time too wasn't he? Who were Sad Cafe btw? Dreadful. The Beat were great tho. Oh look Chas and Dave are on...

Digging The Specials woolly jumper and tartan pants look

well, that was mixed.

american 50s thing in there still, disco, glam, metal. and just a tiny snippet of joe dolce...

So much hair.

This episode seems more seventies than eighties so far.

That was written before PiL...

Last episode had Joe dolce at 3 and Vienna at 2, lennon at 1. Dolce famously kept Vienna off #1. This episode none of those are anywhere to be seen. Odd.

Duran Duran are on their way out of the charts as is teardrops' reward so we've missed them...

No, only you..

Reward has been on twice, Shakey's been at number one, they are doing two a week now (more or less, only one this week)

you are right, i guess the pvr hasn't been picking them up

last night's was:
09/04/81 (Mike Read)
Linx – “Intuition” (7)
Bucks Fizz – “Making Your Mind Up” (2) WATCH
Saxon – “And The Bands Played On” (27)
Keith Marshall – “Only Crying” (39)
David Bowie – “Up The Hill Backwards” (32) (Legs & Co)
Graham Bonnet – “Night Games” (12) (rpt from 26/03/81)
Public Image Ltd – “Flowers Of Romance” (31) WATCH
Eddy Grant – “Can’t Get Enough Of You” (44)
Gillan – “New Orleans” (24) (rpt from 26/03/81)
The Whispers – “It’s A Love Thing” (9) (video)
Hazel O’Connor – “D-Days” (10) (rpt from 26/03/81)
Shakin’ Stevens – “This Ole House” (1) (rpt/credits)

so they are already on april, which is odd.

luckily they are all still on iplayer...

Have not had a chance to watch this in ages.
Watching it tonight.
Wikka Wrap! Don't know how I've never encountered this before.

14/5/81 edition:

(i) Cup Final Edition! I was wondering why I don't remember such a thing (I'd have been outraged at curtailing TOTP) when I realise I clearly remember the result of that evening's final replay being announced from the stage of our primary school production of "The Wizard of Oz", yes yes I was, yes I played the lion, what of it?); this also explains why I don't recall the rubbishy Easton or Lizzy songs.
(ii) wtf are Kim Carnes's band wearing in the video for "Bette Davis Eyes"? If you'd asked me I'd have guessed that they were dressed up in US session dude duds but they're all done out like they're trying to look like they're at an Adam and the Ants fancy dress party, or a Visage video. Presumably an attempt to appear current in the new MTV world?
(ii) in the top 10 countdown as they show a snatch of Chas and Dave doing their Tottenham song, some wag has edited in footage of the goal City scored against Spurs in the proper final four days before.

An unapologetically Spinal Tap looking performance from Saxon. Actually this week's line up is pretty good. I think we've left the period where there'd be weeks with absolutely nothing of interest.

I must admit to ffwding through most of yesterday's, which I don't do often

I'll admit having some time for Bad Manners, but this song is piss-poor filler. I can't imagine anything like this happening on TV today, which is simultaneously a good thing and a bad thing.

"Depesh-ay Mode" - thanks Peter Powell.

ha, Simon Bates was calling them Depesh-ay Mode last night as well

I'm not sure why, there's no accent on the third 'e'. Maybe it's from a time when anything vaguely French got "ay" put on the end of it, whether it was supposed to be there or not.

Blame it on the Flambé

some terrible miming by kirsty mccoll yesterday, did she have a problem with her neck? there was also a horrible thumping noise throughout. sounded like the drummer was mic-ed up even though he was just pretending to play.

Dexy's and Spandau Ballet both terrific on the friday night edition. I had forgotten the existence of "Show Me". LOL at PPowell describing "Sat in Your Lap" as a change of pace after Dexy's; it was probably the most frantic song on the show! We seem to have leaped to June or July '81 already, with the Specials "still" at No.1.

They're doing 1982 in the second half of this year, hence the accelerated pace.

but isn't that just a function of them doing them twice as fast?

and was that the first appearance of the yellow pearl theme tune?

Maybe Jimmy Savile was presenting a lot of TOTPs at the time.

http://z6.invisionfree.com/popscene/ar/t1147.htm

25/06/81 (Simon Bates) - thursday
02/07/81 (Dave Lee Travis)
09/07/81 (900th edition) (Jimmy Savile, Alan Freeman, David Jacobs & Pete Murray)
16/07/81 (Peter Powell) - friday
23/07/81 (Richard Skinner)
30/07/81 (Steve Wright)
06/08/81 (Jimmy Savile)
13/08/81 (Simon Bates)
20/08/81 (Dave Lee Travis)
27/08/81 (Richard Skinner)
...

we must be missing some good stuff from those eps. Can't they just edit out the saville links and give us the music?

Oh, I could point you at the "Missing Shows" website and the punch-ups that have ensued during debating that issue.

Watching the Ghost Town vid for the first time in years, I realised alot of it was shot around the City of London financial district. I had assumed it was set in Coventry for years, as that's what the song is about. Guess they were cruising in the engine room of Britain's industrial decline.

It was indeed the first appearance of the Yellow Pearl theme. Re missing episodes, @TOTPFacts usually tweets individual YouTubes of notable omissions.

Pauline seems to have been replaced by someone called Anita. Goodbye, Pauline.

two medley songs in the style of stars on 45? 1981, what were you thinking?

live version of ghost town rather than the usual video was nice though - i guess that was rhoda and rico.

stars on 45 themselves over the end credits. gah!

legs and co are dancing with the proles!

Friday now.

I wonder if Damon albarn has heard this bill Wyman tune?

And now legs and co are doing the robot to music for the royal fireworks...

(Or maybe trumpet voluntary)

Bloke in Japan was wearing a lime green suit. With red shoes.

the lp chart rundown lasted, what, 1 week?

bring back legs and co.

Its only the future in the past.

Nick Heywood looks like a blond version of someone I work with.

Is there a link between haircut 100 and orange juice? The former reminds me of the latter, those first two singles anyway. Similar kind of, I don't know, eloquence?

Some of these 82 episodes are the most 80s things ever, and the next episode will be nothing like it.