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

Did we work out why Pete Wylie was dressed like Dave Vanian that one time?

This is my favourite podcast at the moment. Various ex-Melody Maker journos dissect a random episode of TOTP. Its hilarious

https://chartmusiccouk.wordpress.com/

yeah he joined Smokie then died in a tour bus crash in the mid 90s.

speaking of the 'pissed up Brits on holiday' demographic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMGNiAD-tMA

Did I mention I bought their first single?

Bohemian Rhapsody.

Also I will never know how the fuck Black Lace ever became popular. I can only guess that the 'pissed up Brits on holiday' demographic is far larger than I thought.

Weren't here also smutty versions of a lot of their songs so while they might be singing Agadoo one TOTP, 'Ave A Screw was maybe what a lot of people were singing in their heads? So kind of subversive but in a really gross and rapey sort of way

Having a Gangbang has sort of eclipsed Agadoo as their legacy song I thought.

Rugby songs on a package holiday basically, summer anthems for aspiring sex offenders

'Superman' somehow manages to be more annoying than 'Agadoo' ... it's still infuriating that when people think "'80s", they think of shit like Black Lace.

Thank fuck they're not showing the long format version of 'Blue Jean' as it's fuck awful.

Steve Wright, chimp par excellence for this sea of shit.

Now this is the version of the Stevie Wonder with the flying toast.

Aww fuck, I missed it!

Second part of the Nile doc and a funk doc on later will make up for it, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXvAaNcXNzI

Tuning in now and... *groans* ... Matt Bianco.

Huh, that looks like Lord Voldemort in the video to Duran Duran's Wild Boys. That vocal remains utterly horrible. I like the video, though!

xp a bunch of wankers

Bruno Brookes being asked if he's been eating magic mushrooms!?!

Dave Stewart waa enjoying himself a lot in that Eurythmics vid, eh?

*was

Alvin Stardust not really sure what to do with his arms here.

Someone in my year at school looked like Nick Kershaw and always got really pissed off when anyone mentioned it.

Every time I see a Nik Kershaw performance on this show he always looks either confused or mildly annoyed... the lyrics to this are utter bollocks!

I'll never get bored of this Chaka Khan track. Better than the Prince original!

Nik Kershaw agrees:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Riddle_(Nik_Kershaw_song)#Lyrics
Kershaw has stated: "In short, 'The Riddle' is nonsense, rubbish, bollocks, the confused ramblings of an 80s popstar."

Hahaha!! I had no idea he hated it. He's completely right!

He wrote Chesney Hawkes' 'The One And Only' and reportedly hated that as well.

What's the answer to "The Riddle"?

It amazes me that people are still asking me this question. I spilled the beans a few years ago now so this isn't exactly news.

My producer (Peter Collins) came over to my house just before we commenced recording on the second album to hear how I was getting on with the writing. He went away saying he thought it sounded great but didn't think I had the first single. Incensed by this, I went straight up to the spare room and got the chords and melody together for the Riddle. This must've taken all of twenty minutes. Knowing time was short before we started recording I jotted down some jibberish with the intention of writing the real lyric as we were recording it.

About a week later we started recording and I threw a rough guide vocal down using the jibberish lyrics. As the album progressed, I tried various different lyric ideas but nothing seemed to fit as well as the guide lyric. So we decided to stick with what we had. "Let's call it the Riddle", I thought. Then people would think it was actually about something.

I had completely underestimated the fuss this would cause and, to make matters worse, the marketing and promotions people at MCA decided to make a competition out of it (without telling me). The response was unbelievable. We got sack loads of mail with elaborate and detailed analysis of the song. Line by line, word by word. Some were the size of small novels. Some even made sense!! People stopped me in the street to give me their thoughts and theories. On one occasion I arrived to do a live Radio 1 interview with a certain DJ only to find he'd told the great British public that I would be "revealing all" on his show. He was most put out when I wouldn't (couldn't) co-operate.

It all got a bit out of hand and, very quickly, passed the point at which I could come clean without pissing off a lot of people.

In short, "The Riddle" is nonsense, rubbish, bollocks, the confused ramblings of an 80's popstar.

Please forgive me. I knew not what I did.

^ okay, LOL!

ffs this Nick Heywood song goes on and on

Heh. I normally have all the time in the world for The Human League, but Billy Ocean is far the best thing that's happened on this episode so far!

Agreed. I don't understand how his career just stopped in the late '80s. He was still releasing records but no-one cared.

You'd think that Murray Head would know the words.

Actually I'd like to hear a John Peel cover version of 'One Night In Bangkok'.

Fucking hell, Shakin' Stevens... truly bringing out the big guns this episode, eh!?

And now Shakin' Stevens' impersonation of a singer who gets voted off in the first live week of X Factor.

I should have said this last time Nik was on, but christ he looks so uncomfortable holding that guitar!

'80s Slade here with what can be best described as an audience participation number... I can think of another description for it, though!

Did they think this was going to take off as another seasonal staple a la 'Merry Xmas Everybody' or was this just the usual slab of Band Aid/Live Aid-era codswallop?

Ah Tina, finally some class.

After some substandard '80s Kool and the Gang that didn't deliver on the promise of its title, Frankie Goes to Hollywood sound damn fucking excellent. Love this song.

Seemingly every fucker on this episode is wearing one of those white "Feed The World" t-shirts... LOL at Alvin Stardust wear his on top of a non-more-mid '80s light blue long-sleeved button-up shirt.

ffs if Powell thought the video for 'Like A Virgin' was "provocative" fuck knows what he thought later.

Also I guess Alvin Stardust didn't have anything booked again this week?

Even at 10 years old childe snoball pegged Jim Diamond as coming over as a manipulative abusive creep in this song.

Having the word Virgin in the title was provok in 1984

Xpost was that the point? 'I thought you'd understand' Oh Really?

Looks like the rest of Black Lace had something else booked..

I should have said this last time Nik was on, but christ he looks so uncomfortable holding that guitar!

Wasn't he one of those guys who was really a prog rocker, but ended up as a 'pop star' for a while? Like Howard Jones' and Kajagoogoo (not Limahl)? Or maybe it jazz fusion or something Nik Kershaw was into (and really wanted to be playing)?

Fuck, the way JD looked at the camera just then.
Also Black Lace, cheers for that. Actually I think there were only two of them and the rest were session musicians.

I love how this episode reached it's absolute nadir at the very end, and this episode had 'The Riddle' being played throughout for some weird reason.

You know how Goebells really really liked schlager music, and made sure that the German record industry during WW2 basically only produced schlager? So that that seemingly inoffensive light music was actually really political from then on? Well I've always thought that Black Lace are the kind of act that Goebells would have liked.

There used to be more. They were a Butlins band, their first single was "Bohemian Rhapsody", they may have been the first band I saw live..