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

Whoever got Bowie and Jagger to camp it up for this video is a genius. Although come to think of it they probably didn't need much persuasion.

BACK IN THE USSR!!!111!1 O_O

It's 1985, when the last thing anyone thought about the Soviet Union was that it would collapse five years later.

Jagger drinking from that can that just appears out of nowhere.

ffs Midge Ure's preening wanker performance

Simon Bates in 'not actually totally wrong' prediction action - 'Back To The Future' was a massive Christmas movie, back when that was actually a thing.

Midge Ure is basically a secondary school math teacher who thinks he's cool.

I like Midge's voice and his playing on Ultravox records, but watching him in old clips is a different thing.

Oh yeah his guitar playing on 'New Europeans' is one of my favourite Ultravox bits and his singing on the entire 'Vienna' album totally fits the songs. It's just after that record that Ultravox turned into a pretentious band who thought they were clever, and Ure's solo stuff has the same issues. Don't know how they managed to avoid that on 'Vienna' when amongst other things the album is called 'Vienna' and opens with a 7 minute instrumental.
Maybe it's because back in 1985 we didn't get to see music videos as often and were more likely to become familiar with a song through being played on the radio, but I don't remember thinking 'If I Was' was a terrible record at the time, in fact 11 year old snoball quite liked it. It's only when I see the video that as well, especially the pleated trousers and the pen and paper writing mime.

Still maintain Colonel Abrams was the first big proto-House record. I'm sure house nerds can say otherwise.

Five Star in "about to get really really shit financial advice" action.

I'd like to ask Five Star why they're so FUCKING CRAP! They're f...

they had some good songs imo - system addict, find the time, the slightest touch

has been about 30 years since i heard any of those though so

I fuck with this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68suo6ge38M

...plus “Love Take Over”, “All Fall Down”, “Let Me Be The One”... They had lots of good songs. Still love to play ‘em whenever I remind myself/am reminded of them.

Lol ilm

https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl6b
So apparently the only picture of Midge Ure the BBC webmasters had to illustrate tonight's episode of TOTP came from Mike Read's Pop Quiz.

Iron Maiden! Yes, something with class.

CAMEO! This isn't actually a bad episode so far.

I foresee the purchase of a red codpiece in Larry Blackmon's future...

John Parr seemed superold to 11 year old snoball but it turns out that he was 33 when that single was released. Although he still seems kind of old even at 33. Also it doesn't help that the synth horns are so 1985 and it was the title song of a terrible movie about yuppie wankers that actually seemed to side with the yuppie wankers.

Did Gary Davis ever actually blink? Like ever?

He's looking sweatier than usual this episode!

This Red Box video seems like something from present day Eurovision.

Memo to Midge: you cannot dance. Stop it.

Midge Ure can eat shit.

Midge's ego was probably at its peak around this time: The success of Ultravox, Band Aid/Live Aid, this going to number one. He probably thought he was the mutts nuts by this point.

The album this is off has a version of 'Living in the Past' so awful it has to be heard to be believed.

Mark King played bass on that album. The reissue had a cover of The Man Who Sold The World. All post-Band-Aid hype innit. He’d never have had a big hit without that. Had Live Aid happened yet by the date of this broadcast?

Mark King has been popping up on TV quite a fair bit recently, as a guest on Pointless and at Nigel Kennedy's Biggest Weekend gig.

xp Live Aid was July 1985, this week's TOTP was from October.

Ah gotcha. an awful year for music, the worst year ever aside from maybe 1996. That real mid point after all the amazing new pop but before all the House.

1996 was in no way a terrible year for music, but I sorta agree with you about 1985 - plenty of decent music was released that year, but you wouldn't think it based on what was getting shown.

Entroducing, Second Toughest, In Sides, Odelay, Fuzzy Logic, Sweetback, Walking Wounded

All 96

There are no terrible years for music.

Just catching up on tonight's episode. Elton FFS just admit you're going bald.

Nothing sums up the blandness of 1985 like Level 42.

Tight lipped Geography teacher type Peter Powell doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would even have a 'favourite dance record'.

Wait has he actually tucked his jumper into his jeans?

There's a bit in one of the Depeche DVDs where the plugger is saying how important it is that Powell has started to play their records. This is in like.. 84 or whatever. Maybe not 'dance' per se, but hey.

I missed it :( Fortunately it's on again after this African music doc.

Nothing sums up the blandness of anything like Level 42.

xxp that reminds me of the bit in 'The Manual' that namechecks Bruno Brookes.

Totally see what you mean about the future Sir Elton - there's a proper '85 vintage mullet there but you just know there's fuck all under that hat.

Must be peak Elton-Coke period this?

Ultimate Classic Rock suggests 86's Leather Jackets as his worst era, vague recollection that ILX thinks much the same, that must have been recorded around late 85.

Coke'n'Booze Elton was at his worst physically in 86-87. There are concert photos of him from that period where he looks like complete shit. It's amazing how quickly he seemed to clean up - 88-90's Bejewelled Hat Elton looks more like someone who's been clean for a decade or more.

lol @ "Bejewelled Hat Elton" ... I thought he came off all that stuff in 1990? He still looks plenty ill on the sleeve of Sleeping With the Past ...

This video for 'Nikita' is dreadful. Oh look it's Necros from 'The Living Daylights'.

Matt Bianco: "a bunch of wankers"

There's a 'rejected Bond theme' feel to this Dee C Lee song.