Thursday 13 September 2012

TOTP 11/8/77 (tx 13/9/12): Rods have their own back

The recent connection troubles at this end meant we've missed the opportunity to mark a couple of recent TOTP-related deaths. Jerry Nelson, who died on 25th August aged 78, had worked as part of Jim Henson's company since 1965 and was best known as the voice of Count von Count (he also did Statler for a while and innumerable minor characters), but it's him voicing Robin on Halfway Down The Stairs, the tender AA Milne-penned song that never failed to send Noel into giggles.

More pertinently for Pops, we lost Louise Clarke a couple of weeks short of her 63rd birthday. She wasn't strictly a founder member of Pan's People, joining a year after they were initially set up and not appearing with them on TOTP until May 1968, a month after their debut, but she was there through their imperial phase, leaving after almost exactly six years, the famous Homely Girl routine her swansong, to get married and start a family. Here's a tribute to her work.

Meanwhile, many have noted the letter in this week's Radio Times in response to praise for this series/year that "it has no immediate plans to show the 1978 series, but is keeping that decision under review". The reading from our end: calm down. It doesn't say they're not going to, it says essentially they don't know. BBC4 won't have made any plans for next year (apart from a couple of already announced special seasons, but that's different) by the end of August when RT would have started being put to bed and they didn't announce or start working on '77 until some way into October.

Back to this week. (Well, the week we're up to in 1977, but you know what I mean) Kid's in charge and literally showing his true colours in a red and white lace-up top emblazoned with a maple leaf motif and, in case the subtlety was lost, 'CANADA' in big diagonal letters. We later see '74' is emblazoned on the maple leaf. No idea. The countdown is restored, as is only correct, to the top of the show, and Kid has a countdown of his own to add as Jonathan Richman's Roadrunner is the chart rundown music. Kid then does a voiceover link into the first song, ruining the ever fun element of surprise and anticipation. Or maybe not, in this case.

Showaddywaddy – You Got What It Takes
"Unmistakeably Showaddywaddy" at that, though surely that doesn't take into account all the original rock and roll bands and all the songs they cover, this included. We do at least know the drill now, wherein Dave Bartram and his lush, tumbling, vitality-filled locks attempts to look appealing towards crowd and camera in turn, coupled with the odd bit of visual comedy double take. Very low forms of visual comedy, admittedly, when it constitutes looking quizzically at his open palm for the line "with your money we won't get far". This time the drapes seem to be colour coded by instrument, with the allotted backing singers in canary yellow meaning despite it being mostly hidden by Bartram's head we can kind of get the gist of their middle eight routine involving spinning, kicking and the ever present notion there's got to be more dignified ways to come across on television, as Bartram goes on to glad-hand the front row and plant a smacker on some girl's forehead. Meanwhile Buddy Gask does his single basso profundo vocal and wonders when that supposed joint lead singer role is going to come up again. To close everyone turns their back on the audience as a mystery invisible sax solos away.

Steve Gibbons Band – Tulane
Hard to describe the motion Kid makes into this, a kind of swung arm round towards camera into leg-aided air guitar power chord. Splendidly, with only two to choose from the intended opening close-up on the guitar strings chosen by the director is on the rhythm, which has two notes to play, rather than that playing the distinctive lead riff. A Chuck Berry cover, rock and roll business is conducted by a man who's really tried to look the part - receding pompadour, white shirt and leather trousers, one handed confident mike stance leading to full knee knocking once the mike is in his hand, looks, like Alvin Stardust, far too old for all this. As for his band the bassist is wearing the cap of a stereotypical camp biker - as he is in their countdown photo and was last time we checked in, maybe it was his "thing" - while I still can't work out whether both guitarists have moustaches or not. The audience are into it, at least one young couple jiving as much as what they understand jiving to look like. Even better, one long shot reveals two men in a committed full-on rendition of that shoulder-first routine usually carried out by men in distressed denim jackets at Status Quo gigs or on stage with Mud doing Tiger Feet. Not for the last time tonight, Kid appears alone in the distance, slapping the side of his thigh in time to the beat during the instrumental break. Kid promises more for "the rock fans" later.

Barry Biggs – Three Ring Circus
Repeat. The seated one rather than the ringmaster one, sadly.

The Rods – Do Anything You Wanna Do
Not a mistake, Eddie & The Hot Rods traded under this name for a little while, presumably to make people think they were a hot new young punk band. It seems to have worked on Kid, who goes falsetto by the end of declaiming the title having enthused "this has got to be one of the best rhythm and rock records this year". Rhythm And Rock, for those who don't recall, was the more ostensibly commercial parallel to A Bit Of That Sort Of Rock. Not that the band are hiding anything, Barrie Masters still restlessly stalking and covering every inch of the stage and gurning between occasionally mimed lines in white jeans and an open shirt, occasionally grabbing the above the crotch area of his huge belt. Of course there's a member, the bassist, in dark glasses. Less punk-like, he's also wearing a yellow and black striped headband.

Rita Coolidge – We're All Alone
Well, this is quite rum. "The mood is mellow" maybe but not so literally, surely. For one thing, surely it's a late replacement given we've seen the video twice, but it's not clear what it might have replaced. Tavares' One Step Away seems most likely as it had been hovering around a central position before suddenly falling right out of the top 30, while Mink DeVille's Spanish Stroll had entered the top 50 the week before but hadn't quite yet made the rundown. Danny Williams' Dancin' Easy, surprisingly sticking at 32? The Ramones' Swallow My Pride, which entered at 36 the previous week but fell? We can but ponder and create unlikely mental images. Anyway, We're All Alone it is. The troupe, in non-fetching shades of electric blue/mauve and orange dresses with matching legwarmers, start lying on their backs and kind of stay there. Not just like that, obviously, even Flick would be called into question were it a tableau rather than routine no matter how clearly properly undanceable for slowness reasons the song is. No, from there is carved out a succession of seated positions, Oops Upside Your Head-recalling bends and lunges, rolls, crawls and just about every combination of arm and leg bending and swinging, closing with an extreme close-up on... well, I can rarely get them right when their faces are the right way up, but I think it's Gill... whoever, she's making something akin to devil eyes at us, perhaps hoping for something upbeat soon. It's more like a gymnastic floor exercise routine-cum-keep fit video on 2x fast forward and for all we know might have constituted an ongoing sit-down protest following Roadrunner's seated delivery. And not a cacti in sight either.

Thin Lizzy – Dancin' In The Moonlight (It's Caught Me In It’s Spotlight)
"From some delightful Lizzies..." Eh? I double checked, he does say "Lizzies". As seems traditional with Lizzy - and that's what Kid calls them at the end so it's an official diminutive - it's a repeat, slow dancers and all. Perhaps inspired by the Rods, Kid calls them just "Lizzy".

Delegation – You've Been Doing Me Wrong
Delegation were soul's own Liverpool Express, clearly. In very Seventies ruffled white suits over paisley patterned shirts and huge bow ties and embarking on choreographed knee lifting, they can't quite disguise that they've just slowed You To Me Are Everything down a bit, or that the first verse is clearly supposed to be in three part harmony but the Willie Thorne one either has been written out of the part at late notice or can't be bothered to lift the mike to his mouth but is gamely miming along anyway. After that he's always just slightly out of the movement routine, glancing across more out of blind hope than checking, sometimes affecting a half turn to make it seem more noticeable. The main singer isn't well served by shooting from below either given it means we can see the gap in the front of his teeth all the clearer. When the camera pans back to Kid he's swaying gently sat in the lotus position grinning to himself, as if in the midst of a pleasant flashback.

Fleetwood Mac – Dreams
A few more seconds than last time of the live clip, I reckon. "Isn't that fabulous?" Kid says. Maybe if we saw more of it.

J.A.L.N. Band – I Got To Sing
"Back to the disco scene", apparently. Apart from the keyboard player in grey slacks hoping we won't notice because of his instrument, more white suits all round. Was there someone unscrupulous going round the dressing rooms? Plausible given the horn section, who so clearly aren't regular members of the band they should have had their own caption. If the singer gets any closer to the edge of the stage for the verses he'll be dragged in, and he can't say he wasn't warned. Maybe that's why he's not concentrating on his miming, missing half a line at one point. Or maybe he's just terrible at it, not clear in his own mind whether vocals are lead or backing by the end. He's completely disrespecting the title of his own band's song in that.

Donna Summer – I Feel Love
Week four of four atop, and evidently not a moment too soon for the show. Obviously we don't know what they did in week three, but given week two involved slides and seated lunges you'd have put good money on a kaleidoscopic image of a potter's wheel or similar by now. Instead once Kid has symbolically clutched at his heart it's the escape hatch once more, but with a twist - Donna's passport photos on Toppotron™ once more, awkward dancing in semi-darkness again, but in the distance five sixths of Legs & Co swish their long dresses about in strict formation - shimmy, dip left shoulder, shimmy shoulders, dip right shoulder. In other words, a standing version of the routine they developed from within RoadRunner, and just as then most people aren't paying the blindest bit of attention. Five, though? Sue's the odd one out as she faces off and shimmies on a raised corner of the set with... Floyd! The man for all emergencies. Sue's still wearing her outfit from earlier, from which we must assume her colleagues are too, and we now see a bit of netting on the front, which we see the rest moving around a bit during the chorus. The little details lost on the big stages. To fully cap this mise-en-scene of disco shaking, visible in his colours right in front of the Legs & Co quorum is Kid. He's dancing. Or so the intention seems anyway, his style developing over time from some awkward rhythmic (but not rockist) finger clicking to full-on shifting from side to side in an approximation of getting down with the groove, apparently not only completely unaware and out of time with what's immediately behind him but with everyone else too. We're allowed just the 1:50 this week before Kid, still shifting in one spot with a little arm movement too, delivers the coup de grace before resuming with even more gusto as the song continues to play us out: "from me, Kid Jensen, it's goodbye and good love!" Yep, the full version. It's been a while.

By the time Pops returned the following week, there'd been a death in the family.

56 comments:

Arthur Nibble said...

Another fine performance by The Kid. Factual as ever, dancing nearly as energetically as Legs & Co at the end, giving us his catchphrase and counting in “Roadrunner” exquisitely. Good to see the return of top recording artist Candi Staton in the rundown too.

Did my eyes deceive me or was there a Waddy missing? You know, the one with the luxuriant hair who looks a bit like Mark Hughes. No Ringo lookalike by the bespectacled one this time, either.

Surprised Steve Gibbons wasn’t as high pitched as Barry Biggs in those trousers. Was the drummer using round-end drumsticks just like Bev Bevan of ELO?

Shame we didn’t get Baz’s ringmaster outfit again. As I’ve said before, this had gone up zilch places since its last outing.

The Rods – brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Barrie’s still rocking the bare chest and star medallion, but now with the added, erm, extra of a front tooth missing. My wife hated his Jagggerisms, but I was more impressed by the drummer’s energy.

Next, for anyone who wanted to get a member of Legs & Co on her back (arf arf)...a cross between the “Oops Upside Your Head” pub floor dance and some challenging pilates. I take it BBC1 didn’t want to give Rita’s raunchy trouser area another viewing? I've only just realised this song has no real discernible chorus, as its tune's very similar to the verses'.

Delegation’s top 49 follow-up was really dreary chicken-in-a-basket cabaret soul, perked up by ‘Greenshirt’ concentrating too much on dancing on the spot to try anything as challenging as singing.

A bit more of “Dreams” this time, to celebrate its climbing one place since the last outing three weeks ago. Really poor delivery of the chorus, and we can add Mick Fleetwood’s cowbell to the list of redundant drummer artefacts on stage.

I take it JALN stood for Just Another Lousy Number. How this reached 40 I don’t know, it made Honky sound like “The Message”. The singer seemed more interested in waving his trouser area in the front row girl’s face to even contemplate singing the chorus. Was he related to ‘Greenshirt’?

As for Donna, I wish she’d have come in to the studio just once so we could have heard Johnny Pearson’s unique take on the backing track.

Steve Does Top Of The Pops said...

I enjoyed tonight's show immensely.

For me, the Rods proved themselves the kings of TOTP.

JALN, meanwhile, were simply woeful.

THX said...

I think JALN stood for Just Another Lonely Night, which doesn't speak to confidence.

Romeo chewing again, I suppose nobody had the guts to ask him not to. From some angles Steve Gibbons weirdly reminded me of Brian Ferry.

Thought Eddie of The H- er, The Rods was preparing himself for TV's first stage dive the way he flung himself about. Good thing it wasn't a live vocal, what would he have sounded like?

Legs & Co looked as if they were about to start spelling out letters with their lithe forms, like a lying down version of Big Brother Alan on the Harry Hill repeat of a few weeks back.

Was one of The Delegation really short or were his two bandmates standing on a raised platform?

Every time I hear Fleetwood Mac do Dreams it reminds me of that spoof radio ad Danny Baker used to play with a rather cruel impersonation of Stevie and the tagline "Stevie Nicks: What the Hell is She Singing?"

Great to see Kid dancing, he looked to be really enjoying himself this week.

Angelo said...

Couldn't spot Christine McVie any where in the Fleetwood Mac video - one of their infamous bustups, or just not in camera, or having a cup of tea and a slice of cake back stage?
Also, how pretty was Stevie Nicks? Almost giving Agnetha a run for her money.

Still looking forward to Telephone Man - really hope its on - and yes, also starting to get exited about Mull of Kintyre :-)

Bamaboogiewoogie said...

This was the second of the two TOTP that I missed when I was away on holiday with my family back in Aug 1977, so I have never seen it before (must be one of the few I didn't see).

Showaddywady. Isn't that guy in the front left of the crowd with the beard the same one that DLT did the joke geezer link to Billy Ocean Red Light Spells Danger last year? It's funny how so many of the crowd turn up over and over again. I think Simon should do a fave audience members blog.

I still think that facially Steve Gibbons has a touch of the Rob Brydon's about him. He's going for the make equivalent of a camel toe in those tight leather strides (isn't it a 'moose claw'?). The bass player looks more camp than he did last time with the cap and tiny tee shirt. What am I talking about, the whole band look camp like an embryonic Village People. But everyone's having a great time and this should have done a lot better than it did.

Barry Biggs again after only going up one place. I looked him up and discovered that at this point he was only 24! He looks about 40. People really looked old for their age in those days. Life isn't a 'three ring circus' Barry it's a 'three hits and you're out circus' - this was his last Top 30 hit, but at least he could finally take that bulldog clip off his scrotum.

I loved this Eddie and The Hot Rods song at the time, it really caught the zeitgeist with the line "Tired of doing day jobs
With no thanks for what I do". I like singer Barrie Masters stroppy strutting, even though he's obviously miming. Facially he reminds me of actor Jeff Rawle who had been in Billy Liar and more recently in Drop The Dead Donkey and Emmerdale. Glad to see the drummer has his trousers on this time.

Rita Coolidge again even though it hasn't moved. At least it's Leg's and Co as opposed to the camel toe/hammock video. Remember The Green goddess? These should have been dubbed The Blue and Orange Goddess as it is more akin to an exercise video than a dance routine.

Thin Lizzy's stack of Marshall amps could almost be considered product placement, a bit like the Smeg fridges row on The Great British Bake Off.

Delegations legs up dance is a bit too comical for it's own good, as though they'd got something trapped 'down there' and were trying free it. "You've been doing me wrong" perhaps that might explain the strange leg movements.

Never seen a DJ sitting cross legged on TOTP before, I suppose Kid was the only one young/fit enough to get away with it with the exception of Sir Jim but he would insist on doing it in micro shorts.

Fleetwood Mac (again) who have gone up just one measly place since their last appearance three weeks ago. Why couldn't they feature The Commodores, Carly Simon, Mink Deville (at 31), or Jigsaw (at 39) or even Chris White's or Glamourpuss' or The Chanter Sisters' latest single.

Don't remember this JALN song but it's not too bad. Lyrically a bit feeble. Wasn't the trombone player in Dexys Midnight runners later?

And Flipper's 'Lonely Boy" Floyd with Legs again on I Feel Love. It's odd that considering all the confusion surrounding the axing of Ruby Flipper and the suggested reason why that they should keep inviting Floyd back every few months. I get the impression that Flick was still sore about it and was trying to make a point.

Good (I Feel) Love

Arthur Nibble said...

Spoiler Alert:

Angelo, those 'Telephone Man' scores in full read by James Alexander Gordon....

Chart rundown music 1, Existing video 1

Wiped edition 1, Studio appearance 0

Arthur Nibble (again) said...


Me again. Sorry.

I think the problem with showing Jigsaw again is that they'd already been on once while not in the top 50. Last year there were at least two instances of songs getting two plays while in the top 50 yet never making the top 40 - The Chanter Sisters' "Sideshow" and Sheer Elegance (remember them? I miss those guys) with their child-bothering ditty.

Personally, I'd have loved to have see the number 50 song by De Etta Little And Nelson Pigford. No idea what it sounds like, but fantastic names!

Bamaboogiewoogie said...

Considering I Feel Love was such a massive hit I wonder why they didn't make a proper video to promote it. They made one for Winter Melody and that only got to number 27.

Bamaboogiewoogie said...

@Arthur - I think you're right about Jigsaw but as you said it hasn't stopped them doing it before when the pickings were thin.

The De Etta Little And Nelson Pigford song is a soul ballad and quite nice. It's from the Rocky soundtrack.

Just realised Steve Gibbons' bassist is Trevor Burton who used to be in The Move.

Steve Williams said...

Yeah, welcome to the seventh member of Legs and Co, Kid Jensen. He seemed to be signing the Good Love bit for the deaf, a shame he got obliterated so quickly by the logo over the credits.

Not very fair on The JALN Band - referred to as "The JALM Band" on the subtitles, which just goes to prove what a crap name that is - to have them next to I Feel Love, but I liked how the walking-back-and-forth routine for the last single (which was ten months ago, the lazy gets) was so successful the guitarists did it again.

Looking forward to next week for a subdued Travis dealing with that massive musical news.

Steve Williams said...

The real disappointment now, though, is that the opening track now appears to get a voiceover intro, which means we won't get any more "what the hell?" moments as we did with The Rah Band and Contempt. Well, maybe we will, but not with no introduction whatsoever.

Not again, Arthur.... said...


Spoiler alert (again - I really must try and control myself) - although it's our least favourite presenter next week, he doesn't crash the end of the rundown so, for once, he does something right.

I decided to YouTube that DeEtta & Nelson song - I did remember the chorus, a lovely little ballad, and it didn't even get a TOTP despite peaking at 35.

Julie Joanne Bevan said...

Arthur - Al James did not perform with Showaddywaddy that week, but he had not left the band. He was one of the act's longest-serving members, eventually quitting in '08 along with guitarist Trevor Oakes.

Angelo said...

Oh boy - so there's going to be a Telephone Man on video?
Foaming at the mouth now in anticipation!

And saving a little bit of foam too for Yes Sir I Can Boogie :-)

Bamaboogiewoogie said...

Can someone tell me where to find the complete charts for this period ie not just Top 40 but nos 40-100.

Chartarthur said...

It was only a top 50 at this stage, but try the Chart Stats website. Click on the "chart archive" button in the bottom right hand corner as that defaults to the old easier to read format.

Someone else recently gave the address for a website which listed all the breakers. Can't remember it, but you can also find them tucked away on the Popscene website. Try typing something like "Popscene 1977 breakers" into Google and that might work.

Remember, though, that positions 41-50 were massaged at this time. Any single dropping sales and positions for two consecutive weeks and which landed in the 41-50 positions was automatically removed from the top 50 and replaced by one of the climbers just outside the chart. On average, five singles a week were removed from the 41-50 range.

To give an example, Delegation's single from last night peaked at 49, but it wouldn't have reached much higher than 60 in the official rankings. Because of other singles descending into or not moving in the 50's, the single would have been bumped up to artificial, unearned top 50 status.

wilberforce said...

i too noticed that showaddywaddy were a man short this week... not that it makes a great deal of difference in their case - they're like a football squad with the utility players stepping in when required! although why one of them hasn't managed to master the sax (or at least pretend to blow on one) by now is beyond me - after all, "lizzy" brought in a saxist for their appearance because it appeared on the record. btw, dave looks like he's had a bit of a haircut since last time, but it's it's still a lot more 1977 than 1957...

couldn't the director have varied things a bit rather than feature 2 rock 'n' roll era covers in a row? i don't know what observation would make steve gibbons' leather-capped bassist feel more embarrassed: either that he looks like he's gay, or that he's trying to hide that he's thinning on top...

i feel a bit sorry for barrie masters and his chums, trying to work the crowd to no effect whatsoever apart from a couple of kids at the back - the guy with the long hair, moustache and hacking jacket looks like he's really getting into it... not! you would have thought that bands like that would have brought along a few of their followers to the recording, who unlike this bunch of stiffs would no doubt leap about as enthusiastically as the band - maybe they did and straight-laced mr nash wouldn't allow it?

i don't think poor old rita coolidge is ever going to recover from the "camel toe" stigma! i don't suppose that was the reason they never showed the video again though... i don't remember the "rocky" tune at all (who in their right mind would go into showbiz and keep a surname like "pigford"??), but having given it a listen on youtube it's obviously a regurgitated ballad version of the main theme, thus cutting down on composer bill conti's workload...

delegation - disco? disco?!?! no kid, just another sorry second-division soul vocal group... i suppose the jaln band (i agree with others - a really feeble name, especially when you know what it's supposed to stand for) were a bit more worthy of the description... but not by much!

perhaps kid's parting catchphrase was inspired by this record:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6uBHxCwdek

can't say i'm looking forward much to being subjected to "the king" and his mediocre record that was struggling to make the top 30 before he croaked on the crapper over the next few weeks...

crowdmember said...

Did anyone spot the Magnum PI look-a-like that was in the crowd again - I thought tickets were supposed to be hard to get for it. There was a comment about the numbers on the rundown being out of sync recently and was same again as Hot Chocolate had 14 Alessi Brothers.

Audience must have been a bit peeved by the lack of studio acts this week

Dory said...

Not the best of shows this week, but the two highlights for me were fleetwood mac getting just under 3 minutes on the show....wow...how lucky we are.....and Sue from Legs & co getting a good cuddle on the dance floor from Floyd as the the other Legs girls could only look on in envy. The Donna Summer no.1 still sounded so good on the dance floor. Still sounds good, 35 years later......

Bamaboogiewoogie said...

@Arthur - thanks for the info, I found the Top 50s on Chartstats, I'll check that out from now on (nice to see the original picture sleeves as well). But I'm confused, when I used to go to Harlequin Records in Watford High Street every Saturday I used to buy 4-5 singles and I'm sure I remember seeing a Top 100 from Music Week which they left on the counter in a little plastic sleeve. Like De Etta Little and Nelson Pigford I sometimes bought singles in the lower echelons of the charts on the strength of the artist name or title eg Inside America by Juggy Jones (good) and No Charge by JJ Barrie (not good, I took it back and changed it for something else). Can anyone confirm that Music Week did print a Top 100 or am I misremembering?

@wilberforce - [spoiler alert] I'm not looking forward to the reign of The King at number one either, after one week of Angelo I believe we are then subjected to several weeks of crowd dancing as there was no video for Way Down.

80sblokeinthe70s said...

Someone echoes my point of the other week about no Christine McVie but I did notice this time that you CAN see her briefly on the extreme left behind her keyboards at the start on the first wide-angled/in the distance shot of the band.

Further to the discussion of the lower reaches of the Top 50 above: I suppose it may even now be theoretically possible to reconstruct the Top 75 for each week from early 1969 (when the BMRB took over compilation)until 1978 when the official Top 75 was introduced if the BMRB archived their records.As I said the other wek you have the falling 6 or 8 records omitted from the Top 50 (from 1975-78?)and then add in the 20 bubblers and there you have it.

I think Just Another Lonely Night Band is quite novel - don't think much of the track though although the instrumentation is respectably funky.Isn't it a pity that we only get to see (usually very poor films of)the big American funk and disco only if they're massive hits and unavoidable (and even then we didn't get Van McCoy or the break on T-Connection!) but instead get really weak British stuff on here instead such as Delegation and JALN's Band's 'I Got To Sing'. This doesn't really change until BritFunk in 1980/81 when were start to get top quality UK stuff.


Simon said...

Forgot to mention another recent discovery at the top of the recap - a minute of T-Rex from 31st July 1975 (and some Brian Hyland, but fewer people seem bothered about that) Seems the uploader has the whole performance but wasn't sure about copyright.

Arthur Nibble (again) said...


Actually, I was bothered about that, Simon, and thanks for the alert earlier this week. As you know, I mentioned the missing song in that top 30 countdown.

Glad to be of service, bamaboogiewoogie. I think "Music Week" did publish a top 100 but only the top 50 was official, the remainder was supposedly for record company / radio station info so they knew what to plug the following week, but don't quote me on that.

As for Nelson Pigford - yes, daft name, but not the first chart act with the word 'Pig' in the name, as Pigmeat Markham had made the chart with "Here Comes the Judge". It turns out old Nelson was also co-author of the Barry White hit "It's Ecstasy When You Lie Next To Me".

Thanks to this blog / forum, Google amd Wikipedia, I've learnt so much about 70's music that I didn't previously know. If only I could use all this knowledge in a pub quiz!

Silver Fox said...

Well y"all, I play in a band, and recently shared a gig with the aforementioned Mr Gibbons, who is now parading as The Dylan Project, covering er... well you know. Anyway you would never believe it was the same person, all that hard livin".....

eightiespopkid said...

JALN Band. Impossible to say quickly or twice in a row without getting tongue-twisted. Doomed to fail!

wilberforce said...

also, it was never clear whether you pronounced "jaln" as a word, or the letters individually - that doesn't help either... they were produced by a then-unknown pete waterman, who you might have thought would have advised them to change their duffer of a name...?

80sblokeinthe70s said...

However Pete Waterman wasn't completely unknown at this time as he'd been a leading light on the club/dance side of the UK music business for a few years (involved with Northern Soul releases/remakes etc and also his own novelty record that had even made the pop charts).

Simon said...

Both times they've been on it's been pronounced one letter at a time.

eightiespopkid said...

I noticed Kid took it slowly and carefully. I doubt a second take would have been allowed.

Simon Jenkins said...

Is the Magnum PI lookalike the same bloke who looks like Bob Carolgees? If so, I saw him too.

I liked the way in which the camera focused on the rhythm guitarist during the middle 8 of the Thin Lizzy song before somebody hastily cut to Scott Gorham playing the lead.

Bamaboogiewoogie said...

Re focusing on the wrong guitarist, they're always doing that. They should do what Herbie Flowers did during Trex's Laser Love and physically point at the guitarist to let the cameraman know.

I think the JALN Band are far superior to Delegation, more in common with The Average White Band. I'm sure their trombone player is Pete Blythe later in Dexys but I could be wrong. Both bands were from Brum.

I must have missed Magnum/Bob Carolgees lookalike where was he?

@Simon - mucho thanks for alerting us to that Trex/Bryan Hyland clip and great to see the rundown as well/ It's amazing what surfaces on YouTube.

@Arthur - thank you for not immediately dismissing my Music Week Top 100 memory, I should try and get hold of a copy to check.

Arthur Nibble (again) said...

Dory, what was the Pete Waterman novelty hit? I'm guessing it was "Goodbye-ee" by 14-18.

Dory said...

Haven't got a clue Mr Nibble.....
Well it seems the next show with DLT was filmed a day after elvis presley's death in 1977.
I wonder if the studio atmosphere was a little shaky, solemn, etc. Did TOTP that week have the same fun element, or was it visibly any different?
I was only nine years old at the time, and remember the news, but I didn't get into Top of the pops till the following year, as i remember i used to watch the Six Million Dollar Man on the same night.

Anonymous said...

better show good seeing the rods keep up the good work and dont axe it 78 will have blondie grease more disco rod stewart etc and 79 well wht can i say the police xtc blondie the jam etc

Noax said...

I'm very late this week, having been away in a place where the Fab 4 (well, 5 at first) made their name...

It's a shame that there are so many songs here that were on the previous edition.

Of the 3 we hadn't seen before at all, The Rods was by far the best, talk about energy! Though I'm not surprised the crowd weren't that crazy about it, they were probably too shit scared of Barrie Masters flailing around like a loon.

The other 2 soul blandathons were nothing to get excited about.

What I found weird was that for the first half of the show, Kid seemed to be doing his links in isolation, then halfway through he's suddenly there with the audience. I wonder why?

By this stage, as well as his novelty tune, Pete Waterman had been responsible for breaking the likes of Susan Cadogan and Silver Convention (remember their slightly scary grins?) in the UK.

Arthur Nibble said...

Silver Fox, sorry for the lateness in asking, but how did the gig with Steve Gibbons go? Did you get to speak to Steve and, if so, what was he like? Not surprised if he looks a bit ragged these days as he is 71, after all!

Simon said...

A couple of parish notices/appeals, originally raised elsewhere but reiterated so we can really push this one over the half-century:

- With the fiftieth anniversary of TOTP fifteen months away, I've been considering turning On This TOTP Day, or at least the idea, into a book, probably through lulu.com, specialists in self-publishing books about flightly blonde teenage dancers, but if there's any wider interest in putting it out (though I doubt it, the BBC having already done a TOTP book and probably commissioning something similar for 2014)... Anyway, would you be interested? Could you add any ideas?

- I also want to do an end of year piece about the pop scene of the year following Bob Stanley's guest post at the end of last year. Any thoughts on who I should approach?

Almost Simon said...

The Pete Waterman novelty hit was a TOTP 75 appearance 6th November 1975. Oh how we wish it hadn't been wiped. I'm sure Pete is very happy about this though. Here's the tune. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xEwzOPY_qQ

Noax said...

Simon, I think you should approach Kid Jensen for an end of year piece, given how much we've all enjoyed his contributions!

Arthur Nibble (again) said...

Kid still does a fine job in the drive time slot on Smooth Radio. Certainly worth asking him, I reckon. In the other medal positions, I'd also consider Bob Stanley again and, as a back-up, the chap who wrote the cabaret pop piece (another forumite suggested him recently). I also think a foreword from Dave "WeddingSuit" Levy wouldn't go amiss, either.

Tyrone Jenkins said...

Bob Stanley was an excellent reviewer of 1976. If he's not available to dissect 77 perhaps Alex "Cabaret pop" Petridis would be worth a go? Alternatively there is Alwyn W. Turner; he is an excellent historian of the social and cultural history of Britain between the 70s and the 90s and has written on everything from Terry Nation/the Daleks to cult rock posters of the 70s/early 80s. He also runs Glam Rock and pulp fiction websites! I met him in July and he's very approachable. His blog is called 'Omniana'. Obviously I don't know if he will be interested/available but perhaps he's worth considering?

Old Applejack said...

How great to see that Rods song. One of my favourites. Come with me down memory lane and I'll tell you why...

Actually, there's not a lot to it. It's 1991, I'm turning 16 and am the least rebellious teenager ever. I'm not into music of the day really, but I've asked my brother to buy me a compilation, The Sound of the Suburbs, for reasons I can't remember. There were a few tracks on there I hadn't heard before, one of which was Do Anything You Wanna Do. And I loved it. I mimed it around my bedrom lustily; it was the soundtrack of my own rebellion-inside-my-head.

I think it was listed as by Eddie and the Hotrods on the compilation. Couldn't work out why they changed it when I found later that they were just 'Rods' for this single. I only 'got it' a good while later.

And to me, it still sounds great. I saw a vid of Barry performing it fairly recently at some open-air event in Essex. The teeth aren't up to much though.

We had to re-wind and make sure that Kid did say 'Lizzies' and not THAT...

Tyrone Jenkins said...

I remember 'The Sound of the Suburbs' compilation album! I bought it on vinyl in 1991 (I was a late arrival at the CD revolution!). It was quite an unusual mixture of songs, broadly punk/new wave but with the usual compilers habit of included tracks not quite in genre (I hate that word!). For example, I think it included altered Images 'Happy Birthday'? an OK song but not quite 'new wave'!

Old Applejack said...

Indeed. And just because I feel like it, I'll try and remember the full track list...


Side 1
Eton Rifles - Jam
Antmusic - Adam and the Ants
Ever Fallen in Love - Buzzocks
Another Girl Another Planet- Only Ones
Teenage Kicks - Undertones
Echo Beach - Martha and Muffins
Happy Birthday - Altered Images
Oliver's Army- Elvis C
2468 Motorway - TRB
Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury


Side 2

Call Me - Blondie
Reward - Teardrop Explodes
I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats
Pretty in Pink - Psychedelic Furs
No More Heroes - Stranglers
There's something here that I can't remember. Anyone?
Do Anything You Wanna Do - Rods
Sound of the Suburbs - Members

eightiespopkid said...

Turning Japanese - Vapors

charlie cook said...

Anorak comment about the compilation - the version of Sound Of The Suburbs on the album does not include the 'Staines, this is Staines' announcement in the middle eight. I have never heard a version on cd that has that in either...

Tyrone Jenkins said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Arthur Nibble said...

Ah, the Queen Elizabeth soundalike tape announcing the Staines to Aldershot train. Probably put on the record as it gave a shout out to Staines and Camberley, where a number of the band hailed from if I recall.

Tyrone Jenkins said...

Thanks for the track listing, Applejack. A great list with every song an absolute gem! I've been inspired to buy the CD version. All the good old second hand record shops around here have closed so I'll resort to Amazon! (I believe my original vinyl version is stored in an old trunk somewhere!). I'm sure this album was re-released in 2002, to coincide with/capitalise on the jubilee?

Tyrone Jenkins said...

'Turning Japanese', 'Staines'? A theme seems to be emerging here!

Arthur Nibble said...

Hmm, not sure if the pavilion would applaud the manner of that half century! :-)

The Vapors were from Guildford and, legend has it, people used to taunt singer / guitarist David Fenton about his height by singing "Turning five foot three" at him.

Tyrone Jenkins said...

In true anorak mode I've just checked the reissue date of 'The Sound of the Suburbs' compilation album; it was 1997, so no jubilee! On the other hand the election of Blair/New Labour hardly conveys the punk spirit (dispite his name-checking The Clash!). 'Turning Japanese' (in its metaphorical sense) does seem appropriate in this context.

Tyrone Jenkins said...

The comment about the front mans height reminds me of the old warning that onanism (i'm trying to be polite!) stunts a young persons growth. Ahemm...

Arthur again said...

Wonder who's taller, David Fenton or Graham 'actual life size' Parker?

Arthur Nibble said...

Sadly, an actual proper passing in the TOTP family this week. RIP and thanks, Michael Hurll.

Bamaboogiewoogie said...

Simon re the review of the year I was going to suggest that we all club together and hire Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart to do the blog equivalent of one of his after dinner speeches.

Failing that I would suggest you try contacting Danny Baker. 1977 was a big year for him with the rise of punk and the Sniffin' Glue fanzine although we know he was still a TOTP fan because he was in the audience a couple of times and he did that TV Hell show.