Tony greets us straightforwardly into a countdown backed by Meri Wilson's Telephone Man. Meri Wilson's Telephone Man! It's unlikely the show ever chose a less comfortably fitting track for a fastpaced chart rundown.
Hudson-Ford – Are You Dancing?
In which two former Strawbs attempt to get hep. Hang on - big curly mass of fair hair and at least developing facial hair, big dark glasses, prominent cellos, hint of disco being taken on board... Jeff Lynne? Is that you? He's got the better look than his colleague, who seems to have pioneered the look of Andy from Little Britain. They actually do go back to back for the instrumental break, but that doesn't hide they have a third guitarist doing the solo. When does he get his name in the business title? Tony announces it'll be Noel's record of the week, just to put the mockers on it completely.
Yvonne Elliman – I Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind
She seems to have been in the top 30 for most of these eighteen months but this video is the first we've actually seen of her. The video format is of course very much in its primacy, hence this is Elliman in all her a-bit-like-Coolidge form, or possibly what Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy would actually look like as a woman, standing in front of a lightly blowing wind machine in a kaftan, and then during the second verse someone turns the front lights out for a bit.
Elvis Costello – Red Shoes
No, hang on, that's not it. Costello's debut, backed by the Attractions, and I wonder if the TOTP reworking was his first recording with them - they made their live debut with Elvis seven weeks earlier, the US band Clover (most of whom became Huey Lewis' News) back him on the original and they're not on the following single either. Playing in front of what is a white spiral this week, Elvis is the angry nerd of early infamy, staring down the camera sneering and angry as he goes, taking advantage of every close-up and pull shot, as if all this was somehow our fault. Drummer Pete Thomas' T-shirt reads 'ELVIS Original P(something)' and he's in firing mode too, drumrolling and cymbal crashing well into the link out. "Why not? You can't get done for it" claims Tony. About the wearing, not the drumming.
David Soul – Silver Lady
Legs & Co without Lulu or Rosie but with... go on, guess. Yes, silver outfits. Flimsy chain mail skirts and bra tops, in fact. Despite much early promise of bum-waggling it's fairly standard prancing and the two increasingly common move, holding up the arms while moving sideways and striding forward with chest forward like a Tex Avery suited cartoon villain. Tony plugs Starsky & Hutch, Saturday 9pm on BBC1. Don't actually watch at that time in expectation.
Steve Gibbons Band – Tulane
The original is 45 minutes long yet they kept a repeat (the first appearance) of this in?
The Jacksons – Dreamer
A close-up of some lights provides a divider between that film and this video. No Randy, for some reason, and he's not missing a lot as the other four, Michael very much in the foreground and getting to hold a yellow mike that looks like a ball and cup game, sit on stools in bow tie, frilly shirt and blue suits against a green screen backdrop achieved by panning across some stretched out wallpaper patterns. They're all sitting in different ways, interestingly, Michael side-on to be better in the full band shots, one at 45 degrees, one bandy-legged, one with the left leg casually around the side. At no point do they get up from the stools and walk towards the camera. Look and learn, modern bands.
Elkie Brooks – Sunshine After The Rain
Back in her finest overalls. Well, not back per se, as it's a repeat. Tony draws particular specific attention to the melody.
Joe Dolan – I Need You
And you thought Enge seemed out of place in 1973. Big cabaret night pop had a presence throughout the decade and Irish easy listening hero Dolan, whom Tony notes "hasn't had a release out in this country for a long, long time", knows his place when it comes to theatrical stylings. On a stage not long vacated by Costello, for contrast, this essential rewrite of Demis' Forever And Ever is patterned by moments of Dolan bursting into big flamboyant phrases pitched several keys above the tune before experimenting in alarming laryngitis-esque falsetto. Gesturing in the backing vocals, pointing at the camera - he knows his showbiz alright. The audience even look slightly engaged. "Wow, some of those high notes!" Tony muses as the four women around him clap appreciatively in a way we've never seen the people gathered around a presenter do before.
The Dooleys – Think I’m Gonna Fall In Love With You
Repeat. She'll catch her death.
Nazareth – Love Hurts
Soft rock's turn to strike a blow, big Marshall amps and all. Dan McCafferty, clad in white trousers and what can only be described as a flowery blouse, emotes like a man hurt. The drummer in his big beard and shrunk-to-fit-naturally cap sleeve vest seems like he came from central rock casting.
Candi Staton – Nights On Broadway
More flashing lights lead in the video, so even more flashing lights. Consider it a glamorous take on road safety Public Information Films.
Mink De Ville – Spanish Stroll
Tony suggests we've never been to Spain with him. Well, no, Tony. Video again. "I didn't understand a word of that, did you?" Tony mugs afterwards.
David Essex – Cool Out Tonight
Tony has some more plugging to do. "Tuesday, eight o'clock, I want you to remember this, on BBC television, David Essex starts the first of his brand new series of six shows". Yes, but when does he finish it? And again, don't actually watch at that time in expectation. Well versed in showbiz performance as he is, David has full command of matey side-on looks to camera and keeps the power of surprise, producing a rhythm guitar halfway through. Shame he's forced his saxophonist to come along as the man has nothing to do with the instrument despite keeping it strapped on - union getting uppity? - and has to increasingly listlessly shake a tambourine, being positioned right behind Essex's left shoulder in straight on shots not helping his cause much. And one more blow for light entertainment, David's elaborate bow to the audience in the background as Tony starts talking again.
Carly Simon – Nobody Does It Better
A Legs & Co repeat, maybe to prove that they really were well covered after all.
Elvis Presley – Way Down
And a third Legs & Co appearance! It's not so long - months, come to think of it - since they wouldn't let us see more than one dance on the same show edit, possibly thinking we'd all get overexcited, hyperventilate and black out. But here they are again in the same outfits as for Silver Lady, shot entirely from one stage right and from the back with Sue in the foreground, doing at least three different routines at once to begin with before falling into formation prancing, facing a Toppotron™ slide projection of his photos as between those two points kids shuffle awkwardly. At least one teenage male seems to be doing it ironically. It briefly looks like the girls are going to keep going regardless of what the music's doing but they notice and slowly gyrate to a standstill before applauding everyone else for dancing, which is big of them. Tony continues his one man Radio Times recital by plugging his morning Radio 1 show and Magic Fly plus lots of close-ups of lights sees us out.
101 comments:
To note for pedants, this is the first time I've had to take names off the labels to fit them all on, as Blogger only allows 200 characters down there.
Also, sorry for seeming a stickler or whatever else this might get thrown at me, but can we now keep off the whole Savile thing down here? Unless something happens all that we can add has been covered and it's really not aiding the fun-with-old-music-and-haircuts aura these blogs have developed these last eighteen months.
Despite the fact I didn't recognise at least half the songs on tonight's show, I did strangely enjoy it. Highlight had to be seeing Elvis Costello. Lowlight had to be wondering what had happened to the other Jackson.
In the wake of I Feel Love/The Pistols/The Rah Band/Space/The Adverts/Jean Michel Jarre/The Stranglers/The Jam etc I've been recommending TOTP77 to people, recommending it I say! And then - Costello aside - this rather dreary MOR-heavy edition. It's like summer 1977 never happened.
The original edition of this show was more like a variety performance. 17 tracks, including 6 repeats and 5 non-charts songs, 2 of which never made it. Any ideas why this was 45 minutes long in the first place? Anyway, a smooth cut by BBC4 tonight, managing to retain 12 songs.
After some Meri amusement for a forumite or two, surely the only reason Hudson-Ford got shown was Tony’s chart to song link. Awful bilge from the Jeff Lynne and Bee Gee lookalikes. You could see why their final hit was three years earlier. I was thinking “Cut! Cut!” 30 seconds in.
After completely missing the criminally wiped “Love Me”, great to finally see the Hawaiian siren, looking nothing at all like Scott Gorham (how very dare you!), Yvonne’s sultry looks and keening performance wrapped up in an alluring green duvet. Minimum fuss and maximum impact with that video. Talking of impact, was this the only TOTP edition with two Elvises?
My hero! The artist who turned me from a school non-entity to a cool ‘finger on the pulse’ tipster and who, without sounding melodramatic, brought some much needed cred and confidence into my life. Proudly wearing his NUM card in his top pocket, how did the actually humorous and self–effacing Elvis (I can vouch for that having met him) miss the charts with this classic? Loved the way Pete Thomas kept drumming long into Tony’s next link.
This show’s got Soul! So that’s where my goal nets went! Legs & Co trying a relatively complex routine – I noticed Pauline stumbling / forgetting / ad libbing big time in both this and the number one routine – or was she making up her own routine in protest at Lulu and Rosie being given the week off? Sadly, for me, the show petered out after this belting ballad and I started pining for 1973 by the end.
The first repeat of the night in “Tulane”(again? why?), followed by one of at least five Jacksons singles on the Epic label with a joint Philadelphia International logo credit. 3 reasons this wasn’t a big hit – they were sitting down instead of grooving, the suits were too dark a shade of blue, and the song was incredibly dreary. What the Hell was that CSO backdrop? Had they been watching Space?
The first seven songs of the original run shown intact, then we have five chopped in a row – repeats of Elkie, The Dooleys and Candi plus two top 50 flirters. Joe Dolan had last been in the chart seven years hence and got his last piece of chart action when “I Need You” made 43 for one week, and Nazareth’s version of “Love Hurts” spent one week at 41, but they’ll be back (if we’re lucky).
Still time for two more repeats in Mink Deville and the Legs & Co Bond theme routine (Lulu nearly fell over again this time too!), a duffer from David Essex (glad we don’t get a re-run of his six show series if this was anything to go by), Space for the third week in a row (it was actually four, but the next show with the video again got wiped) and the number one.
When David Essex was on, I started wishing for Paul Nicholas! I take it “cool out” was a 70’s phrase similar to “chill out” but I never heard it apart from in this song. Was it used round your ‘hood at all? Initially, I thought the song title referred to a weather forecast, and I expected David to follow this up with “Scattered Showers Tomorrow” and “I Can Assure You There Won’t be A Hurricane”.
I bet Flick was delirious. Having just got rid of the need for two routines with Donna at the top, she gets several weeks of will-this-do to conjure up thanks to Elvis with “Way Down” (six feet down by this stage), this routine being most notable for one bloke in the front row obviously looking for the pole and one lazy chancer – stop leaning on the stage, you!
If we’re back in the groove for the next unwiped edition, you’ll have at least a day’s head start on me as I’m off to a gig that evening. Yeah, I know – watching live music for a change. Sacrilege!
Never seen the "Red 2" song before. Brilliant re-write, and proof the man's willing to take the mickey out of himself.
When two Elvis's clash!!
Funny how Mr Costello debuted the day the King got his post-death number one. He should have called it (The Angels Want to Wear My) Blue (Suede) Shoes and he might have got a hit. I love his mad stare as if he's looking in two directions at the same time. That thing sticking out of his pocket is his Musician's union card. Pete Thomas's shirt says ELVIS CRYSTAL PALACE which was the Crystal Palace Garden Party gig at The Crystal Palace Bowl which they would play at on 10 September with Santana and Brand X.
The rundown shot of The Rods shows Barrie Masters with his shirt on (unusual).
I see the spiral of lights is back with white bulbs this time instead of red. Good old spiral of lights.
The Hudson Ford song was Can-meets-John Miles, not bad but it was never gonna be a hit. Mr Ford should cover up his bald head. Now where did they put those monk outfits?
I like the way Tone went from channeling David Parton saying "Isn't that lovely" after each performance (including Hudson Ford who are anything but lovely) to saying "There it is" (clearly waiting for Shalalmar to release a song of the same name).
I remember the Dreamer song but somehow forgot that it was by The Jacksons. I like the way tone says "They've done it, they've gone straight in at number 30". Not really straight in, they went up one place from 31 and number 33 the week before that.
David Essex. Does anyone know what Cool out Tonight means? Answers on a postcard.
Elvis. The guy dancing in the cap sleeve tee shirt looked like Simon from The Inbetweeners. Not sure all those shots of The King on the Toblerone were that flattering, one looked very bloated like it was taken just after he had enjoyed one of his infamous deep fried dinners.
Loved the ways the Legs girls applauded the audience at the end, very sporting considering most of them were rubbish. Especially the two guys at the front who seemed content to simply ogle at the girls.
Magic Fly time again, could they not play out with anything else?
Bamaboogiewoogie, you beat me to it. Schollboy error. I meant to say Musician's Union card but somehow made Elvis a member of the miner's union! Talk about digging a big hole for yourself!
Arthur you (almost) beat me to the punch* with your Elvis Red shoes/blues reference and other comments.
*reference to obscure EC song that only uber-fans will get.
Yay - Telephone Man!
Now looking forward to seeing Meri pulling that workman's helmet over her head :-)
Clearly the line-up on this show was more or less anyone who was available given the time they had to fill but this was a huge step down from the punk'n'synth-stuffed edition from last week. The show ran 6.55 to 7.40 on original transmission, and was 45 minutes seemingly because there was a week's gap between the Tomorrow's World replacement and the new series of Tomorrow's World and they couldn't drag anything else out longer to fill the gap.
I actually quite liked the Hudson-Ford song but Tony certainly put the mockers on it when making it Noel's record of the week, I like how that was worth pointing out. Truly another age though when the ugly men of rock can get anywhere near a television studio.
The Yvonne Elliman and Jacksons videos were hardly Bohemian Rhapsody and I think the Jacksons one might be the worst video of all time with its ludicrous backdrops, the fact they just ineptly drag them across the screen and the way the CSO is so bad bits of their legs keep disappearing. I liked how Tony said "They've done it!" like they were a new band finally reaching number thirty after years of struggle, not a bloody famous band whose last record had been number one.
Legs seemed to be losing members throughout Way Down, as only four turned up in the first place the performance was framed so badly by the end we were left with just Sue and Patti in shot.
I liked Tony's TV guide, the David Essex series was not his later 1982 show with the most gramatically pednatic name imaginable, David Essex' Showcase. Not David Essex's, David Essex'. Yet Tony seemed to momentarily forget when his own show was on and it was around this time he moved to afternoons so maybe he'd had a meeting with Derek Chinnery that very day to tell him he was moving to 2pm.
I still shudder at the thought of David Essex's 'acting' in "The River", surely the most miserable and unfunny 'comedy' in BBC's history.
Tone was very upbeat introducing Elvis Costello - did he actually like the song, or do you think someone had told him to buck his ideas up when announcing ABOTSOR?
I checked out Joe Dolan on YouTube last night - we didn't miss anything. Imagine a Renee and Renato type of tune sung with a hint of Demis Roussos. I lasted a minute then turned it off.
The only REAL singer mention here is Elkie Brooks. "The British Queen of Blues" She has an incredible voice.
Re Hudson-Ford: Rick 'Hud' Hudson was bald, while John Ford was the Jeff Lynne lookalike.
Their single wasn't bad at all; but, as former folk/progressive rockers, they weren't taken seriously in their attempt to embrace funk. Had it been recorded by Wild Cherry, for instance, it might have been more successful.
John Ford? Not the John Ford who released "Stardance", an imminent flop on the show? That could nix the Judge Dread angle about that track as per the last thread.
Apologies for being ridiculously thick, but why was the opening song that introduced the chart in bad taste???
i would have said that rather than trying to get funky (if that was their intent they didn't make a very convincing job of it) hudson-ford were trying to leap on the disco bandwagon... also, did anyone else notice the sudden appearance of the bass player at the end, having been absent throughout the song (even in the pull-back shots)? a kind of variation of spinal tap's bassist derek smalls getting stuck in his cocoon and only emerging once the song has finished. regarding their future plans, had hudson (or was it ford) been balding at the back rather than the front he would have been well-suited in his role as one of the monks...
hudson-ford were still better than elvis costello though - i've never been able to handle his distinctive vocal style, and like most of his tunes this was slightly-aggressive pub rock and bored the pants of me...
joe dolan was tonight's refugee from the cabaret/workie scene - looking for all the world like he used to be part of an irish navvy crew building the motorways before someone heard him sing. he actually displayed quite a good vocal range, but still not good enough for this tune as he had to break into a dodgy falsetto at one point that wouldn't have given barry gibb sleepness nights...
i don't know who nazareth were trying to appeal to with their cover of "love hurts" that was far more restrained than their usual output - for years they were one of those bands that used to release a few albums whilst plodding around the live circuit entertaining the heavy rock crowd, who would probably despise this. however, if this was their attempt to become pop stars then it has to be pointed out that singer dan mccafferty's hewn-from-granite looks were never going to give david essex any competition in the pretty boy stakes...
also, did anyone notice our host introduce one act as "the steve gibbon band"? was he related to the funky gibbon tone?
Anon: I didn't mean it was in bad taste, I meant as backing for a fast paced rundown of a singles chart it didn't fit whatsoever, especially as it's primarily vocal based. Forgot to mention the off-screen linking into the first song after the countdown has been axed already.
Bama: I assume you mean I Want More when using Can as a comparison rather than, say, Halleluwah, much as the idea of two ex-folkies having a go at a twenty minute shamanic motorik drone appeals in a funny way. Of course, next time we see Hudson-Ford there'll be even more bandwagon cross-pollination of genres as they'll be in The Monks.
@Simon - Unless John Ford turns out to be John Ford(e) of Stardance fame (or is fame too strong a word?). And yes I did me Can's 'I want More', I thought the intro to both songs sounded similar.
Does anyone know where I can find all the old French charts as featured on the French language Radio Luxembourg station?
Deidre Barlow & Roger Decourcey in full flow during that opener.
More of a marathon than a sprint, and a bit of a plodder compared to last week's sprightly skip.
Yvonne Elliman resembled Rachel Stevens to me, could they possibly be related? No, probably not. Sort of recognised the song, but it was lifelessly tasteful like a lot of this episode's acts.
I don't mind the early Elvis Costello stuff, but wasn't there an infamous ad put out by his record company this week (in 1977) which proclaimed "Elvis is Dead - Long Live Elvis!" Something like that, it's probably online somewhere.
I wasn't keen on Don't Give Up On Us at the time, but when I was a kid I thought Silver Lady was fantastic. Well, the chorus was, the verses I could take or leave.
The Jacksons, don't remember that at all, and now I'm writing this I still can't remember it. Agree this video was absurdly shoddy.
Joe Dolan reminded me of Chris de Burgh, that's before I read he was Irish here. Real chicken in a basket soundtrack.
Nazareth's version of Love Hurts I know, but not sure where from if it wasn't a big hit. Was it used as a TV theme or something? Kept expecting Dan to start going "Bleeeeaaargh!!!" But he didn't really.
David Essex's mike looked unsteady, as if the foam piece was about to drop off. As for the title, he was obviously observing the temperature of the evening. Quite how he was taking that temperature isn't clear.
Can anyone make out what Tony says to one of his ladies right after the Jacksons video?
It sounded like "That's dreadful isn't it."
But it can't be that, surely (though, to be fair, it WAS dreadful!)
Hello by the way - love reading the blog and everyone's comments.
Dan McCafferty looks like a cross between Alex Harvey and Russel Mael.
Time to play 'guess who got on at the last minute when it was extended to 45 minutes' is it?
Logically, you would think Elvis Costello (not Joe Dolan, he fits in perfectly with these shows!) but given the large number of videos I guess they padded it out with those instead. So then...
Hudson-Ford - Well, this is a turn up, I really liked this! Kind of a bit John Miles a la 'Slow Down' I suppose. I couldn't think who John Ford reminded me of most - maybe Simon Pegg in Big Train's Roxy Music pastiche.
Yvonne Elliman - A bit like that 'Together' song from earlier this year, another one I thought I didn't know until the chorus. My Mum's Radio 2 listening in the mid-70s has a lot to answer for. Not a great song, but Yvonne is rather lovely, isn't she?
Elvis Costello - I don't mind a bit of Declan, though I don't know this tune too well. Good stuff though, and I love the Sesame Street version also. One to be added to other classics such as 'Born To Add' (though Springsteen didn't do that one, a puppet did)
David Soul - Much amusement to be had when playing this off of K-Tel's Disco Fever when I was young, as it sort of sounded like David was saying 'shitting' instead of 'shifting'. A bit. Well, it was hilarious at the time.
The Jacksons - Tony would not have said this was dreadful. He worships soul music, as anyone who listens to Pick of the Pops will know, as he mentions it ALL THE TIME.
Anyway, the song is dreadful, and it appears that the Jacksons have accidentally invented Westlife. Though even they never sat in front of bluescreened carpet remnants.
Joe Dolan - Ah, I've got a soft spot for Joe. Having Irish in-laws has a lot to do with that. He's actually a pretty good singer and entertainer though this song doesn't do him many favours. If it wasn't written for (and presumably refused by) Demis I will be amazed.
Nazareth - No thanks.
David Essex - I don't know about 'Cool out' as a phrase, but I do remember 'Cool's Out' with Phil Cool. He was quite popular for a while, wasn't he? I don't think he did David Essex impressions though.
Can you tell that I can't think of much to say about this? Roll on that film with the bike.
Elvis - We get to see Fat Elvis, hooray! And Toppotron seemed to be on 'mahogany' setting for one of the older pictures.
Next time round, we get to see someone slightly eccentric, and who is obsessed with heavenly bodies of all ages. That'll be Patrick Moore of course.
you might get the ratings back up a bit if you show it every week instead of the sky at night leaving us further behind the like for like showings come on bbc 4 get your act together i have been watching every episode since the april 76 ones started last year and get really dissapointed when you miss a week out
Re Tony/Jacksons: after about five listens I think I've made out "that's quite uplifting" (to camera, fortunately). Which it wasn't really.
Completely agree with how wrong Telephone Man was as the backing for the charts - just like Down Deep inside the other week.You so obviously need something with a bit of oopmh to it and not too distractingly wordy to go with the run down. The early 70s TOTP would have known but as with so much of these 1977 shows they haven't got a clue/didn't care.
Hudson-Ford - thought this was pretty good - always nice to see people from the rock world attempting something funky from the dance world rather than just slagging it off.
David Essex - whenever I used to see this in lists of David Essex's hit singles I presumed he meant it was a bit chilly out tonight. However he's obviously using an early version of chill out - there was a Philadephia International tune (can't think who by other than a 'male vocalist') called "Coolin' Out".
Elvis Costello - boring and another complete flop - that's two this week I make it - but with the surfeit of Elvis Presley re-entries in the lower reaches of the chart this week they were probably struggling a bit. Could have still had Nelson Pigford, Philly Int All- Stars, La Belle Epoque, Bruce Johnston and the Four Seasons though - all good stuff and Black Gorilla (not so good!) which incidentally did make it to next week's wiped show.
Jacksons - not one of their best but pleasant enough also Jermaine had gone by this period
Mink Deville - love this too and I've just noticed all the little mannerisms/hand movements he keeps up throughout the song.Bit of a showman.
David Soul - love this I like all his hit singles - superior pop - ok voice, good production, great words - what more do you want?
Yvonne Elliman - not too bad but not a patch on her classic of 1978.
Pissed off again about why the BBC gives us the truncated show on Iplayer as I wanted to see Joe Dolan as I've never heard it and I'm always partial to the kind of ballad stuff you used to get on (proper) jukeboxes in (proper) Irish pubs up to a few years ago.
What is Andy Murray doing under all that hair singing Love Hurts? Did he mean Love-30?
Ah Hudson-Ford! One of my forbidden pleasures. This track was off their very disappointing last album Daylight, not a patch on their highlight album 'Free Spirit'
The reference to the David Essex made me look him up on imdb. Didn't he do a series about the seven deadly sins that was cancelled after two episodes? The house band was an Australian girl band called cheetah who did a song a week - bang bang and spend the night, which I remember buying on a single. Anyone remember that?
Great first bunch of numbers for this show - I liked the Hudson Ford too, though they were unintentionally hilarious.
Great thrill to see Declan's debut in context - they all looked so sharp, neatly chopped, all Small Faces-y with menace - Pete Thomas is a legend. (love the detail re his tshirt btw) The wife and I were remarking how extraordinary it was that the king died when he was going national.
followed by Silver Lady Danced To - v good. It was Lulu and Gill missing. There are a PAIR of ls in Gill, would that make it easier for us to distinguish her from Rosie? (hope i'm not wrong now after all that).
Pity then about all the repeats and cheap videos that followed but taken out of context this would be a good example of what we're experiencing this year.
Joe Dolan died at 68 in 2007 btw.
The audience were good tonight, I thought, some great footage esp when the camera swopped down during costello and captured the crowd swaying in unison esp two girls to the right and plenty more unique studio dancing of REAL 1977 people to come if Way Down stays at the top (i pretend not to know). and I'm guessing Sue was clapping for Elvis/his memory there at the end, ok i'll shut up now.
Charlie: you're not getting confused with this notorious flop, are you? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin_on_Saturday
All in all, a good episode this week.
Highlights for me were Yvonne Elliman's hair with a cool breeze and sunny background, a reflection of late summer and low sun, but a great track which was to be a small taster of what was to come the following year with her biggest single from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and no video or footage!
I loved the Legs & co dance routine to Silver Lady, and the girls always looked best in silver....i always did think that four girls instead of six was the best number, as you could concentrate on their individual performances much better. It seems that Lulu and Rosie who were just seventeen at the time, had the short straw, and the older girls like Sue and Patti got the best positions on stage....not that I'm complaining, as Sue and Patti are my favourites anyway!
Great to see Legs back at the end of the show with the same outfits for the new No.1 from the great Elvis. I can take a cold shower now.
Also, would have been nice to get more of the Candi Staton video, as once again like two weeks earlier we got a measly two minutes, and they seemed to leave the video at the same point, about half way through.
Simon: that's the one! Well done, thanks.
Finally got round to watching the long version of 'the long one' (oo- err!).
After The Jacksons Tone says "That's wonderful isn't it?' and he's right it is, the more I hear it the more I like it. The video is naff though and it's hard to imagine that a top selling act would be so badly served these days but that's what makes these 70s shows so much fun.
The Yvonne Elliman video looked odd as well, clearly filmed in a studio but the wind in her hair was to suggest she was in the open air.
Weird to see Kid Jensen in the background of the Steve Gibbons performance. Still don't like the look of those zips on Mr Gibbons' leather pants, must chafe his hands something awful when he's rummaging for loose change.
Elkie Brooks still moonlighting from her job as a petrol pump attendant. At the end we get to see a glimpse of DLT's arm (how many other presenters are they going to show?).
When they show repeat performances like this do the audience in the studio actually see the clips on a monitor (or the Toppotron) or do they just edit them in later?
Joe Dolan's vocals are amazing, not a great song but a splendid performance. According to Wikipedia Joe has a 540 metre bridge named after him: the Joe Dolan Bridge in Mullingar.
The Dooleys again. The left hand female Dooley looks like one of the girls who bullied Trisha Yates in Grange Hill. Must have been a popular hairstyle back then. Being 8 foot tall the lead singer Jim seems to squat when he's singing giving the impression that he needed to go to the loo.
Nazareth doing one song from their EP, namely a cover of Jim Capaldi's cover of The Everly's Love Hurts. The Jim Capaldi version was superb but this is just too slow and not particularly memorable. Lead singer Dan McGaffertape looks good in a blouse.
Two videos in a row - Candi Staton still on Broadway again and then Mink Deville. For the benefit of Tony (and the rest of us who failed Spanish O-level) the words spoken by bassist Rubén Sigüenza translate (roughly) as:
"Hey Rosita! Where are you going with my car Rosita?
You know I love you but you take away everything, you robasta you, And my TV and my radio, and now want to take my car,
I do so, Rosita see here,
I put up with you here Rosita,
Spanish Stroll - Look here!"
Anyone know what a robasta is?
Talking of slang I think 'cool out' does mean chill out, ie relax, but by adding the word tonight David Essex does sound as though he is giving us a weather report. He doesn't want to go out and drink wine with a friend, he wants to stay at home his lady friend in front of the fireside. Oh David you old softy.
Now we just need to work out why the tall guy playing the tambourine is holding a saxophone.
Bamaboogiewoogie, could the lad in Mink DeVile be saying "Basta ya"? That translates as "That's enough!".
A, for the most part, rather dreary show, the newer Elvis the sole representative of the new broom. I thought Yvonne Ellimam was good, always an interesting performer who seemed to straddle (70s-style 'ohhh, err'!)several musical styles, including disco. Her kaftan-esque outfit proved that the late 60s had not yet died.
The excitment generated by last weeks show (and the prior 18 month mantra of 'where is the punk?!'has raised our expectations and perhaps made us a little greedy? No doubt there will be plenty of New Wave/Electro/Disco excitments to come during the next few months.
Of course I meant 'Elliman'! I should proof read these bloody messages before posting them!
You and me both, Tyrone. Mink DeVile indeed. Oh L!
Well, it's official, that Hudson-Ford song has completely won me over, it's been whizzing round my head all weekend, I think it is ace. The only benefit of that is that it's replaced The Chosen Few by The Dooleys, which I'm blaming Simon for after he linked to it on On This Top Of The Pops Day last week.
Last time Mick DeVille was on someone asked who he looked like, I still haven't worked it out but when he laughs he looks a bit like Stewart Lee.
Yes, Mick DeVille. That's what I call him.
Seeing as I looked it up via the BARB website for someone else, I may as well post here the reason why I always talk about the repeats not getting great viewing figures. These are all the occasions TOTP77 has been in BBC4's top ten most viewed programmes by week this year:
6/1/12 The launch night - The Story Of 1977 at number 2, the first show of the year 3 (810K viewers), Big Hits at 4
19/1/12 The year's second show beats the Sky At Night gap to finish eighth, 440K
29/3/12 Brendon opens, Marc Bolan's farewell, 503K, 9th
12/4/12 The one rescued from Diddy's collection, 408K, 9th
8/8/12 The Sex Pistols video, 10th, 239K
And that's it. There's a couple of Story Of 1977 repeats and one of 1976 in too, but the regular slot has had enough viewers to make the top ten (number ten in which usually comes out at about 350K) four times in eight months.
@Steve Williams - Let's all call him Mick DeVille from now on. I don't think he looks like Stuart Lee (Stuart Lee looks more like Morrissey). I think he looks like a young Daniel Day-Lewis, something about the cheekbones.
This show did drag a bit, and the highlights for me were actually repeat performances, namely Elkie Brooks and Carly Simon. It's a nice coincidence that Nobody Does it Better has featured in these repeats as the Bond films celebrate their 50th anniversary, as for me it is the greatest Bond theme of them all.
It was intriguing to see Richard Hudson out front with John Ford for their number, as back in his Strawbs days he was the drummer. Maybe he diversified after they broke away from the band...
Re the ratings. I occasionally look at the BARB site myself, and it does seem as if overall the '77 repeats have not been as popular as the '76 ones. This makes it all the more gratifying that the Beeb are going to carry on into 1978, though I just hope that current controversies do not make them think in the longer term that the repeats are becoming more trouble than they are worth. I wonder how high the viewing figures are if all the showings of each repeat are combined together?
I think the viewing figures could be higher if they promoted the fact the programme was on. I'm sure there are lots of people who would like to watch, but don't realise it's on! How many of them who may have watched 1976 turned on one Thursday to find it not on (i.e. Sky at Night week?)
Do the figures include people who record the late night and watch it the next day (Me as an example, iPlayer viewers etc
and is it for 1 screening or all?
It seems to be those who watch/record the 7.30 version, but I can't imagine the late night audience is adding hundreds of thousands.
How would you promote this series to non-regulars, in any case? It own Story Of... introductory documentary seemed to take the angle that nearly all of it was rubbish.
With the current situation I wouldn't promote 1977.
In the case of 1978 a regular timeslot maybe on Friday which is the default BBC4 music night.
I meant to mention earlier, but per Steve earworming Hudson-Ford; because I've been compiling the links for an On This Day update adding the 1977 shows so far, I've ended up with the Martyn Ford Orchestra in my head. What a performance this was, something new to spot every time. I particularly like his forceful point at the soloing saxophonist.
Next weeks Radio times says that the next episode will be the 22/9/77 - So the JS introduced 15th has been dropped, sad but understandable
Stephen is Zygon, Forgot which name I used here, d'oh!
Again, really don't want to get into this because it's far bigger than intention, that's what forums are for and I want to keep it light in here, but word is at least the next two Savile shows of four left this year are being held back. Obviously the contents, the most interesting stuff fortunately all covered by online video, will be covered here.
Oh, something just spotted on One For The Dads' new upload - the button or whatever on Gill's top comes undone mid-routine, if you watch her from 1:35 (after the chorus).
If they're not showing the 15.9.1977 show then I guess they won't be showing the one from 13.10.1977. So can someone please upload the John Forde AStardance performance to Youtube because I have waited 35 years to see that and now I'm not going to.
Also does anyone know if Tom Browne ever presented TOTP shows? He had such a distinctive voice and was the presenter of the chart show on Radio 1/2 on Sundays for many years but I don't recall ever seeing him in the flesh.
Any does anyone know of a site that has the French Top 40 that was presented on Sundays on the French language Luxembourg service in the 1970s? Thanks.
Inevitable that we would miss some JS shows - surprised that they've only announced the first 2 actually, I guess they're waiting to see what happens.
Lucky most of it is online at least.
Anyway, the line-up for the next one looks pretty interesting at least. Considering all the quality French pop we've had lately, I'm amused to see there's an act called Stardust on!
I thought Tom Browne had a great voice, but I never even saw a picture of him until the internet was invented!
I'm sure someone once told me that he did do a Pops or two - presumably if this is true, it must have been in the 1973/74 wilderness.
Sorry, Simon, I really do appreciate your wish to keep things light and your desire to focus on what we're watching and enjoying (or not), as that's the purpose of this magnificent blog, but recent developments have a huge impact on what some (all?) of us think, the headlines are getting more lurid or difficult as time passes, and they're bound to affect us in some form or other. Personally, I can't understand why it's taken until after Jimmy's passing for alleged(?) events going back as far as 1959 to be raised, unless there was a huge undercurrent of emotional blackmail and / or subservience.
To get back on track (phew), we nearly all dismissed that Martyn Ford performance as froth when we first saw it but, after your reappraisal, there's enough to enjoy about the man's mannerisms. Wonder how he and Simon Park would have fared with each other's songs in the TOTP studio?
Right, I can clarify the "Stardance" artist now - sorry for my mix-up earlier.
Due to lack of info, in some quarters the artist's name is shown as John Ford, hence my query if the singer is the chap from Hudson-Ford. In fact, I've discovered tonight that the artists's properly spelt name is John FORDE, and he's definitely a protoge or alter ego of Judge Dread. John Forde released at least three singles, two of which have at least one side co-written by Alex Highes, the Dread himself. The TOTP clip of "Stardance" isn't on YouTube, but an extended mix of the single can be found, and it's worth a listen if you like hazy pre-acid groove disco which would meld well with, say, The Beloved - my own attempt at categorising it, best to listen and insert your own tag.
That's Alex Hughes, the Dread himself, not Alex flipping Highes! Pisspronounced my worms again!
Thanks for your help Arthur. I know Mr Dread is involved in Stardance somehow (the B-side of the single Flight Of The Jumping Bean definitely has his grunted vocals on it) but I always wondered if John Forde (AKA erroneously as John Ford) IS Judge Dread in disguise or is as you say a protege. I was hoping to see him in the flesh although of course he may have done a RAH Band and got someone to front it. We'll never know for sure now.
I liked the Martyn Ford performance when I saw it although I completely missed the track at the time. Simon Park recorded a couple of superb albums for EMI in the mid 70s which are a long way from Eye Level including elements of funk and prog rock with Moog synth and electric guitars.
I'd love to know what the original of the Martyn Ford track sounded like given how thin that interpretation sounds and the discussion of it being disco-influenced - we know the orchestra could do wayward things to songs at the best of times. (Someone's found and uploaded to YouTube the Contempt 7", which apart from an otherwise left out mid-section doesn't sound all that different)
Simon, It appears Martyn Ford released at least five singles in the UK, including disco covers of "Stranger On The Shore" and "Gone With The Wind"! This page on YouTube gives you a flavour of the man's work ("Happy People" was another of his A-sides, and "Sneaking Up Behind You" was the B-side of "...Shore").
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=martyn+ford
I think I have an MP3 of the Martyn Ford track somewhere, I'll dig it out listen and see how it compares.
Something that's been bugging me - Those David Essex lyrics "You're alright, you're alright, we're already right". What does it mean?
Simon are you going to do two Disappeared blogs, one to cover the last wiped show (sniff) and the show that should have been wiped with a cloth?
You mean The Disappeared and The Disqualified? Hope Simon panders to our whims.
Obviously I will - whatever happens every playlist in chronological order must be kept this far in. I've even thought of something (unrelated) to cover next month's (assumed) Sky At Night break, which is organised beyond reproach for me.
Wow, looking forward to that then!
Something I was thinking about earlier....
Given how they're not shy of knocking edits together to make 30 minute versions of the longer shows, wouldn't it be lovely if the BBC decided to keep the performances from the JS shows and got someone else to do new links inbetween, maybe a bit of reminiscing.
Someone already on the payroll like Tony Blackburn perhaps? Given how infrequent Jim's appearances were, he could knock up links for all of his 1978 shows in an afternoon I expect.
It'd be a bit like TOTP, only less sneery and rubbish.
Of course, we all know that this won't happen.
Sorry, that should clearly read *TOTP2*!!!
Our beloved show's never sneery and rubbish - well, except the weeks where we get loads of repeats AND Noel's in a bad mood.
For goodness's sake, don't let Steve Wright, the worst afternoon DJ I've ever heard, anywhere near this precious series!
No, no. I meant Tony in-vision.
Or Kid Jensen. Or even DLT.
Anyone bar Steve Wright really, I wouldn't inflict him on anyone.
Not Peter Powell either. Oh god, he'll be on soon - can we edit him out as well?
...or push the series forward, after Jim'l's departure.
Say...1986?
I found out earlier that nearly the whole of the next Jensen show* is on YouTube, which I won't spoil because it's five weeks away but at the end he brings on Peter Powell as Radio 1's newest recruit, and a week later is Powell's own, mildly infamous debut. That will cause some comment around here, I can tell you.
(* At which he stops saying "good love"! Can't trust anyone any more. Er, then.)
I was thinking similar thoughts. If they jumped forward to 1988 at the beginning of next year we would all be looking back a rather neat 25 years, and all of the DJs whose names have been whispered about in recent weeks would, by then, all have departed. Instead we would find ourselves in the era of Anthea Turner, Simon Parking and Andy Crane lining up alongside your Simon Mayos and Gary Davies... There are plenty of great songs, rather a heavy reliance on videos, and some cracking fashion disasters to be amused by. And all the shows are 30 minutes.... At the end of 1993 they could see if things are calm enough out there to rewind back to the start of 1978 and fill in the ten years, hopefully without edits and omissions. I think the Kylie and Jason generation would ensure it gets a decent amount of viewers.
Simon Parkin! Not Parking! Ruddy auto-correct!
Could the Saville fronted shows continue but with the presenter simply edited out? Each episode could start with an appropriate scheme of words to explain the slightly disjointed nature of the show. At least viewers would have the opportunity to see the performances ( Who are after all not guilty by association), a sort of chronologically-specific TOTP2 scenario. I'm sure this is not beyond the technical ability of the editing people, they do it with other programmes on a regular basis.
This is the BBC you're talking about, though. Actually, it could be difficult when you have instances of the host 'crashing' the start of the tune by still introducing the act, as this would necessitate an ungainly chopping off of part of the intro. How would you fix that?
I wonder if there are any acts out there who've been secretly checking when they're next on, so they can see themselves again and look forward to the repeat fee - and I wonder if any are now cursing the lack of repeat and dosh due to being introduced by Mr. Now Then?
Shame they can't repeat the Kenny Everett edition again this week. I'd have enjoyed that!
arthur, they edit out all the dj links anyway for totp2, so why can't they just do the same for those that have got the elbow because of what's going down? (even if we miss a bit of intro it's still better than being denied completely becuase of the intervention of fate...)
in fact, what they should be doing is getting mark radcliffe to start scripting some lame one-liners as links to replace our host and pretend it's just all just another episode of totp2...
I can't imagine it'd be too difficult to edit a presenter-free version, unless the BBC think it'd draw too much attention to Savile's absence (though he only did six shows in 1978, the first at the end of April) Given they kept repeating the Carol Bayer Sager clip even though it starts with Jensen as the focal point I imagine there'd be some room for manoevure.
You know what BBC4 could have done from the start? Repeat a show from the corresponding week in Pops history, which would have lost the chronology but would have been interesting to see how styles and so forth changed.
Thanks Simon for the heads up for 'One For The Dads' You Tube page....
Oh, what have I started?
Nice to see that Tyrone and wilberforce are on the same wavelength as me, though Arthur's absolutely right that the BBC won't do anything that sensible.
As for moving forward, I'd rather not, much as I love 1988 and it's one of my favourite years for music. The thing is, so is 1979 and I'm rather hoping we get that year.
As for 1986, no thanks!!
noax: perhaps you should take a look at this album tracklist to see if 1986 is as bad as you remember it:
http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Greatest-Hits-Of-1986/release/1265987
in my opinion there are one or two exceptions (notice that there are several "oldies" creeping in at that point, but in my book they don't count) but by and large i'm with you! (the fact that there are also numerous covers tells its own story)...
Hmmm....not a great collection there. In fact, I think I may have this album somewhere!
It has got 'Camouflage' by Stan Ridgway on it though, which is high quality indeed.
It's also one of those songs that mystifyingly NEVER appears on CD.
See also 'Twilight World' by Swing Out Sister - they re-released their first album last year and still didn't put the bleeding single version on!!
I rather like the Elmo/Costello collaboration. My four year old has been singing it most of the day, which is a bit of a result.
1986!! - please tell me you're joking ;-)I thought the years 1985-86 (and slightly less so 1987) were generally thought of as THE worst in popular music history (music, fashion, haircuts everything!). Made even more terrible by the magnificence of 1980-83 (my personal favourite years ever) and 1988-89.
old applejack: elmo? costello? are we talking about the same album?
80sbloke: i agree with you - '86 was pretty much rubbish! the only tracks i wouldn't object to hearing again from that comp are mr mister, double and samantha fox "touch me" (just joking about the last one - the worst of the lot... and that's saying something!)
i echo your sentiment that pop music was great from 1980 up until the end of 1984, when the band aid/charity thing put the kybosh on it for two or three years...
Ooops! Sorry Noax, I virtually repeated your blog about editing the show! My message was written in haste during a break and I had not yet had time to read the prior messages! It is a good way to resolve this sensitive problem, though as you say we cannot rely on auntie to do anything so sensible!
Wilberforce - sorry if I've misunderstood, I was talking about "A Monster Went and Ate My Red Two" as linked to in the blog.
I daresay most people have already seen James Blunt doing 'My Triangle', and I also really like Feist doing 1234, even if it's pretty much a Sesame Street song to start with!
The only songs I bought in that 1986 collection were The Housemartins (Freddie and the Dreamers for the modern generation), Double (which I iTuned recently as a guilty pleasure), and Stan Ridgway with arguably the best 'story song' ever. Note that amongst all those covers is the appalling Phil Fearon's appalling attempt at Tony Etoria's "I Can Prove It". I don't remember 1986 being as bad as that compliation - I was probably listening to unrelated music like OMD and indie rock at the time.
I agree with the negative comments about the music of the mid-80s and the suggestion that the early 80s are worthy of nostalgia. 1980-83 was one of the most inventive, joyous periods in pop music history: post-Punk,elecro, Ska, Mod revivalism, Blondie, Ashes to Ashes, New Romanticism, Indie Rock ultimately capped by the emergence of The Smiths.
Noax and Arthur - I hold fond memories of Stan Ridgway's appearance on TOTP; my dear old Dad put his head round the door, thinking it was a new single by Frankie Laine!
Simon, I like your idea of BBC4 repeating a show from two corresponding weeks, I said as much last week when they showed 1973 on Wednesday followed by 1977 on Thursday. It could be like a televisual Pick Of The Pops.
As for editing Savile out of the shows, good idea. Maybe they could bring back TOTP2's original presenter Johnnie Walker to do the links.
As for jumping forward 10 years please don't give them ideas. If they must leap forward I'd opt for 1980-83.
I remember Camouflage by Stan Ridgway being on the show and he was briefly interviewed by Mike Smith who accused him of 'taking the mick' and Stan Ridgeway pretended not to understand what he meant.
i've uploaded this show here http://youtu.be/GYN_I6c4GkQ
Bamaboogiewoogie - they would have to jump forward 10 years to avoid the 'problem' presenters. Julie Burchill has properly stuck the knife into John Peel in a certain newspaper this morning so who knows how long it will be before his shows are blacklisted too?
Great.
In Peel's case it's a one-off though, isn't it?
And more of a 'things were different back then' type of scenario. Which, like it or not, is the truth and something that, strangely enough, everyone had a good old 'tch, look what it was like in the old days!' chuckle at when it was depicted as drama in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.
Not that it'll stop another media overload. I really despair of this country.
A problem with showing Savileless edits has just occurred to me - what do you do with the end credits?
They can just cut to the credits after the 'introduced by' slide has gone. BBC4 should find this easy to do, they have enjoyed editing the editions down thus far...!
Yeah, but then you don't have the logo, and you can't just cut the one caption out unless you find the music to dub over the top. Although that said, they've shown that clip of Legs & Co allegedly dancing to Pretty Vacant often enough...
They could overlay the logo somehow or freeze the screen for 3 seconds while letting the music continue. Anyway, they're skipping the JS editions and surely will do permanently now. There's so much great archive that will sadly now not be seen outside of the odd TOTP2.
I love Wilberforce’s reference above to Joe Dolan looking “like he used to be part of an Irish navvy crew building the motorways” – particularly since we’ve been seeing on recent TOTPs a bloke who actually HAD been part of an Irish navvy crew building the motorways. If any of us have occasion to use the M23/M25 junction north of Gatwick, we should doff our caps to Bob Geldof, for it was partly his work.
thanks for the compliment erithian - hope no-one took offence at that: i just meant he looked a lot more like a labourer than a pop star...
the nearest i ever got to help build this great nation was when i was "employed" by the local council on a YOPS scheme, and had to dig up crumbling concrete posts that were used to fence-off council estate gardens - actually bloody hard and time-consuming work because they were a bit like an iceberg, with the post being attached to an enormous lump of concrete that was hidden under the surface!
oh yes, in the interests of trying to score us our sophomore century, by chance earlier today i was in a charity shop and spotted a copy of that "greatest hits of 1986" album discussed above. in case you were wondering: no, i never considered buying it for a nanosecond... even if it had only cost 10p!
now all we need is another boundary...
I'm trying to work out how Joe Dolan got on the show seven years after his last hit. Some publicity work by his record company.
that's the 99 with Flake, who's going for the quick single and pavilion acclaim?
OK - something of relevance...
I really enjoyed the Legs' dance to Silver Lady and they looked tighter to me as a foursome. And enjoyed the song too after not hearing it for, oh, 34.5 yrs. So have headed off to iTunes and spent 79p on a digital copy, even though the original single is nestling in a box in the garage.
So, unless someone's beaten me to it that'll be my fourth century - three with the bat for my local cricket team (a few years ago, mind) and one on here.
Thankyou for the applause...
Arthur Nibble:re Joe Dolan it was in the "bubbling under" section of the charts and then "leapt" into the Top 50 so unlike many of the acts featured it had genuine buyers and was a minor hit.
He released quite a bit over here too and this was his first (and last) hit since his heyday. IIRC he kept on having them in Ireland right up until his death - covers of contemporary songs etc towards the end I think.
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