Again, the combined forces of Neil Barker and UK Gold When It Was Good fill in a blank:
Geldof seems to have had a thing about ripping up literature, as we'll hopefully see in more exalted circumstances in late 1978, and note too some swapsies in the band, though the new keyboard player doesn't seem entirely accurate in his miming. "Amazing", Dave? Really? Can man really admire both the Rats and the Dooleys with equal excitement? As with the last DLT show we missed there's no songs bar Legs & Co's routine, which is entirely based around the first line of the song, we don't see in another show. That said, pride of place surely goes to a performance that's gone down in a sort of history, John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett very much taking their chances with an audience who are the very definition of not being able to turn away. Something inevitable about DLT introducing Mull Of Kintyre with a Scottish accent.
33 comments:
Carl Douglas taking us back to the days before hoodie = chav. Can't play this at work, I'll have to wait till later to listen to this sublime single.
Thanks for putting this up.
'Mary of the 4th Form' awful band (about the only thing musical I'd be in agreement with 'real' punks on!)and always unfortunately always available to play TOTP. Come back Smokie!
'We Are The Champions' - Queen - they must have been pissed off as they've been Number 2 behind 2 different Number 1s.
'Really Free' - I always like something a bit different on here and this was definitely that.I thought the audience found it genuinely funny as you could hear the laughs above the song.Incidentally I suppose that must be an Aylesbury accent John Otway sings in.
Run Back' - Surprised to see Carl Douglas in a hooded-top as I sort of thought they arrived in about the second year of Acid House (1989). Well they didn't register in my consciousness till then anyway.
'Mull of Kintyre'- an already dreary couple of minutes then made even more abysmal by bloody bagpipes.Still with this and 'The Floral Dance' it should have kept the grannies happy.
After the magic of last week thought this show wasn't up to much at all.In fact aside from Queen on the playout I don't think I really liked any of the songs this week which is very rare. Otway & Barrett were worth seeing though for the spectacle.
PS I've just noticed that it looks like Froggy* in the blue shirt standing next to DLT on the UK Gold picture that needs clicking to watch the show.
*Froggy being the famous and much missed soul and funk DJ and the first British DJ to mix (back in 1978)he also used to be known for his massive soundsystem which he used to hire out to the big M25 raves in 1988/1989.I also believe DLT used to hire his soundsystem when it was much smaller back in the 1970s hence why it's probably him.
Anyone notice anything different about the Boomtown Rats this week?
"A real variety of music" - you're not wrong DLT!
Blue font for the rundown and end credits? Brave. By the way, you can't fool me, that is NOT Chic in that picture.
I don't like the song, but another great performance by The Rats. A rightly legendary Otway and Barrett is always fun to see, and what a great rendition of 'Run Back'. How on earth was this not a massive hit after this great sell by Carl Douglas.
He certainly knew where the camera was, unlike Crystal 'Gale'. We're over here love!
My favourite performances this week could not be two more contrasting styles. The Boomtown Rats and Crystal Gayle...
Bob Geldof for his superb studio performance and very catchy tune to go with it as Mary Of The Fourth Form, giving us the angst and rebellion of late 70s Britain coming out of the closet, and then to see US Country music at its best with a rocking-chair type of tune with Crystal Gayle, and such a lovely voice, not to mention the grace of the red dress.
Great to see Wings going to number one very quickly with the superb Mull Of Kintyre. This time we got three and a half minutes of the video, an extra minute than last week's show with Kid Jensen, but then it hadn't reached no.1 yet.
I think DLT could have chosen a better outfit for the show....the cream suit doesn't seem to go with the black hair and beard.
An early Christmas pressie. Thanks Neil and Simon, that cheered up a wet Monday evening.
There doesn’t seem to be much movement in the chart this week with a lot of the acts in the lower part either staying where they are only going up or down one place. And poor old Queen still at number 2.
Equally there isn’t a lot of new stuff here apart from DLT sporting the sort of cardigan my granddad used to wear.
Another powerful performance by the Rats but they are already in danger of turning into a caricature of themselves. As Simon said above they did the Stranglers trick of swapping instruments making it obvious that they were all miming. There seems to be a parting of the red sea in the audience to make room for the camera, well it makes a change from mowing them down I suppose.
Repeat of Ruby Winters and then Declan McManus. I like Bruce Thomas’ double bass style guitar with its massive end pin which I didn’t notice last time.
The Legs routine for Diana Ross is typically odd and I wonder if those giant desks and chairs were originally ordered for a dance routine based around Mary Of The Fourth Form but the Rats turned up so they were utilised for Ms Ross instead. I don’t recall this song at all.
The Dooleys again and Jim seems to have had a row with his two sisters this week as they’re further away from him than normal.
When I saw Madness live at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1980 the support bands were Tenpole Tudor who weren’t bad and John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett who were pretty awful, but then they were supposed to be. But us Madness fan didn't get the joke at the time and talked/shouted through most of their set and I think some people chucked things at them.
Crystal Gayle or Brenda Gail Webb to use her real name. This was the sequel to "I've Cried the Blue Right Out Of My Eyes," a song written by Gayle's big sister Loretta Lynn. NB Gaye doesn't have brown eyes in real life but blue ones (confusing huh?).
The Brighouse Band again. The Floral Dance song is 100 years old this year being first recorded by Peter Dawson in 1912 although the tune is much older.
The superb Carl Douglas. A great song and a good performance, I bought this at the time on the pink Pye label. Shame it didn't get in the Top 10.
More of The Wings video and I always quite liked the song even if its impact wore off after a while. The film is cleverly done and it really helps sell the song (in it Linda is carrying her new baby son James). NB This was the biggest selling UK single of the 1970s which had almost simultaneous chart run with the biggest US single - Debby Boone "You Light Up My Life" (that spent 10 weeks at the Top). And that wasn't a hit here while Mull of Kintyre wasn't a hit there. Weird.
I think this is the first time they've done the end titles starting with the chorus of a song rather than the intro or first verse. Not sure it works and Queen were never going to get to number one even if they'd played the whole song as they did with the Jacksons.
Many thanks Neil and a defo improvement on the last edition, really this is fantastic...
Debby Boone managed to spend two weeks in the UK top 50 with You Light Up My Life. It entered the charts on 24th December 1977 and crawled to a high of number 48. Itself a cover of a song from the film and originally recorded by Kasey Cisyk?????? Debby, Pat Boone's daughter, took the American hot one hundred by storm in '77 spending 10 weeks at the top.
It has inspired many covers, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Jose Carreras, Robert Goulet, Whitney Houston and LeAnn Rimes. I think Daniel O'Donnell has also recorded it.
The Diana Ross single comes from my favourite Ross album, Baby It's Me, a disco/funk album which bombed in the UK, as did it's singles, but amazingly the album Diana Ross and the Supremes 20 Golden Greats, released at exactly the same time, went to number one on the UK charts, such is the power of TV advertising.
Bama... didn't they end the show a few weeks back from the middle of Rod's Your In My Heart? They started with the chorus and played it right through to the end on that occasion.
Very enjoyable edition again. Great songs from Crystal Gayle and Carl Douglas, and I'm alaways partial to the Dooleys; fun, catchy pop. John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett: memorable performance but for the 'song', well... And Legs looking lovely with a nice Diana Ross tune. Good to see a longer version of the Wings film, as well.
Of course all episodes from around this period are vitally important documents to help us trace the development of Lulu off Legs & Co's hairdo. Sadly this quest will be incomplete until we find out what it looked like when she was the back end of the camel. It's definitely a different do to earlier in the year, anyway, but we haven't yet got to the full-on perm of early 1978. If there's one good reason to stop this repeat run now it's to avoid us having to see that.
I'm more familiar with the second Otway and Barratt performance, thanks to it appearing on TOTP2 exactly fifteen years ago this week and blowing me away. This is great, though, if only for surely the only time an actual pop star has done the Father Ted-esque "No, wait, I can get this note!" on television. I love the way a man called Wild Willy actually seems quite sensible in this context. And of course the amazing thing is it was actually a hit.
Interesting to see the Boomtown Rats with their "Mary Christmas" signs as you tend to think Christmas starting early is a new thing, but here they are on December 1st. I see DLT has brought back his "piece of music" catchphrase.
I seem to recall Crystal Gayle being a big favourite of DLT's, he always used to go on about her lovely long hair.
Nice Diana Ross tune before she went disco with a certain band making an appearance in the charts that week, exciting times for disco fans.
Like the way Wild Willy finds time to scratch his head while his cohort cavorts. Also, the audience visibly exchanging glances.
Great Carl Douglas tune, very well sung, but I wonder if a certain Pete Wylie ever heard that?
What a rousing winter pear tree of an episode this one is what with one leaping keyboard rat, two mad guitarists, 10 trumping trombonists and 12 beach boy bagpipers!
I see you real enjoyed Wings' Mull of Kintyre going to number one then......you will see the bagpipers for several more weeks, as Paul McCartney's song stayed at number one for two months over Dec and Jan!
Yes I loved Mull of Kintyre at the time and if anything I love it even more now - I've never understood what some people have against it, other than over-familiarity, ~ but its such a great tune I'm sure its time will come again.
Big thanks to Neil, as I got a much-wanted second bite at the "Detectives" cherry as a result. I was mesmerised by the horizontal bar effect down the right hand side of the tape - no mickey taking meant, as my VCR was appalling!
Surely the longest rundown shot for a number 30 hit, followed by a cameraman's pyjama fetish, a 'drummer' using rolled-up homework books for sticks and a pogoing keyboard player. Marvellous!
Really enjoyed the Diana Ross song. Would have enjoyed it more had Patti done what I thought she was going to do at 9:47 and remove more clothing! That routine sure put the Legs back into Legs & Co!
DLTs's enthusiasm for The Dooleys' sublime piece of scampi-in-a-basket pop wasn't mirrored by the crowd early doors. Guess the usually half dressed gal caught a chill last time, as she was dressed up like a red indian squaw, same as her sister.
Definitely an Aylesbury accent for Mr. Otway, also known for an appalling and painful 'four faults' when trying to jump off the amps on an "Old Grey Whistle Test" appearance, and also for his sheer exuberance having been on TOTP with his second (and decades later) top 30 hit "Bunsen Burner".
Lovely song and lovely presence by Crystal Ga(y)le, apart from the camera satnav failure for the first half of the song. I think this was a non-mover in the chart, so this showing gave the song a handy and deserved leg-up.
The best way to cleanse us after the Sh1thouse and Gastric Band (Dave - the musical "what" song?) would be to follow it with one of the most passionate performances thus far on the re-run. I don't like using upper case, but Carl was FANTASTIC. Why wasn't this a top 3 hit? Sacrilege! Credit to the Pearson Gang as I thought they grabbed the essence of this song and gave it a fine effort. If we do ever have a Yes It's Number One get together-cum-gig, I vote for Brendon and Carl Douglas as the cabaret.
PS - catch you on Friday at the earliest after the double-issue. I'm out on the pis...er, at a party on Thursday night.
Let's even things up... big thanks to Simon, as it was through this blog that I first saw John Otway's endearing childlike 'Yes!' Moment after performing "Bunsen Burner" on TOTP.
@ Steve Morgan - you're right they did do the end titles with Rod Stewart starting with the chorus, I had forgotten that but it stuck out more with Queen as it was a bit clumsy.
@Arthur - Ms Gayle actually went up one solitary place this week, as I said there wasn't much movement at the bottom (oo er missus).
I thought the TOTP orchestra did a good job with the Carl Douglas song, for once actually enhancing it by missing out the synthi bits and using what sounded like a loud hunting horn in the choruses. They also missed off the intro which from memory goes on for about 45 seconds.
Does anyone know if they ever played the Wings B-side Girls School on TOTP, I believe that got more radio play in America as they just didn't get bagpipe thing or know what a Mull is.
Bamaboogiewoogie, I'm afraid it's "Mull Of Kintyre" for the whole run!
In the chart rundown, the image for Chic was the cover of their first LP. I think Chic only appeared in person from their second album onwards; both on the LP cover, and also on the TV. Le Freak is one I've seen before on TOTP2.
THX - I agree with your remark about Pete Wylie. His '84 Top 20 hit 'Come Back' sounds fairly similar to Carl D's underrated Top 30 scraper.
Re: "Something inevitable about DLT introducing Mull Of Kintyre with a Scottish accent..." I seem to remember Nicky Campbell saying that whenever he happened to bump into DLT at Radio 1, the latter would always say something along the lines of "Och aye, it's wee Nicky Campbell, the noo!"
One more titbit in relation to Carl D's 'Run Back': the cabaret outfit Guys 'n' Dolls were the first act to record the song, on their third album 'Together' - which was their first set since David Van Day and Thereze Bazar left to form Dollar. The song is much better suited to Carl, though - and should have gone Top 10 at least.
Watching The Christmas Number One story on BBC2. All the usual faces and cliches we've all heard before countless times.
They start off with Tony Blackburn saying the first Christmas number one by Al Martino in 1952 had nothing to do with Christmas, so they gloss over that and jump to 1968 and spend the rest of the show talking about lots of other songs that had nothing to do with Christmas like Lily The Pink, Two Little Boys and I Will Always Love You, even going into detail about the Christmas songs that DIDN'T get to number one like Last Christmas. What a pathetic waste of time.
If you want the real Christmas Number One story, listen to 2NG Radio at www.atlanticoldies.com at 9pm on Sunday or 1pm on Christmas Eve. Richard Todd will be playing all the UK Christmas number ones from 1952 to the present day.
I couldn't decide which was my "favourite" bit of the documentary - the complete lack of mention of two of the four biggest selling singles in UK history (Mull Of Kintyre and Bohemian Rhapsody), the statement that the position had fallen out of favour by 1973 minutes before Mud's Ray Stiles claimed everyone had always wanted a Christmas number one with relation to 1974, the selective concentration on non-number ones (and not even the right ones all the time - no Fairytale Of New York, while Waterman and Donovan were on hand for Especially For You but not Band Aid II), the selective history of pop that again suggested punk was flooding the charts in 1976, the altering of timelines to suit themselves (Girls Aloud's 2002 number one followed by "what came next" being X Factor in 2005), the lengthiest profile in the whole thing seemingly being for the BBC2-spawned Military Wives Choir...
And don't forget, that same production team are maybe even as you read this putting the finishing touches to The Story Of 1978.
Actually, a live contender might come in the review by the Guardian's Lucy Mangan: "the important thing was that someone had evidently got to it in time and excised every frame that was to have shown Jimmy Savile". Apart from that this "got to it in time" spans a period of two and a half months, Why would Savile have had to be cut from it? It wasn't a documentary about anything he was directly involved with! You might as well express relief that there were no clips of Savile in Masterchef - The Professionals.
The latest Digiguide update is in and the 17th Jan is now showing Top of the Pops 1978 at 19:30 (there was no mention of the year previously). No details on the line-up yet, and no late-night repeat currently in the schedules (no schedule available for Saturday / Sunday 19/20th yet either, so I can't tell if there's a repeat scheduled there).
The possibility of a subtle link between TOTP and its monthly rival in the schedules - Brian May is being tipped as the new presenter of "The Sky At Night".
The last time I tried an update on DigiGuide it wiped out some of my painstakingly compiled Christmas viewing selections so I'm not doing that for a while, but I'm told 17th January has been updated with the 5/1/78 details.
I hope that's true Simon. I also hope that Brian May gets to do The Sky At Night - somehow it's right that it should be him with all the dry scientists, and not just them alone.
That Xmas Number One show was making me angry as well.
There were so many songs missed for no apparent reason, the usual drivel spouted and no real challenge to 'accepted' wisdom eg the fact that 'Killing In The Name' is really a quite rubbish song that people only like because of an angry sounding man shouting naughty words.
That's ignoring the basic fact that pushing out a song from a talent show that's being bought by sheep by getting everyone to erm....buy something random like sheep because people say so is pretty lame.
Or maybe that's just my prejudice (and believe me, I'm far from being an X Factor fan!) although I would like someone to admit that the Military Wives thing is
a) Not actually a very good song
b) Not very Christmassy either.
God, I sound really miserable. Have had a bad day at work, sorry folks.
Erm, I listened to 'Mirror Mirror' by Dollar today, that was nice! (And out at this time of year)
Funny enough, I was reading part of the online blog of Guys 'n' Dolls singer Paul Griggs yesterday. I didn't realise their management team (the same as Glamourpuss, fans) had already got the first single recorded by session singers including the session singer of choice, Tony Burrows. It looks like one of those session singers has recently formed The New Guys 'n' Dolls and is doing the clubs.
The Christmas Number One show was worth it for Shakin' Stevens trying to explain Mr Blobby and admitting defeat after about ten seconds.
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