tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post7795454277996454661..comments2024-02-23T08:40:24.961+00:00Comments on Yes It's Number One: TOTP 7/7/77 (tx 1/8/12): when the two sevens clashUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-45981889730693357372012-08-13T14:19:57.200+01:002012-08-13T14:19:57.200+01:00Felt a bit sorry for Tony Etoria - up eight places...Felt a bit sorry for Tony Etoria - up eight places in two weeks to number 21 and a third TOTP helping might have made "I Can Prove It" a big hit, but not to be.Arthur Nibblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-67753945249757187552012-08-11T21:54:42.729+01:002012-08-11T21:54:42.729+01:00Right, let's try and get this thread near the ...Right, let's try and get this thread near the 40 mark! Barry Biggs's two biggest fun-fair related singles were both covers of songs recorded by a pretty good and under-rated soul group called Blue Magic. Maybe Baz should have plundered more of their catalogue for potential hits? Or maybe he should have covered "Tears Of A Clown" or "White Horses" or "Me And The Elephant"?Arthur Nibblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-72057989489147261152012-08-07T13:44:25.496+01:002012-08-07T13:44:25.496+01:00Ah, Altern8 - they were bloody fantastic.
That wo...Ah, Altern8 - they were bloody fantastic.<br /><br />That would be the period when they'd just started insisting on people singing live though (as referred to above) and all the dance acts were routinely terrible at this point.<br /><br />Of course, Altern8 would get someone who could sing very well indeed for their next song - PP Arnold!Noaxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-87681470686235618652012-08-07T11:06:46.150+01:002012-08-07T11:06:46.150+01:0080'sblokeinthe70s' above comments puts me ...80'sblokeinthe70s' above comments puts me in mind of altern 8's appearance on totp in 1991, that i found hilarious at the time if somewhat baffling (being a non-raver fast-approaching 30 at that point):<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSWTNeg-uog<br /><br />taking a look at the video again on youtube 20 years later, ironically, judging by the poor vocal delivery the catsuited "sexy model" was actually doing it live, and along with her somewhat ill-at-ease gyrating perhaps it was no surprise she was replaced for their next totp appearance...<br /><br />btw, whatever happened to claudia simon who introduced them?wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-36881209139075073742012-08-06T18:14:21.820+01:002012-08-06T18:14:21.820+01:00I'm old enough to remember when Johnnie Walker...I'm old enough to remember when Johnnie Walker did TOTP2 in the mid 1990s. No funny comments at all with him, he left it to the viewers to make up their own.Bamaboogiewoogienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-51866425958945717872012-08-06T18:07:17.628+01:002012-08-06T18:07:17.628+01:00Re Simon's comment about non-players on recor...Re Simon's comment about non-players on records doing TOTP and other promotional duties.<br /><br />Surely this had its apotheosis in the old skool era 1988-92 and especially 1991-92 when the majority (?) of rave/hardcore acts used a sexy model as their "singer" on TOTP when it was either a sample or a session singer on the actual disc.Often there weren't even actually any vocals to speak off on the boss club tune and they quickly made a commercial "radio" mix just for such appearances/any grudging pop radio play they might pick up.<br />I believe this type of thing really pissed of TOTP and heralded the end of miming and the start of "live" performances again.<br /><br />PS I agree with Wilberforce there - why do the powers that be think we want anyone's comments over the music as they never actually add anything to the experience.80sBlokeInThe70shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04228286615118463479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-47136470601800473982012-08-06T17:13:24.691+01:002012-08-06T17:13:24.691+01:00i'd prefer it if there was no babbling DJ inte...i'd prefer it if there was no babbling DJ interjecting with pathetic jokes or other verbal diarrhea at all - and also if they didn't show anything after 1995...wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-45052113758055360082012-08-06T16:26:02.806+01:002012-08-06T16:26:02.806+01:00I'd be happier with Mark Radcliffe if his babb...I'd be happier with Mark Radcliffe if his babble wasn't placed all over the start and end of songs, sometimes all over the lyrics!<br /><br />Better than Steve Wright, yes, but not better than Radcliffe the first time round!Noaxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-22612995876331332552012-08-05T23:45:37.870+01:002012-08-05T23:45:37.870+01:00I'm another one who tuned into TOTP2 last nigh...I'm another one who tuned into TOTP2 last night to see Bobby Goldsboro halfway through Summer The First Time, which is traumatic enough in itself, so thank goodness for iPlayer which allowed me to watch what I'd missed.<br /><br />I prefer The Mark Radcliffe Witty Snark Show to The Steve Wright Insults Singers and Bands Show, but Summer Nights better than The Barracudas? Not in my world!THXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-78919595356387294072012-08-05T21:16:34.636+01:002012-08-05T21:16:34.636+01:00Don't know if this is accurate but it's sa...Don't know if this is accurate but it's said Clark plays on the record (and is the only one there who does), which may, as well as his Bebop Deluxe membership, explain the disguise. Of course without that appearance it might never have been a hit, so swings and roundabouts.<br /><br />It's not as unusual as you'd imagine at that time for singers and musicians other than those who recorded the released version to do the promo at the label's behest at least initially, essentially hiring the band as live sessioneers - the Rubettes, Kenny, even Slik (Midge Ure says when he went to add his first studio vocals thinking the rest of the band would be there he was surprised to find the backing tracks were already in place)Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05834265575179460764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-20527568842559290922012-08-05T20:27:22.462+01:002012-08-05T20:27:22.462+01:00Sorry Simon I've just posted the same info as ...Sorry Simon I've just posted the same info as you (great minds think alike).Bamaboogiewoogienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-87675052839134552442012-08-05T20:25:16.584+01:002012-08-05T20:25:16.584+01:00Sorry for the mix up, I meant to say that Tony say...Sorry for the mix up, I meant to say that Tony says Seaside Special but meant Summertime Special (as I thought it was called Summertime special) but actually he was right, it was Seaside special in 1977. Sorry Tone. I think the sight of Barry Biggs in his red satin ringmasters outfit was affecting my mind.<br /><br />I wondered about the RAH Band keyboardist's microphone as he only has the two words. I love the fact that he had to pull down his balaclava in order to say them. I thought he looked a bit like The Attractions' keyboardist Steve Naieve but a lot of people refernced Andy Clark who worked with Bill Nelson. Someone on YouTube said the CD release of the RAH Band album includes an interview in which Richard Hewson and he says they asked him to appear on TOTP but he was busy, so the record label put together this band of people without Hewson's permission. They were also booked to do a tour and Hewson had to personally pay off these guys to stop it happening. <br /><br />Did anyone else notice those two guys in peaked caps in the background towards the end of this performcance. Were they policemen ready to arrest the band for crimes against fashion? Or St Johns Ambulance volunteers ready to attend to members of the audience who fainted in disbelief?Bamaboogiewoogienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-58960432644676411292012-08-05T20:16:12.188+01:002012-08-05T20:16:12.188+01:00Richard Hewson had nothing to do with the people m...Richard Hewson had nothing to do with the people masquerading as the Rah Band on TOTP - in fact, he was absolutely furious about it! They were a bunch of people thrown together by the record company without his knowledge, and Hewson went to great efforts to stop them.<br /><br />I actually really like the original and the TOTP version - the TOTP version sounds like a theme tune for a particularly bawdy sitcom.Simon Mcleannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-15511429587055262482012-08-05T12:55:13.970+01:002012-08-05T12:55:13.970+01:00The Seaside/Summertime Special lineage is quite co...The Seaside/Summertime Special lineage is quite complicated, because the Beeb show was originally called Seaside Special but at some point in the late seventies it was renamed Summertime Special before it was axed. But then ITV launched their own Summertime Special in the miod-eighties, and in 1987 you had that and the Beeb's revived Seaside Special 87, with Mike Smith presenting Beat the Clock, though as I didn't remember the original I thought of that as nothing more than a rip-off of the ITV show.<br /><br />No thanks to BBC2 for starting TOTP2 ten minutes early last night - on a night when surely nobody was watching BBC2 live and recording it instead.Steve Williamshttp://www.tvcream.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-36835446694517247072012-08-04T21:40:12.060+01:002012-08-04T21:40:12.060+01:00To be fair to Tone, he does say 'Seaside' ...To be fair to Tone, he does say 'Seaside' not 'Summertime'.<br /><br />A quick google suggests that Summertime Special was an 80s version of the same thing.don simonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-76256375135005211542012-08-03T21:17:29.107+01:002012-08-03T21:17:29.107+01:00wilberforce - here's a link to the Smiths Cris...wilberforce - here's a link to the Smiths Crisp flexi disc instrumental:<br /><br /><b>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVHa6o_mFeo</b><br /><br />[Sorry I don't know how to post proper clickable links - if someone can tell me I'd appreciate it]Bamaboogiewoogienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-36741336582644863092012-08-03T20:03:05.267+01:002012-08-03T20:03:05.267+01:00Oh, please don't tell me we have to suffer a C...Oh, please don't tell me we have to suffer a Cilla song. Do we?!<br />That will be fast-forwarded very quickly if so.<br /><br />A decent mix this week I thought, though you can definitely tell they're rushing through the songs now the shows are half an hour long. Most of them were chopped off before the end. Why don't they just have one less song?<br /><br />RAH Band - I love this song. Surely Richard Hewson must have had something to do with this re-recording? For the record, I think it's not bad, just different. Certainly not the worst re-recording, as there was one that I found absolutely appalling, though annoyingly I can't remember what it was right now.<br /><br />Anyway, the public were obviously not so horrifed that they didn't buy this, unlike many other show openers!<br /><br />Smokie - The only one of their songs that I really like, probably due to its inclusion on the same compilation album as the above song. Said album was played a lot when I was a kid.<br /><br />It was nice to see them messing around a bit, as in previous performances they've sometimes looked like they were taking themselves too seriously.<br /><br />Alessi - I'm not allowed to watch them. Lift music, according to the wife. I don't mind it, for the record.<br /><br />Barry Biggs - As his 2 biggest hits were very much on a similar theme, it's perhaps surprising that he didn't carry it on a bit longer.<br /><br />Another possible song title could have been 'The Unicycle of Life (I Keep Falling Off)' - Barry could have had that if I'd been a songwriter. In the 70s.<br /><br />Boney M - Granny outfit presumably left over from the Paul Nicholas appearance last year with 'Grandma's Party' and chairs possibly from the BBC canteen. Unless the girls other than Lulu had all had horrific leg injuries that week, this routine is insanely dull really.<br /><br />Hot Chocolate - Fair play for coming in yet again, and Errol's outfit is a little more normal this week. There's also the faint hint of a smile occasionally.<br /><br />Donna Summer - Heard in context, this sounds even more like it's from another planet than usual. Awesome tune, and the first 7" I ever bought (although that was the Patrick Cowley mix in 82)Noaxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-24342919575803975462012-08-03T18:18:18.714+01:002012-08-03T18:18:18.714+01:00Was the organist in The RAH Band given a microphon...Was the organist in The RAH Band given a microphone as a matter of courtesy and decided to use it for two words, or was it supplied especially so he could say two words?THXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-13347030543575651492012-08-03T17:50:17.659+01:002012-08-03T17:50:17.659+01:00great groovy ad for smith's crisps - where the...great groovy ad for smith's crisps - where the hell did that come from?! with swinging simon dee and all... there are some copies of the smith's crisps "when it comes to the crunch" flexi-discs available on discogs, but they're not cheap (would love to hear the instrumental (?) "rhythm and crunch")<br /><br />http://www.discogs.com/Barnes-Adams-When-It-Comes-To-The-Crunch-Its-Smiths-IT-IS/release/1199147wilberforcehttp://www.gavinunderhill.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-90284839757042709712012-08-03T14:47:00.260+01:002012-08-03T14:47:00.260+01:00Meant to say 'The Crunch' put me in mind o...Meant to say 'The Crunch' put me in mind of this:<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwRmBu0oGToBamaboogiewoogienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-39765132197172968192012-08-03T14:33:44.844+01:002012-08-03T14:33:44.844+01:00Looking again at Smokie I think it was a fish eye ...Looking again at Smokie I think it was a fish eye lens as the band looked distorted in the long-shots (although it's hard to tell - lol) but there was also some sort of mirror-lined tunnel which reflected the lights. And in the close-up shots it was not fish-eye lens but they still had the mirror effect mixed in.<br /><br />Hot Chocolate's rundown pic, they do look uber serious and the drummer reminded me of actor Richard Griffiths.Bamaboogiewoogienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-59480737630869813342012-08-02T23:40:49.107+01:002012-08-02T23:40:49.107+01:00Ah, Cilla, promoting a big flop (and won't we ...Ah, Cilla, promoting a big flop (and won't we know it). Without watching Smokie again (I've seen enough of those Bradford lads in recent months), I'm guessing the lens attachment is a fish eye but I'm open to correction / ridicule.<br /><br />Right, off now for either 7 or 9 days (won't know till nearer the time) - loads of peace and quiet for the rest of you. As Kent Walton used to say, have a good week till next week!Arthur Nibblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-62494158227586252232012-08-02T17:31:25.548+01:002012-08-02T17:31:25.548+01:00Tony Blackburn not only thought Brotherhood of Man...Tony Blackburn not only thought Brotherhood of Man won Eurovision two years earlier, he also thought the show he hosts on Saturday nights (alternately with David Hamilton) was called Summertime Special - it's actually called Seaside Special (the theme tune was Summertime City by Mike Batt and that was a hit in 1975). The show on 9 July 1977 was indeed hosted by Tone and had the following line up:<br />Location – Great Yarmouth,<br />Fifth heat of Miss Seaside Special 1977 Natural Beauty Contest.<br />Guests Cilla Black (performed "I Wanted To Call It Off"), Vince Hill, Frank Carson, Dream Express, Jeff Phillips, Lennie Bennett.<br /><br />I believe one of these artists is also on TOTP next week (NB it's not Frank Carson).<br /><br />Does anyone know the official name for the effect that they used on Smokie's performance and for the end titles. It's some lens attachment - you can see the cameraman or his assistant remove it from the camera at the start of Brotherhood of Man's performance.Bamaboogiewoogienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-48984971171851567392012-08-02T15:44:22.051+01:002012-08-02T15:44:22.051+01:00Boring but true fact regarding initials. The RAH B...Boring but true fact regarding initials. The RAH Band had top 50 hits on five different labels, and the last four only had initials for names - DJM, KR, TMT and RCA.<br /><br />There's a tenuous Richard Hewson link to next week's programme, as it features a band who released shedloads of singles, most of which were orchestrated or produced by old RAH himself, but they only managed a top 10 guilty pleasure and a top 40 scraper.Rahthur Nibblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6190903519028956778.post-66027822905178201212012-08-02T15:33:52.940+01:002012-08-02T15:33:52.940+01:00Contrary to other contributors, I quite enjoyed th...Contrary to other contributors, I quite enjoyed the TOTP version of The Crunch. And yes, I do know the original - I even bought it at the time - I seem to recall that the b side was an alternate version...charlie cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09051342047720711857noreply@blogger.com