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

Also I guess Alvin Stardust didn't have anything booked again this week?

Even at 10 years old childe snoball pegged Jim Diamond as coming over as a manipulative abusive creep in this song.

Having the word Virgin in the title was provok in 1984

Xpost was that the point? 'I thought you'd understand' Oh Really?

Looks like the rest of Black Lace had something else booked..

I should have said this last time Nik was on, but christ he looks so uncomfortable holding that guitar!

Wasn't he one of those guys who was really a prog rocker, but ended up as a 'pop star' for a while? Like Howard Jones' and Kajagoogoo (not Limahl)? Or maybe it jazz fusion or something Nik Kershaw was into (and really wanted to be playing)?

Fuck, the way JD looked at the camera just then.
Also Black Lace, cheers for that. Actually I think there were only two of them and the rest were session musicians.

I love how this episode reached it's absolute nadir at the very end, and this episode had 'The Riddle' being played throughout for some weird reason.

You know how Goebells really really liked schlager music, and made sure that the German record industry during WW2 basically only produced schlager? So that that seemingly inoffensive light music was actually really political from then on? Well I've always thought that Black Lace are the kind of act that Goebells would have liked.

There used to be more. They were a Butlins band, their first single was "Bohemian Rhapsody", they may have been the first band I saw live..

xxp I also like how their whole attitude to 'Do They Know It's Christmas?" at this point is "eh, it's just another charity record". They had no idea how big it would be.

Is this next one a repeat of Thursday's ep? Nick Heyward again... this sorta slap bass-tastic "funky" track really doesn't suit him at all... he really left Haircut 100 for this!?

xxp I also like how their whole attitude to 'Do They Know It's Christmas?" at this point is "eh, it's just another charity record". They had no idea how big it would be.

― Zings Can Only Get Better (snoball), Friday, November 10, 2017 9:02 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, absolutely! We're into the whole build-up to Live Aid period now essentially... it's going to be interesting following this from now into the post-Live Aid period.

Yeah, it's a repeat of Thursday's episode... still gonna watch it anyway!

this sorta slap bass-tastic "funky" track really doesn't suit him at all...

... with wanky whammy-barred 80s Guitar Mag solo.

Ha, yeah! It sounds like it was written to be a hit, but instead of writing a decent song they instead came up with a list of things that were popular in the mid '80s and smashed 'em together and hoped that'd do!

Listening to Peel's and Vance's voices doing the chart rundown is making me seriously miss 'em both. Peel for all the obvious reasons, but I always enjoyed Vance enthusiastically talking about the joys of rrrrrock in that inimitable voice of his.

It's funny, "Warning Sign" was the first Nick record I liked/ bought.

You know how Goebells really really liked schlager music, and made sure that the German record industry during WW2 basically only produced schlager? So that that seemingly inoffensive light music was actually really political from then on? Well I've always thought that Black Lace are the kind of act that Goebells would have liked.

Black Lace do remind me of schlager. Every part of continental Europe has an equivalent.

Hang the fuck on, did Roy Wood re-record this!?

Wikipedia says yes, because they wanted to re-release it but couldn't find the original tapes.

Heh! I thought there was something off about that version... I prefer the original, naturally.

I keep forgetting how well arranged 'We All Stand Together' is for a song aimed at children, it's McCartney taking 'Yellow Submarine' to an extreme...

Ooh, I didn't know Bronski Beat did a TOTP performance of this... one of their lesser known hits, but I've always liked this one.

There's lots of Style Council songs I like... this isn't one of 'em!

OH GOD, NOT THIS! FUCK OFF!

Okay, so now we can wash away the memories of Foreigner with... *sighs* ... Thompson Twins.

TOTP Christmas 1984 drinking game: down a shot every time someone with a mullet appears.

Hahahaha! I bet it absolutely crushed Simon Le Bon's soul at the time to have to introduce Paul Young.

It's bizarre how normal Frankie Goes to Hollywood look in comparison to some of the mega mulleted folks like Le Bon and Young...

Also LOL at Weller miming Bono's line on 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'

Russ Abbott's 'Atmosphere':

• worse than I remember
• cheaper sounding production than I remember
• forgot about the Frankie Goes To Hollywood reference
• does the bass synth rip off 'I Feel Love'?

(what is with the 1981 repeats btw?)

Don't know. I thought they were trying to get through the episodes quicker, then I read the episode dates and realised they were repeats. Of repeats.

'81 > '85 fwiw

Big Sound Authority ... these guys are going to be big, apparently!

Ksssssss

Art of Noise, featuring the "Hey!" sound that ends up in Prodigy's 'Firestarter'.

Oddly I thought this Colourfield track was from later in the 80s.

Maybe because the lyrics, arrangement, and general performance pre-empt The Beautiful South.

We're barely into 1985 and already I'm wondering what the fuck happened!

lol King!

Featuring future MTV VJ Paul King!

"We're going to see Foreigner now"

Hmm yeah, no we're fucking not, mate!

*grabs remote*

ABBA mk 2 - lol at how the video really tries hard to minimise the height difference between Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson.

x-post:

Ha yeah, I remember seeing an interview Paul King did with Richey from the Manics, and Richey found some way of getting a dig in at him about it.

xxp 10 year old snoball thought this Foreigner track was a bit depressing but I think of it as a bunch of self pitying posturing toss.

Paul King still had that fuck-awful mullet even in the early 90s.

Still, be did revive DMs as a fashion item.

Get your boots on!

> lol King!

i remember a friend was excitedly planning to go see King play in gloucestershire somewhere but they cancelled and did totp instead.

Just realised that Paul King looks like one of my co-workers in a bad mullet wig.