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

That seems ridiculously early as I think of Will Smith as a very 90s act.

Yeah, he didn't even get top billing in them days

wow does Shaky look bored here

Top class silliness from Duran Duran. They (most of the time) don't take themselves too seriously, one of the reasons I prefer them to Spandau Ballet. I've always liked 'Notorious', to the point where I think it might be their best 80s track after 'Rio'.

The video for 'Take My Breath Away' was shown a lot on TV at the time, but until now I never noticed that the singer's jumpsuit appeared to be smeared with excrement on one side.

Take two Yamaha DX7 keyboards into the shower? Yes, because we're Mick Hucknall's backing band.

My theory is that Falco looks cool because he's not afraid to come across as a fool. Everyone else so far this episode has been far too worried about seeming credible.

John Peel on TOTP is this guy basically

https://local.theonion.com/awful-man-offers-witty-acerbic-take-on-everything-he-s-1819570846

That was his last edition supposedly for years, you can see why.

Gary Davis: "One of the hottest disco records around" - he's just not trying to be cool at this point. Or maybe trying too hard?

Also why is he dressed like a scout leader?

Also I remember watching Man 2 Man Meets Mann Parrish when it was first broadcast but the obvious gay subtext went completely over nearly-13-year-old snoball's head.

Astonishingly, i never even twigged from the sleeve

https://img.discogs.com/DmILqIJcPvd_qpuLAnfPaiuubG4=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-782778-1158280435.jpeg.jpg

As a kid at the time if you weren't aware of gay subcultures it could be mistaken for that Athena poster aesthetic?

I had said at the time, it was the one record "since" that actually reminded me of the Velvet Underground!

"With the full support of the British record industry" here's another completely unknown singer representing the UK at Eurovision. This song only reached 96 in the UK singles chart.

Which one was that?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAi1UfpXi-Y

Yeah I have no memory of this either.

Still, the current entrant would dream of getting to 96 in the chart

I'd completely forgotten how awesome 'Meet El Presidente' is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6CLWV0JBU4

Tom Jones looking like Gene Simmons taking a dump.

Has any pop star in history had more bad haircuts than Howard Jones?

― Chequers Plays Pop (snoball), Friday, 23 November 2018 19:52 (two months ago)

Chris Waddle?

― the salacious inaudible (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Friday, 23 November 2018 22:50 (two months ago)

'Diamond Lights' is bad but still miles better than Robson & Fucking Jerome.

I bought Meet El Presidente. And Diamonds Lights, I'm slightly embarrassed to admit. Not that I've seen these yet - I'm still working my way through all the 1986 ones I recorded.

snoball hates Johnny Hates Jazz

...although child snoball liked 'Wishing I Was Lucky' by Wet Wet Wet so something something narcissism of small differences something something

Also I really liked Marillon's 'Incommunicado' but holy shit does Fish really look like someone I work with wearing a wig.

From Erasure with 'Victim Of Love' to Victim Of Fashion featuring Gary Davies in one of Jonathan Ross's cast-offs.

Breakdance on the street with Andy Warhol carrying your boombox.

Also "Star Trekkin'" is also the worst #1 for a while.

Soooooooooooo bad that I used 'also' twice in the same sentence. Also (cough) my father had a copy of The Firm's album on cassette. Wikipedia simply lists them as The Firm (novelty band). Even fucking Black Lace don't get called that.

Broken English, tho!

In addition to 'Diamond Lights', I also bought 'Star Trekkin'. I was on a bit of a roll in 1987.

OK so again it's the time where I roll out the story where I was so enamoured with PSB's 'It's A Sin' that I recorded it off the radio again and again until it filled up the entirety of one side of a C90 cassette.

Chris Lowe rocking the PPG Wave 2.3 and Emulator combo. Going from Bruce Willis murdering 'Under the Boardwalk' to this is the very definition of one extreme to the other quality-wise.

Past-their-prime Simple Minds now murdering 'Promised You a Miracle' ... what an awful version. Awful mullet, too.

Seriously now, who the fuck was buying Cliff Richard records in 1987?

"'I Want' from George Michael" ... HA!!

Pet Shop Boys and George Michael basically rescue an otherwise grim Top 10. As for the number one - it took three years to get from 'Relax' to this!?

WTF is with John Farnham's keyboard player?

I'm pretty sure I watched this episode when it was on, at least I remember seeing the Pet Shop Boys doing It's A Sin on TOTP. obviously I would've seen other TOTP before this but we're now getting to the time when I was actually paying attention to it (I was 10 when this first aired). really looking forward to 1988 tbh, house music was my favourite music when I was 12

I remember bits of this one from first time round as well, mainly because I had the 'Lookin' mag with Star Trekkin on the cover and then it was on telly. Super vivid memory considering I was 6.

Probably explains subliminally why I liked hard house for a bit at the end of the next decade too (for shame).

Ben Beret-Voluvent looking like a poor man's Bill Mackenzie, with only a fraction of the talent.

I keep saying this about various singers, but the singer of Black looks like someone I work with wearing a bad wig. Also all of Black's songs kind of sound the same - record company pressure to make every single sound like their first hit?

a-ha with a pretty good Bond theme - video is all edited up to bobbins though.

xxp Ben has that unfortunate thing some pop stars do of wearing the same clothes now that they used to wear when they first became famous.

After all that crap, I'm finding myself wanting to cheer at PSB knocking The Firm off #1...

eep saying this about various singers, but the singer of Black looks like someone I work with wearing a bad wig. Also all of Black's songs kind of sound the same - record company pressure to make every single sound like their first hit?

― just another country (snoball), Thursday, March 21, 2019 12:50 PM (five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

black is an artist name

TOTP director and camera operators clearly had no idea how to shoot t'Boys, who resolutely stood completely still rather than jump around all over the stage like basically everyone else.