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

there was a lot of crap on the second show especially, however we are also in one of the best run of #1 singles ever

Sinéad O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U
Beats International - Dub Be Good to Me
Snap! - The Power
Madonna - Vogue
Adamski - Killer
England New Order - World in Motion

I made a joke about Nicky Campbell on twitter during this show and he started a conversation with me, which was a bit unexpected.

I made a joke about Nicky Campbell on twitter during this show and he started a conversation with me, which was a bit unexpected.

Hah! Amicable? Reminds me of the time I had a twitter row about Brexit with Terry Christian...

Well, as you ask, here is the entire interaction

https://i.imgur.com/AYJeON3.png

Bearing in mind that

* I essentially know nothing about Nicky Campbell except he is a TV presenter
* But looking into it he is apparently one of the top-paid BBC presenters and has 1.2 million Twitter followers
* I was made redundant at the end of last month and feel like my family are really on the verge of disaster, can barely sleep TBH
* Despite 1000+ downloads per episode and lots of nice media coverage, I still only get less than $200 p/m on Patreon
* A minor gig at the BBC would basically save me & my family
* I have absolutely nothing at all in the way of networking skills

What do you reckon I should do here?

I think at least asking if he'd do a tweet about your stuff would be entirely appropriate. I just followed you!

90 minute chrsitmas special opened with genuinely spooky rooling stones video, 2000 light years from home.

but the only other thing worth watching was the Specials doing nothing in their christmas jumpers. everything else was the usual suspects.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b086trr9/top-of-the-pops-christmas-hits

(stones at beginning, specials at 15:40)

oh, i suppose The Shamen get an A for effort at 59:00, given that it's christmas.

a few weeks behind and catching up over the past few days on iPlayer:

- Candy Flip having a maracas player and a tambourine player on stage side-by-side was cracking me up
- what was going on that "Lily Was Here" was such an enduring presence in the chart?
- Jimmy Sommervile might not have the best songs but what an endearingly fun, likeable, charismatic star
- "The Power" is a great single, but in the context of 1990 it sounds even greater - so stark and ominous, so well-assembled and cavernous, even with Turbo B and his two pals mooching around an imaginary triangle outline

I think I've mentioned this before but I think of 1990 as my own "Year Zero" for pop - I was only two years old but a lot of the big stuff from this period is the sound of pop when I was growing up, things like "Love Shack" and "Black Velvet" seem just as essential to me as historical significance as The Beatles and Elvis, and it's great to see them in the context of being contemporary rather than established hits.

> what was going on that "Lily Was Here" was such an enduring presence in the chart?

the answer to this is generally "Radio 2 audience"

John Barnes' rap in 'World In Motion' is somehow always worse than I remember.

John Barnes' rap in 'World In Motion' is somehow always worse than I remember.

John Barnes's rap in World In Motion is brilliant, what are you talking about?

definitely more brilliant than Keith Allen posing about in the video

Yeah, that's the only sour note for me in the whole project. Fuck off Keith.

Keith wrote the rap, you have to accept one if you love the other

and it was meant to be a mix of all the team's individual takes, but Barnes' was the only slightly competent one

xxp I don't even remember that Beats International song. I don't think they were expecting 'Dub Be Good TO Me' to be a huge hit and didn't have a follow-up planned?

dunno what the song was in this instance, but Beats International's second single was a cover of Norman Cook's first solo single, which had originally featured Sir William Of Bragg on vocals

I've always found World In Motion and New Order in general aside from Blue Monday obviously to be wildly overrated.

Keith Allen is actually Welsh too.

bun de witch

1995 looks like another world, compared to 90.

Jack Dee and Bjork are one for the photos of people you don't expect to see together thread.

Lol at scatman John.

And o_O at Michael j's Christmas message video. So pale he looked 2d.

Barnes' was the only slightly competent one

His timing is so off it's like he's reading the words off a card next to the camera.

Jack Dee and Bjork

Somehow the most 1995 combination of presenters.

Britpop year. Mike Flowers Pops Christmas number one with a comedy oasis cover.

Whole show very glitzy somehow, like camera or lighting technology had evolved.

the World In Motion B-side contains a snippet of the best edited-together version they could manage (timed link)

I had completely and utterly forgotten the existence of Mike Flowers.

Lucky you.

Britpop year. Mike Flowers Pops Christmas number one with a comedy oasis cover.

The previous world Cup, I saw the http://i.imgur.com/QbYzHTH.jpg during their residency at the MeanFiddler. They had a comedy night, Keith Allen was basically slagging off England as a football team (Atilla the Stockbroker disagreed and they had a bet on)

Anyway, four years later Keith is writing the song that bigs up the national team. Funny that.

Oh, is the cat still depping for the Red skins?

OK

How many of the players were still in the team?

What's this 1995 business?

Keith also had a hand on Vindaloo iirc

(It was 1995 night on bbc4 and they showed Xmas totp)

Could've sworn he said MFP was Christmas number one, they closed the show with it (unless they'd already played the real #1)

They had played MJ twice, both with his sister and solo (and played the aforementioned creepy video message), so maybe they back-announced that as the Xmas number one and then rounded off with wonder wall. Wasn't paying too much attention at that point tbh.

Keith also had a hand on Vindaloo iirc

He was 1/3 of the band and the lead singer on three of their four singles. He also co-wrote and sang on Black Grape's football record England's Irie, which led to Joe Strummer's only appearance on Top Of The Pops, still drunk/etc from going out after rehearsal the night before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXmCZoYASxc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Jx0v9Look

Mike Flowers cover of Don't Cry For Me Argentina complete with a Macarena interpolation was even worse, obviously I love it

'84 christmas was full of bangers (and jim diamond), with each act introducing the next. lots of repetition though - frankie on 3 times, durans twice, wham twice (iirc) and a live "do they know it's christmas?" with pretty much everybody as a finale

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09jc3k1

Elton's first #1. Also Chris Lowe would like his hat back.

wtf bob geldof?

yes, that Geldof song was so shit, ot a good couple of shows at all.

Elton's first solo number one, I should pedantically point out.

"Don't go breaking my duck"

the evidence against geldof. you won't thank me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1wbsKergpk

I really hate Elton John.

xp. fuck me that's bad

Craig McLachlan and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - welcome to Summer 1990.

Elton John's appearance with Jaki from a weeks back is some real "taken loads of drugs before the bouncers catch me" energy

the thing that's rolling my eyes this evening is madonna

I wonder which performance was Elton’s last before his big clean up. Must be coming up soon as he knocked it all on the head in 1990.

Elton John's appearance with Jaki from a weeks back is some real "taken loads of drugs before the bouncers catch me" energy

Jaki Liebezeit played with Elton John?

Man, LFO sounded goooood coming straight after Partners in Kryme.

LFO sounded beamed in from another planet. Also feeling Blue Pearl tonight and that's my favourite Technotronic

Just caught up on a load and yes, that Geldof one was shit. To be honest, a good 90% of it is either shit or blandly forgettable at the moment.