TOTP on BBC4

[Jah Womble]

I don't know what Kym Sims does now but hope that at some point she opened a chain of fitness centres.

I always rather liked Too Blind to See It. And it still sounded okay via TOTP last week.

[longeared]

Yeah - I read elsewhere it's Christmas specials through to 2022 after tonight.

It's 1984 next Friday, 1988 the following week, 1989 the week after that.

[Discordant Resonance]

Sticking Band-Aids over the BBC Four scheduling gaps, then?

[Discordant Resonance]

Even the new TOTP producers had the sense to recognise that it would be sacrilege to cut the Bohemian Rhapsody video short.

[Benjm]

Don't spill Jim Diamond's pint if you know what's good for you.

[steveeeeeeeee]

It was an impressive turn out for the band aid massive on last night's Christmas special. Sting stood in well for Bono and Weller did a bit of Simon le Bon and Paul Young, even though both were present. Then Tony Hadley had a good crack at being George Michael followed by Bob Geldof doing his "stressed out, need another line of coke" dance.

it was all just really weird. I'd also never heard the black guy from Thompson Twins talk before, I expected him to be butch and deep, largely due to the sheepskin jackets he wore, but he had a really effeminate speaking voice that took me by surprise.

[longeared]

They're broadcasting an episode every night in the week leading up to Christmas, we're getting 1990 (which they showed back in May), 1986, 1978, 1998 and 2002. The latter is billed as "featuring Gareth Gates, Atomic Kitten and Girls Aloud" so I bloody well hope the government doesn't introduce restrictions in the interim so I can go out and not be forced into a decision of whether to watch it. Then on New Years Eve we're being invited to return to the carefree days of the Scottish independence referendum and Stevie G falling over as we nostalgically look back at the big hits of 2014. Also I see that the BBC have finally replaced Fearne Cotton on the show proper and the new co-presenter is Jordan North, whoever they are.

[Discordant Resonance]

I believe he was on I'm A Celeb last year - didn't know the Beeb were still even doing one-off specials these days?

[Simon G]

They've not missed a Christmas Day one.

[Gangster Octopus]

Cracking start for the 1988 Christmas show. Probably a SAW shit-fest from now, so time to turn off.

[Simon G]

Onto the second Pet Shop Boys performance, both brilliant songs to be fair in "Always on my Mind" and "Heart". I'm always amazed that their last number 1 was as early as 1988.

[elguapo4]

Eddie Reader enjoying herself like someone who knows that this is probably going to be the only time she's here.

[Simon G]

Cracking start for the 1988 Christmas show. Probably a SAW shit-fest from now, so time to turn off.

Very little SAW to be fair.

[longeared]

That show made 1988 seem a lot better than it felt like when they were repeating all the episodes, out of everything BBC4 has shown that year always sticks in my mind as the biggest slog.

A fun fact about the repeat is that it was last broadcast on Friday December 18th 2020. Wonder if that's what Johnson was watching while failing to notice the party outside?

[Sporting]

What's SAW?

[ad hoc]

Stock Aitken Waterman

[Greenlander]

Stock, Aitken and Waterman, a production trio that were responsible for clogging up the charts from about 1988 through 1990. Made a star of Kylie.

[elguapo4]

I presume that there was a strike at the BBC in 1978,the Christmas programme looks a bit odd no live acts, and Noel Edmunds on a studio set.

[Gangster Octopus]

And, from what I've seen, I can remember why I was so depressed back then...

[elguapo4]

Yeah, it's pretty rubbish so far.

[longeared]

I know "Noel Edmonds doesn't like music" is a familiar theme, but there was all that punk and new wave and disco around and thirty year old Noel said his favourite chart sound of the year was Three Times A Lady.

[elguapo4]

Three Boney M, Brian and Michael , the Floral Dance, James Galway, Darts and Showaddywaddy, and no Rat Trap, which actually got to number 1.

[longeared]

They omitted four number ones - Up Town Top Ranking (which felt no great loss as 6 Music play it every couple of hours anyway), Dreadlock Holiday, Rat Trap, Do Ya Think I'm Sexy.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

I'm still catching up on a backlog of 1991 episodes. I was abroad for the long summer of 1991 so a lot of the minor hits are new to me - Diane off Eastenders, a lesser Kylie, an even lesser Roxette, and that Arnie spoof.

I'm just about at the point where I came home (well, back to poly) and the chart is full of those dance singles which were student disco staples for the next six months - Utah Saints, Prodigy, Zoe, Rozalla, and biggest of all, Oceanic - which us still spotty provincial indie kids embraced for a time.

[Sean of the Shed]

Bjork proved to be in a different class from the rest of the dross on this episode.