TOTP on BBC4

[Gangster Octopus]

I saw the first one tonight, and was surprised as to how many albums from that year that I'd got.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Primal Scream's fashion sense took a while to catch up with their change in musical direction. I saw them at The Bowling Green in Cannock three months before this appearance was recorded and it would be a stretch to say that there had always been a dance element to their music.

Bobby Gillespie's contribution to that "performance" made the model that Black Box hired to front up 'Ride on Time' look like an authentic time served muso.

[Giggler]

I thought that Candyflip, featured in tonight's pair of episodes, had followed the KLF's The Manual but can't seem to find any mention of it.

Primal Scream's fashion sense took a while to catch up with their change in musical direction. I saw them at The Bowling Green in Cannock three months before this appearance was recorded and it would be a stretch to say that there had always been a dance element to their music.

Candy Flip didn’t follow The Manual, but Edelweiss did with Bring Me Edelweiss.

[Jah Womble]

Candy Flip’s limp-lettuce abortion of Strawberry Fields has to be among my least favourite covers of all time.

The group name was apparently coined for their preference for acid-and-E cocktails. The performance of that, however, was more Jellytots and Calpol.

[Benjm]

Still, I almost feel that an apology is due for mixing them up with Edelweiss, even at 30 years remove. On the other hand, they have done a lot of work with Robbie Williams since, so contrition is limited.

[Simon G]

Candy Flip’s limp-lettuce abortion of Strawberry Fields has to be among my least favourite covers of all time.

The group name was apparently coined for their preference for acid-and-E cocktails. The performance of that, however, was more Jellytots and Calpol.

It was truly dreadful

[Satchmo Distel]

Bring Me Edelweiss is twinned in my mind with the resurgence of Abba in the early 90s, such as the Erasure EP that got to No. 1 in 1992 and then the huge sales of Gold (which is still in the albums chart today, in its 967th* week in the Top 100).

*Four albums are probably going to pass 1000 weeks over the next three years because streaming makes them ever-present in the chart at this time:

33. (29) GOLD GREATEST HITS (Abba) 967 wks
45. (46) LEGEND (Bob Marley & The Wailers) 951 wks
21. (20) GREATEST HITS (Queen) 919 wks
22. (25) RUMOURS (Fleetwood Mac) 862 wks

https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/

[longeared]

I agree that Candy Flip were dreadful, but they were still better than the Jive Bunny video or Big Fun's choreography.

[steveeeeeeeee]

Really great couple of shows last night. Highlight for me was Orbital's total non-performance, a bit like the guy with the laptop from Sleaford Mods, but 3 decades earlier. I think the only thing that could have improved the performance would be one of the Hartnoll brothers skinning up whilst Chime was playing.

I'd forgotten about Candy Flip having back-up dancers, who I guess were mates tagging along for the appearance fee. I don't find that any more offensive than the glut of other 60s songs with a hip-hop beat that were doing the rounds that year.

Enjoyed seeing Inspiral Carpets too, great song which has stood the test of time.

Guilty pleasure has to be "Handful of Promises" by Big Fun, which is a another great song murdered by blandness and missing soul.

[Simon G]

I did like the Inspiral Carpets song, and Dub Be Good To Me has grown on me this last few weeks. It seems I can't escape it. I remember not liking it at all when I was younger.

[Benjm]

Highlight for me was Orbital's total non-performance, a bit like the guy with the laptop from Sleaford Mods, but 3 decades earlier.

That occurred to me too. I imagined him watching and having his Starman moment, thinking, "Yes, I want that!"

[Jah Womble]

I did like the Inspiral Carpets song, and Dub Be Good To Me has grown on me this last few weeks. It seems I can't escape it. I remember not liking it at all when I was younger.

I still much prefer the SOS Band original - although it’s another song with a questionable lyric. (Lindy Layton was quite foxy, I guess.)

I agree that Candy Flip were dreadful, but they were still better than the Jive Bunny video or Big Fun's choreography.

Faintest praise ever.

[Diable Rouge]

I did like the Inspiral Carpets song, and Dub Be Good To Me has grown on me this last few weeks. It seems I can't escape it. I remember not liking it at all when I was younger.

Between them and the Happy Mondays just now, they were the first acts who sounded "authentically Nineties", so to speak, rather than the musical vestiges of the previous decade.

[Diable Rouge]

Likewise, Vogue still sounds as fresh as ever 30 years on.

[longeared]

Fair dos to Jam Tronik, it takes an effort to cover Phil Collins and end up with a worse version.

[diggedy derek]

Phenomenal set of heavy hitters tonight on the show, Happy Mondays' "Step On", Madonna's "Vogue", Snap's "The Power", Queen Latifah & De La Soul. Killer track after killer track.

[Gangster Octopus]

Hmm, must watch that then.

[Jah Womble]

1990 provided a decent run of chart-toppers - aside from those mentioned, Killer and World in Motion (certainly good IMO) were to follow.

After which it all admittedly went a bit pants.

[Simon G]

I genuinely can't wait for 4 months of Bryan Adams...

[Benjm]

We could start a Bob Holness/Baker Street style rumour that Jimmy Savile played triangle on (Everything I Do)... and hope that the BBC err on the side of caution by the time it comes around.

[longeared]

I wouldn't be too upset if they stopped the repeats at the end of 1990. Partly so I don't have to sit through months and months of Adams, partly because the programme has a horrible revamp in the autumn of 1991 - I've watched a few of those new look programmes on Youtube and they can be tough going.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Enjoying this run - while this was very much My Time, I was working evening shift in a factory so didn't see TOTP around this time, unless for some reason I taped it, so I haven't seen many of these appearances, or at most have seen them on TOTP2 or The Story of 1990. The Chart Show was my window on the pop world (though we did have satellite so we had MTV). The episodes they had on last night were either side of the Poll Tax riot, I think.

[Simon G]

They were indeed, the TOTP Facts Twitter feed mentioned it.

[Diable Rouge]

Apart from the retro kitsch of Opposites Attract, fairly forgettable fare tonight so far, although The Cure immediately raise the bar.

[elguapo4]

Then the following week the Cure drop four places, people are weird.