Chart Music

[WOM]

Toto are one of those great bands to play "Quick, name a member of ______" with. Everyone knows Africa, but I'll bet 1 in 100 people couldn't come up with Bobby Kimball or the Porcaros.

I had a weird conversation with a guy who really likes prog yesterday, and he didn't know that Asia was a 'supergroup' of prog legends. I was like "Well, who did you think it was" and he was "Uh...I dunno...never thought about it."

[G-Man]

It'll take me a few weeks to get to this episode as I am running about 3 behind, but I have to say I'm not looking forward to Taylor on Morrissey. He (Taylor) is sort of the star of Chart Music with his viciously biting and clever take downs and cultural analyses. But his affect is also very superior and knowing and as a result I can only take him in small doses (hence my being so far behind).

Spot on.

[Various Artist]

Oh, thank fuck for that. Thirded.

[WOM]

In fact I was telling my nephew recently that round this time there were three hits singles called The Power of Love, and the odd one out in the dancefloor snog potential stakes was the Huey Lewis one.

Which is odd, since both T'Pau and Huey Lewis had songs called Heart and Soul within a few years of each other.

Next thing we'll notice that HL&TN also did songs called Beat It, When Doves Cry, Two Tribes....

[Various Artist]

If HL&TN did a Two Tribes, they'd only need to add a Relax for a Frankie* hat-trick.


(*Goes To Hollywood, not Sister Sledge.)

[Satchmo Distel]

It'll take me a few weeks to get to this episode as I am running about 3 behind, but I have to say I'm not looking forward to Taylor on Morrissey. He (Taylor) is sort of the star of Chart Music with his viciously biting and clever take downs and cultural analyses. But his affect is also very superior and knowing and as a result I can only take him in small doses (hence my being so far behind). I loathe Morrissey as much as the next man but The Smiths were an important part of my teenage life and I'm not sure if I can listen to a Parkes monologue going "of course those of us with eyes always knew he was a dodgy racist"

It will be interesting to see whether he can vary this routine enough in the coming year or two to not become tediously repetitive and one-dimensional. I think he's been OK at doing that so far and his comments on Morrissey were about 80% correct, the caveats being those noted above that Morrissey's power to communicate empathy and irony in his early years can't have been a total mirage disguising someone whose true personality never had an iota of compassion or warmth. It just doesn't ring true that Morrissey could have built that original audience had he only ever been the racist one trick pony of his solo career. His ability to hold on to that audience is a greater mystery; I can only assume that his fans are in very deep denial.

It's also true, as Jah has noted before, that he did not start out as a racist or total misanthrope. He was always up his own arse, as Taylor correctly notes, but he wasn't attacking black music in the press repeatedly in 1983-84 in the way he did in the 'Panic' era, and there was nothing like 'Bengali in Platforms' in his released Smiths output. I do think, as I've posted before, that moving to London brought his racist id to the surface, and his fan worship meant he never had to rein it in, so from around 'Panic' on he just lets fly.

[Satchmo Distel]

The Taylor-Sarah combo was so good on this episode that I have gone back to reconsider their 1987 reflections on CM #14, which I think I under-appreciated back in November. It's great. As a poster notes on another forum, it's good that Sarah calls Taylor on some of his grumpy old man act.

[G-Man]

I'm totally falling in love with Sarah Bee... And, good news for ad hoc, Various Artist and myself, Taylor is pretty good on Morrissey. And he surprised me on Five Star.

[Lang Spoon]

I was getting all manner of awkwardness vibes between Parkes and Bee. Taylor must have had had a third more airtime. The awkwardness maybe translates into a more interesting listen than a love in but.

[G-Man]

I am surprised that I have no memory whatsoever of that Spandau Ballet song, nor of the McCartney song. And I thought I had followed the charts very closely in 1986. In the Top 20 that week, I have no recollection of Audrey Hall or "Roses" by Haywoode.

[Satchmo Distel]

I recall "Roses" by Haywoode originally being performed on the Oxford Road Show in early 1985 because it was the same episode as a big Smiths performance.* The 1986 run was a re-release.

*Google reveals the date as 22.3.85. I imagine Morrissey being not too thrilled at sharing the bill with a black soul act.

[Gerontophile]

NB: The podcasts have got considerably longer, and to be honest, I stay with them for the funnies. Sarah Bee, whilst intelligent and insightful (her views on Fuzzbox took me aback. Yes, really. I thought they were fucking awful, but I now understand what they were for**) does not make me howl like Taylor does, and I suspect that he plays up to the 'curmudgeon' a little.

And of course, we don't know how/where they are edited, although I suspect they aren't.

Also, we don't know how Sarah feels about receiving a third less airtime than Taylor... perhaps someone should ask her.

I have listened to the podcasts twice each, now. I do not think that any of the men would give a fuck about how much airtime they are getting, on what amounts to a fantastic little podcast playing to hundreds of listeners. And, you know, I am not going to speak for Ms Bee.

And, I am a little annoyed that they are saying the names of the Patreon crowd, when I am financially unavailable. Because I want to know how Nish would pronounce my 'name'.

** the band, not Sarah's views.

[Gerontophile]

Re-listening to #7 at the moment, and they are talking about Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam Full Force (sic).

Nish asks if anyone attempted to breakdance, and Neil says "only the arm-waving. Not the shrimping."

Shrimping is another word for toe-sucking.

[Gerontophile]

Oh, and I was so happy when Steve Wright mentioned Baltimora... then, I realised it wasn't "7 Ways to Love". (Yes, I know.)

[Gerontophile]

And, sorry, anyone who thinks that "Nightflight To Venus" is a spectacular album, and it is, is alright by me. Cheers Neil.

[Jah Womble]

I recall "Roses" by Haywoode originally being performed on the Oxford Road Show in early 1985 because it was the same episode as a big Smiths performance.* The 1986 run was a re-release.

*Google reveals the date as 22.3.85. I imagine Morrissey being not too thrilled at sharing the bill with a black soul act.

Not sure I'd describe Haywoode as a 'soul' act as such - but thanks for the earworm...

[Stumpy Pepys]

And, sorry, anyone who thinks that "Nightflight To Venus" is a spectacular album, and it is, is alright by me. Cheers Neil.

It's a spectacular production job. However, casual fans of Boney M would no doubt be surprised to hear them tackle songs like King of the Road and Heart of Gold.

[Satchmo Distel]

And some of the group do not sing on it.

[Gerontophile]

Thank you Mr Vanilli.

(One of my favourite bits is on, now. Simon Rhino slating the fuck out of Teach-In. I fucking disagree.)

[Lang Spoon]

NB: The podcasts have got considerably longer, and to be honest, I stay with them for the funnies. Sarah Bee, whilst intelligent and insightful (her views on Fuzzbox took me aback. Yes, really. I thought they were fucking awful, but I now understand what they were for**) does not make me howl like Taylor does, and I suspect that he plays up to the 'curmudgeon' a little.

And of course, we don't know how/where they are edited, although I suspect they aren't.

Also, we don't know how Sarah feels about receiving a third less airtime than Taylor... perhaps someone should ask her.

I have listened to the podcasts twice each, now. I do not think that any of the men would give a fuck about how much airtime they are getting, on what amounts to a fantastic little podcast playing to hundreds of listeners. And, you know, I am not going to speak for Ms Bee.

And, I am a little annoyed that they are saying the names of the Patreon crowd, when I am financially unavailable. Because I want to know how Nish would pronounce my 'name'.

** the band, not Sarah's views.

I’m all about the funnies as well. And Taylor doesn’t piss me off like others here it seems. Being a miserable superior bastard an’ all. And yeah I wouldn’t want to speak for anyone (I’m sure Taylor also hogs airtime more than any presenter he’s on with, barring Pricey maybe.

But there did seem a tension in that episode, no idea what about, and I think it made for a better podcast.

[G-Man]

I’m all about the funnies as well. And Taylor doesn’t piss me off like others here it seems. Being a miserable superior bastard an’ all. And yeah I wouldn’t want to speak for anyone (I’m sure Taylor also hogs airtime more than any presenter he’s on with, barring Pricey maybe.

But there did seem a tension in that episode, no idea what about, and I think it made for a better podcast.

I perceived it only at one point, when Taylor seemed to misunderstand a point Sarah had made about choosing or not to listen to the a music of assholes. I don't think it lasted beyond that.

Taylor's torrent of relentless abuse directed at Chris de Burgh was superb. The kind of thing that warrants him getting more mic time than the others. Then he did the same thing with the singer of It Bites, and it became grating. Because who the fuck ever cared about It Bites?

[Lang Spoon]

That’s the first time I’ve remembered them since maybe late 1986. Even then they seemed shite and the singer looked a fanny.

[Satchmo Distel]

It's both a plus and a minus that, from around 1985 onwards, they get to talk about acts like It Bites who were in the charts seemingly for about a month then totally forgotten. The plus is you can say "What the fuck is this?" but the minus is "who cares? It was shit and it had zero impact on the culture." The takedowns of Madonna, say, who really did have an impact, are much more interesting.

It's also a problem that I'd have to google It Bites to have a clue what they looked and sounded like, so I'd have to pause the podcast, watch the video in question, then resume the podcast, which isn't really how it's supposed to flow, and useless if you're on the train or listening while marking student papers (apologies to the students for this flagrant breach of proper care and attention to your essays).

[jwdd27]

When I remember them, I always confuse It Bites with Go West, and usually have to Google.
It Bites' Wiki page is so suspiciously long and detailed that it could only have been written by one of the band. Apparently after their initial chart bothering pop, they dabbled in prog, and then heavy, and are still relatively active, and took a leaf out of Spandau's book a few years ago by sacking the original lead guitarist/singer.

[Hot Pepsi]

I greatly enjoy Taylor's work on the show and the take-down of Morrisey was fine with me.

Taylor's torrent of relentless abuse directed at Chris de Burgh was superb. The kind of thing that warrants him getting more mic time than the others. Then he did the same thing with the singer of It Bites, and it became grating. Because who the fuck ever cared about It Bites?


I think it's because It Bites illustrate or represent, at least in Taylor's mind, a bad musical trend which in turn illustrates or represents, something awful about Britain at the time. In this case, shitty prog rock. I'd never heard of It Bites nor have I ever lived in Britain for more than a week so I can't really say if he's right to make that connection or not.

But certainly, his ranting against it felt more germane when he was talking about Yes, because they seem to matter a lot more. At least, they're a lot more well known over here and were played on the afforementioned AOR/MOR radio I grew up on, so I'm assuming they were a bigger deal and more influential.

I've made my peace with prog rock - some of it is alright - but then I suppose I actually *am* a lot more like the kind of posh twats that Taylor despises and associates with that genre than I'd usually care to admit. If I were a non-university educated English person who cares a lot about popular music I might have a different attitude.*


I really like Sarah Bee, but I don't know her professional background. Was she ever a regular music journalist like the others? She's got a lot of insight into the topics, but unlike the others, she seems to provide more of the educated fan's view, rather than the "insiders" view point of people who've actually interviewed some of these artists or have first-hand memories of what the "scene" was like back then. That perspective is just as valid, but it's good to have both.


* Class operates a bit differently in the US than in Britain, so it's a bit of an apples to oranges comparison. That is, of course, a classic wholenothertopic.