TOTP on BBC4

[KGR]

TOTP on BBC4

The first 1978 was on this evening. I'm recording the overnight version.

Found this tweeter, @TOTP1978, who tweets during the first showing at 7:30 on the Thursday. Very informative.

[Gangster Octopus]

TOTP on BBC4

I have absolutely no memory of that Eddie & The Hot Rods single.

[Commodore]

TOTP on BBC4

Powell needs a sedative or two. His smarm overdrive does grate somewhat. No wonder he ended up on kids telly.

Wogan was actually quite endearing compared to most of the other acts. Loved Jammin (only cos it reminds me of Chief Wiggum's finest hour)

[Jah Womble]

TOTP on BBC4

I have absolutely no memory of that Eddie & The Hot Rods single.

Probably because it failed to trouble the 'Fun Thirty'. No doubt a disappointment to Masters and co after Do Anything You Wanna Do was up and down the charts like a whore's drawers the previous summer.

First time I'd heard Drummer Man by Tonight in many-a long year. Quite a punchy little affair, that.

[Antepli Ejderha]

TOTP on BBC4

Great mix of stuff from 78 on tonight.

[Commodore]

TOTP on BBC4

Loved this week. Loved it. Loved it.

Rich Kids were excellent as was Althea & Donna and Heartsong has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Ah, memories of Cliff Michelmore, Anne Gregg, John Carter (who ended up plugging deaf-aids) and cold cut butties at Sunday tea. A coincidental succession of one-hit wonders there too, intriguingly.

I don't mind Lovely Day, which Mike Smith used to play to death during his two years at the helm of Radio 1's breakfast show, but Bill Withers wasn't too enamoured of this less urban sound and had produced so much better back in 72. I don't quite know what they put in the audience's Tizer to make them bop to Floral Dance. Wogan's constant corpsing was not offensive, nor was the Kid's flower power quip.

Jammin' sounds so much better live, much more fluid and the backing singers sound especially gorgeous. And Yellow Dog sounded better than they looked. Whilst Baccara have often been considered one-hit wonders, although TOTP proves otherwise one can't help feel that Sorry, I'm a Lady and Yes Sir... are more or less the same song.

Liked Gallagher (or was it Lyle's) t-shirt with high hopes for Ally's Tartan Army. Cry with laughter would have been more apt, save for Archie Gemmell's moment of magic.

But for Macca accompanied by Linda looking hot to trot in her fucking wellies, this would have been the perfect TOTP.

[Furtho]

TOTP on BBC4

Commodore wrote: Whilst Baccara have often been considered one-hit wonders, although TOTP proves otherwise one can't help feel that Sorry, I'm a Lady and Yes Sir... are more or less the same song.

I've had the hook from Sorry I'm A Lady on the brain for what seems like every waking moment since this programme.

[KGR]

TOTP on BBC4

Commodore wrote: Loved this week. Loved it. Loved it.

Rich Kids were excellent as was Althea & Donna and Heartsong has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Ah, memories of Cliff Michelmore, Anne Gregg, John Carter (who ended up plugging deaf-aids) and cold cut butties at Sunday tea. A coincidental succession of one-hit wonders there too, intriguingly.

I don't mind Lovely Day, which Mike Smith used to play to death during his two years at the helm of Radio 1's breakfast show, but Bill Withers wasn't too enamoured of this less urban sound and had produced so much better back in 72. I don't quite know what they put in the audience's Tizer to make them bop to Floral Dance. Wogan's constant corpsing was not offensive, nor was the Kid's flower power quip.

Jammin' sounds so much better live, much more fluid and the backing singers sound especially gorgeous. And Yellow Dog sounded better than they looked. Whilst Baccara have often been considered one-hit wonders, although TOTP proves otherwise one can't help feel that Sorry, I'm a Lady and Yes Sir... are more or less the same song.

Liked Gallagher (or was it Lyle's) t-shirt with high hopes for Ally's Tartan Army. Cry with laughter would have been more apt, save for Archie Gemmell's moment of magic.

But for Macca accompanied by Linda looking hot to trot in her fucking wellies, this would have been the perfect TOTP.

Had it on this morning while kids had breakfast.

We keep episodes with memorable tracks that we all like (or that I like). This epiosde was not one to keep. I had remembered the Yellow Dog song, mainly due to the pleading parts of the song, but the rest of it was poor forgettable lame pub rock. Disappointing.

Althea and Donna were another huge disappointment, thanks to the BBC orchestra no doubt. I feel that they got to number one despite their TOTP performance, not because of it.

[Commodore]

TOTP on BBC4

Not quite scaling the dizzy heights of last week's epic but no less fascinating. Not quite sure what to make of 'If I Had Words' but it at least leads to one mildly intriguing Eurovision fact as Scott Fitzgerald lost by one point to a certain Celine Dion back in '88 at a night when Hothouse Flowers were showcased for the first time.

And I can answer Rod Stewart's question as to who is knocking on his door, 'twould be the fashion police judging by his 'bitchin' red dungarees. Speaking of fashion the Brotherhood of Mange were rather resplendent in beige. I can't think of a more apt colour for them.

Still, good to see Sweet back looking pretty much the same since 'Ballroom Blitz', albeit slightly less glittery. Look forward to 'Fox on The Run' when that comes round. And I'd pay good money for that bonnet worn by Rose Royce's lead vocalist; come in handy for dusting the lampshades that would. Shame that it cut off before the synth bit that transforms 'Wishing on a Star' from a decent ballad to a special one.

Thank God for Althea and Donna. Knocking Mull of Friggin Kintyre off the top was a noble, noble deed.

[G-Man]

TOTP on BBC4

I presume that the show under discussion is from January 1978. In which case "Fox On The Run" is already a year old. I guess the song on the show was prog-rockish "Love Is Like Oxygen". Didn't Andy Scott sport a beard by then?

I love the spoken intro to "Sorry I'm A Lady". Actually, I like the song altogether, in the way one enjoys fun kitsch.

[Commodore]

TOTP on BBC4

Ah-ey. Can't believed I missed Fox on The Run. Ah well there's always YT.

I'll take it there was beardage amongst the rest of the band although my eyes were drawn to Brian Connolly as I still have images of his frailty when he appeared on some Channel 4 documentary looking back on Glam Rock not too long before he breathed his last. The fact that he still had the same barnet at this time made his deterioration look all the more gruesome.

[laverte]

TOTP on BBC4

My favourite thing about Gwen Dickey's outfit in the Rose Royce video, apart from the audacity of it, and how effortlessly she pulls it off, is the string of white pearls dangled around the stem of the tall feather. Pure, shameless opulence. I'm not sure how well her appropriations of native costume would go down these days, but she still looks (and sounds) fabulous.

These old Top of the pops are from before I moved to Britain, so there are frequent surprises. I didn't know The floral dance. It's another one for the box marked 'Cultural differences', I think. I got the impression Wogan was corpsing deliberately to alleviate the boredom.

Legs & co were shit in every way, from the very idea of them, to the choreography, the outfits and the execution. I cringed all the way through their attempt to disco-dance to The groove line. The hip-thrusting was particularly feeble: you could see the dancers saying to each other, 'We didn't do any of this in ballet class'. I was hoping for Lydia Grant to climb onto the stage, brandishing her stick.

If I understood correctly, the lyrics to that Smokie song were complaining that a prostitute would not fall in love with him. I think I prefer Chubby Brown.

[Squarewheelbike]

TOTP on BBC4

Managed to catch it last night, and was again stunned by how bad the lighting/camera work was for Legs & Co. Somebody had come up with the idea of that spiral of coloured light bulbs and was determined to get it in every shot!

[KGR]

TOTP on BBC4

I liked the guitar player off of Sweet wearing a very home-made Wrexham FC rosette. They were lower-half of the Second Division on those days. I am sure BLT could tell us more about Dixie McNeil and Arfon Griffiths from that side.

Sue was probably looking great again in Legs & Co. Not that you could see, giving the terrible lighting and camerawork.

[Jah Womble]

TOTP on BBC4

Look forward to 'Fox on The Run' when that comes round.

I presume that the show under discussion is from January 1978. In which case "Fox On The Run" is already a year old. I guess the song on the show was prog-rockish "Love Is Like Oxygen". Didn't Andy Scott sport a beard by then?

Eh? Get with the programme, chaps - Fox On the Run was a hit way back in April 1975. (But, yes, Andy Scott was sporting his 'mature' beard for LILO.)

I liked the guitar player off of Sweet wearing a very home-made Wrexham FC rosette. They were lower-half of the Second Division on those days. I am sure BLT could tell us more about Dixie McNeil and Arfon Griffiths from that side.

From what I recall, that season they did Blyth Spartans out of a deserved FA Cup q/f slot following a wrongly-awarded corner...

No issues with Althea & Donna's 'live' performance here - its DIY-charm only added to record's overall fabbiness. And Gwen Dickey's get-up was something, 'tis true - though not perhaps the ideal attire for such a swoonsome ballad. A bit like when your aunt wore her flamboyant culottes to your nan's wake.

[Commodore]

TOTP on BBC4

Having served 14 days for my faux-pas re Fox on The Run, TOTP was quite varied this week.

David Castle was unlikely to give Elton a run for his money. A compellingly ugly face too. Lulu seems to have purloined 'Best Of My Love' but aside from that it wasn't hideous. Dusty sounded great as always, but this wasn't one of her better songs. Nashville was definitely not her thing man...

Botherhood of Man seemed to have had something of a makeover. Shades and a new perm. Uh-oh Figaro had something of a strange kind of swing to it though why the ever excitable Powell felt the need to blow kisses at the end is something of a mystery, as is how he held onto the gig when he actually was a menace to the audience in front of the cameras (he tried to strangle two of them ffs).

[KGR]

TOTP on BBC4

Commodore wrote: Having served 14 days for my faux-pas re Fox on The Run, TOTP was quite varied this week.

David Castle was unlikely to give Elton a run for his money. A compellingly ugly face too. Lulu seems to have purloined 'Best Of My Love' but aside from that it wasn't hideous. Dusty sounded great as always, but this wasn't one of her better songs. Nashville was definitely not her thing man...

Botherhood of Man seemed to have had something of a makeover. Shades and a new perm. Uh-oh Figaro had something of a strange kind of swing to it though why the ever excitable Powell felt the need to blow kisses at the end is something of a mystery, as is how he held onto the gig when he actually was a menace to the audience in front of the cameras (he tried to strangle two of them ffs).

David Castle's monobrow was of its era.

Daughter's fave on the show was Five Minutes. There is some hope for her!

[Calvert]

TOTP on BBC4

Magazine / TRB / Sweet this week.
Three awesome bands, you wonder why they bothered with this as, particularly in Magazine's case, the teenyboppers just fucking stood and stared at them.
Howard Devoto is from another world, though.

Abba are sonic perfection.
The vocals.
The vocals.

[Duncan Gardner]

TOTP on BBC4

Seconded on Magazine. Was it 'Shot by both sides'? Awesome single.

[Jah Womble]

TOTP on BBC4

Yes - the only sniff of a hit that Magazine ever had.

[Squarewheelbike]

TOTP on BBC4

Really enjoyed this weeks, but how could you not with Magazine on! Looks like they finally got back to lighting Legs & Co properly, but first signs of the dreaded late 70's perm boom were in evidence!

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

TOTP on BBC4

For most of the last few weeks I've been fast forwarding til the Kate Bush appearances, but this week there were several highlights with (I'm guessing) the first appearance of Blondie's Denis juxtaposed with Andy Cameron's hubristic pre World Cup anthem - my teenage son was scathing about Legs & Co doing I Can't Stand The Rain, not the actual routine but the 'special effects' meant to represent an in-studio downpour.

[Jah Womble]

TOTP on BBC4

You might advise him that, in 1978, that effort was virtually 3D-TV to our impoverished eyes. (Although nowhere near as high-tech as Cliff Richard's 1980 performance of Carrie on Kenny Everett's programme. The in-studio deluge for that had me reaching for my sou'wester...)

[Calvert]

TOTP on BBC4

Fucking hell.
Everything about that Stylistics song (something about $7000) made me laugh out loud.
The ridiculous falsetto mostly.

[David Agnew]

TOTP on BBC4

Apparently some previously considered lost TOTP clips have turned up in the hands of TV research organisation Kaleidoscope, and are being shown on June 1st. (Quite probably in Stourbridge, as that's where they usually hold their events)