Plenty to shout about on tonight's Top of the Pops four-play:
"Tay! Tay! Tay! T-t-t-tay! Tay!"
He wrote a sitcom series for the BBC.
"You and me got a whole lotta history!"
"shattnfrattinrassin", said the Crufts runner-up.
All this, and a lesson about urban planning in Redcar.
Join us on BBC4 and #TOTP right now...
"Closer than close" - Rosie Gaines
Top of the Pops has another new producer, Chris Cowey. He'll stay with the show through the new millennium.
Chris was in the studio last week, and noted how Rosie made the crowd excited with her performance, very different from the record. Why not try that on air, the new producer thought...
"Strange" - Wet Wet Wet
Anyway, you'll recognise Rosie Gaines' voice from "Diamonds and pearls", the title track to Prince's 1991 album (and, in my view, his strongest full album).
Wet Wet Wet were promoting their new album, celebrating ten years of pop superstardom (except 1990-91 when they were hurtling towards the dumper at a rate of knots) with their most predictable record yet.
Do we need that close-up of Graham's haircut? No, we do not.
"Whatever" - En Vogue
We didn't see enough of "Don't let go (love)" at the start of the year. And we don't hear enough of this masterpiece.
The harmonies! The way we're reminded of "My lovin'"! The way each vocalist gets her time to shine!
The way En Vogue's management are ripping them off, paying each member about tuppence from each CD! No wonder Dawn Robinson's left, and the band will go on to have more lineup changes than the Sugababes.
"Brazen (weep)" - Skunk Anansie
Repeat performance.
The album "Stoosh" had now had four singles, each more powerful and impactful than the last.
By the time this show aired, Skunk Anansie were playing dates in Florida - this being the time when queer women felt safe to go to Florida.
Before going back to the studio, a summer on Europe's festival circuit followed, where Skin met with Björk.
"I wanna be the only one" - Eternal feat Bebe Winans
Bebe had been introduced to Eternal through the Christian music scene, especially his songs with sister Cece Winans. His bass-baritone voice compliments the group's powerful alto tones, the sum is greater than its parts. Another repeat.
Are you pondering what I'm pondering? If Dick Dastardly was so far ahead to set his traps, why didn't he just speed on to the end of the course and win the race?
"Midnight in Chelsea" - Jon Bon Jovi
You want something new? [monkey's paw curls]
The lead single from Jovi's solo album "Destination Anywhere" produced by Jovi and David "A" Stewart. It's about the London area of Chelsea, all Sloane Rangers and big red buses. This explains why the video was filmed in the New York suburb of Chelsea.
In a vain effort to appear "hip" and "contemporary", Jon Bon Jovi and his mate Steven Tyler took lessons from some actually popular hitmakers.
"Love rollercoaster" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Cover of a track by the Ohio Players, apparently.
The video shows the band on the set of the ITV Chart Show circa 1989. It's intercut with extracts from the film "Beavis and Butthead do America", a cinematic epic loosely recounting the exploits of Kid Jensen and John Peel in the mid-80s.
"Mmmbop" - Hanson
Another view of this performance.
"Being serious is so boring," Taylor told Smash Hits. "Anyone can act like Oasis, what's the point? You can do that anytime, in any job. We love music, it's what we love to do. So we like having fun."
This leaps out of the speakers and sparks and fizzles; Jon Bon Jovi leaps out of the speakers and curls up and has a nap.
"Never gonna give you up" - Lisa Stansfield
@PetterOfCats was exactly right. Lisa Stansfield is her generation's Barry White, and to prove it, she's covering a song by Barry White!
Lisa's always had an ear for an unlikely cover, turning her vocal to The Style Council's "You're the best thing", Queen's "I want to break free", and The Family Stand's lost classic "Ghetto heaven".
"Sun hits the sky" - Supergrass
Somewhat awkwardly, this single came out in the one rainy and cool week of summer 1997.
I never quite got the band's "In It For The Money" album - though "Richard Ill" is class - but Gaz and the lads always make something worth watching.
"How high" - The Charlatans
Taking the title from a 1995 song by Method Man and Redman, The Charlatans wanted to make something with the punch of the Wu-Tang Clan and the playfulness of De La Soul.
They'll also be on the European festival circuit over the summer, but I don't have a photo of them with No Mercy.
"History" - Michael Jackson
A whirling study of ambitious production, Jackson switches between banging beats and soaring choruses, taking us on a tapestry of world history. Jacko's gushing press release said it was the joyous motivational uplifter on the 1995 "History" album, somewhat remixed here.
If it wants to be a joyous uplifter, needs more Muttley.
"On your own" - Blur
Live via satellite from Bognor Regis (please check), Blur reveal their true colours on this single.
Loud and scuzzy and like grunge from five years ago, but a bit cleaner and played by a band who are competent.
*This* is what sold the album to me, and the first half is great.
"Somewhere" - Pet Shop Boys
Unexpected Sondheim in the area! The Pet Shop Boys had a residency at the Savoy Theatre in that London.
It's a wistful cover of the West Side Story number, ripped from its straight origins and put in properly queer disco contexts. Perhaps a bit too overblown to be convincing.
"Not where it's at" - del Amitri
Texas had hit big earlier in the year, now del Amitri want to get back in the hit parade. It's very retro, lots of guitars and harmonies, clearly aimed at the tasteful buyer who digs The Byrds or Tom Petty.
The album was "Some Other Sucker's Parade", full of the usual clever lyrics.
Really like the lighting here: bright lights illuminating the grey, so the band stand out.
"Sunday shining" - Finley Quaye
Rather odd reggae-meets-trip-hop Bob Marley cover, showing Finley's unusual voice at its most unusual. He'll never come across as emotionally connected to his music, which is a shame.
Finley got his break as a relative of Tricky (whose first album was named for his mother, and Finley's half-sister, Maxine Quaye)
"Mmmbop" - Hanson
"Keep planting to find out which one grows; it's a secret no-one knows"
A full cycle of the calendar later, are Hanson still having fun?
By the sound of it, by the look of it, they are still having the time of their lives.
Taylor Hanson is now happily married, with a daughter who is older than Zac was in 1997.
Pic by @[email protected]
This next Mystery Years episode was repeated on 15 September 2022, when the BBC2 schedule had a gap to fill.
The death a week earlier of retired landowner Elizabeth Windsor precipitated a ban on broadcast comedy and some holes in the schedules. The death some months earlier of the Queen of England, Janice Long, caused no such restriction.
Queen Janice is joined by Lord Gary Davies.
"Forgotten town" - The Christians
The lyric conveys a social message, lamenting how complete settlements have been abandoned by those who claim to rule.
By being wrapped in such a pleasant sound, and with Garry Christian the most lovable baldie since Richard O'Brien, they can smuggle the message into places where it wouldn't normally fit.
"Manhattan skyline" - A-ha
The Hanson of their era.
Think they were dim teenybopper fluff? Think again! Gentle verses, lulling us into a false sense of security as Morten sings "wave goodbye... wave goodbye", then we're jerked awake again by a rock-tastic and loud chorus.
It's about leaving everything you love behind, in hope of a better life.
The song's a cut-and-shut job: Mags wrote the soft verses, Pål wigs out on the chorus.
"It doesn't have to be" - Erasure
Andy Bell's dad dancing distracts from the song's message, a passionate attack on apartheid South Africa, and on other divisions enforced by the straights.
Great shot direction, ending with a shot from around Andy's waist as he delivers the closing solo.
"Respectable" - Mel and Kim
Red jackets, black trousers, big black hats. The only visual difference: one of them has her jacket buttoned all the way to the top, the other's is open part-way down.
The dance moves aren't perfectly synchronised, but it's close enough not to matter. It's two Girls Just Like You, aspirational and emulatable and well cool. Remember them this way.
Breakers!
Jackie Wilson "I get the sweetest feeling", a couple dancing around their flat, while tulips sing the melody, and a solitary high heel taps out the rhythm. Very romantic.
Freddie Mercury is back! Back! BACK!!! with "The great pretender". White suit and a backing band consisting of him and two friends in drag. Re-using ideas from recent Queen videos.
Boy George "Everything I own", jigging about on stage with the band's instruments and a pile of television sets behind him.
"Moonlighting" - Al Jarreau
Two lovers who happen upon each other in the light of the moon. Al sells the song well, he's been in the business for a couple of decades by now, though never appeared on TOTP until tonight.
Theme song from the imported-to-BBC2 comedy-drama starring Bruce Willis, which gave him delusions of vocal adequacy.
"Stand by me" - Ben E King
It's the video from the movie Stand By Me, so about 40 seconds of Ben singing in black-and-white, a montage of still pictures, and then an actor performs the rest of the song. He's eventually joined by the lads from the cast, and there are clips from the film.
Will we still sing this song when it's 64? You bet!
"When a man loves a woman" - Percy Sledge
Like "Jack your body" earlier in the year, this video is public domain footage intercut with a few shots of Percy singing the song.
Like "Stand by me", "When a man loves a woman" was used to sell jeans; unlike "Stand by me", it wasn't used in a movie.
Our first Mystery Year was 1987. We go further back after a spell from the continuity announcer.
"You bet your love" - Herbie Hancock (and charts)
The video features Herbie using a Britney Spears ear-mike, the Daft Punk vocoder effect, and Howard Jones' keytar.
Only sensible explanation for this? Herbie Hancock was a visitor from The Time Hotel.
David "Kid" Jensen is our #TOTP host.
"Everything is great" - Inner Circle
Debut for the Jamaican group, and reggae purists cherish their work from this era.
We saw them again on #TOTP in 1993 with the summer smash "Sweat (a la la la long)".
Why a Friday night TOTP ? The Beeb wanted to hold "A Song for Europe" on Thursday, selecting the best* song to represent the BBC at Eurovision.
A strike meant the contest only went out on radio, won by "Mary Ann" by Black Lace. Yeah, the "Agadoo" guys.
SER-NIP! We have a cut.
"Oliver's army" - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
"The boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne"
A shout-out to the person who gave names to streets on a housing estate in Redcar. Go down Mersey Road and Thames Road to reach Tyne Road.
Then came "Something else" from The Sex Pistols.
Legs & Co try to do new wave, dressing up in bright colours and frightwigs.
For this Eddie Cochrane cover, we get Sid Vicious on vocals, as John Lydon had already left to form PiL.
"Everybody's happy nowadays" - Buzzcocks
For me, indelibly associated with Steve Lurpack's Driveltime Show on BBC 6 Records. He used it as the bed to talk over at about 4.10, and it was clear that RadMac was done for the day and the fun was over and we might as well turn the radio off.
"Money in my pocket" - Dennis Brown
Another classic performance from the reggae superstar. He always went for a straightforward "rasta" style, eschewing the more popular "lover's rock" style.
Dennis had been working in Jamaica for about five years before his first hit here, so he had a lot of music ready to release in short order. This is typical of his work.
"Bristol stomp" - Late Show
A full-on good-time rock 'n' roll number, named after the suburb of Philadelphia.
"Can you feel the force" - The Real Thing
Chris Amoo, the singer, was also a champion dog breeder. A few weeks before the 1987 episode, his Afghan Hound called Viscount Grant had won Supreme Champion at Crufts. Amoo also won the Best Hound rosette in 2023 with wolfhound Paris.
When they last showed this episode, in 2014, a 40-minute show didn't go into a 30-minute slot.
"Green light" - Cliff Richard
Alan Tarmey wrote this track, which made the top ten at number 57. It remains one of Cliff's personal favourites.
"Honey I'm lost" - The Dooleys
Ilford's finest were just about to have their highlight year, reaching the top ten with "Wanted" and "The chosen few".
It's the first single release with young sister Helen on keyboards, she joined singing siblings Marie, Anne, Kathy, and Jim; and guitarists John and Frank. Seven Dooleys in one band remains a record.
"Overkill" - Mötorhead
Lemmy later said, "What I hear is a record that's... well, too slow! We play those songs much faster now. For us, it was a stepping stone, which led to Bomber - although I think Overkill's a better record – and then on to Ace Of Spades. But what it did was prove we were a real band."
SNIPPED: "Get down" - Gene Chandler
His only significant hit over here, from his atypical disco era.
"Saturday night (beneath the plastic palm trees)" - Leyton Buzzards
Featuring some plastic palm trees! They don't just throw this show together, you know!
A male singer, enunciating clearly, dancing with the mike stand, and knows where his cameras are. The song's about a disturbance at a night club, sung-spoken in what we'd later call Estuary English.
They'd won a "Battle of the Bands" competition promoted by Radio 1, this was part of their prize.
We get to know the Leyton Buzzards quite well. David Jaymes and Geoff Deane (bass and vocals) will go on to become the core of Modern Romance ("Best years of our lives" etc).
Kevin Steptoe (drums) will adopt the name "Geoffrey Deane" and write almost all the 1993 series of suburban age-gap sitcom "May to December".
"Tragedy" - The Bee Gees
Legs & Co dance while dressed as clowns in silver costumes, a bit like Cybermen with traffic cones on their head. Can someone hurry up and invent Steps?
Playout is "Keep on dancing" - Gary's Gang. A disco band (phew!)
Our second #TOTP Mystery Year was 1979.
Next on BBC4, it's Depeche Mode night.
Tomorrow on BBC2, Bob Dylan night with cocoa and slippers.
Cyndi Lauper is Lauren Laverne's guest on "Desert Island Discs" at 10am Sunday on Radio 4.
Crufts continues all weekend on Channel 4, our money's on Esther Bennett's hound Bebe (pictured).
We're back next week with ten (10) editions to whizz through.
Whatever you're doing this week, have a great one!
Our group declare to be true