Dinner-hour #TOTP: an Electronic song i'd completely forgotten and need to dig out. Suede, they were *always* on GLR around this time.
The Honeyz change the line-up already? Stop ripping off the [SPOILER]s.
Fats and Small bring the classics. TLC with the song of the show.
Mandy from Bluebirds? Here? Blimey!
Our first Mystery Year comes from the week when the longest ever traffic jam locked the A6 near Lyon for 175km.
Pierre Trudeau - Katy Perry's next father-in-law - was elected prime minister of Canada.
Bon Scott from AC/DC died; Regina Spektor was born.
#TOTP was hosted by the Hand-some Peter Powell.
Five of this episode's songs were answers on Simon Mayo's "Identik-hit Quiz", so i may make even less sense than usual.
"Hot dog" - Shakin' Stevens
"Get me two hot dogs ready to go," orders the man in the white suit. Hold the ketchup, easy on the onion, no mustard.
Love to see the string of circles picture-in-picture stuff, the height of television technology and more fun than anything else in years.
"Here, Mr. Jagger, any chance of a shove?"
On video, it's Blondie with "A tow, Mick?".
"Okay. This bag, see this bag? (crinkles) Two years old. And this 'ere crisp packet (rustles) so old it's advertising Mexico '86."
"The plastic age" - The Buggles
"So good to be back home again" - The Tourists
Slightly weird to think of Annie Lennox singing over a basic guitar riff.
She completely dominates the stage, however much the bloke with the guitar tries to be the co-lead singer.
"Together we are beautiful" - Fern Kinney
As played by Terry Wogan in the kitchen, while /me was prepared for school. Seemingly every morning for about half a term.
"Baby, i love you" - The Ramones
With the New Wall of Sound from a producer we don't talk about.
On the right equipment, this sounds absolutely massive and utterly inescapable.
When played by the #TOTP Orchestra, however...
"tick tick tick tick tick" "Stop."
"tick tick tick tick tick" "Enough."
"tick tick tick tick tick" "STOP!!!"
"tick tick tick tick tick"
"The beat goes on" - The Whispers
One of the easier Identik-hit Quiz entries.
"Carrie" - Cliff Richard
Peter says, "We don't talk any more about Cliff not having hits."
Very droll, Peter, very good.
"Running free" - Iron Maiden
With the original lead singer Paul D'Anno, because Bruce Dickinson was still in contention for the fencing team.
All of the riffs and beats are there, but the lyric is far too basic and accessible for Imperial Phase Maiden.
Left ear: "Never trust a man with short legs. His brains are too close to his bottom."
Right ear: "Cumberland. Gwent. Hampshire. Antrim. Clackmannan."
"Coward of the county" - Kenny Rogers
"Who's in for some Ludo? Kirk, Uhura, Bones, Producer In The Red Shirt?"
"Not the second-in-command?"
"Games without front ears" - Peter Gabriel
Our first Mystery Year was 1980.
Our second Mystery Year comes from a very cold week, barely above freezing.
Grange Hill was on holiday: Robbie and Ziggy go blagging, we find Julia Glover's father emotionally stunted, and Zammo visits the amusement arcade.
Q.E.D. went on a Round Britain Whizz, 4000 miles of coastline in 40 minutes.
#TOTP was hosted by HRH the Queen of England Janice Long, but Count Mike Read.
https://archive.org/details/q.e.d.-round-britain-whizz-february-19th-1986-mp4
Q.E.D. - Round Britain Whizz - February 19th, 1986 - MP4Video Size: 642x480Q.E.D. (quod erat demonstrandum, Latin for that which was to be demonstrated) was...
"Don't waste my time" - Paul Hardcastle (and Carol Kenyon)
She was the session vocalist on Heaven 17's "Temptation" a few years back, and adds some very memorable lines to this jazz-funk song. Skips joyfully through her rejection of all things blokeish, and hastens the day when Carol's moved on with her life.
While in the studio, producer Michael Hurll asked Paul (with the keytar) to write a new theme for #TOTP. And could he have "The wizard" next week purlease? Paul obliged.
"Chain reaction" - Diana Ross
A fun (if slightly baffling) few minutes. The video's storyline is interesting enough to distract from the seedy nature of the song, which probably isn't about nuclear war.
Wonder what the Junior Anti-Sex League representative will say?
Some years later, songwriters The Bee Gees put out their own version of this song, calling it "Secret love".
The video features young lovers looking at each other through an aquarium with fish swimming, an idea later used by Baz Luhrmann in "Romeo + Juliet".
More from Baz in the 1999 thread... soon.
"Stripped" - Depeche Mode
Another slow and dissonant electropop song, similar in style to last year's "Shake the disease". Feels like the sort of music they'd play in an opium den, slightly depressing and very repetitive.
Basildon's finest try to jazz up the stage with a motorcycle, and allow the innocent explanation that they're talking about stripping an engine down. The wags!
"Burning heart" - Survivor
If you thought Janice's introduction was lacklustre, be glad you didn't hear Paul Gambaccini a month or so earlier: "Survivor will regret the day they made this record, it isn't what they stand for."
Might be the only occasion where Gambo directly criticised a performer on air.
Survivor's song is, indeed, a jaded and hackneyed re-tread, "Eye of the tiger" with all the subtlety and poetic merit removed.
"Rise" - Public Image Limited
John Lydon is the focus of the band, but all that movement during extreme close-ups looks bad, barely stays in a wider shot in the next verse, and the hero shot in the breakdown only works because he stands still.
The moment when he turns to the camera for the final call, "Anger is an energy", is television gold.
Top ten, which leads us to the number one.
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going" - Billy Ocean
Are you watching, Ronan Keating? There's more stage presence in the second bongo than in your entire career.
"What a creep you are!" says Queen Janice to that other host. Right answer!
Dance-out to "Eloise" by The Damned.
Our second Mystery Year was 1986.
And if you'd like to spend two more hours with tunes from this week in '86, here's the lovely Off The Chart boys.
https://www.mixcloud.com/SOTC80s/off-the-chart-18-february-1986/
It’s 1986 all over again on this week’s Off The Chart as we spend a couple of hours looking at the UK singles chart from 34 years ago. There’s the usual brace of forgotten and half-remembered hits, as well as three of the week’s big albums, a review of the day’s events, a look at the TV, radio and gig highlights, a quick sniff around the German singles chart, and the top five singles in full. Who only got to number 54 with song that’s been number one for four different acts? Who released over a hundred albums but only ever had one UK hit single? And which singer once lost a TV talent show to a singing dog? Hit PLAY and find out!
They're channelling the spirit of Jessie from The Traitors!
Gladys Knight night on BBC4 next, and Movie Night in the BBC2 jukebox tomorrow.
Won't be with you next friday, so whatever you're doing over the next fortnight - have a great time!
@daweaver Why do autistic Trekkies have hyperacusis?
They have a left ear, a right ear, and a final front ear.
Our group declare to be true
Inner Visioner
Piers Cawley
Seb
David Howell