TOTP 80.14 03/04/1980

Introduced by Kid Jensen
BBCFour repeat here
Chart here.
Full show on youtube here.

Cheeky! Kid Jensen excercises his eyeballs (see Legs & Co.)

Judas Priest - Living After Midnight
The Priest were up ten places after last week's appearance so get the chart rundown slot.  Indeed many of the acts on last week benefit from last week's show (except for John Foxx and The Dooleys, both non-movers), especially Genesis, The Brothers Johnson and Secret Affair although it's those creepy Dr. Hook who storm into the Top 10, beating even Madness with their new one. The Top 5 is still pretty much distributed between the usual handful of artistes although The Vapors are on their way down and Liquid Gold dangerously close to the top spot.

Madness - Nightboat to Cairo
And indeed here are the nutty boys from Camden appropriately dressed for this Egyptian pastiche straight in at no. 14. It was actually the lead track from their Work Rest and Play EP, a compliment to their debut album One Step Beyond (which featured 'Cairo') and a stop-gap prior to their new album in the making.

Barbara Dickson - January February
Here's Babs again with one of her best known numbers, doing very nicely thank you at no. 12. In April.

Dexy's Midnight Runners - Geno
Their debut effort didn't do so well chartwise, despite a rousing TOTP performance, although by now word had obviously got round that this lot were a bit good and Geno would become one of those new wave/eighties anthems still renowned to this day. Still bubbling inder the Top 30 but destined to do a lot better. A lot better indeed.

Pretenders - Talk of the Town
Another much anticipated new single after their surprise No. 1 success earlier in the year. Here the lads 'n' lass appear in a Blondie-esque promo-video (for 'tis surely captured on new-fangled videotape rather than film) on an eye-dazzling set. Very Kenny Everett-ish in a way, which is probably what it was made for rather than drab old TOTP. Great track by the way.

Leon Hayward - Don't Push It Don't Force It.
Kid invites us to exercise our eyeballs on this one and sound advice indeed as this week Legs & Co. really are rather phwaor. (Male chauvinist mode on, note the flash of bum in the opening seconds) The skimpy night dress things remind one of Kim Basinger's favourite kitchen get-up in a future 9½ Weeks, and the girls here really show us how silly animal/workman/ballet costumes often get in the way of the enjoyment. So don't force it, keep in simple girls, keep it simple. (Male chauvinist mode off).

UB40 - Food for Thought
This was by now blaring out of the nation's radio sets morning, noon and night as is reflected in its formidable no. 10 spot. Ironically, in a few years, they will not only be appearing on the same show as Chrissie Hynde (albeit virtually) but on the same song even.

The Selecter - Missing Words
Yet another eagerly anticipated follow-up single from these 2-Toners who as usual give an energetic delivery with lost of jumping around on the wobbly TOTP stage. Discrete success for this one although their chart performance was decreasing with each release.

B.A. Robertson - Kool in the Kaftan
Slow chart progress for this Scotsman who seems even more irksome than last time. This kind of 'comedy' single seems to have aged even more poorly than, say, Captain Beaky. Love and peace, man.

The Lambrettas - Poison Ivy
More jerking and jumping about à la Selecter which is quite a relief after "B.A.". The Lambrettas had gone Top 10 with this cover version, although this is as high as they got with it. No matter. They'll be back again soon, I'll wager.

Prima Donna - Love Enough For Two
Well it's April and so it's Eurovision Song Contest time and this is the UK's 1980 entry folks. A fairly banal affair although to their credit it got to third place with cent et six points, pipped to the top spot by Ireland's Johnny Logan (more of him later). The German entry came second, although that year I was of course rooting for synth-poppers Telex from Belgium who naturally came third last.

The Jam - Going Undergound
But enough of this soppy Eurovision malarkey! Let's get back to real English music wot ver kids are interested in. Yes, Weller & Co. hold out at no. 1 for a third week. After which it may have seemed as though The Jam had their moment of glory, but it ain't over yet!

Doctor Hook - Sexy Eyes (play-out)
Thank you Mr Kid Jensen for an ace show by the way - pity we had to end with this but, sadly, it was doing rather well.

See you next week!

TOTP 80.13 27/03/1980

Presented by Peter Powell
BBCFour episode page
Full chart here

The Vapors - Turning Japanese (chart rundown)
Interesting how we played out last week with The Vapors and kick-off tonight with....The Vapors, who are now on a par with Madness for being featured four times with the same song.

A fairly stale looking chart tonight as the top 4 are still battling among themselves, although Brit-power wins through with The Vapors and Liquid Gold both going up a peg and The Jam still holding their own at no. 1. Martha and the Muffins, Lambrettas and Squeeze all benefit from being featured last week as do UB40 who climb a massive twenty places and indeed go Top 20 just keeping Siouxsie & the Banshees out. New wavers aside, Barbara Dickson and B.A.Robertson both make good progress after making the effort to go down to the TOTP studios last week, less so Sad Café. Anyway we're late so let's get on wi'it.

Liquid Gold - Dance Yourself Dizzy
Still annoying as ever but definitely the prototypes of the hedonistic party-obsessed eighties which were just a couple of years away. A future Wham! were no doubt watching this. In that sense the most 'sound of the eighties' song/band to date. Drummer still hell-bent on showing as much of his skinny white body as possible although he's got his vest on this week.

Genesis - Turn It On Again
I don't quite know why Powell goes all serious for 'something more serious' by Genesis as I'm sure one could dance oneself dizzy even to Phil & pals if one really wanted.  In fact there's quite a lot of dancing to be done in this week's show. Genesis were making slow progress but for some reason benefited massively from this repeat.

Brother Johnson - Stomp (Legs & Co.)
'Legs 11' 'cos it's Legs & Co. dancing to Stomp which is at no. 11 - geddit? There's a kind of seedy stripped down disco-stage for the girls this week who do their best to show us what 'stomping' really is. We'll be back here later.

Dr. Hook - Sexy Eyes
Oh God they're back. Has this one been on already? Can't remember. Wait, hang on..does he say "Sexy eyes..gettin' down on you" in the chorus? All a bit pervy if you ask me.

Judas Priest - Livin' After Midnight
Speaking of pervy! Gerraload of all that heavy metal leather gear wouldya! The girls in the front row with their nice dresses are all loving it and clapping along anyway! ..and there's even some dancing to be done! I didn't remember the lead-singer having all that hair.

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Happy House
Why does Powell go all serious with his voice before certain songs? It's a repeat of two weeks' ago, but hey! you can dance to it! and pull confetti out of your pocket! It's all quite sane.

Secret Affair - My World
Wow Pete's suddenly not so serious anymore and is positively enthusing about this lot! Very good track actually and this week's performance does them and the song more justice than the dark Legs & Co. underbelly location of two weeks ago.  The jacket and tie makes him look a bit like a smiley Gary Numan but nowt wrong with that. Just dance!

The Dooleys - Love Patrol
Don't sit down just yet! There's more dancing to be done! Just noticed this is rather Abba-esque, or at least it's what Abba were doing two or three years ago. End of the line here for The Dooleys I'm afraid.

John Foxx - No-One Driving
Amazingly even the glacial Mr Foxx is dancing too! Yay! He must have got a few tips off Legs & Co. before they left the set to make way for the four keyboardists, one of which is also doing a lot of dancing and even occasionally pressing a button! Quite a contrast to Foxx's more somber debut for Underpass a few weeks back, and sadly this more bouncier-one didn't move an inch after this week. Still a tad too early for the synth-pop age. Not Foxx's last single of the year but his last Pops appearance until Summer '81.

Detroit Spinners - Working My Way Back to You
More dancing to be done here by this rather dated vocal/dance troupe set-up, which would gradually go out of fashion only to return with the boy-band fad in a couple of decades time. They've obviously also seen Legs & Co.'s routine by taking the 'working' metaphor to its literal limit. Or perhaps it isn't really a metaphor after all.

The Jam - Going Underground
Powell approaches orgasm as they're IN THE STUDIO! And Paul Weller is wearing .. an apron! Inside out! Not sure if that gesture was ever explained by Weller but no matter, it's just good to have them on, and doing a very convincing mimed performance of this week's number one (even the promo film was quite good actually).

Leon Hayward - Don't Push It Don't Force It..
Ooo-er! Actually Hayward's debut single was entitled 'I Wanna Do Something Freaky To You' so it all follows ....

Not sure what Powell's mumbling on a about at the end but anyway see you next week (or rather in two weeks if you're reading this in 2015).

TOTP 80.12 20/03/1980

BBC4 website programme page here
Official chart in full here

This week's show presented by Mike Read, so behave yourselves and mind your language. He's even got the Nerdy Student-teacher Thought Police in ...

Detroit Spinners - Working My Way.. (chart rundown)
The Spinners were up a massive twelve places to no. 8 thanks to Legs' sterling 'working-women' routine last week. In other chart action, Top 30 new entries include songs by last week's performers Genesis, The Dooleys, Secret Affair and Siouxsie & The Banshees (yay!). The Vapors are amazingly up to no. 4, Liquid Gold at 5 and Marti Webb is stable at 3, all benefiting from being featured last week, unlike The Police, Fearne Kinny, Peter Gabriel and Rainbow, who all drop. Oh, and there's a mighty new number 1...

The Bodysnatchers - Do Rock Steady
It's the quirky new band of the week, and the ska revival is obviously still going strong as demonstrated by the 'Snatchers of which there are apparently many. The two featured instrumentalists look amazingly like the two girls from The Human League, or at least how they would be some one and half years from now. Mike avoids the 'all-female band' reference but can't do without uttering another kind of sad sexist quip. Good song.

Squeeze - Another Nail in My Heart
They were on a couple of weeks back (in 1980) although we didn't get to see them (in 2015). Disappointingly underlit and Jools Holland almost off the stage and uncaptured on camera.

Rush - Spirit of Radio
"Here's Rush" says Mike but it's actually Legs & Co. time, this week in a kind of throwback '70s psychedelic dance routine thing which wouldn't actually be so bad if it were not for the fact that it's occasionally superimposed with a bizarre secondary routine of the girls dressed in 'eighties' plastic clothes listening to fake radios in improbable settings. Read obviously not paying much attention as he keeps going on about 'the band..'.

Sad Café - My Oh My
Perhaps we were unduly harsh on them towards the beginning of the year when they did Sad Little Girl or whatever, because that was actually quite good compared to this bluesy dirge. Sadly (geddit?) this is going to do quite well...

Lambrettas - Poison Ivy
Mod revival also still not dead as we get this lot - probably from Norf London - doing their version of an old song (yawn..). It's also 'drummer front stage' time although with that jumper and possibly the worst mod haircut ever, he looks as if he's hoping no-one will notice.

Barbara Dickson - January February
Before which Mike climbs up the stairs and has a Sooty and Sweep-esque conversational exchange with a fake owl. Moving on, here's Babs Dickson who - like Sad Café - did not very well with her last effort but would do nicely with this one. The song has obviously been a couple of months in the making, although a little less thought has been given to her stage outfit.

Shakin' Stevens - Hot Dog
Here he is again (third time?) and he's still only at no. 24 for Chrissakes. Time to try something else Shakes... 'Eddie Cochran of the eighties'? pah!

New single plug time: oh it's David Soul who says how much he likes 'English bands' (sic.), and, hey he's got a new single out.

UB40 - Food For Thought
Thanks to that ridiculous interlude, English band  UB40 don't get much of an introduction for their TOTP debut. On the face of it they look like a kind of all-male Bodysnatchers but of course they were much more than that. Just at no. 40 this week although this is gonna be huuuge. And yes they were singing 'Ivory Madonna'.

Martha & The Muffins - Echo Beach
Read obviously totally unimpressed by The '40 and intent only on getting his 'two Canadian bands' link in, firstly with Rush and now with Martha and her Muffs (but who are those two squares standing in front of him during this hugely important intro? one asks).  Another song the 2015 audience missed when they were on two weeks ago (in 1980), and alas for reasons best known back then, instead of the 'Pops studio performance we get a faux-live promo film this time, which is also inexplicably cut short.

B. A. Robertson - Kool in the Kaftan
I wonder what David Soul made of this? B. A. Robertson was one of those totally disagreeable characters who made a lot of semi-comic hit singles and somehow got away with it. This one takes the p*ss out of the hippy/'love and peace' movement, some ten years after such things were fashionable, so obviously even longer in the making than Barbara Dickson's latest effort. Like Barbara he's Scottish although this link has obviously escaped Read's attention as he's been too busy concentrating on Canada.

The Jam - Going Underground
At least he takes a few seconds to tell us that this next one is straight in at number one .. even though he makes it sound like it was something that happened once a month or so in those days too. NOT SO! This was a MASSIVE event for a MASSIVE single which probably hadn't even been played on the radio much at that point, also given it's semi-veiled political critique. Although taking much from the mod revival, The Jam at least managed to create something new and exciting and bring the angry young musical men sentiment bang up to date. They even had to make it into a double-A side with the softer Dreams of Children for fear of not getting Going Underground played although it was the latter and its legendary promo film (The Police, please take note) which gave them their finest moment. Mike read somewhat redeemed by stating afterwards that with this instant chart top-spot they were now up there with the likes of Elvis, The Beatles, and, er, Slade.

The Vapors - Turning Japanese
Mike keeps the new wave vibe going with The Vapors who, were it not for The Jam, may have got to the number one spot via the new wave kids spending their cash on a song about .................But that's it..! ....We'll see you next week!