TOTP 80.23 7/08/80

BBCFour repeat here.
Full chart here.

Introduced by Peter Powell....and Elton John. Elton John? 

Well it's back: after a nine week hiatus The Pops was back on our Thursday night screens and the arrival of a 'guest presenter' with the regular Radio 1 DJ already hinted at the fact this was An All New TOTP, folks. Now let's get on with the chart rundown and see who's number one....

Wha? No chart rundown? Only a preview of "what's coming up" over some old 70s rock music? So how are we supposed to know who's no. 1 and know when the show is over when it comes on at the end? Whaddya mean you're not supposed to know? Oh well..let's see if this new-fangled idea works, shall we? A new broom will only sweep well for a bit.

Powell does indeed duly give us a preview of the main acts which are coming up, albeit out of sync. There does seem to be an awful lot of movement .. .lots of dancing and bright lights. Whatever next!

The Piranhas - Tom Hark
OK let's get this thing started. Lots of new features already but starting off with a 'novelty' band/song is an old trick that obviously hasn't been put to bed. Here's a whacky ska-reggae pub band sort of affair miming badly to their instruments. The highlight seems to be a stand-up drummer, bare and oily chested, 'playing' drums with a pair of...cucumbers? He sort of reminds me of Christian Bale in American Psycho which is a tad disturbing, as is this whole set-up. Now at no. 26, it would reach the Top 10 within a couple of weeks. Oh and since we weren't given The Chart Rundown, behold! There's now a futuristic computer graphic at the end of each song telling you name of the band and chart position! Wow!

Diana Ross - Upside Down
The inter-presenter banter continues as both men admit they can't whistle (pah!) and Elton confesses he tried to kill off disco, now "rearing its ugly head" again with Ms. Ross at No. 2. Well shucks to you for not being able to kill off Nile/Rodgers with your pathetic ballads Reg! Bit of a weird grainy, filmic collage promo for Diana, but no matter; this was already a big summer hit based on its radio play only and a bit of a classic in the making. Kept off the top spot only by the mighty .. oops not allowed to reveal anything!

Roxy Music - Oh Yeah
John gives us a bit of useless (and largely incomprehensible) banter about Chic and then states 'onto better things' .. as some of his pals are in the studio. Roxy Music seem to have timed their single releases to coincide with The Strike, as they were on the last programme before It happened and here they are again bang on schedule in The New Pops. The second single off Flesh + Blood album didn't disappoint. Another classic and this time Bryan Ferry has some decent trousers even though he moves as if his feet were stuck to the floor, but i suppose he can get away with that.

Tom Browne - Funkin' For Jamaica 
Elton seems to have gone for a lie-down after all that strenuous presenting work, so Pete's on his own to introduce Tom Browne and LEGS AND CO!! WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING PETE!? Oh .. I see. Not content to give us the odd glimpse of their pants up to know, the Legs are actually performing....IN THEIR UNDIES! Sexy! Raunchy! Hot! ..oh no sorry I mean NO! this is blatant sexist rubbish and should be banned off the BBC! It's disgusting! However we do get to learn each individual's name thanks to that new-fangled computer graphics machine. Good song too. Was it?

This is Sue. Apparently. pic.: BBC cameraman

Oh wait. Pay attention. It's the Charts! Only from no. 30 to 21 though.

Hot Chocolate - Are You Getting Enough of What Makes You Happy?

Phew! A bit steamy this title too innit? Where's Mary Whitehouse these days? Like Roxy, the Chocs were also on the last Pops, but were less successful with this fairly unmemorable number. Perfectly fine to whiggle to though, just look at al the kids! Dancing!

More chart rundown? Oh I get it...it's the charts a bit at a time. Nice idea. Might even catch on.

Kelly Marie - Feels Like I'm In Love

Let's have something new at last shall we? What's this? A wee Scottish red-haired lassie doing the disco thing with two strapping dark-skinned chappies in tight bodywear? Och, the brazen hussie! But the British public loves this kind of singer of course and this song would have Kelly whizzing up the charts all the way up to no, 1, although I really shouldn't be telling you this of course.

GAP Band - Oops Upside Your Head

More wiggly disco stuff , this time from o'er the water. Oklahoma to be precise. Already at no. 6 although didn't get any further on the strength of this poor 'live' promo-video. And no I won't go into that embarrassing eighties dance craze that this song had started off. You know the one where everyone sits on the floor,one behind the other and.....

Gibson Bros. - Mariana

Oh no! More dancing! Live in the studio! With coloured balloons! Can you cope? The Gibson siblings are back with a 'long-awaited' follow up to the Cuba/Salsa thing earlier in the year. They're obviously well in with Flick Colby too as, and not for the first time, there are assorted Legs dancing along, although sadly not in their knickers anymore. Well they are in their knickers but with other stuff as well. But we digress. Do the Eighties start here? 

Elton John has completely disappeared by the way. Probably trying to 'kill off disco' somewhere. But here's a nice interlude .. the ones we missed "while we were away" (see also my very own blogpost below).  More bottom-wiggling to Odyssey, some nice Olivia Newton-John/ELO, plus the woeful Don McClean...

Sheena Easton - 9 to 5

Second wee Scottish artiste of the night although an all together more modern girl (geddit?) compared to red-head Kelly. Easton had been the subject of an episode of the BBC's The Big Time documentary series, which in her case followed the lassie's career up to recording and launch of Modern Girl, which however failed to make any big impression, and indeed 'the big time' back in April (of which we are reminded via a short clip).  Not so this catchy number which shot her to stardom (dragging 'Modern Girl' along with it) making Sheena one of the first big stars of the Eighties. Totally un-p.c. subject matter now of course: woman sings about her successful man out at work while she waits all day for him to come home so that they can 'make love' and 'take off'. Hmmm. Acceptable in the (early) eighties, just like the green jumpsuit with matching white boots. Cute though.

Bad Manners - Lip Up Fatty

Elton's back, although he's obviously been out because he's now got his mac on, or just getting ready to 'take off'? For some reason he's given the arduous task of presenting Bad Manners and their latest one which had been going around for quite a bit, such that it may even had qualified for the whacky newcomer spot on the last Pops before The Strike, had it not been for Liquid Gold. But anyway here they are being 'nutty' or whatever, although sadly still very much stuck in the late seventies I'm afraid. 'Lip Up Fatty' is in no way Eighties, jumpsuit or not.

Chart countdown from no. 10 to no. 2 with a snippet of a performance of each song, Pops studio or other, which is good because we get to see a few seconds of Kate Bush's splendid Babooshka video. Just a tiny bit, mind. Then, at last, it's... No. 1 time!

Abba - The Winner Takes It All

It's not easy to explain how big Abba were at the time or even why perhaps, but there was something already inherently eighties in their pop stardom, even though most of it happened in the seventies. Which is why it's sort of appropriate we should be seeing them at the top spot in this first TOTP eighties-style proper. Does that make any sense? Possibly not, but even though this is a sloppy ballad about a twenty-something couple divorcing and suffering the consequences, as a spotty 16 year old I could somehow totally relate to it. Plus I wanted to marry Agnetha after this of course, knowing that she had now become single, and they had some great eighties clothes in Sweden. First week at no. 1 after a momentary pause at no. 9, and like the song, the video is also now nigh-legendary.

George Benson - Give Me the Night

Elton John decides to adopt a faux-Irish accent when promoting his new single with Pete. I'm sure there must be a reason for that. Somewhere. he even manages to re-state his dislike of disco music before p****ing off to America and Australia or wherever. I'd much rather have stayed on the stage to jig about with all those pastel shades and jumpsuits. I'd really like to know who that girl with hat at the front is/was. Looks like a budding New Romantic..

That was quite a strenuous re-opening night. Better make a cup of tea.

See ya next week!

The Ones (and other hits) that got away

Here's a list of songs which were hits during the TOTP strike period:

Number 1's:

Don McLean - Crying
We'd already seen the promo video a couple of times, and after three weeks of a song about suicide the Great British public chose three weeks of a song about crying. Britian was obviously a very miserable place.

ELO & Olivia Newton John - Xanadu
But enough moping already! Here's a shiny new Olivia and the fabulous Electric Light Orchestra from Brum who sadly didn't get the chance to show off their first and only time at the top spot on national television on a Thursday night. Travesty indeed. ELO also got to no. 20 with I'm Alive and to no. 11 with All Over the World, all by themselves.

Farrar, Newton-John, Lynn: The Xanadu team (pic.: donosdump.com/xanadu/)

Odyssey - Use It Up and Wear It Out
A chart-topping anomaly in these TOTP-less wilderness days perhaps. They knocked Olivia and pals off the top spot and stayed there for two weeks.

Abba - The Winner Takes It All
This one was however fully justified in making it to the top. More miserableness, true enough, but a classic heart-wrenching ballad about a post-split couple hurtling into a divorce. Bjorn says it was totally non-autobiographical and we totally believe that, don't we. Top promo video too, but I still can't bear to watch it when Agnetha looks into the camera and sings in trembling voice "Now I understand, you've come to shake my hand..". Their seventh UK no. 1 and the first to be shown in the new style Pops, coming up.



Other Big Ones

Kate Bush - Babooshka
Still one of her best known songs but as it peaked at no. 5 in the first week of August the classic promo-video never made it to the Pops.

Leo Sayer - More Than I Can Say
This one also peaked beginning of August, making it to no. 2. The permed-one never got to sing this smoochy classic on a TOTP stage (although a stand-in did for the nigh-legendary pilot show).

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Could You be Loved
Some cheery summer rasta sounds at last, peaking at no. 5. Marley would be dead within a year, although not even a posthumous release of No Woman No Cry managed to beat this chart-wise.

UB40 - My Way of Thinking
More summer reggae sounds man in this follow up to Food For Thought. Peaked at no. 6.

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
It's still debatable as to whether this post-punk classic went Top 20 because of radio-play dominance through TOTP's non-showing or whether it would have been a hit anyway, following singer Ian Curtis' suicide at the end of May. But no matter, it's another classic and their one and only chart hit, which would re-surface again in 1983.

The Korgis - Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime
More sloppy gloomdom, although a bit more 'sound of the eighties' than most of this kind of stuff that was around. Sadly they never managed to make a decent follow up and the parent album Dumb Waiters (great cover) only made it to No. 40.

Splodgenessabounds - Two Pints of Lager and Packet of Crisps Please
Again we are left to wonder if this novelty-punk record would ever have got to the Top 10 or even onto Top of the Pops in a non-BBC-orchestra strike parallel universe. But it was a bit of a laugh, and we all know how us Brits like to have a laugh amid all the crying. Especially if it's about crisps and beer. Or a strike.

We're laughin'! (Official dispute pic.: overgrownpath.com 01.10.2010)

End of Part One

The Strike That Made History

Click link for an interesting item on muhistory.com about the musician's strike which took the Pops off the air for an incredible nine weeks in 1980.

The all-new Top of the Pops will be back soon!

TOTP 80.22 29/05/80

BBCFour repeat here.
Full chart here.

Introduced by Kid Jensen - and what a very smart and polite young man he is too.

Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway – Back Together Again (chart rundown)

This one's in at no. 22 but all in all it's a pretty uninteresting chart with not much going on, except for a new number one. Orchestral Manoeuvres are into the Top 30 at last, just one place behind the Electric Light Orchestra with their new one I'm Alive. Perhaps it was all these 'orchestra' manoeuvres which upset the BBC orchestras leading to the strike which kept the Pops off the telly for an amazing nine weeks. Well, we shall never know, as indeed no-one doing tonight's show evidently had no idea of what was about to hit them.

Liquid Gold - Substitute

They're back after the mega-hit Dance Yourself Dizzy, and full marks to them for being so quick off the mark with this follow up which would go Top 10 within a month despite lack of whacky TOTP promotion. This reminds me of the kind of funky Brit-disco which would emerge again in a couple of years with Wham! and the like., so these things obviously go in cycles. Never mind.

Hot Chocolate - No Doubt About It

It's getting a bit hot in here so better cool things down a bit with loads of dry ice and 'space' effects for this classic Hot Chocolate number which had got to number 2, where it would stay, effectively making it one of those classic 'nearly number ones'. Errol Brown's voice and indeed wiggle, will live on forever.

Elton John - Little Jeannie

Oh dear - Reggie was obviously well past his "Crocodile Rock" heyday, and this looks and sounds like a rather last ditch attempt to revive a seventies based career in the eighties (hello Smokie). This got nowhere and continues a rather large grey area (notice I didn't say black hole) in Elton's career, but as we all know he'll still be standing in a couple of years, and will soon become big mates with princesses and stuff. 

Crown Heights Affair - You Gave Me Love

Thankfully Legs are back in their usual half-way-through-the-first-half position and are doing a bit of proper dancing and showing off their pants, hooray! It's a cheer-leader themed routine this week and - shock, horror, probe - even the audience are involved! Whatever will they think of next?

Don McLean - Crying

You know how it is. You're sitting in your log cabin, 'round an open fire, strumming on your guitar .. and you're crying. It's a promo video, not a re-used BBC Christmas studio set of course, and is one of the few good reasons why the Pops will be off the air for the next couple of months. This was already at number 13 and would get to number 1. For three. Whole. Weeks. 

Thin Lizzy - Chinatown

But enough of this namby-pamby moping around the place. Let's get some proper rock in leather trousers back on! After Phil Lynott's failed attempt to shake the world with his solo career a few weeks back, the whole group is back in town - China town in fact. This one would slowly but surely reach the giddy heights of no. 21, but we won't be seeing it on the Pops again. Meanwhile girls in sensible trouser suits look on.

Roxy Music - Over You

Speaking of sensible trousers, sensibly dressed Kid 'Man at C&A' Jensen gives a lengthy introduction to the also sensibly dressed Roxy Music with their new hit. I'm no Roxy expert but I did notice that that's not Phil Manzanera on sax so where's he gone? First hit single off the new Flesh + Blood album which effectively kick-started their 'smoothie' eighties image. Oh and to be honest only Bryan Ferry could get away with wearing a pair of trousers like that.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Messages

More sensibly dressed young men please! Here's the most unsensibly named group ever with the second performance of their wonderful, wonderful song, this time reinforced with their full stage gear, some extra sate of the art drums and of course the full special effects treatment. Only one member of the band is not wearing a tie and will consequently be kicked out soon. This had finally gone Top 30 and would peak at no. 13 in three weeks time. Obviously the last time we'll see this song performed but they'll be back later in the year with something much bigger, and even more sensible clothes.

Jermaine Jackson - Let's Get Serious

Or rather let's not get too serious and bring some mindless American disco music back on. It was Michael last week and this week its another Jackson sibling doing his thang on some US pop show, which someone kindly taped and sent over to the Beeb in London, England. Thankfully he was previously informed about tonight's dress code.

Stiff Little Fingers - Nobody's Hero

Oh well, enough ties already, better get the punk rockers in from the provinces. An unsuccessful attempt to follow up the moderately successful At The Edge (can you whistle it?) and indeed we'll never see the likes of them on the Pops again. End of an era in more ways than one tonight.

Mystic Merlin - Just Can't Give You Up

Bit of a performance video for this one as Mystic Merlin do a bit of magic - as befits their name - on the only young wench of the group who was already in a bit of a trance. Behold! She levitates! It's all done with mirrors, y'know. The Mystics climbed just a l'il bit higher after this showing but then appropriately disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Lena Zavaroni - Jump Down Jimmy

The only reason I can fathom as to why Ms. Zavaroni (née Zavaroni) suddenly appeared on the Pops with this is that she  had just launched her own new music show on BBC One, entitled Lena. What I can't fathom is why said show was evidently in no way affected by the BBC orchestra strike, and remained firmly on air for the next six weeks, while Top of the Pops was off air. Some kind of conspiracy going on here? Had no-one ever thought of this? Anyway, rubbish song that got nowhere.

The MASH - Suicide is Painless

There seems to be some doubt in the webosphere as to whether this Legs & Co. repeat from last week was used in the original broadcast, but no matter, this seventies MOR dirge with lyrics written by a 14 year old was the record most purchased by the Great British public this week and that's that. So much for 'the sound of the eighties', as announced by Peter Powell at the beginning of the year. Twenty-two weeks on and, with very few exceptions, there hasn't been anything much that has broken from the seventies mold. A bit sad really.

Lipps Inc. - Funky Town

We play out with this one tonight, now in the top 10. At least it has a hint of 'modern' about it.

I wonder if anyone to do with the show had any idea of what was going to happen next: the 9/11 of Top of the Pops, an event which would shake up the show and possibly attitudes to pop music in Britain forever. Or would it?

See you in the future.

TOTP 80.21 22/05/1980

BBCFour repeat here.
Full chart here.

Introduced by future UKIP supporter Mike Read. In his pyjamas.

Lipps Inc. - Funky Town

This catchy disco number has come into the charts at no. 25 apparently from nowhere, well, no. 70. An interesting record which represents a kind of crossover from 70s disco to 80s synth-pop with it's catchy beep beep tune, and girlie vocals, sax and orchestration. Although of American origin, the record had universal appeal and reached number 1 in twenty-eight countries, including the US. Let's see how it fares in the UK, eh listeners? Oh yeah: Lipps Inc....geddit?

All in all it's a fairly mixed chart with a bit of everything although - save perhaps for the above mentioned Lipps Inc. and the new entry at no. 10 there's still very little to be seen/heard of the 'sound of the eighties'. On with the show...

Lambrettas - Da-a-a-ance

So while we're on the subject of the sound of the eighties, let's go back to the sound of ...the fifties perhaps? Their follow up to Poison Ivy, not particularity brilliant but oddly did quite well for them within a question of weeks.

Michael Jackson - She's Out of My Life

TOTP producers or whoever seem to have this technique of putting a quirky upbeat, possibly 'novelty' song on at the beginning, only to immediately follow it up by a slow one, bringing the pace right down big-time. Not sure I ever agreed with that technique but hey-ho. Here's Jacko again sans frères with this fourth song from Off the Wall which had reached a massive no. 4.  So now she is out of your life, time to go and watch some horror films methinks, Mikey, before we all drop off completely.

U.K. Subs - Teenage

Let's get the punks in again to liven things up a bit. And here indeed are the UK Subs with a follow up to...the previous one. In at No. 32 and wouldn't do any better, understandably. Possibly their last TOTP?

Jona Lewie - You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties

Unlike other synth-friendly acts from two weeks ago The Human League and OMD (but there's time yet), Mr Lewie was faring well in the charts so here's another studio performance, this time with different girlie backing singers. TOTP production go all out on this one with full 'kithcen' set up, although The Buggles' rubber gloves don't seem to feature. Still only at no. 27 though.

Karel Fialka - The Eyes Have It

Now here's a surprise - and a very odd one too. Looking very 'eighties' with jumpsuits and keyboards à la Gary Numan, to the fore, our Fialka was a half-Indian, half-Scottish, half- Czech musician and 'poet' (it says 'ere) who made a futuristic electronic based album (Still Life - ed.) and attempted to break the UK charts with this catchy nascent-electro-pop single. Ultimately he failed - perhaps a year or so too soon Kaz?

The Specials - Rat Race

For the much anticipated follow-up to their no. 1 Too Much Too Young, Coventry's finest have done one of those new-fangled music 'videos', no less, to accompany their new single. It was straight in at no. 18 although still not the highest new entry, folks. The Specials were ready with a whole bunch of fresh new material which would later materialise in the 'More Specials' LP, which sort of brought them out of black and white and into colour. I just made that up.

Cockney Rejects - I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

Tiresome 'punk' version of an old old song which our grandparents may well have heard back in 1919. The tune was apparently adopted as the anthem of West Ham football club soon after and so that's why we have to bear this dirge in the retro-future of 1980, since said club had just won the FA Cup. On hearing of the record's chart success, Arsenal supporters were said to be as sick as a parrot.

Gary Numan - We Are Glass

He's back! Numan's impact on the late 1979 music scene both with Tubeway Army and as a solo artist with no. 1 single Cars is well documented and his importance can never be overstated. By this time Gaz had already reached a kind of cult status thanks also to his triumphant live shows towards the end of '79. So no doubt thousands of Numanoids (and me) rushed out to buy the new single, which was also being advertised as not included on forthcoming album, a shrewd marketing move making it all the more desirable. A bit of a change in musical direction compared to the more sparse electronic style of Cars and The Pleasure Principle album yet it remains classic Numan and possibly one of his last great singles. Being a super-star, Numan didn't make it to the Pops studio but had made one of those new-fangled music 'videos' (sic.) featuring laser beams, dry ice, a new black plastic state-of-the-art jumpsuit and  - shock, horror - a shiny guitar. Oh and he's seen breaking a lot of glass. Although its success was short-lived, We Are Glass would get to no. 5, his best position chart-wise after Cars.

Junior Murvin - Police and Thieves

And continuing in the Pops tradition of putting two contrasting songs back to back with no heed to continuity whatsoever, after 21st Century boy Gary Numan here's some reggae from 1976.. I imagine this one got in the charts a) on the back of the ska/reggae revival and b) thanks to The Clash's cover version, ironically unappreciated by Mr Murvin, included on their eponymous 1977 debut album. Legend has it they got the idea to do said cover version after Police & Thieves became a kind of anthem during the 1976 Notting Hill riots, in which Messrs. Strummer and Simonon gleefully took part. Anyway back to 1980 and here's Murvin doing his thang once more, with moderate chart success to come.

Average White Band - Let's Go Round Again

Has this been on before? Possibly. Is it worthy of any comment? Possibly not. A non-mover at n. 17, it would only go slightly higher the following week.

The Mash - Suicide is Painless

And now for something completely different. For those who'd been wondering where ver Legs had got to, here they are later than usual in the running order, possibly to add to the shock factor? A bunch of smooth singing Americans intoning the joys of Selbstmord to a shmoozy MOR backing was bizarre enough but now we get the girls faffing about on top of it, thankfully not interpreting the song title/lyrics as literally as usual. The tune was originally included in the MASH movie - an adaption of the original novel - and then later adapted as an instrumental for the popular TV series which ran from 1972 to 1983. Noel Edmonds was apparently to blame for reviving the single and making it a hit. And the whole thing gets even more bizarre next week, folks.

Matchbox - Midnite Dynamos

A repeat of the performance from a couple of weeks ago and a bit of a filler as it had only moved up a few places in the meantime to a measly no. 26. Not that there was much else to chose from.

Johnny Logan - What's Another Year

And here he is again, still at no. 1. We may take solace in the fact that we won't see him round these parts for another seven years. Cheers Johnny.

Jermaine Jackson - Let's Get Serious (playout)

Not wishing to be outdone by his bruv Michael, Jermaine was also goin' solo and this one did quite well. No horror movies for him though and he'll be back with his siblings for the Victory album in just a couple of years time.

All in all a bit of a lacklustre show, but I'm sure all the Karel Fialka fans were happy. See y'all next week!

TOTP 80.20 15/05/80

Introduced by DLT, so not repeated on BBCFour this time.
Full chart here

For full playlist see Turn It On Again.

Hand-crafted list courtesy of Sir LeeThommo:

TOTP 80.19 08/05/1980

BBCFour repeat here.
Full chart here.

Introduced by Peter Powell (in a Radio 1 jumpsuit).

Before we go any further let me just say that in the unlikely event of me ever getting a tattoo done somewhere on my body, then this date in history would be that tattoo. Now let's get down to business...

Mystic Merlin - Just Can't Give You Up
And since we're well into 1980 and time is fast running out, why don't we start with a bland disco-instrumental just to get the ball rolling? C'mon Powell, you can do better than this. Mind you they have to dig into the far outer reaches of the charts to get anything interesting and "sound of the eighties" this week. In fact it's a rum old chart featuring a lot of bland disco and heavy metal music, possibly due to the fact that last week we had so much bland disco and heavy metal music. Jimmy Ruffin is the highest new entry after his stint on the wobbly, steam filled tower last week although Whitesnake and Motorhead both do well, the latter up to a massive 15 places to no. 8. Sales of patchuli oil were also said to have peaked. Thankfully Dexy's defend the top spot even though incredibly last week's nos. 2-10 all go down!

The Human League - Rock 'n' Roll (Holiday '80 EP)
Ok cut straight from the wobbly captions into...... what's this? Electronic panels and wires and knobs and stuff? We thought Tomorrow's World had just finished! But no! It's a bunch of funny looking blokes doing a cover version of Glitter's 'Rock n Roll Part 1' but with no drums, guitars and only a tape recorder and those new-fangled synthesiser thingys? Where's Gary Numan? Funnily enough Powell doesn't even introduce this band so we'll have to do the honours: "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you THE HUMAN LEAGUE!" For all the 'novelty acts' which tended to be presented first upon the 'Pops (see Rezillos, New Musik, The Bodysnatchers et al) there really never has been anything quite like Sheffield's Human League up to now. They were already well known to the average Sounds/NME reader and were about to release their second electronics only album, and their semi-experimental electronics-only music could hardly have been classed as TOTP/pop fodder. This glam rock cover was a brave attempt to achieve that elusive chart hit, but one which sadly failed. Legend has it that David Bowie had said that 'one day all music would be made this way'. However, the band in this particular formation would split by the end of the year although the bloke with the funny lop-sided haircut had a cunning plan....
(note: this is the first song/act tonight which made my 16-year old jaw drop to the living room carpet with a mighty thud, and my music tastes - and my life - would never be the same again. But I digress...)

Johnny Logan -What's Another Year?
Oh God it's this wimp again. At least this time he's taken the trouble to put his jacket on properly Not content with being voted The Best Song in the Whole of Europe, Logan has got to no. 2 in the charts. Can it get any worse?

Prelude - Platinum Blonde
Much like The Human League, this one had been 'bubbling under' as they used to say for a couple of weeks. I, and most people on twitter, had no recollection of this whatsoever. Unlike The Human league however they're sporting a whole load of guitars in all shapes and sizes and end up looking and sounding like a poor man's Fleetwood Mac. the lady singer wears a purple jumpsuit to give it an 'eighties' look, but other than that it's rubbish. Or am I supposed to be reading between the lines? Amazingly, this lot are still performing.

Michael Jackson - Out of My Life
Or is that 'Outta My Life'? Anyway this is Jackson's fourth single taken from the album Off the Wall, and not even the last one, which at the time was a bit of a, er, record. Despite having already milked the album for what it was worth this would keep Jacko's chart average positioning high. It's also one of his slowest songs ever fact fans. Even slower than Johnny Logan.

Matchbox - Midnite Dynamos
But don't fall asleep just yet! It's those whacky Matchbox guys with another rockabilly choon to get everyone dancing round the living room. This was the follow-up to the cringeworthy Buzz Buzz a Diddle It, and would in fact better it. Amazingly their "best" was still to come.

Average White Band - Let's Go Round Again (Legs & Co.)
In which the Leggettes dance around in their skimpy swimming cossies which are, er, white.

Jona Lewie - You Will Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties
Always loved this one. Someone on twitter said they'd had an 'O' Level flashback and that was definitely the case for me with this song. Always loved the synth sound, although he obviously wasn't aiming to be like The Human League or anything. A bit of a novelty record à la B A Robertson but miles better. Millions also noticed in 2015 that one of the girls on backing vocals was the late Kirsty McColl, although apparently she didn't sing on the record. I'm guessing that Phil Oakey saw these girls though and thought.....guys..what if.....?

Cockney Rejects - Cockney Rip-Off
Yes, here we go again. I think this has been on before but doesn't really do it for me.

Boney M - My Friend Jack
Can't help thinking that Boney M were past their sell by date at this point .. Rivers of Babylon, Rasputin, Hooray Holy-day etc. being very much products of the late seventies. Well I'm glad to say that this was indeed the case and this got nowhere. Obviously a non-TOTP recording as there's too much light in the studio.

Ruts - Staring at the Rude Boys
I do remember this one however although never quite worked out if they were taking the mick out of the 'Two Tone' establishment or what. Never really understood what Babylon's Burning was about either, although it was slightly better than this. At no. 22 and didn't get any higher.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Messages
Now then...if the opening act hadn't been enough to make me feel like I had seen the future - my future - then this performance got me into even more of a tizz. I think I'd been sort of 'following' OMITD (as we used to call them) for a few months since their early single Electricity, and possibly an OGWT performance around the same time as this. But whatever it was, as with Phil Oakey and pals, nothing in my life would ever be the same again. I would soon become the world's biggest OMD fan (fact) and I still adore this song to this day. Peter Powell announced that it was going to be 'a smash' and he wasn't far wrong, even though it would only struggle its way up to no. 26 by the end of the month, but in June would get to no. 13 - wonder why?  Anorak note 1: this was a radical re-recording of the track off their debut album which was a little less powerful production-wise; anorak note 2: the line up here included Dave Hughes on keyboards, roped in for live work and promotion, even though he would be out of the band before their next appearance; anorak note 3 :...I'm an OMITD anorak.

The Undertones - My Perfect Cousin
According to Powell, without this one tonight's show wouldn't have been 'complete'. Ummm shouldn't that be without the no. 1 song, Pete? Or perhaps he was referring to Feargal's not so veiled lyrical reference to The Human League (plays air synth) which brings everything 'full circle'? We shall never know. A surprising inclusion nonetheless as it had crept up just one place to no. 10.

Dexy's Midnight Runners - Geno
Number One again and it's a repeat of last week's where, as legend would have it, they only arrived just in time at the beginning to pick up their instruments and start 'playing'.

Hot Chocolate - No Doubt About It
This was up to no. 6, quite right too.


post scriptum: the Saturday after this show, I went into town and bought these two babes:-

So 'til next week: goodbye!