Top of the Pops BBC4 Thursday/Friday 7.30pm

Music Week had a write up the next week about how Kiri and Monty Python were big sellers but getting no commercial airplay. The former was getting TV exposure as a theme for the Rugby World Cup coverage. The Python song was apparently only getting play as Simon Mayo’s “Signature tune” on Radio One. Whatever that means.

 

Tonight 6.30PM

 

Quite enjoying reading through the Music Weeks in tandem with TOTP. They've recently uploaded all the way to 2006 here.

https://worldradiohistory.com/Music_Week.htm

 

No Top of the Pops 1991 episodes next week on BBC4.
Instead, we get a Halloween Special for one hour.
Can you name the song if I list the artist - which could be featured on the show?
Michael Jackson
Ray Parker Junior
...

 

This new format isn't really working for me, the primary focus of TOTP should be the singles chart, not the album or American chart and certainly not hoary old rockers. Next week Genesis - "yippee".

 

Heal The World
I Don't Think That Man Should Sleep Alone

Both are terrifying.

 

That's an amazing treasure trove – thanks!

 

Thanks for the heads up, shame though.

 

It's not as appalling as the Andi Peters makeover, but it's wrong in so many ways. Diminishing the singles chart even more than it was before was stupid beyond belief, and quite why a show that is supposed to reflect trends in the singles chart should start focusing on albums defies logic. TOTP had flirted with the album chart in the past, it always came to nothing, and yet here we go again …

The one thing I hadn't registered was Paul Gambaccini's involvement in the revamp – he's named as some kind of consultant in the end credits, of the first revamped show, at least. I was assuming that the mess was all the work of the new producer, Stanley Appel who, with a track record in 'Light Entertainment' (as it was called back in the day – what was 'heavy entertainment', then?!?), seemed to be on a mission to nix the stranglehold dance and rave acts were increasingly having on the singles chart. Whoever was behind the wheel, it was a mess and, of course, did nothing to diminish dance music's potency, and TOTP just ended up looking even more fuddy duddy than it ran the risk of being before.

The one thing I would add that counted massively against Appel and Gambo was the state of pop at this time. There were no equivalents of the big characters that had made TOTP punch through in the 70s (David Bowie, T Rex, Roxy Music, Slade, Suzi Quatro, The Sweet, Kate Bush, Blondie) and the first half of the 80s (Adam Ant, Duran Duran, Grace Jones, Culture Club, Dead Or Alive, Jeffrey Daniels' notorious moonwalk routine) – the girl next door/boy next door acts of the late 80s were all built around being familiar and nice, rather than other worldly and unpredictable. So it was arguably a stupid time to do a revamp anyway – before someone came up with the idea to try and make the show more MOR and less edgy. Thank goodness for Ric Blaxhill.

 

Finally the regret at throwing out all my Music Weeks and RMs was over when I found these.

 

I always want TOTP to be as broad as possible. Late 91 did have a lot of rock (brand new Genesis, Queen GH2, U2, etc) plus big albums from Enya and Simply Red. It all did quite well on the Top 40. There should be room for all sorts, and obviously the balance will change each week depending on what's around. Some weeks a bit of an indie rush, then some trance, some divas...TOTP should reflect the market not attempt to shape it, basically.

 

I agree about the variety...the new format got it right with the variety of acts (something old, something new etc) but it was the presentation that I didn't agree with...hence why - move to BBC2 and give it an hour so we can hear all the song - whether it's studio performance with/without live vocal or the complete Music Video!

 

Coz like Tottenham said - the year ended in "One" - so they were going to have a big hit:
1971 Get down and get with it (First UK Chart hit!)
1981 We'll bring the house down (quite like this one)
1991 Radio Wall of sound (OK it's got Mike Read playing the DJ on it - but still a very catchy song!)
2001 er...
2011 Humm...
2021 Merry Christmas Everybody (the 48 year mix)?

 

Ha, the Slade single was a new track to promote a Greatest Hits which went top 20 I think. R1 and the BBC were obviously supportive of it, funny that.

 

It just goes to show how different things were back in 1991. That would never happen now. Loads of older acts had regular hit singles back then Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Meatloaf, Cher, OMD. Times have changed so much in 30 years and not for the better.

 

BBC Light Entertainment make all the soaps, chatshows, sitcoms - ie all the stuff people actually watch, as opposed to the people who make Serious Drama that allows their favourite writers to create self-indulgent works for an audience of five people.

Had to cackle at Slade doing "Radio! Wall of Sound!" (as my mates at school kept chanting) - I never saw this episode, as at the time I only remember seeing the video on ITV on Saturday. Neville Holder esq. appears to be having the time of his life.

And yes, Monty Python just made the charts because of Radio 1 DJs playing it. See also - Spread a Little Happiness (a Sting track that otherwise died) and Kinky Boots by Patrick McNee and Honor Blackman.

 

I didn't know that about the Sting single. I thought it charted at #16 as a genuine solo release (sort of) tied in with the Dennis Potter drama it was from.

 

How fabulous, thanks for compiling, some awesome footage there. Didn't Diana Ross look GORGEOUS?

I seem to remember P!nk not being in the studio the week "Just Like a Pill" was No. 1 and the following week they introduced her saying "She missed the bus last week, but she's here this week" or something along those lines. I wonder if she'd been ill or just wasn't coming to the UK until the following week. It was probably nothing exciting.

 

Diana Ross, the ultimate Diva!

 

@phoenix123 retrochart w/e 26/10/91 draft

01 02 01 04 Live Your Life Be Free | Belinda Carlisle NEW NUMBER ONE
02 01 01 04 Too Many Walls | Cathy Dennis
03 04 03 04 I Belong To You | Whitney Houston
04 03 03 04 Nutbush City Limits '91 | Tina Turner
05 15 05 02 Emotions | Mariah Carey
06 05 01 08 The Promise Of A New Day | Paula Abdul
07 11 07 04 Everybody's Free (To Feel Good) | Rozalla
08 07 01 08 The Big L. | Roxette
09 10 09 04 Bridge Over Troubled Water | PJB feat Hannah & Her Sisters
10 14 10 02 Live For Loving You | Gloria Estefan

#15 HIGHEST NEW ENTRY