Top of the Pops BBC4

[RaggedTiger]

The 80s were deemed as ancient on 1 Jan 1990. 80s artists were flopping from the start of the decade. It was only 1993 for Duran and 1995 for Human League that radio thought they were okay again, briefly. Then in 97 radio one refused to play any artist not seen as current. This lead to all these acts going on the Here & Now tours, as they could no longer had any financial support to do their tours anymore or make albums.

With the loudness wars from the likes of Oasis, 80s music did sound quiet and a bit dated at the time. Basically if you didn't have your guitar turned up to 11, it sounded dated. Thankfully now, its not the case (for me) and 80s music sounds as current and as amazing as it deserves to be.

 

[ManilaChinchilla]

It's a miracle PSB survived through the 90s then, tbh.

 

[m_dimitrov]

It's a miracle PSB survived through the 90s then, tbh.

I'm so glad they did. They 90s output is largely great. If I remember correctly they considered splitting a couple of times - one was after Discography, the other(s) were around Bilingual or Nightlife.

 

[CDMCLP]

Erasure also somehow made it through the 90s despite never really changing their electronic formula. Other 80s bands like Depeche Mode evolved their sound and production so that they were still "current".

 

[Eric Generic]

Erasure also somehow made it through the 90s despite never really changing their electronic formula. Other 80s bands like Depeche Mode evolved their sound and production so that they were still "current".

Erasure tried something a little different on 1995's self-titled but it flopped so badly they went back to the classic Erasure formula thereafter.

 

[RaggedTiger]

It's a miracle PSB survived through the 90s then, tbh.

Indeed although radio 1 stuck to their guns and didn't playlist any of their singles from Nightlife which hurt them. The gigs at the time in the UK didn't sell well and it was the moment Neil mentioned to Chris about packing it in.

It was only really Madonna and U2 from the 80s that radio 1 would still play!ist.

 

[Booers]

Did they playlist Kylie in her decon era?

 

[dangeleyes]

Did they playlist Kylie in her decon era?

Confide In Me, Some Kind of Bliss, Did It Again and Breathe all got studio performances, plus they played the video of Put Yourself In My Place. The Did It Again performance was on U & Eden last night, she had drag queens dressed as the different Kylies from the video.

 

[heartmightmelt]

Did they playlist Kylie in her decon era?

"Some Kind of Bliss" was B-list for the two weeks at the end of August and then A-listed for pretty much all of September, until BMG pulled it from airplay. It was the #2 track on Radio 1 behind "Sunchyme" in its last week on rotation. And also, to quash another myth for that single, Virgin Radio also absolutely hammered it "The we've banned Kylie's records" ad was from three years earlier). I think "Did It Again" and "Breathe" were B or C-Listed, radio was much more cautious with those two singles in general.

 

[RaggedTiger]

Some Kind of Bliss was absolutely hammered on radio 1. Thought it was going to be huge, then saw it was being sold for £3.99 everywhere, in an era of 99p and £1.99 cd singles so knew it would struggle. Really believe if it wasn't for the pricing, it would've easily gone top 10.

 

[heartmightmelt]

Some Kind of Bliss was absolutely hammered on radio 1. Thought it was going to be huge, then saw it was being sold for £3.99 everywhere, in an era of 99p and £1.99 cd singles so knew it would struggle. Really believe if it wasn't for the pricing, it would've easily gone top 10.

The price point, the mismatch between the artwork and the song, plus wasting a format allowance on a 7" vinyl.

The head of BMG famously announced that the 99p and £1.99 week-one discount single era was over at the end of summer 1997, it was time to put the genie back in the bottle and stop singles being marketed as a loss leader just to get a debut chart position... and then had to back-track by the end of the year when a whole bunch of BMG artists stiffed their lead singles.

 

[little ern]

Link for the U&Eden shows from 1997 that they've shown so far.

https://u.co.uk/shows/top-of-the-po...1zB9Obr3ngvTQgh4hw_aem_7b4jVGGa9ANdSll8hQ-fZA

The U&Eden channel showed the 9th January 1998 edition tonight (which was the last of the three editions shown on the channel today which all get repeated later tonight)

 

[AcerBenII]

The U&Eden channel showed the 9th January 1998 edition tonight (which was the last of the three editions shown on the channel today which all get repeated later tonight)

Yeah looks likely now they're going to go to end of March '98 before going back to April '97.

 

[aquaplex]

"Some Kind of Bliss" was B-list for the two weeks at the end of August and then A-listed for pretty much all of September, until BMG pulled it from airplay. It was the #2 track on Radio 1 behind "Sunchyme" in its last week on rotation. And also, to quash another myth for that single, Virgin Radio also absolutely hammered it "The we've banned Kylie's records" ad was from three years earlier). I think "Did It Again" and "Breathe" were B or C-Listed, radio was much more cautious with those two singles in general.

Did Radio 1 play the original of Breathe or the Sash! mix, for some reason I thought it was the latter but may be mistaken!

 

[AcerBenII]

Did Radio 1 play the original of Breathe or the Sash! mix, for some reason I thought it was the latter but may be mistaken!

Certainly the Sash! mix on the top 40 anyway so probably on the playlist too

 

[Servalan]

The price point, the mismatch between the artwork and the song, plus wasting a format allowance on a 7" vinyl.

The head of BMG famously announced that the 99p and £1.99 week-one discount single era was over at the end of summer 1997, it was time to put the genie back in the bottle and stop singles being marketed as a loss leader just to get a debut chart position... and then had to back-track by the end of the year when a whole bunch of BMG artists stiffed their lead singles.

I can see the merit in that argument – the singles chart was becoming increasingly ridiculous because it was so obviously manipulated by record companies obsessed with landing a number one on the first week of release – but the horse hadn't just bolted by that point, it was a million miles from the stables.

 

[RaggedTiger]

I'm not sure the singles chart (if you can call it that) is any better these days really. At least people were actually going out to pay for the songs they wanted back then. The charts are still manipulated today by paying your way on to certain massive streaming playlists to ensure a chart position. Then those songs stay in the charts for 6mths to a year as the song is still on those playlists and the charts just becomes very stale.

But yeah I agree that in the 90s you couldn't really go back to making singles £3.99 when people had got used to expecting them at £1.99 for a number of years. People would immediately feel ripped off.

 

[JMRGBY]

I'm not sure the singles chart (if you can call it that) is any better these days really. At least people were actually going out to pay for the songs the wanted back then, however. The charts are still manipulated today by paying your way on to certain massive streaming playlists to ensure a chart position. Then those songs stay in the charts for 6mths to a year as the song is still on those playlists and the charts just becomes very stale.

The fact that Mr Brightside has been charting for the past few years consistently for the past few years between 30-90 says it all. 447 weeks in the top 100 since 2004!

 

[AcerBenII]

I'm not sure the singles chart (if you can call it that) is any better these days really. At least people were actually going out to pay for the songs they wanted back then. The charts are still manipulated today by paying your way on to certain massive streaming playlists to ensure a chart position. Then those songs stay in the charts for 6mths to a year as the song is still on those playlists and the charts just becomes very stale.

But yeah I agree that in the 90s you couldn't really go back to making singles £3.99 when people had got used to expecting them at £1.99 for a number of years. People would immediately feel ripped off.

As I remember, the no discount in week 1 thing did gradually creep back, depending on the demand for the single. There was a lot more of them by 1999/2000.

 

[heartmightmelt]

Lest we forget that £3.99 for a CD single in 1997 is the minimum-wage-to-working-hours equivalent of around £14 now. That might be a reasonable price for a boyband with a fanbase of early teens with a middle-class parent who will moan about it but can pick up CD1 while in Woolworths, but it's an ask for part-time working older-teens and college adults in an era when you could easily be in the shop on a Monday purchasing three or four new release singles some weeks.