Top Of The Pops

[Blondini]

First appearance by The Jam - two weeks before the Pistols were banned (the riff on In The City is the same as the one on Sex Pistols' later Holidays In The Sun). *pity it's not up to date to tie in with Jubilee*

[CZB]

It wasn't on Benny Hill.

Oh, it was! Often. Even Wikipedia says.....

"Mah Nà Mah Nà" is a popular song written by Piero Umiliani. It originally appeared in the Italian film Sweden: Heaven and Hell (Svezia, Inferno E Paradiso). It was a minor radio hit in the U.S. and in Britain, but became better known in English-speaking countries from its use in the 14th episode of Sesame Street,[1] the first episode of The Muppet Show, and also from its consistent use as the primary silent comedy sketch scene music for The Benny Hill Show.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any further elaboration there on when this "consistent use" began.....

[Blondini]

Oh yes! Can't find any clips using it...

[Graham76man]

I don't remember hearing it on Benny Hill, but the Muppett Show was huge by this time, which is why I said it was that making it a hit.

To this week's show. There were two versions out (at the same time) of You're Moving Out Today. One by Carole Bayer Sager and the other by Bette Midler. My cousin bought the Midler version and I aggree with him that it was better than Carole's version. However the public bought Carole's perhaps because she got on TOTP and Bette didn't. Both records are hard to find as a download now.

Saturday Night Fever was on at the flicks and that's why the Trammps are in the charts.

Rod's record was a hit for P.P. Arnold and of course the record company having the rights to it re-released it following Rod's success.

[Robbie]

Saturday Night Fever was still being filmed at this time in 1977, the film didn't make its US debut at the cinemas until December 1977 and it was April 1978 before it was first screened in the UK. 'Disco Inferno' recharted once the film was on general release in the UK and reached number 47 in July 1978.

[Blondini]

The Stranglers performing the lesser-known AA side as Peaches was banned from the show.

[Blondini]

Bit odd that Marie Myriam was performing the English version (on the b side) which was never credited.

[CZB]

Just one big chunk chopped out of tonight's early evening repeat:



26-5-77: Presenter: Dave Lee Travis

(19) BLUE – I’m Gonna Capture Your Heart
(NEW) OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN – Sam
(8) PIERO UMILIANI – Mah Na Mah Na (danced to by Legs & Co)
(NEW) FRANKIE MILLER’S FULL HOUSE – Be Good To Yourself
(4) KENNY ROGERS – Lucille (video)
(NEW) LIVERPOOL EXPRESS – Dreamin’
(20) BRYAN FERRY – Tokyo Joe (danced to by Legs & Co)
(36) THE STRANGLERS – Go Buddy Go
(NEW) MARIE MIRIAM – The Bird And The Child
(28) ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA – Telephone Line (video)
(NEW) BRENDON – Rock Me
(1) ROD STEWART – The First Cut Is The Deepest
(15) LIVERPOOL FC – We Can Do It (and credits)

Bit odd that Marie Myriam was performing the English version (on the b side) which was never credited.

Indeed - I'm not even sure that I recall hearing that English version before! Perhaps it should have been retitled with some part of the English lyrics actually sung.....

[CZB]

Then again.....thinking about it, I don't believe the French tltle "L'oiseau et l'enfant" actually featured in the French lyrics either!

I've always regarded this as one of the weakest Eurovision winners - and its number 42 chart peak would suggest that many others in the UK thought the same..... On the night, our jury gave it six points.

[Blondini]

Brendon covering a great early ABBA song.

[Graham76man]

Brendon covering a great early ABBA song.

It was the B-Side to the 1975 small hit I Do I Do....

Olivia Newton-John's Sam - the backing vocals of this track are similar to those used on Martine's Perfect Moment track. I'm not certain if Olivia had picked up the "Neutron Bomb" nickname by then, used by many DJ's, or if she picked it up after her role in Grease

The Brian Ferry track is an excellent stereo record. I love the bit with the violins

ELO's track Telephone Line is so quite when it starts if you have the 45 version you will always get clicks on it. So it benefits from being digital
It's a shame that not one of their excellent records didn't go to number one. I don't count the one with ONJ, as "one" it isn't a good record and "two" she spoils it.

If there's one thing worse than football that's a football record But that version ruins a really good rock song. Why do they voices of the clubs singing all sound the same? I've come to the conclusion that they have to be hit by a ball between the legs before they are allowed to sing

[CZB]

If there's one thing worse than football that's a football record

Less than ten minutes before it was due to come on, I had the urge to check out whether the play-out track was football-related for the second week in a row. After declining Google's best guess after "G-E-N-" - "genital warts", I found that apparently it is - although it's not a version of the football show theme tune!




2-6-77: Presenter: Noel Edmonds

(NEW) ELKIE BROOKS – Saved
(8) THE MUPPETS – Halfway Down The Stairs (video)
(NEW) THE FOUR SEASONS – Rhapsody ("Vaseline")
(5) VAN McCOY – The Shuffle (danced to by Legs & Co)
(15) HEATWAVE – Too Hot To Handle (video)
(NEW) TWIGGY – A Woman In Love
(13) BOZ SCAGGS – Lido Shuffle (video)
(NEW) JESSE GREEN – Come With Me
(7) MARVIN GAYE – Got To Give It Up (danced to by Legs & Co)
(NEW) HOT CHOCOLATE – So You Win Again
(17) CAROLE BAYER SAGER – You’re Moving Out Today
(NEW) THE STRAWBS – Back In The Old Routine
(1) ROD STEWART – The First Cut Is The Deepest
(14) GENESIS – Match Of The Day (and credits)




Twiggy only just managed to avoid the early-evening editor's scissors in this cut-to-ribbons version of an unseen-for-nearly-35-years edition. I don't think I had ever heard her interpretation of "Woman In Love" before - the song becoming a much bigger hit for the Three Degrees a couple of years later.

[Graham76man]

Had to comment on Alessi appearing as guests on the show. There to promote new single Oh Lori. On that week's chart used on TOTP, that track was already a breaker on the breakers section. The following week it will enter at 32. Sounds like a fairly rapid climb and a good indication it was selling well In fact it wasn't at all The truth of it's early chart performance wasn't revealed till early 1978, I believe. When a couple of guys admitted they had gone around the chart shops and purchased it, asked dealers to enter false entry records etc, for that record and others. The other famous one being the Rah Band and Crunch. Fortunatly, or calling in to question even if they needed to do it, both records went on to sell. But it just goes to prove that even a fast moving record in the top 40 could be hyped! Normally the one's that are suspect go like this 49 - 42 - 50. But you really can't tell.
The question you might ask is why A&M paid these guys to do it? The answer might be very simple. Alessi had released a single in March 77 called Seabird, which didn't go near anyone's chart. So the record company didn't probably want to wait to see if the new track took off.

It was a hard life for new acts and still is

[Robbie]

Yes, A&M got into trouble for the sheer volume of chart hyping they were doing in 1977. Of course the other labels were also doing it but obviously not in such a blatant way that they got caught.

The A&M chart hyping revelations led to the BPI calling for the chart compilers, BMRB, to substantially increase the amount of record shops that provided sales returns as well as increasing the amount of shops that were used in the actual weekly sample. The idea was that with a bigger pool of record shops providing returns the cost to labels of hyping would be too much to make it a worthwhile enterprise.

However it was to take another chart rigging scandal at the turn of the next decade which involved a "World In Action" TV expose and the subsequent resignation of the chairman of the BPI before the chart panel was extended enough to even meet the recommendations of the BPI report into A&M's buying-in practices.

[CZB]

Another big chunk was cut from the front end of tonight's archive repeat.....



9-6-77: Presenter: Tony Blackburn

(NEW) OSIBISA – The Warrior
(13) ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA – Telephone Line (video)
(NEW) BERNI FLINT – Southern Comfort
(27) FRANKIE MILLER’S FULL HOUSE – Be Good To Yourself
(NEW) THE WURZELS – Farmer Bill’s Cowman
(21) GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS – Baby Don’t Change Your Mind (video)
(NEW) NEIL INNES – Silver Jubilee
(23) THE STRANGLERS – Go Buddy Go
(NEW) DEMIS ROUSSOS – Kyrila
(30) HONKY – Join The Party
(6) THE JACKSONS – Show You The Way To Go (danced to by Legs & Co)
(NEW) BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS – Exodus
(1) ROD STEWART – The First Cut Is The Deepest
(25) EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER – Fanfare For The Common Man (and credits)



The Demis Roussos track and the play-out were not noted in the archive website, but no doubt they will be added soon!

The topicality of the Neil Innes song doesn't seem to have helped it to become a sales success......

[Robbie]

I do wonder if the Neil Innes track was included as a counter balance against the Sex Pistols. By the time this edition was broadcast the Silver Jubilee had passed (by two days) and I doubt anyone wanted to buy the single. Or at least perhaps record shops didn't want to order it in as the event had already passed. Especially as the record was awful!

[Blondini]

I do wonder if the Neil Innes track was included as a counter balance against the Sex Pistols. By the time this edition was broadcast the Silver Jubilee had passed (by two days) and I doubt anyone wanted to buy the single. Or at least perhaps record shops didn't want to order it in as the event had already passed. Especially as the record was awful!

It was awful! Faux-reggae, too - shown up by Bob Marley later - Marley played before Rod was like the show's replacement for the Pistols - this was rebel music they could play! The Stranglers directly after Innes was also a nod to punk fans, i think.

[Graham76man]

Yes Neil's record was rubbish. To be frank it's the first time I have ever heard it and I was listening to Radio Hallam a lot at that time. It was of course sang live with the crap orchestra they use, so it perhaps sounded better on record, but perhaps not that much

By the way Woman In Love was written by the two chaps that did Dancing With The Captain. So a very different style from them.

[CZB]

Again, just one chunk cut from the first half of tonight's early-evening repeat:




16-6-77: Presenter: David Jensen

(48) JOHN MILES – Slow Down
(23) OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN – Sam
(20) HOT CHOCOLATE – So You Win Again
(NEW) ANDY GIBB – I Just Wanna Be Your Everything
(17) EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER – Fanfare For The Common Man (video)
(NEW) GENE COTTON – Me And The Elephant
(21) QUEEN – Good Old Fashioned Loverboy
(44) ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS – Everybody Have A Good Time
(22) BO KIRKLAND & RUTH DAVIS – You’re Gonna Get Next To Me (danced to by Legs & Co)
(NEW) THE FOSTER BROTHERS – Count Me Out
(7) THE MUPPETS – Halfway Down The Stairs (video)
(NEW) TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS – Anything That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll
(1) KENNY ROGERS – Lucille (video)
(3) THE JACKSONS – Show You The Way To Go (and credits)




The repeats shift to Wednesday evenings from next week - which could be a good thing, if it means they no longer have to share the slot with "The Sky At Night"! I suspect there are still more remaining surviving 1977 editions than there are weeks of 2012, though.....

[Graham76man]

The John Miles track is great, it gave Decca records a hit, by then the label was struggling to have hits. In fact it would have (after that one) only 8 offical chart hits till it stopped in 1983.

I bought the Queen EP one of the first picture cover singles that I (in person) bought. Still have it! I don't recall ever listening to the rest of the tracks on it. Must give them a try. Mind you I bet I'm not the only one that never listened to the rest, or the B-Sides of singles. It was a thing you never did

I'm posting some of the 1977 charts and music on my Real Chart blog. It's under the Classic Charts page. It will include not common TOTP featured tracks, if I have them!

[CZB]

Mind you I bet I'm not the only one that never listened to the...B-Sides of singles. It was a thing you never did

You're definitely not alone - I almost never listened to the B-sides, unless they were alternative or instrumental versions of the A-sides!




Tonight's early-evening repeat.....



23-6-77: Presenter: Jimmy Savile O.B.E.

(NEW) DAVE EDMUNDS – I Knew The Bride
(29) TONY ETORIA – I Can Prove It
(NEW) GARY GLITTER – A Little Boogie Woogie In The Back Of My Mind
(6) CAROLE BAYER SAGER – You’re Moving Out Today
(NEW) BROTHERHOOD OF MAN – Angelo
(16) THE STRANGLERS – Go Buddy Go
(NEW) JOHNNY NASH – That Woman
(22) ALESSI – Oh Lori (danced to by Legs & Co)
(NEW) PAUL NICHOLAS – Heaven On The 7th Floor
(1) THE JACKSONS – Show You The Way To Go (video)
(25) T-CONNECTION – Do What You Wanna Do (and credits)



.....sounded complete (the latest so-called "improvements" to the BBC I-player mean that I now can't often get a picture on "live" TV there!) - with maybe just a slightly longer playout on the late night versions tonight and on Saturday.

[Graham76man]

Didn't know that Nick Lowe was a member of Rockpile, but you could see him plain as a bell with Dave Edmunds.

I don't remember ever hearing the Johnny Nash track on the radio at that time

Another terrible live performance for Paul Nicholas. Spoils a great record.
However you will pleased to know that you can listen to the original version, along with Dave Edmunds and T-Conection on my blog!
I even loaded Joy Sarney up for you all

http://therealchart.blogspot.co.uk/p/classic-real-charts.html

[Blondini]

I always listened to b-sides! Sometimes they would be better (or at least as good). What I Meant To Say - b-side of Bangles' Eternal Flame; Silver Blue - b-side of Roxette's The Look.

Glitter song was mimed (badly) this time - not bad track - Shaky covered it in the 80's.

[CZB]

Unseen for thirty-five years, and not as per the archive listing, tonight's 7.30pm repeat seemed complete:




30-6-77: Presenter: Noel Edmonds

(21) T-CONNECTION – Do What You Wanna Do (video)
(5) GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS – Baby Don’t Change Your Mind (video)
(24) JOHN MILES – Slow Down
(29) JESSE GREEN – Come With Me
(17) QUEEN – Good Old Fashioned Loverboy
(NEW) CLIFF RICHARD – When Two Worlds Drift Apart
(22) THE DETROIT EMERALDS – Feel The Need In Me (danced to by Legs & Co)
(3) EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER – Fanfare For The Common Man (video)
(1) HOT CHOCOLATE – So You Win Again
(14) BONEY M - Ma Baker (and credits)



Noel Edmonds tipped the John Miles track as a future number one - but it would only go on to peak at number ten!

[Graham76man]

The Cliff track is super. Pitty that it wasn't a big hit. Cliff was singing live, and his vocals sounded just like the record. It was only spoilt by the backing vocals, which didn't sound like the record.

The T-Connection track is great too. Took me ages to work out the words!
Only did it this year!!
"Let no-one tell you what to do. You've got to be a Judge and Jurry too!"

Next week a hyped record gets on TOTP