TOTP81.15 16/04/81

Repeated on BBCFour 03/03/2016
Full chart here
Presented by Peter Powell

TOTP debut: Department S, Girlschool (without their mates), Ennio Morricone.

Hello and welcome to another Top of the Pops. It's nearly Easter in 1981-land but there's not a creme egg in sight as Pete Powell takes us into The Pops with The Jacksons' Can You Feel It stomping away in the background. Go Pete, go!


Bad Manners - Just a Feeling
They're back again although it does feel like they haven't even been away, but that might be just a feeling. By rights they shoul've been on last week but they were obviously otherwise Fattily engaged. Now at no. 15.

Spandau Ballet - Musclebound (video)
And after all that fat, time for a bit of muscle. Ver Spans themselves are obviously otherwise engaged asit's their grainy video that gets an airing this week. As I've said before it was a kind of 'double A side' with Glow - wish they'd come on to do that one instead. Would've given Bad Manners a run for their money. Now at 18 but there's time to improve.

Girlschool - Hit & Run
After having been given a bit of a leg up (oo-er) by big brother types Motorhead, Girschool after another try at going it alone (after failing last year) with this one. HEavy metal fans obviously still prefer their men rather than women in leather as they don't hals as well as Saxon, the abovementioned Motorhead et al. New at 32 and it won't get much better.

Sugar Minott - Good Thing Going (We’ve Got A Good Thing Going)
Well imagine going into a record shop in 1981 and asking for that. Mind you at this point you probably could've just picked it up off the racks at Woolworths or Boots or somewhere similar, which is what a lot of punters obviously did, as it's up to 7.

Department S - Is Vic There?
About time we had something new and a bit weird, and here indeed are Department S who fit the bill perfectly. They even have a singer who holds the mike like Alvin Stardust used to. This was probably first heard on John Peel's late night weirdo radio programme or some such but somehow theymade their way into the mainstream, and had their one and only hit. Amazingly (according to wiki) they are going to release an album in 2016. Can we wait?

The Beat - Drowning
And here's a combo who did rather well out of 1980 with all those chart singles. this is nice enough although you do get the feeling they are a bit last year's thing warmed up. Not drowning but slowy waving goodbye? Aother double A side with All Out to Get You which was actually a lot better. New at 53.

Whitesnake - Don’t Break My Heart Again
Allegedly caught by BBC cameras (yeah, we believe you Pete) in this faux-live performance, Whitesnake are another one of those macho testosterone-charged heavy metal bands much favoured by fans over girlies in T shirts. Album Come an' Get it (ooo-err!) just out and this is from it. Just made it into the Top 30 at 29.

UK Subs - Keep On Running (Till You Burn)
No strangers to The Pops where they always seem to get the chance to appear and sell a shed load of records afterwards although that never seem to happen. Agian, like Dept. S they are also still going and amazingly have an album out this year and even more amazingly it's their 26th, each one with a title beginning with a consecutive letter of the alphabet.

Ennio Morricone - Chi Mai (Legs & Co.)
Better slow things down a bit after all that post-punk malrkey, and this is where Pete's voice goes all soft and sincere which I really like.... Anyway it's the 'oddity' of the moment with Maestro Ennio Morricone's theme to BBC TV's Lloyd George period-costume drama series thing. You'd be forgiven for thinking that Morricone's pièce sounds a bit dated as it has its origins in one of his film scores from the early 70s, somewaht re-purposed here by Aunt Beeb. Legs rise to the Edwardina occasion by dressing up as Sufragettes putting on thier best BBC drama series serious faces to do a little dance. A nation snoozes off in the armchair.
Coincidentally, thirty five years on, and at the grand old age of 87, Morricone has just been given an Academy Award for his film score for Tarantino's The Hateful Hate. So now you know.

The Cure - Primary
But don't switch off just yet Pop Kids as it's time for a Legendary Post-Punk Moment on Top of the Pops as those weirdos The Cure suddenly appear and 'do' their latest single Primary. Not their first time on the show as Pete would have us believe, as they already had their first pop at chartdom with A Forest a year hence, making it all the way to 31. Primary would fare even worse than that, but no matter - they'll be writing songs about cats and caterpillars and being locked up in wardrobes soon.

The Nolans - Attention to Me
So how do follow up a little known doom and gloom proto-Goth band on The Pops? Why, with the all-singing all-dancing all-smiling Nolans of course! Mind you they have dressed up in their best Gary Numan black jumpsuits for the occasion. Even the Cure had a bit of eighties colour about them. Anyway, like the gals say it's all attention to them as they climb up to no. 14.

Top Ten countdown

Bucks Fizz - Making Your Mind Up
I suppose there were no prizes for guessing that The Fizz would've been this week's new number one, just pipping Shaky and indeed Stevie Wonder to the post. It would've been a laugh if Ennio Morricone had made it instead though eh? Again, they're probably off galavanting over Europe somewhere as this is a repeat showing of oen of their previous jigs.


The Jacksons - Can You Feel It
And we finish as we started with the Jacskon's record on heavy rotation in The Pops studio to see us all out.

So until next week, byeeeeeeeee!

TOTP81.13 2/04/81

Repeated on BBCFour 12/02/2016
Full chart here
Presented by Simon Bates

TOTP debut: Children Of Tansley School, Sugar Minott.

Here we are again and it's April, a wicked month according to some, and we start off with a TOTP as thick as treacle. Some new faces, some new songs although six out of the thirteen featured aren't in the Top 30 and one isn't even near anywhere. Let's get crackin' Simes.

Stiff Little Fingers - Just Fade Away
An energetic start with a somewhat re-vamped Fingers at no.47. Apparently they were told to behave themselves a bit better after last year's shambolic At the Edge performance,. Notwithstanding their somewhat better behaviour this one did indeed fade away.

Dave Stewart & Colin Blunstone – What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted?
A repeat of the studio performance for this cover version now at 17. Spoiler alert: we won't see them again until Christmas.

Light Of The World – Time

More outside the charts wannabes hoping to cash-in on the success of their stablemates Beggar & Co. When it actually gets to the dizzy heights of no. 35 this will be the modestly named Light of the World's biggest 'hit'. By the way they'd already been on The Pops this year with 'I Shot the Sheriff', yewtreed out in 2016.

Liquid Gold - Don't Panic

They just don't give up do they? One place above the Light and still gutted over not getting to no. 1 last year, and to make matters worse this one wasn't chosen as a "Song for Europe" either. The Great British public duly respond by getting this one all the way up to no. 42. Their next single will appropriately be entitled Where Did We Go Wrong?

Stevie Wonder - Lately (video)

Meanwhile in the upper echelons of the chart we hit snooze-ville once more with a Stevie Wonder 'classic'. Mind you if you think this is bad, just wait for Stevie's next single. And he's still sporting the 'big perm' look. When was this video made? 1979?

The Jacksons - Can You Feel It?

Third single from last year's Triumph album and third time lucky it is as it's a hit at last, after the less memorable Lovely One and, er, Heartbreak Hotel singles. A bit of a stomper although it's clear that American dance/disco music is still so clearly stuck in the late seventies. Li'l bro Michael will soon take care of that though.

Children Of Tansley School – My Mum Is One In A Million

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I know very little about this single and its story although we suggest you refer to the excellent World's Worst Records blog for further reading. The only obvious thing is that again they were trying to cash-in on the success of a predecessor: St Winifred's School Choir and their Grandma song,  a hit over Christmas. There had already been a "Granddad" one so they went for "Mum" instead, possibly in view of Easter/Mother's Day and all that. I don't think "Dads" ever got a similar treatment, unless you the reader can prove otherwise. This lot are cute enough but they won't be coming back. They're not even a proper 'choir'.

Sugar Minott – Good Thing Going (We’ve Got A Good Thing Going)

Better get back to the groove. A debut if I'm not very much mistaken and indeed a one-hit wonder. Pity really as, in hindsight, this was quite good and Sugar could've done some more just as good as this.

Lena Zavaroni – Roses & Rainbows

Were it not for the fact that Ms Zavaroni is sadly no longer with us, we might have a few bones to pick with her about how she managed to get her own TV series on BBC One and get on to The Pops without even being anywhere near the charts, and for the second year running! Don't know about audience ratings for her series(s) but record sales were practically zilch! Cynical as we are, we can only conclude that Lena had a lot of friends in high places. One day the truth will out. Rest in peace Lena.

Spandau Ballet - Musclebound

With most of the high-flyers having already been featured last week, The Pops people really have had to dig quite deep to get some new stuff on and we're now way down at no. 53 to drag up the not particularly muscular Spandau Ballet and their third single, a remix of the track from their Journeys to Glory album. It's a bit of a dirge and on the face of it the 'other' A side Glow might have been a better choice to showcase. Nevertheless this performance did the Spans no harm and they're Top 10-bound.

Bucks Fizz - Making Your Mind Up

Eurovision now literally only days away and so here's a repeat of that performance from two week's back, as The Fizz are no doubt busy rehearsing their routine somewhere in Dublin as we speak. Good luck chaps! At no. 5 in the charts now anyway.

Top 10 countdown, featuring Bucks Fizz in a video clip that looks like it was made in the Soviet Union.

Shakin' Stevens - This Ole House 

Still at no. 1 and what appears to be a new studio performance, much like the old one except it features - shock! horror! - male dancers accompanying the five Legs! Sacrilege! Whatever next?

The times they are a-changing.

Play out: The Nolans – Attention To Me

..and I'd really like to know who that guy in the red jumper and school tie is/was. I want to shake his hand.