TOTP81.17 30/04/81

Not repeated on BBCFour
Full chart here
Presented by Jimmy Savile

TOTP debut: Tenpole Tudor, The Human League (Mk. 2).

For those of you just arriving from another planet, having been away since 2004, we inform you that this show, as well as others, was not repeated by the BBC in 2016 as it was presented by Jimmy Savile (aka Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile, OBE, KCSG9 who has therefore been banished from our screens forever more, along with another presenter and DJ Dave Lee Travis (aka The Hairy Cornflake) . Alas, it's all a bit of shame of course as we don't get to see so many episodes of our fave music TV show which were so fundamental in the course of popular musical history, especially in the magical year of 1981. But of course we must respect the victims of the aformentioned persons' wrong-doings and just take it all as it comes, keeping our rundown and commentary as simple as we can. Except when it comes to The Human League.

Thin Lizzy - Are You Ready?
As this was from a live EP one wonders how this was performed in the TOTP studio. Anyway it obvs worked well as The Lizzy went forward with leaps and bounds after this week's 43 spot.

Madness - Grey Day
In which the Nutty Boys go all Joy Division, cut the whacky crap and give us one of their better, more mature tunes. The video is still a bit 'nutty' though of course as they filmed it in and around their native Camden rather than in a grimy Manchester slum or an a deserted beach. Second week in charts and already no. 5.

The Beat - All Out to Get You
Fellow, or former fellow, ska-based band The Beat seem to be stuck in a bit of a musical rut on the other hand, even though this is better than the other side of the double 'A' side single, ie. Drowning. Struggling a bit at 22 and that's as far as it goes.

Sheena Easton - When He Shines
We haven't seen or heard of wee Sheena for a bit (and we didn't get to hear or see her this time either), not since 1980 in fact, as her last single bombed in February. They're still managing to milk the debut album Take My Time though, with this the fifth single from said opus now at 42.

Dept. S - Is Vic There?
Vic still obviously not coming to the phone, much to the advantage of Dept. S who go up a couple of places to no. 28

Ennio Morricone - Chi Mai
Fighting for the top spot but Ennio's doing a bit of a Vienna hanging round the no. 2 position again this week. A video was shown, apparently.

Spandau Ballet - Musclebound
Another repeat performance. The Spans are up to no. 13 but I still reckon they were wrong not to do Glow on The Pops.

Quincy Jones - Ai No Corrida
We're having had a good run of quality British acts and songs on so far tonight (save for Maestro Morricone), so better have some senseless American rubbish eh? Amazingly however I learn from Wikipedia that this song was nota Quincy original but was co-written by Chaz Jankel of Ian Dury & the Blockheads fame. Intrigued? Read more here.

The Teardrop Explodes - Treason (It's Just a Story)
As with another artist/song we'll be hearing about in a few moments this one suffers in 2016 from the fact that it/they were introduced either by JS or DLT. And again we'll never know if this was the time that Julian Cope was off his head on chemical substances or not. Plus it's a damn good song so it's utterly unfair we didn't get to see it again. Expectations were very high for The Teardrops' follow-up to Reward as they were only at no. 56 and on The Pops already.

Tenpole Tudor - Swords of a Thousand Men
OK well if you enjoyed all that dressing up as American Indians, pirates, and God knows what else in the early 80s then you probably would have enjoyed this lot's faux-medieval costumes, fake armour and the like. Swashbuckling chic was in, and Tenpole were at 37.

The Human League - The Sound of the Crowd

The last time we saw this band on the Pops they were little more than a group of all-male slightly geeky computer-operator types who didn't know whether they wanted to be Kraftwerk or The Glitter Band. Since then things have changed, however. The original band have split and the singer, one Phil Oakey - him with the lop-sided haircut - and his ginger haired, er, slide operator mate Adrian Wright have brought in a slightly more musically savvy other bloke and two dancing, chanting schoolgirls in in order to turn The Human League into something new. After an unsuccessful interim single Boys and Girls (coincidentally released the same day as the also unsuccessful debut single by Depeche-ay Mode), The Brand New Human League have upped their game, put their glad rags on and decided to add their voice to the sound of the eighties crowd, and indeed stand way above it (albeit on high heels). Written by Oakey and new boy Ian Burden, the new single sounded like it had come not from Sheffield but straight from outer space. The lyrics were a call to arms for a new generation of pop kids, a series of imperatives going from the direct - "Get in line now!" "Stay in time with the rhythm and rhyme!" - to the obscure - "Make a shroud pulling combs through a backwash frame", "Stroke a pocket with a print of a laughing sound!" (we had to wait for the lyrics to appear in Smash Hits to get them all), complete with Glitter-esque "Woah-woah-woah"s and resounding electronic hand-claps to punctuate the chorus, and stay in time. Faithful to their all-electronic sonic ethos, The League with the help of producer Martin Rushent, had come up with a single that would pave their way to stardom and lay down the foundations for a plethora of 'synth-pop' hits during the rest of 1981 and beyond. Considering the visual as well as the sonic impact of this crucial debut, more's the pity we didn't get to see this again in 2016. Joanne and Susan, stage front, had famously been taken out of school to appear on the show, while the lads had brought along some slim line keyboards and a couple of reel-to-reel tape recorders to defy the standard guitars and drums set-up, which was still the norm, while not forgetting the lipstick and eyeliner. The result was an explosion in sound and vision as important as that of, say, Gary Numan in 1979, or Adam and the Ants and Spandau Ballet a few months previously. To quote a fellow-tweeter, can you imagine any young UK band in 2016 releasing anything as vital, exciting and essential as this track? Check tonight's performance out on youtube, stay in time with the rhythm and rhyme, and add your voice.

Bucks Fizz - Making Your Mind Up
Third and final week at the top. (Video + credits). No-one was quite ready for what would come next.

Further reading: Smash Hits 30 April 1981

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!