I give marks out of 10 to every song – based on whatever criteria you like, here’s your opportunity to say what you’d have given more than 6 to from 1976. Tick as many as you like.
Loading ...And use the comments to discuss the year as a whole, if you like.
Tom in FT /Popular • featured content/Pop/popular year poll • 9,618 views
All, 1–25, 26–50, 51–75, 76–100, 101–125, 126–150, 151–175, 176–200, 201–225, 226–250, 251–275, 276–300, 301–325, 326–350, 351–375, 376–400, 401–425, 426–450, 451–475, 476–500, 501–525, 526–551.Back up to post. More comments: All, 1–25, 26–50, 51–75, 76–100, 101–125, 126–150, 151–175, 176–200, 201–225, 226–250, 251–275, 276–300, 301–325, 326–350, 351–375, 376–400, 401–425, 426–450, 451–475, 476–500, 501–525, 526–551.
All the UK number ones since 1952, reviewed in order and rated by whim. As featured on Radio 2, The Times, Metro, Paul Cornell's LiveJournal, etc etc.
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#400. Gary Glitter was on twice with “It Takes All Night Long” in Jan / Feb 77 (and in June 1977 with “A Little Boogie Woogie…”).
Jonathan King, Oct 78 with “One For You One For Me”.
As I said upthread, it was an awful performance of “It only takes a minute” anyway, as he’d varisped the vocal/backing for the record, and could not hit those notes for real.
re 400: My main response to the Rollers in close up was who on earth found these guys attractive???? I assume Les McKeown was considered the main looker and he resembles a Raith Rovers full back.
TOTP from 7th October
Jimmy Saville sporting an OGWT badge on a Union Flag shirt
T.Rex – Marc Bolan trying to sound heavy – looking heavy set – did Jimmy Saville make up the ‘in at 42′?
Pussycat – pleasant song that inexplicably provoked heated debate on Popular a while back
Rick Dees and his Cast of Idiots – efficient groove – hideous vocal and visuals – Cast of Idiots is flattering
England Dan & John Ford Coley – crazy names – insipid guys
Jimmy plus some sailors introduce
Detroit Spinners – wonderful,fantastic groove- even Ruby Flipper couldn’t screw this up
The Manhattans – smooth soul – interesting comparison with Boyz II Men – this sounds more compelling, more supple, less inhibited
Paul ‘ubiquitous’ Nicholas – third rate dross – did he have a key to the TOTP studio or compromising photos of the producer? mercifully cut short
Smokie – memorable hook – sounding good after Paul Nicholas – another reason to hate him
Jimmy with an old bald bloke with a rictus grin – should we recognise him?
Abba – genius
Or, as I texted to the Swede partway through the Manhattans: “Note to Boyz II Men – THIS is how it’s done!”
Bolan lost a bit of weight and looked rather better by the time of the “Marc” TV series, but sobering to think he had less than a year to live at this point.
Pussycat we’ve discussed on here; I find that and ED+JFC to be guilt-free pleasures. Heck, didn’t even mind Paul Nicholas that much, he’s never pretending it’s art and this time he’s not even pretending it’s reggae.
And as I see I mentioned on the Pussycat thread, this was the very week of the first Multi-Coloured Swap Shop!
#404, no Jim was right about Marc’s “in at 47″.. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=6993 shows that it didn’t go any higher than ‘chart position of death’ 41.
Best reason for having Nicholas on was a second helping of Ruby Flipper’s Sue and her blonde pal – earlier seen sporting what must have been the shortest shorts ever seen on TOTP. However, the Flipper won’t be with us much longer.
Nice one, Lazarus. Both Erithian and I will be delighted that Mucky Sue has another panting fan. Undiluted filth, that gal and we’re loving it.. (That’s far enough – Ed)
Marc B – Distinctly unimpressive outing this time. But, Erithian’s right, it was indeed sad to note that life wouldn’t be a gas for him for much longer.
Pussycat – More about this very puzzling record next time, perhaps. Middle girl looked quite yummy, though.
Rick Dees – Still love the arrangement to this, the duck notwithstanding.
ED+JFC – Yes, they may have names resembling Mark Twain characters but I for one liked them. And liked this.
Paul Nicholas – I could be wrong but I seem to recall he did this one on the Sooty show, which probably is less detrimental to Mr Nicholas than it is to me for watched having watched The Sooty Show as a 15 year-old. Although this was only because I had a thing for Mucky Soo.. (You’re skating on thin ice here, Swede – Ed)
Smokie – Not smoking for me at all, I’m afraid. Just lifeless and dull.
Manhattans – I don’t know about Boyz II Men. But one or two of these Manhattan lads should have gone to Specsavers as well as the barbers. Cheesy wee song too.
Abba – Faultless.
Detroit Spinners – I remember buying this record. The Pilgrim describes it as “a wonderful fantastic groove”. And so it is. And it has to be said that it wasn’t a “band” but another rubber object I was thinking of whilst staring at Mucky Sue… (Right. That’s it. You’re barred – Ed)
T Rex: Why don’t I recognise this at all? How queer. Mildly impressed by the very ’76 pub rock chops (had Dr Feelgood scored their no.1 album by this point?), more impressed by Marc’s 80s-anticipating make-up.
Pussycat: Swede, you dawg. They are not lookers, and the song is so dull, so very dull.
Rick Dees: much less fun without Cherry. Doesn’t this kind of novelty record normally suggest a pop trend in its terminal phase?
ED+JFC “I’m not talking ’bout the linen, and I don’t want to change your whites”. An MOR, cheap date classic, masquerading as a Daz advert.
Detroit Spinners: Great record, great stripy outfits (I see no shorts, only knicks). According to wiki it was written by Thom Bell about his overweight son, and was sung by Lynda Carter on the Muppet Show. MUST SEE!
Manhattans: First a hit, with a mindblowingly fierce vocal, for Timi Yuro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPy-Memj0vE and was also one of the better moments in a mid 70s Elvis set http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLLEZMTqjDg
both of which (much as I’m a soft soul softie) make the Manhattans seem desperately limp. This was a soundalike follow-up to their US no.1/UK no.4 Kiss And Say Goodbye.
Paul Nicholas: What is this music meant to be? I mean, really?? At least two more uber-chipper identical sounding PN hits to come! Gawdelpus.
Smokie: Can’t keep up with the storyline, and the chorus does sound like “John and Sean’s wee swee will never be” which makes it clear as mud, but I’m impressed by the hanging chad ending and the cod Euro arrangement.
Abba: Look at Frida. She’s so happy that, out of all the girls in the world, she got to sing Dancing Queen.
Wichita: yes, the date for “Stupidity” entering the album chart at number one was 9 October 1976, so it would have been the very week this TOTP was broadcast (7 October). And we’re only a fortnight away from the release of “New Rose”, not that that’ll get on the show.
Same week?? Well, that doesn’t account for the production but clearly there was something in the air. Something to replace disco, if Disco Duck was the canary (?) in the coalmine. Tortuous. Soz.
Tonight’s show:
Last appearance of Ruby Flipper, also their sauciest. But what a tease… dancing to Wild Cherry, two weeks after Cherry left the show.
Tavares – literally caught in a Disco Inferno. American film stock looks antique next to the clean, flat BBC footage.
David Essex – oh, I love this. From his urban (as in Canning Town) concept album and near-masterpiece, Out In The Streets. Coming Home was in the chart when McDonalds opened in Croydon, only the third in the country (after Woolwich and Victoria). I went with my family and my friend Pete’s family – it was a proper night out. Me and Pete amused ourselves by messing with the lyric to Coming Home so it incorporated the legend “apple pie – caution: filling is hot”. It seemed like a hilarious and entirely unnecessary “caution” to an 11-yr old. Thin end of the health and safety wedge. Blame Hamburglar.
Liverpool Express – very disappointing follow up to the narcotic delights of You Are My Love. A merseybeat re-run which, without the LX echo chamber and Fender Rhodes, is ok and no more.
Simon May – a home counties Macarthur Park, hence very me. Twinkle once told me that, when they were both working at ATV Music, she found Simon May with his ear to her keyhole trying to pinch her melodies. But she didn’t claim to have written the C4 jingle or EastEnders theme which made May a wealthy man.
Pussycat – it dawned on me tonight that I have no idea what Mississippi is about. What music are they mourning the loss of exactly? Country music dead? In 1976?? “Forever lost in soul” – not with Don Williams and Billie Jo Spears it wasn’t.
Or indeed with Emmylou Harris and the Highwaymen.
Did you know David Dundas – another TOTP 1976 alumnus – wrote the original four-note Channel 4 jingle? It surprises me this hasn’t been mentioned upthread, but nevertheless it doesn’t appear to have been.
I thought that was Simon May? Well I never! Dundas also wrote Daybreak — aka the start up music for TV-am.
May wrote a couple of hits that Lena will be dealing with in time: Born With A Smile On My Face by my favourite glamorous leftie Stephanie De Sykes*, and More Than In Love by Kate Robbins which I recall exercising Tony Blackburn at the time. “More than in love? You’re in love! How can you be MORE than in love?” he fumed.
* except Camila Vallejo of course:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1KYWcYK38k&feature=related
I’d forgotten all about Simon ‘Eastenders’ May’s hit – but I thought it sounded like a cheap “Music” knock-off – especially with the uptempo instrumental break and orchestral backing. He wasn’t much of a singer was he – no surprise he was more in demand as a producer/arranger.
Yes, the last of the Flipper, and it seems to have been downsized from seven to five anyway, but some or all of the gals will make it into Leg and Co.
A very weak show this time, I think.
Tavares – A reasonable opener to a grainy footage. The guy at the end was the spit of the great Light-Heavyweight champion Bob Foster, who knocked Chris Finnegan out in London. Knew you’d be fascinated by that!
I simply couldn’t remember the David Essex record at all. He was smiling very girlishly and was cleary still in his teeny-bopper orbit. But Theartreland was soon to claim him.
Sherbet (again) but I for one am not complaining. Howzat? Not out! Great stuff!
Simon May looked worthy of a dry slap.
Liverpool Express – Back again? Did these numpties have shares? Go away!
The Flips dancing to Wild Cherry – The highlight of the show for me beyond any doubt. Mucky Sue and the gals in split skirts displaying garters bounding along to one of the best records of the seventies. You do the maths!
Pussycat – One of the great mystery number ones of the decade. And Lineman’s right. What the devil is this song about and do we care?
An unobtrusive showing from Diddy. But doesn’t he just love the girls!
May I offer again for perusal the comment I originally made concerning “Mississippi” when we discussed the record over three years ago? The reason being, the little tale I relate is most certainly pertinent to the ’76 charts we have now reached on the TOTP broadcasts.
“By this stage of the game, Johnnie Walker, whom regular Popular pilgrims will recognise as a Waldo idol, along with Jack Regan (fictional) and Gerald Ford (also fictional), had been replaced by the much more servile Paul Burnett, who even so wasn’t a bad lad. Twas Paul who introduced a simple but extremely popular competition aligned to the chart rundown every Tuesday. This “Top Three Forecast” offered what was then a fabulous prize. It was record tokens, which would enable the winner to either purchase the Top 20 Singles (or 20 singles) or else a number of albums to the same value. I sent in a card every week, as did Martin, a boy in my own form at school, who was to become a career copper in the Met. I was destined much later to follow him into Law Enforcement but a different Agency. On one particular week during October 1976, my top three prediction was that “Mississippi” by Pussycat would remain at the top with numbers two and three swapping places, hardly an earth shattering guess. Indeed it was not, because I was spot on, as was most of Britain, I would suspect. I was at home having lunch before returning to school when the result was announced and I kid you not, sweet little Waldo won it! I received the tokens along with a message from Derek Chinnery, Controller of Radio One and I decided to pick and mix both singles and albums, one of which was Stevie Wonder’s “Songs In The Key Of Life”, Stevie’s finest hour for me and something which being a double album would certainly have been out of my reach without this good fortune. Back at school, I predictably attracted congratulations and envy in equal measure. I remember Martin saying to me; “I always enter that. Why can’t I ever win that?” I looked at him and said: “You’ll probably win it next week!” It was a throwaway line, of course, but bugger me, he bloody well did! The very next week! To put this into perspective is almost unbelievable. Two boys in the exact same form at school winning back to back prizes on what was then Britain’s premier national radio station. It doesn’t seem possible but that’s exactly what happened.
As for “Mississippi”, I felt that this was simply a Dutch Eurovision reject which struck lucky. How did it spend a month at the top? I quite liked the girl who sang it but the monumental success of this record provided a mystery to which, I fancy, I shall never have an answer. But that astonishing business with the Top Three Forecast will always make it for me distinctly memorable.
Happy Days!”
This seems as good a place as any to say Jimmy Saville R.I.P.
Amen to that Pilgrim. Without exposure to our pop heritage from Sir Jimmy’s Sunday afternoon shows, many of us might not be here on this website. A real national treasure, who was there right at the start of things with discos and TOTP. Thanks from all the guys and gals.
The passing of a legend in the truest sense of the word. I have many fond memories of listening to Jimmy Saville’s Old Record Club, discovering old hits for the 1st time or even the 100th time. Jimmy made each hit he played feel like a gift. Even the “open brackets…close brackets” seemed more significant. He was more than a DJ when I heard him, more like a curator who made sure we knew all the little details were correct and in order.
Then there was TOTP. No need for any bland DJ patter or bad jokes, just pure enthusiasm for all those wonderful performers. We’ll not see his like again.
The things you find when googling stuff
http://panspeople.com/ but about all TOTP dance troupes
(googling ENTIRELY INNOCENT stuff i might needlessly add)
May I add my own loving tribute to Jim and echo the sentiments appended above. He was a true one-off and a true pioneer. An oddball? Well, yes, of course. But Jim did so much good and gave so much pleasure to so many folk. And also, as Erithian says, it was largely down to Jim that we are all here on this site. I would certainly like to think that someone in another place has fixed something wonderful for him. A marvellous man.
Since the Pussycat, Mississippi comments section is closed for some reason, I’ll add here that I just checked and Mississippi spent 10 weeks at #1 in NZ (not notably in Eurovision’s orbit apart from Abba). They got a second big hit in 1977 when My Broken Souvenirs spent 5 weeks at #1. Listening to these songs now that’s very hard to understand: neither has much character that I can discern. They make soft countryish stuff from the time by the Eagles, Olivia Newton John, Linda Ronstadt, John Denver, seem pretty fierce by comparison (and none of them hit nearly as big as Pussycat with that stuff on the singles chart). The Pop gods are strange…
Being the pioneer of the use of two decks is enough to elevate him to legend status but he was so much more than that – and he remained a truly unique presence in British popular culture for the best part of 5 decades.
He came past me in his Roller on a roundabout in north Leeds one Sunday morning a few years back, driving leant low down across his seat hand on top of wheel as laid back as it gets – he really was the larger than life “Jimmy Saville” 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
The death of a celebrity hasn’t made such a big impact on me since Michael Jackson.
RIP Jimmy.