Old TOTP (BBC4) (6 Viewers)

I was wondering why D:Ream were back with Things Can Only Get Better and then realised in was May 1997. Must be one of the strangest ways to score a hit of the decade, if not ever.
 
This era where even Robbie Williams has a backing band who look like they've just failed the audition for a Paul Weller tribute was really quite grim in many ways.
 
I remember Bodyshaking by 911 but had forgotten the dance move that made The Other Two Blokes look like dogs having a shit.
 
Looking at the chart going past the Cardigans and realising that a whole month had to get skipped :(
 
Kenickie blowing their own career by releasing a single with The Rubbish One on vocals. Ah well.
 
I can't hear this Seahorses song without thinking of The Shirehorses' superior spoof...

 
This is a really non-descript episode. There's been a lot of discussion of 1993-1995 on a Discord server I;m on recently and it's remarkable how many great albums there were - 1997 really does feel like a mid-point with one thing winding down but before the next truly gets started.
 
...as if to prove it, Gary Barlow's beige wallpaper at #1. I had forgotten this existed and fully expect to find myself in the exact same position by nightfall.
 
Yeah, after a blazer of an opening start 1997 has felt quite TEPID and in a bit of a rut for the last few weeks. Although there's actually still plenty of great stuff in there (COCO JAMBOO!), it's just getting ignored for yet another helping of a guitar band nobody even THEN plausibly really cared about either.
 
I had erased all memory of North & South - this is absolute shite! They look and sound like someone wanted to somehow crossbreed 911 and The Progidy at a Christian youth club.
 
Sinead. :(

I started welling up as soon as she started to sing.
 
I barely noticed Sinead O'Connor during this period, I'll admit. My 1997 is Blur, Pavement, Autechre, Radiohead, Spiritualized and a near-feverish exploration of the newly discovered lo-fi underground; DIY 7" singles and weird cassettes abounded as did Sonic Youth's noisy solo projects. I thought myself quite the aesthete, which is hilarious to me now and perhaps typical of the hubris of one's early 20s. So I did have a bit of a blindside at this time, that's all I;m saying.
 
Right, back on the soapbox. Wonderful Tonight is one of the worst songs ever written. Clapton was an abysmal partner - just ask Patti Boyd. He was a world class misogynist who fucked and chucked his way through the 60s and, when on the Bolivian marching powder, delivered more than one dry slap to a woman. This song is indicative of his mindset, seemingly thinking that the odd compliment here and there wipes it all away and makes him a true romantic. It seems to have receded in this century but the ubiquity of this (and The Lady In Red which was just a rewrite of Wonderful Tonight) was a severe irritant in the late 90s.

Damage couldn't possibly have made it any worse but they shouldn't have tried.
 
Mary J Blige has that indefinable star quality. She just has to turn up, do her thing and she's mesmerising. Her music isn't my cuppa but she is undeniable.
 
Why did Gary Borelow get another full appearance after dropping from 1 to 6?? Bizarre stuff.
 
I missed that episode for some reason

I thought I could smell the DREAD HAND of TOM WATKINS on NORTH AND SOUTH and so it proves. Might check out the TONY DE VIT REMIX though :disco:

What WAS that thing about Mary J Blige and CLUBBING SEALS? :D
 
Shirley said:
I missed that episode for some reason

I thought I could smell the DREAD HAND of TOM WATKINS on NORTH AND SOUTH and so it proves. Might check out the TONY DE VIT REMIX though :disco:

What WAS that thing about Mary J Blige and CLUBBING SEALS? :D
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She clubbed seals for nice coats.
 
HOT POP FACT - I remember reading in Smash Hits that U2 wanted Mandy Dingle from "Emmerdale" in this video for "Last Night On Earth" but the show's producers wouldn't give her the time off :(
 
I'm just catching up. That Rosie Gaines perf was the tits.

Mr Ag noticed that one the musicians performing on Time To See Goodbye was one of the musicians in Titanic.

I unashamedly love Ashes to Ashes, which confused Mr Ag.

The George Michael appearance was POINTLESS.
 
Surely this is the last we see of Wet Wet Wet, with this pointless cover of "Yesterday" their final hit.
 
Quite the... energetic... opener from Gala on this episode! :D It's giving terrifying Zumba instructor.
 
God, to quote the Pet Shop Boys, Shaggy really did make ever such a little go a VERY LONG WAY
 
Christ it’s a testament to their power at the time that TOTP let them do the full 7 minutes of this dreck. It’s like a third of the show!
 
Tony Moran really did spruce HIStory into a bop. This original version is dirge.

So so much missed out cos of puff. One minute Easther and Verbie are at number two and giving us live gospel the next they have sunk to the bottom of the top 20
 
I get it though. If they showed r kelly and p dodgy the anti woke anti bbc lot would be up in arms.

Neither had any real long lasting hits afterwards and we are heading into safe waters of new number one each week with the only long runners being Elton John and Cher so we should be ok and not have huge chunks removed!
 
Sardonicus said:
6 bloody weeks skipped thanks to P Diddy :angry: Couldn't they have just cut the video out?
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The reason they don’t do this is apparently because they USED to do this. Then FORMER MOOPY POSTER and RENOWNED CUNT Jonathan King complained regarding lost royalties or something when they cut one of his tracks out of an episode. So you’ve got him to thank!
 
Tetris-Rock said:
The reason they don’t do this is apparently because they USED to do this. Then FORMER MOOPY POSTER and RENOWNED CUNT Jonathan King complained regarding lost royalties or something when they cut one of his tracks out of an episode. So you’ve got him to thank!
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That's exactly it. If they don't show the episode at all, they avoid any possible trouble. You can't complain about not getting a slice of pie if there's no pie to start with but it's a right pisser. They could at least do a 1997 compilation with the best stuff from the cut episodes - you can't sue because you're not in a compilation.
 
I've got a Mark and Lard episode here after seeing them IN THE FLESH this week. Legends.
 
Brian Molko absolutely leaning into it with a pink guitar, red nails and a skirt. Nowadays he has a tache and looks like an extra from a western.
 
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