I presume I don't need to tell you fellow retro junkies that BBC Four is currently screening vintage episodes of "Top of the Pops" roughly 40 years after their original Thursday night broadcast. As such this week saw them screen the debut of dance troupe Ruby Flipper - the little remembered bridge between Pans People and Legs & Co, featuring not only members of both but (shock horror!) three male dancers. Despite this far-sighted intro they only lasted until October, with the press and sixth floor suits giving the thumbs down to a mixed-sex, mixed race option. Suffice to say Floyd left to join Hot Gossip and TOTP itself retired Legs & Co in late 1981 for another mixed sex, mixed race replacement - Zoo.
"S_S_S_Single Bed" by Fox climbs to no4
My Resistance is Low
And from the very same TOTP here's Sir Cliff's classic "Devil Woman" at no24
And so I thought I'd start up a new run of Retro Blasts, just when you were least expecting it. Hoping to make it a 13 week run until the end of July but that is merely an aspiration. I have pencilled in various time travels between 1968 and 2005.
This weekend we start with May 1984. Two months into the miners' strike I remember a fraught day at work on the 9th when a "Day of Action" by various unions had been called in support. I worked at Rosyth Dockyard then, though had only been there 6 months and was a wimpy 19 year old. Though I had been present at the outdoor vote to decided whether the entire workforce would go on strike in support, I'd voted against as I felt it was nothing to do with us and was not keen on the way the vote had been unusually staged so as to intimidate. So I went in on that day and had to run a gauntlet of spitting, swearing and being called a scab - luckily from inside a car on that day - and being scared to leave and suffer it again. I still think I was right - and in July 1986 I joined the local union commitee, staying involved until the mid 90s even after my move to London.
Anyway to fluffier things...
Causing two of the hit singles in this week's chart (see below) was the film "Footloose", starring Kevin Bacon. Playing contrary to his later film roles he was a pin-up dance star in this. The picture here should show why. I always saw it as the male answer to Flashdance the previous year.
It has since been made into a theatrical musical and a remake film is in the works.
On TV - US pace - this week saw the climax of the fourth season of "Dynasty". As with "Dallas" it was not the most memorable of climaxes, save for the departure of Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon. I remember the arrival of Diahann Carroll as 'black bitch' Dominique Devereux in the last two eps (later revealed as the half-sister of Blake Carrington, but generally wasted after an intial impact). Here is that arrival scene, with Joan Collins as Alexis.
Starting this week on UK TV was the second and final series of "The Young Ones". Opening episode on the 8th was "Bambi", where there was an infamous and star-studded send-up of "University Challenge". Motorhead performed "Ace of Spades" as the musical guests that week.
Who could have thunk that 25 years later a main star from "Dynasty" would beat a main star from "The Young Ones" in a kitchen based reality show?
In the UK singles chart Duran Duran were victors with "The Reflex" at no1.
And here are those two tracks from "Footloose". First off, at no9 is Kenny Loggins with the title track...
... and at no18 is Deniece Williams with "Let's Hear it for the Boy". As with the above, this is the (rather bromancey) sequence from the film rather than the promo video.
Another song from the film, Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For a Hero" eventually became a hit here in the summer of 1985 on the back of it's use as the theme of the US TV series "Cover Up"
In what was to be a summer of HiNRG hits, Hazell Dean cracks the top 40 at no40 with "Searchin' (I Gotta Find A Man)" - here seen a little later on "Top of The Pops" ..
As was doubly confirmed this week, both by an official BBC news release and the above next DWM cover (out 10 March), there will be a six-minute special "Doctor Who" sketch for this year's Comic Relief which appears to feature two Amy Ponds. That should be part of the main TV show on Friday, 18th March. Though the main show has done several contributions to Children In Need over the years, most notably "Time Crash" in 2007 and the Eastenders crossover "Dimensions In Time" in 1993, I don't think anything has been done for Comic Relief. There was a Ronnie Corbett-as-a Slitheen skit last time with the "Sarah Jane Adventures" gang though. The canonicity of all of these will be hotly debated.
In what seems to be a general trend for this biennual charity, much of the activity happens in the runup, working as a slow-burn PR strategy. This year we also have the cast of the Inbetweeners travelling to Britain's rudest sounding places, a celebrity Kazoo orchestra for Radio 3, comedian flavour crisp contest (losers get body waxed), presenters/DJs from all the BBC radio stations attempting stand-up slots, and the traditional Comic Relief single, this time by boyband The Wanted (below). And much more as they say!
I've waited until after yesterday's broadcast of the launch show last night before commenting on the celeb line-up that was revealed on Wednesday morning, so I can cover everything else we know so far.
Have to say I was generally rather perked up by the show last night, though the whole premise of the launch made for some odd, unfamiliar moments. First difference was the absence of the usual 'parade of couples' title sequence, as we were there to witness the coupling happening first-hand. In fact, that was almost all that happened in the show. Even the judges had nothing to do, so it was merely courtesy having them there.
The remainder was mostly made up of set piece numbers by the professionals, now split between competing dancers and a smaller band of resident show dancers. Luckily we had three new competing dancers to be introduced to as well - is it just me who thinks the newbies all look like gay porn stars of various flavours? Robin especially reminds me of Ross Hurston (Google at your own risk), Artem looks like your typical Eastern European muscle-hunk and Jared is the supple, doe-eyed twink. Not to say that detracts any from what seem to be effective performers.
Have to say these made the show for me last night - I'd have been fast-forwarding the pairing up 'reveals' if I'd recorded it. Even if it was meant to be what we were tuning in for I'm not convinced that's a USP and I guessed about half of them (Tina & Jared wrote itself) but was surprised at handicapping Widders further by going for Anton, a partner who towers over her. Usually Vincent gets the short girls! Poor Ola has drawn Paul Daniels, but then she did win last year.
Anyway, here's the show's opening, including a storming set piece by the professionals. Some of it I saw for the first time on this YouTube clip as BBC Scotland (I assume) blacked out several minutes of vision just before it cut to the studio. I'm sure there was a lot of fury at such incompetence.
As I said, not much celeb dancing went on, with the exception of an only slightly practiced group dance right at the end, after the pairings were revealed. Some have noted that this somehow means everyone knew the pairings in advance, but I'm not convinced as this was an organised chaos of partnering off (even the unfortunately captured preview still has Paul and Widders lunging for each other and Scott Maslen can also seen in the embrace of ex-co-star Kara Tointon). I think the dancers will have been told, for obvious preparation reasons, but not the celebs who wouldn't really benefit from knowing. It's not much to go on, but most seem satisfactory in this number. The wobblers I spotted were Widders - who has god given handicaps - and Gavin Henson, who appeared to think it was a conga at a wedding. Widders will be kept in beyond her ability of course. Gavin though seems to be deliberately building a public personna as a bit of a conker-tinted plonker, so that may not be the best for getting an audience lifeline in this show.
Anyway, I checked the betting odds for who'd be this year's champ when the celeb line-up was announced, but before this show taped on Wednesday night so I looked again this morning to see the difference. And there wasn't much actually. I've reproduced them below.
I'm dismayed to see Kara on top there - frankly she shouldn't be there. For one thing she has a strong whiff of 'stand-by' in a year where the show has generally upped its game in casting. It also makes Strictly 2010 too heavy with people who are or have been in "Eastenders" (Scott, Goldie & Jimi being the others) and I suspect the bosses would rather not have done that. More importantly, she's already had a crack at it for Sport Relief, and that should disqualify you I think. So I hope the bookies are wrong there.
No surprise to see ex-gymnast and ready-for-anything Matt Baker as top placed male celeb. He'll also have a wide audience appeal from both "Countryfile" and his "Blue Peter" days. Plus he's 'a very nice man' (and sexy ... if not sitting next to Richard Bacon, Simon Thomas or Gethin Jones) Remains to be seen if he's got rhythm, though his era of BP did involve some musical stunts and he once was a disco dancer of some description . Jimi and Scott will have to have good stamina and attitude to keep up I think, but that's perfectly possible.
Pleased to see Felicity placed so strongly - I hope she makes it to the final in fact. And I'm trusting Bruno that Pamela will also be a dark horse. Those two laydeez were such potent sex-bombs to my generation of telly watchers that even I'm not immune to their charms... and if Pam stays in I can also ogle James ;)
So that's my initial thoughts. I'll probaby be back in three weeks when each of them give us a waltz or a cha-cha. The latter is always a good laugh at the very least, though I hope they give Widders & Anton the waltz first. She's surely experienced enough Tory balls over the years to wing that.
ISTR no-one is being elimated that weekend though, so all the couples get a chance at a ballroom and a latin.
I presume I don't need to tell you fellow retro junkies that BBC Four is currently screening vintage episodes of "Top of the Pops" roughly 40 years after their original Thursday night broadcast. As such this week saw them screen the debut of dance troupe Ruby Flipper - the little remembered bridge between Pans People and Legs & Co, featuring not only members of both but (shock horror!) three male dancers. Despite this far-sighted intro they only lasted until October, with the press and sixth floor suits giving the thumbs down to a mixed-sex, mixed race option. Suffice to say Floyd left to join Hot Gossip and TOTP itself retired Legs & Co in late 1981 for another mixed sex, mixed race replacement - Zoo.
