Old TOTP (BBC4)

It's actually annoying how dreadful EC later became when he was tossing things like this off under record-company-irritating aliases.
 
Peel! "Big Country, the band who put the "tree" back into "Country" :D!
 
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Not seen this week's yet. Just to add that last week's episodes were pretty poor, accept for and I say this begrudgingly - The Police.
 
I'm sure George Michael rips that super average George Benson song off at some point.
 
Watching this back and realising David Grant was as much of an irrelevant chart force as he was an irrelevant TV star.
 
Mike Oldfield - quite possibly the worst record ever made by anyone ever.
 
I love IOU, but imagine my surprise that Freeez were two white men.
 
I struggle to recall times when Elton John and Rod Stewart were genuine hitmakers, so it's quite the revelation to see them at their commercial peaks.
 
octophone said:
Mike Oldfield - quite possibly the worst record ever made by anyone ever.
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I'm often partial to Moonlight Shadow. It reminds me of peak era Fast Show.

There's a trashy Euro version of it I'm especially keen on by Groove Coverage.
 
I unashamedly love Moonlight Shadow.

We're a couple of episodes behind at the moment. Are we going to get Bucks Fizz performing When We Were Young, or has that one been Yewtreed?
 
Ag said:
This H20 lot sank without a trace.
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I encountered one of them years later working in a recording studio on the outskirts of Glasgow. He was the engineer and was more than content. Sarky bastard, mind you.
 
Ag said:
And where is Mike Smith now?

What the FUCK was it with DJs getting moral complexes over songs in the 1980s, when most them were fucking kids anyway...?
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He's 6 foot under. And somehow not allowing the TOTP he presented from being shown on BBC4. It's amazing how ex-presenters can have this control from beyond the grave...
 
One of the conspiracy theories was that Mike Smith 'mysteriously' died in surgery because he knew what was going on and was going to blow the whole thing open. Perhaps he was just trying to protect us from sex, drugs and rock n' roll.
 
The TOTP ban as discussed in the TOTP thread is fucking ridiculous.
 
lolly said:
One of the conspiracy theories was that Mike Smith 'mysteriously' died in surgery because he knew what was going on and was going to blow the whole thing open. Perhaps he was just trying to protect us from sex, drugs and rock n' roll.
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Perhaps he didn't want to be guilty by association.
 
lolly said:
One of the conspiracy theories was that Mike Smith 'mysteriously' died in surgery because he knew what was going on and was going to blow the whole thing open. Perhaps he was just trying to protect us from sex, drugs and rock n' roll.
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That sounds like a David Icke conspiracy theory! As Ag has said the TOTP ban is ridiculous, all of Smith's hosted editions (up to June 1983) are freely available to download and view. His wife / widow apparently won't allow the BBC to show them.
 
I refuse to believe that someone as SHITE as MIKE FUCKING SMITH is a member of the Illuminati.
 
Ag said:
I love IOU, but imagine my surprise that Freeez were two white men.
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THIS. Also I hadn't really noticed quite how strained his voice is before.

I also love that Shakatak song. The moderate hits by readily available acts often turn out to be quite the revelation.
 
On digitalspy someone is claiming that both Smith and Greene (he was still alive when BBC4 started showing the repeats) never wanted it to be repeated, due to bitterness with the BBC and work opportunities. And that Greene has been suggesting people watch Smith hosted episodes online.
 
Ag said:
Why did HE have any say over it?!
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I find it odd that any contract would have allowed him any say over the possibility of repeats. And then for that permission to pass to a widow seems even more strange.

But like we've said elsewhere (would it be too much of a ballache to merge somehow), I'd like them to make TOTP2 style compilation programmes from all the missing episodes.
 
Yes! I've been playing that Shakatak song a bit and quite enjoying it. Not as much as Sisters of Mercy bizarrely!
 
Neither should have any say over it - his TOTP editions should be shown. It's not like he did a Jimmy Savile or even a "groper" DLT... he was a rather bland presenter but a quarter of TOTP 1984, due to start in June, will be taken out because of Sarah Greene refusing to allowing them to be showed.
 
NOT 1984! Saville ends at the end of 1983, there's no break now.

Also who cares about DLT... who hasn't fondled someone?!
 
Fingers crossed the Tony Dortie revelations are held back unti about 2024.
 
I don;t get it either. So in the 90s when they had all those guest hosted episodes by the likes of Take That, Chris Eubank, Kylie etc. would they have a say too? Who CARES who presented it?
 
I wonder if Smith originally had a contact that specifically stated they couldn't show repeats?
 
I've never watched the BBC4 repeats. Are they actually doing them all in order? If so, where are they up to and how often do they run? I would be VERY interested in watching the 90s ones.
 
lolly said:
I wonder if Smith originally had a contact that specifically stated they couldn't show repeats?
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According to Noel Edmonds, who posts over at the Digital Spy Top Of The Pops thread, Smith wasn't the most popular of Radio 1 DJs and Top Of The Pops presenters so when he started kicking up a fuss about old BBC broadcasts being shown with him hosting he refused to allow his programmes to be shown and the BBC just stopped trying to negotiate with him. Not that Smith could have a say but the BBC just gave in to shut him up. And after he died and Sarah started getting a bit mouthy saying that the BBC should respect his wishes the BBC seemed to give up.
 
Eileen said:
I've never watched the BBC4 repeats. Are they actually doing them all in order? If so, where are they up to and how often do they run? I would be VERY interested in watching the 90s ones.
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See the topic. I only got into them a few months ago and regret not starting earlier. Up to two a week(?) Thursday and or Friday and yes they're in order. You can catch up on about the last 6 on iPlayer which are normally unedited, unlike some of the BBC4 shows which are cut. Currently in spring 1983.
 
Eileen said:
I've never watched the BBC4 repeats. Are they actually doing them all in order? If so, where are they up to and how often do they run? I would be VERY interested in watching the 90s ones.
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They are up to June 1983, 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police are at number 1... and yup, the broadcasts are being shown in date order, apart from the ones that can't be shown for various reasons. The reasons being if the host was a kiddie fiddler who was fond of cigars and who was a relentless charity raiser, a groper or Mike Smith...
 
Robbie said:
According to Noel Edmonds, who posts over at the Digital Spy Top Of The Pops thread, Smith wasn't the most popular of Radio 1 DJs and Top Of The Pops presenters so when he started kicking up a fuss about old BBC broadcasts being shown with him hosting he refused to allow his programmes to be shown and the BBC just stopped trying to negotiate with him. Not that Smith could have a say but the BBC just gave in to shut him up. And after he died and Sarah started getting a bit mouthy saying that the BBC should respect his wishes the BBC seemed to give up.
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I find it really quite odd that they would just give up if he didn't have a say, and even more so that they would simply go on honouring it after his death, if there is nothing that Greene could do. Unless it fits in with other scheduling plans, or that they thought the entire run was already so incomplete due to Saville and DLT, that there was really no point in trying to push it.

But then I'm still not entirely sure that not showing the Saville and (particularly) the DLT shows was the right decision in the first place.
 
Ag said:
See the topic. I only got into them a few months ago and regret not starting earlier. Up to two a week(?) Thursday and or Friday and yes they're in order. You can catch up on about the last 6 on iPlayer which are normally unedited, unlike some of the BBC4 shows which are cut. Currently in spring 1983.
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Well this is simply fabulous. And given the amount of time I'll have soon, I might as well start now.
 
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