Old TOTP (BBC4)

I remember the "fuss" about an unsigned band being on Top Of The Pops. There would probably have been a bit less had they not been absolute shite. Bis did make better records later on but this was and is utter guff.
 
A Design For Life really was great and still sounds good. The MSP were at their peak, riding the Britpop wagon.
 
I have no recollection of Alanis turning up. She spent most of the year at number 1 IIRC. Who didn't own Jagged Little Pill?
 
Oh thank God for EBTG. Going garage after a massive house hit. Your faves etc.

Even R Trace is breaking out some moves.
 
I enjoyed the last few episodes a little more. Perhaps it's just the benefit of hindsight, but it's almost as if you can feel change in the air.
 
Eeech @ Celien Dion being bodyshamed - I bet Lamacq himself would grimace at that now.
 
lolly said:
I enjoyed the last few episodes a little more. Perhaps it's just the benefit of hindsight, but it's almost as if you can feel change in the air.
Click to expand...
We're close to the Manics and Spice Girls now which I remember as the two main highpoints of 96. We've also got those 2 great Prodigy singles to come.
 
Oh, Garbage. I still like most of that first album, I just can't take them so much after that. Stupid Girl was a proper hit, wasn't it? Good tune.
 
Why did they stop saying the name of the Robert Miles single? "Children"? Was it because of Dunblane?
 
A week or so after their second appearance, Sci-Fi Steven from Bis was in Missing Records on Oswald Street in Glasgow. So was I. I remember him saying to the assistant (a friend of his) that they'd enjoyed the second time more because they felt they "had more of a right to be there" because the single was in the charts. I don't remember what I bought but it wasn't anything by Bis anyway.
 
Oh, it's Gina "try not to overdose on an aeroplane, eh love?" G. She may be gay royality but I;ve never been a monarchist and this is shite.
 
I'll take my traditional moment to note how utterly fucking awful Cast were/are. This is why we needed the Manics back, flush this fetid, workaday crap.
 
'Stars' - Dubstar. Still sounds amazing. 'Disgraceful' was such a great album. The folky twinge to the vocals really elevated them - listen to "The Day I See You Again" from the album and note Sarah Blackwood's phrasing and how much drama it adds.
 
Did some of the gutter press not absolutely shit themselves over "Firestarter"? It did feel genuinely subversive that this was #1 - it had come totally from the club culture and was completely against the run of play, even in terms of what club hits tended to chart. Keith Flint looks amazing in this video too, so does Maxim.
 
This episode is terrible. That Foo Fighters video was quite fun I suppose but, otherwise, gah.
 
Something Changed is the song Pulp dedicate to Steve Mackey when they play it live now which is a bit :(
 
There they are, in the intro...Nicky Wire does the talking and slips in a Fast Show reference while James and Sean look thoroughly embarrassed.
 
No bands chart career exemplifies the Dead Cat Bounce quite like that of Babylon Zoo. I think they booked a big tour that got cancelled as well.
 
Ah, Upside Orange Down Orange...the final scrape of the boyband barrel before...well, let's not run too far ahead.
 
It's difficult to explain how emotional the return of Manic Street Preachers was. The group eschewed the usual press rounds, doing just one interview with the NME in between the release of the single and the album. The music would have to do the talking this time. They dressed down, a very deliberate change of presentation, almost an anti-image to go with the chrome and gold sleeves for the single. And the song. It was called 'A Design For Life' for goodness sake! The album was called 'Everything Must Go'. They were certainly not making like nothing had happened.

I remember hearing it for the first time. Immediately, it was one of the best things they'd ever done. They were back. A year previously that had felt like a pipe dream. I broke into tears during the final chorus, something which can still happen, as with other songs on that album. They talked of the price of a shallow piece of dignity and yet carried themselves with a tankload of the stuff.

A Design For Life is one of the most important records of my lifetime and it sounds every bit as incredible today as it did in 1996. It just feels a little less unlikely, that's all.
 
One of my major takeaways of this awkward 95/96 period of TOTP is that the appeal of Sleeper completely eludes me. Her voice is so boring!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 6 (members: 0, guests: 6)
Back
Top Bottom