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  I've been watching a lot of Year Zero #TOTP lately, the radical reboot from 1991. Nine years later, production had barely changed. Shonky video effects that make our eyes go squiffy, pre-release videos at odds with the rest of the show, and not very good live vocals. This "Rock DJ" performance is example number one. Evening, all.

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  #JukeboxFridayNight wants #ManyColours Two on a theme. "Pink sunshine" - Fuzzbox, their third hit from 1989. https://musiccloud.io/h24zzIVE "Pink balloon" - Jade LeMac, a singer-songwriter from Vancouver. https://musiccloud.io/_AYJuUSP #Fuzzbox #JadeLeMac #pink

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  Tonight's Top of the Pops includes: * No, we're not going to play the number one till past your bedtime. * "Snow is falling, all around me." This, apparently, is the summer of love. * Line up your soldiers, she'll shoot them all down. * BBC4 could show an exercise class in lycra 'n' legwarmers, and people would still watch The Traitors. * Some of the audience have been given balloons. Others have been given roses. This will not end well. * Fresh new Luddie van Beet...

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  #JukeboxFridayNight is after #TrickOrTreat. "Trick of the night" - Bananarama An unusual video, one you don't see terribly often. It was directed by Paul Heiney, a journalist who learned the skill of music directing for "In at the Deep End". This was his first video, and demonstrated that his talents lay in journalism. #Bananarama https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzGnWXSJhEc

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  Five by five on tonight's Top of the Pops: * Is this the one where Moby jumps up and down while shouting the title? (Spoiler: no). * Girl Thing was an attempt to replicate the success of B*Witched, which was a copycat of the Spice Girls. * Sharon Redd invented Rickrolling. * Los Lobos perform with all the energy of Chris Lowe and Vince Clarke. * A little bit more? BBC4, you spoil us. Hosts are pocket rocket Gail Porter, the mighty Jamie Theakston, the hand-some Peter Powell, Sir Simon Bate...

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  #PlayTime, implores #JukeboxFridayNight. Let's play... "Ivory" - Skin Up 'This imploring "Give us an E" prodded jittery droning and bleeping raver is obviously commercial if musically routine,' wrote legendary reviewer James Hamilton in 1991. The track had originally been produced as "Blockbuster", inspired by the television quiz; the initial white labels featured a snatch of the theme, and a sample of Bob Holness. Central TV, which made the "B...

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  On tonight's Top of the Pops: * A new beginning, with Stephen Gately * Swing your pants ... oh. * A cheerleader now? (cleans spectacles) * Good stuff! And Richard Blackwood. * That song's ripped off "Oops... i did it again"! * Belinda Carlisle's best song ever ever ever * and the nascent stirrings of trip-hop. Grab your cocoa because it's triple Chris Rea, double Gail Porter, a single helping of Dark Lord Thomas Vantsford, and garnished with Time Lord Gary Davies of W...

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  This week, i review "Wisdom of the Crowd", BBC1's saturday night show melding statistics and the comedian John Bishop. Doesn't quite work, and while it's interesting to explain why it doesn't work, the show moves too quickly from "interesting" to "predictable" to "really annoying". Once you see some things, it's impossible to unsee them. https://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Weaver&#3...

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  ...when Only Connect gives an excuse to post one of my favourite pictures. #OnlyConnect #WileECoyote #RoadRunner

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  #TuneTuesday looks for #TruckDrivingSongs. "Long distance Clara" - Soulyard featuring George Layton From the early 1980s bird-on-the-wall documentary "Pigeon Street". https://archive.org/download/pigeon-street/Pigeon%20Street%20EP03-Pigeon%20At%20Sea.mp4#t=570,672 #PigeonStreet

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  #JukeboxFridayNight plays #PianoMusic "Walking in Memphis" - Marc Cohn Recorded for Top of the Pops on this day in 1991. One man, a piano, a scintillating live vocal. Plus some stage smoke, careful lighting effects, and the steady hand of director Arch Dyson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqUdF0fJH7E #MarcCohn #TOTP

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  Coming up on Top of the Pops tonight: * Oh no it's Toploader. * Blaze Bayley replaced Bruce Dickinson for reasons lost in the mists of time. * Eight great examples of Swap Shop Pop. * A song Sinitta finds offensive, and she's singing it! Our hosts are Jamie Theakston, David "Kid" Jenson Esq., Time Lord Gary Davies, and Mark Goodier. That's on BBC4 and #TOTP from 7pm.

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  This week, i'm looking at "I Kissed...", the queer dating show on BBC3. It's the one where young gays and lesbians isolate themselves away from the rest of the world, and see if they can form stable relationships. On the way, there's light-hearted interference from Dannii Minogue, some opportunities to end the experience. Best of all, some conversations about what it's like to be young and queer, the sort we don't see anywhere else on...

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  "He wasn't man enough" - Toni Braxton A classy soul singer, Toni had been associated with love songs "Breathe again" and "Un-break my heart". This was more a little different, chugging beats and a horny lyric may have taken folk by surprise. "Anodyne" claimed the reviewer in the New Musical Express (Incorporating Accordion Times). "A bit of a grower", says me with the benefit of five years' hindsight. #TOTP #ToniBraxton

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  Evening all. In the week of our second edition, computer networks were hit by "the love bug", a computer virus that spread by email and got people to open attachments. Supermarket chain Safeway said it was giving up on its ABC loyalty card, and lowering prices for everyone. In the cinema, "American Psycho" and "Man on the Moon". On the web, "Angry Kid" launched as 25 one-minute short animations, made in the distinctive Aardman style. Ewan McGregor was...

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  #JukeboxFridayNight took the theme #Dirty. "Being around" - The Lemonheads "If I was a maid, could I clean your flat? If I was the carpet, would you wipe your feet In time to save me from mud off the street?" https://musiccloud.io/Djzxvco3

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  Sorry to hear that Angry Anderson has died. Over here, we know him for "Suddenly", the soundtrack to Scott and Charlene's wedding. Australia knew him as a complex person, capable of great love, sometimes coming from a place of fear. Great obituary from the ABC. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-23/angry-anderson-rose-tattoo-frontman-dies/107028898 #AngryAnderson

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  John Bishop hosts, with a big crowd behind him. Basic idea: can a solo player be more accurate than the average of the studio crowd? Asks a guesstimate question (e.g. how many rainy days does Manchester get every year?) See the player’s answer, then roll in the audience to give a distribution. Who’s closer? £10,000 if it’s the player, £2500 knocked off if it’s the crowd. The player can join the crowd if they want and are reasonably close on their third and final Q. Endgame. Someone from the...

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  #TuneTuesday theme is #SingInTheChanges. Songs about change. "Perfect place" - Voice of the Beehive "I will change tomorrow, i will change." An idealist wants to set the world to rights, but finds that she's first got to get herself in order. https://musiccloud.io/6OjXWG2M #VoiceOfTheBeehive

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  Evening all. Our first #TOTP is from april 2000, when Prefab Sprout played to an adoring crowd in London. Science claimed that women who are on the contraceptive pill were less receptive to male pheremones; back in 2000 heteronormativity was still A Thing. Egon Ronay criticised the food he found in motorway service areas; back in 2000 they still served food in motorway service areas. Calais made the French FA Cup final, and FilmFour showed "A Life Less Ordinary". (checks running o...

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  It's a late edition of Top of the Pops tonight, because Sebastian Coe is a complete and utter Mike Read. But what's on the show? Good question, the BBC billings are a month out. *If* it's september, we should get... - Level 42, so morose that Mark King's jumper has split from the angst. - Jonathan Butler had been touring with Whitney Houston. - Everything was new once. Even this. - Yes she does, it's "Meryl Streep". - Chugging along like a car on a clear moto...

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  Coming up on tonight’s Top of the Pops. Two from 2000: Smooth will become a hit There is no straight explanation for this Shut up, Westside Two Mystery Years: Ring rang a dong for a holiday “House” music arrives Jason Donovan hot-footed it from Eastbourne to record this clip Shut up, Jive Bunny Jamie, Gail, Time Lord Gary, and Bruno host, that’s from 8pm on BBC4 and #TOTP.

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  #JukeboxFridayNight talks about #Royalty “The king and queen of America” - Eurythmics Dave and Annie’s 1989 album “We Too Are One” is a bit of a lost classic, maybe fashion had moved on just a bit faster than the artists. https://musiccloud.io/kt19SxLm

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  A change to the billed Top of the Pops for this friday. At 8.45, David Jenson, Esq, presents the hits from a Mystery Year. Then at 9.20, another chance to enjoy Dolly Parton at Glastonbury 2014. The 2-Tone evening then follows at 10.30, as billed. That's this friday on BBC4 and with my friends on #TOTP. #DollyParton

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  #TuneTuesday asks for #WaitingSongs "Sit and wait" - Sydney Youngblood Chocolate box commercial refrain rolled out on the piano, chocolate-smooth vocals inside. Watch for Syd's chest beneath his dressing gown, and listen to the marimba break. More songs need a marimba break. From Top of the Pops in december 1989. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SMksdgWkLk #SydneyYoungblood #TOTP

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  An enjoyable chat with Bonnie Erickson, the puppeteer who gave Miss Piggy an early hand. Bonnie talks about Jim Henson, Fraggle Rock, and the guest whose wig fell off. From CBC Radio’s “Day 6” https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-14-day-6/clip/16230592-miss-piggy-karate-chopping-hog-feminist-icon.-the-woman #MissPiggy #Muppet #Muppets #Puppets

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  At the Strange Games event in Bristol. Thinking of my friends at #TOTP. Have a great night.

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  Why were the Proms playing a Christmas song? Or is "Wonderwall" merely a song that happened to be big around Christmas, like "Don't you want me". "Rise" - Gabrielle To have one monster hit makes a career worth following. To have three - this, and "Dreams", and "Give me a little more time" - shows Gabrielle's a top-drawer talent. Shame she seems to have fallen into obscurity. #TOTP #Gabrielle

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  #JukeboxFridayNight seeks #MarketsAndFairs. A song about a famous local frozen food emporium, and their popular and sexist advertising. “My mum has gone to Iceland” - Bennet https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ddB5-4rQeig

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  Coming up on tonight’s Top of the Pops. Boom! Boom! Boom! The glorious Daphne and Celeste Bananarama! Mel and Kim!! Pet Shop Boys!!! Inspiral Carpets!!!! Paul Young. The Dream Warriors!!!!! Lauren Laverne!!!!!! Hosts are the marvellous Jayne Middlemiss, the hand-some Peter Powell, Sir Simon Bates, and - oh goody - Mark Goodier. That’s on BBC4 and with my chums on #TOTP from 7pm (1800 UTC)