Conference marvin::uk_music

    No I didn't (I'm "working" at DECworld).
    
    There used to be a time when I would look forward to Thursday evening
    viewing, but alas not now.  The majority of the groups all look
    and sound exactly the same.  God knows how house music came into
    being.
    
    And the DJ's are so false as well.  Bring back the Tube.
    
    Disappointed_of_Cannes/Farnborough

    I found the Tube degenerated from a good platform for lesser known
    bands into a record company sponsored promo device for their latest
    hypeworthy act. I did with the Tube what I did with TOTP years ago;
    I stopped watching it!
    Anyway, TOTP is the best program of its kind - it shows whats in
    and around the charts, you cant fault the program itself. Its not
    the fault of TOTP that modern pop is in such a lamentable state
    re -.1 
    >> the majority of the groups all look and sound exactly exactly
    the same - sounds like you gettin old, boy! :-) :-)
    >> God knows how house music came into being
    Same way as every other new form of music down the years - jazz,
    in all its forms, R&R, all that late 60's progressive stuff, punk,
    psychedelia, whatever - its down to a lack of
    individuality/creativity/progression in other areas of music, a
    desire to express *your*self in a way thats relevant to *your* feelings
    (That doesnt mean to say Im into house particularly, I just recognise
    it as the next wave)
    
    Just keepin my ears open
    
    Bob

    Shirley the singles charts are for under sixteens, either phyically
    or mentally, therfore the program is only representative of the
    type of viewer they expect !?!
    
    Any teenyboppers out there to comment ????
    
    My 6 month old cousin realllly likes RA and Madonna and thinks TOTP
    is the best !!! (He can *really* get his teeth (?) into the heavy
    journalistic style of the presenters & can't wait to get a greasy
    quiff with bum-freezer two piece nappy - designer of course)
    
    Aha...are not all things designed by somebody or something. Is TOTP
    a designer show ??? Why are all Radio 1 Y-fronts soooooo ugly ??
    
    PS. I'm too old to get into TOTP, unless i'm a member of the program
    team or a "musician" !!!!
    
    re:.-1 At least most of the bands played live !!!!!

    
    
    
    	Its that producer person, whats his face, you know, the same
     one thats responsible for that other load of twaddle, that one 
     where everyone mimes the instruments but sometimes actually sing
     the words, The Montraeueaergggghhh popy festival, but i can't think
     of the Ba*t*rds name......he's got alot to answer for.
    
    
    
    
    	Grub....

    Ive never been able to suss that one - there you are, watching what
    is supposed to be a live band when suddenly, it appears that what
    the drummer is doing has got nothing to do with what youre hearing,
    or the singers mouth doesnt move in time with the words.
    Understandable, you say, in the TOTP studio, but what about broadcasts
    of supposedly 'live' gigs...?
     I find it unnerving at times, how TV can manipulate your senses;
    after all, who's to say that the band are nothing more than a clever
    computer generated image (a la Max Headroom) miming to a pre recorded
    song, introduced by a Hologram DJ
     Who knows what is real.....???
    Babble     splutter   Paranoia is taking over
    
    Still, its got its good side - maybe Thatcher is only a hologram,
    if we stopped believing in her, She might disappear :-) :-)
    
    Bob
    

    Reality is only a figment of Monday morning imagination !!!
    
    TOTP is certainly a frightening example of some foul beast's nightmare
    of warped and twisted imagination.
             

    Re. 4
    Are you thinking of Michael Hurll?  I think that is his name

    no, no .6, its not the program, its the whole rotten stinking hype
    ridden ego driven corrupt/corrupting pile of fetid dingo's kidneys
    that is the music (sic) industry - all TOTP does is play whats selling.
    Whats selling is determined by the 'music' 'industry' in that they
    decide who to push/hype/plug all over the tv, radio etc.
       Mind you, the situation isnt helped by the dj's all being w*nkers
    :-) :-) 
    
    Bob

    If TOTP were really live, it might get better...
    
    Andy_who_saw_Marsha_Hunt_live_in_'69

    re .9...
    "Andy_who_saw_Marsha_Hunt_live_in_'69"
    
    And Led Zepp., Free, Hendrix, the original Fleetwood Mac, Clapton
    with various bands.
    
    If I add more I'll get depressed.
    
    Sigh.
    
    Dave

 
    RE: .0
    
�   the (curiousity-item) Hollies (Where's Graham Nash gone ???? -;)
   
    Are you serious?!?!?!  Actually he did re-join them for a one of
    TOTP appearance a few years back when they had their medley hit
    "Holliedaze" - even Eric Haydock was their (original bassist).
    
    RE: Last few
    
    Live music etc. has been tried plenty of times on plenty of shows. It
    works .... but only rarely well enough to raelly come across properly.
    Similar to the Live album syndrome - you can never capture that
    live feel.
    
    TOTP is a chart show - I think they tried moving slightly aware
    from the formula a few years ago, but they reckon it didn't work.
    
    Anyone remember "REVOLVER" with Pete Cook.  Now, that was a bit
    different.
    
    David.
    

    REVOLVER and SO IT GOES...suuuuppppperrr !

    Another vote for So it Goes (didja catch The Way They Were recently?)
    
    TOTP did try an lp track slot about 1973/4 (?) - I remember seeing
    Fairport Convention and Yes, they may even have been playing live
    }gasp{ but needless to say, this slot was fairly short-lived.
    Does anybody else remember this milestone in TOTP history?
    
    Bob

    I saw Yes play "And you and I" from "Close to the Edge" and yes
    they were live.
    
    Personally I'd prefer to see the video's instead of lip-synch -
    or rather lip-unsynch.
    
    A

    
    "So it goes" sure was a great show ..... I recall seeing Elvis Costello
    on there, very early on, or it might have been on one of Tony Wilson's
    Granada Reports slots!!!
    
    RE: -1
    
    Agree .... espacially after watching some past Montreux Rock Festivals.
    I think they still have to re-record some of the backing tracks
    for TOTP, or at least they use to - anyone confirm this?
    
    David.
    

    As far as I know, backing tracks have to be recorded, then the
    singer/band perform live vocals on TOTP
    Occasionally, the whole performance may be live, but.... when the
    DJ introduces an act "........live in the studio......." that only
    means the act is appearing in the studio on a *live* broadcast,
    not that they are really playing live.
    Confusing, isnt it?
    
    Bob

    Wern't Simply Red on live a few years ago?
    

    Did anyone see All About Eve on TOTP a month or two back, when their
    "Martha's Harbour" (was that it?) single was on the way up the charts?
    
    They simply refused to mime AT ALL for the first half of their record.
    The singer sat at her microphone, smiling, and the guitarist just let
    his hands rest on the strings. While this was going on, there were no
    close-ups of either of them, as if the producer was embarrassed.
    Eventually they relented and started to do the done thing; the studio
    audience gave them a round of applause at that point, I think in
    support. 

    It was very enjoyable to see the TOTP conventions being flouted
    so blatantly.
    
    Rod

    Yes, Hucknall sang live...but he can sing anyway.
    
    I heard on TV that there are sometimes a lot of problems with M.U.
    officals. This means that some of the Backing tracks, etc have to
    be redone or sung/played live. I believe the head of the M.U. has
    something of a nasty reputation for this !
    
    John

    re .18
    
    Stranglers did it first !!!

    I believe the agreement with the MU is that any band appearing 'live'
    (ie not on video) on totp have to either really play live or re-record
    the music they're going to play during rehearsal and mime to that,
    the tapes being destroyed after. What most bands do is re-record
    the music during the rehearsal and then 'accidentally' replace the
    tape with one of the original single, so that they end up miming
    to the original single anyway, thereby making the re-recording a
    complete waste of time.
    
    Tony (MU member)

    
    
    re. 18  -  Sorry to destroy your notion of a TOTP rebellion Rod,
    but I understand what actually happened was neither the Duo nor
    the studio audience could hear the record as we could at home.
    Their monitors weren't working.
    
    By the start of the second verse, some bright spark in the gallery
    flicked the switch, and both the band and the audience thought it
    was the song's intro - hence the applause and the 'lip-synching'
    (I *hate* that expression).  In fact the female started to mime
    to the first verse.
    
    By way of a 'consolation' to the band for this techcockup, they
    were invited back the following week to mime all over again - an
    honour reserved only for No 1 status!
    
    
    Michael
    
     

    
    Whilst on the subject of live performances on TotP, who remembers
    New Order's attempts?  They did Blue Monday when it first came out
    and it was appauling.  Then more recently they did True Faith, and
    gave a really good rendition of the song.  Still, that's how they
    are, not the worlds most reliable live band...
    
    The thing to remember about Top of the Pops is that it's a kids
    show.  We all loved it during our youth.  It's just as we all get
    older we tend to look down on the under 16 commercial market, cynicism
    sets in with age.  The charts do seem to be in a bad way at the
    moment, but I'm sure they've always been pretty trite.
    
    Jeez, don't let it worry you.  It's a shame there isn't a particulary
    good muso-show on TV, but there are other ways of finding out what
    music is around.
    
    	Lee.

    Re .22:
    
    Talk about illusions being shattered! TOTP is utterly crap. All about
    Eve are utterly spineless. I am utterly disappointed. New levels
    of cynicism are required all round.
    
    Rod 

    When I was at school (primary school) we had a very heated discussion
    one day about how much bands were paid for appearing on TOTP.
    It was claimed that Mud (who were no.1 with "Tiger Feet" at the
    time) got 80 quid.   Does anyone know - are they getting rich
    quick - we should be told ?

re -1

	Not to be too cynical but I think most acts would be delighted to pay 
the BBC to appear on TOTP. I would be surprised if they get any more than token 
expenses, same thing applies to chat shows if you are there to plug a product 
then you shouldn't expect a preformance fee as well.

Nigel

    The thing that annoys me most about TOTP is the audience - all the
    shouts and cheers ruin the enjoyment of most of the songs. I reckon
    the Beeb plants cheerleaders among them anyway.
    
    As regards playing live, I think some groups do actually play live
    during the show. Did anyone see Billy Bragg performing "She's Leaving
    Home"? It sounded so bad, it must have been live.
    
    For my money the best music programme on TV at the moment is The
    Chart Show on channel 4. There are no wittering DJs and despite
    the name it does feature non Top 40 material. Admittedly it's just
    a collection of videos, but there is a fair range to what they play.
    
    Paul

    
    
    On the TOTP audience, it used to be a queue_at_the_door effort,
    but now I believe it's by invitation only.
    
    I read somewhere that the beeb fill the place with up-and-coming
    nobodys - sorry actors.  Hence all the shouting, whooping, and jostling
    to get on camera.   I think this is supported by the fact that the
    average audience age seems to be about 35 - or if you include Simon
    Bates, 55.
    
    
    Michael
    

    The Chart Show ... hmmm ...
    
    
    
    Some info here ..
    
    
    
    
    
    							.. and a little
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    bit here
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    						>>>>>STOP<<<<<<<
    
    
    It's tabloid TV.   If anyone saw the witty poke at such TV done
    by French and Saunders you'll know what I mean.   The music is
    good but
    
    
    
    
    					presentation
    
    
    
    
    			the
    
    
    	....
    

    Anyone see it last night...? 
    Any improvement on last week's  (I missed that one) ?
    
    Bob

    I watched it for the first time in ages because of this
    note, and what a load of old ......
    
    The two presenters summed it up when they described Rick Astley
    as 'a musical genius' because he wrote his latest hit. As far as
    I'm concerned it sounds like all his others.
    
    Dave

    I actually found something *different* to do last night!
    
    I went to see "Good Morning Vietnam"...great film, great music.

    Now why can't Robin Williams host TOTP ??

    Tim (who_thinks_this_note_might_be_set_hidden_coz_it's_got_nothing_
    	 _to_do_with_totp_or_p*xy_radio_tv_shows)

    re -2
    I thought the DJ's were being sarcastic about the musical genius
    of RA - or at least ironic
    
    Bob

    
    I was unfortunate enough to encounter "The Hit man and Her" - which
    seems to be the Roxy taken into a sewer, killed and left to rot for a
    month. As far as I can tell, a prefrontal lobotomy would be preferable
    to watching this garbage for more than 20 seconds. 
    
    Then theres "Americas top 10" with Casey Kasem. Well, at least he
    doesn't pretend its interesting....
    
    I actually liked Wired quite a lot - is it gone forever?
    
    Not having seen Totp for a while I can't comment as to whether it
    competes, but I can only imagine it's still the same.
    
    Has anyone seen MTV Europe?
    
    Andy

Assuming this is "the" Top of The Pops note.

What new definition of the word "live" have they discovered that 
is used to describe the new Top of The Pops ?

Now I can see that the main vocals are being done live but what about 
the rest ?  I mean take last night, Enya with her fingers hovering stationary
above an acoustic grand piano, and all I could hear was a bunch of 
synthesizers and some backing vocals.  What's going on here ?
Then there was Slade, a band of excellent musicians, and Noddy screaming
out backing vocals with barely an expansion of the chest.

I've noticed that so far they have been using artists that are actually
skilled in the art of making music.  I wonder what happens when they
run out of suitable artists, which won't be long ;-)

Trev

    I haven't seen TOTP for years (the whooping, squawking "fun" atmosphere
    got on my nerves), but last night I caught the end.
    
    Jack Dee (JACK DEE??!!!) was DJ, the no. 1 band seemed to be a metal
    band - not only did the vocals appear to be live, but the singer
    invaded the crowd whilst the band looked as though they were doing a
    watered-down Who-style trashing of their equipment. They finished by
    spraying the crowd with champagne (I think).
    
    What's HAPPENED to my pet hate?!!! And is this the norm now (I
    didn't see the rest)?
    
    BTW I did like the designer-audience attempts at headbanging.
    Brightened up my day, they did!
                                   

    
    I heard that Stiltskin (SP?) are into trashing the stage. Maybe that's
    Scotish grunge or did Levi pay them too much ;-)
    
    Mike

    I think that's them - I know I heard the song the other week on the
    Saturday radio rock show. The singer looks a bit like Fish to me.