Extracts: I’m unsure which edition(s) the extracts are from - February 1976 -
these will probably be Ian Levine's stuff from 19-2-76:
L.J. JOHNSON – Your Magic Put A Spell On Me
EVELYN THOMAS – Weak SpotAh yes!, I’ve seen these on Youtube. When I first saw Evelyn Thomas on Top of the Pops on 24/05/84, I originally thought that High Energy was her first TOTP performance. How wrong I was, having since seen her earliest appearance for Weak Spot. She also had another chart hit, a minor one called Masquerade (the follow-up to High Energy), which wasn’t on Top of the Pops, but also a catchy tune. It’s good that Weak Spot and LL Johnson are now back in the archives.
Thanks for your updates, including further ones on the 12/08/76 and 08/09/77 editions, including the invaluable Dance Group, Crowd, Credits and Top 30 Chart details. It’s a shame that neither recording of Afternoon Delight by the Starland Vocal Band exists at the BBC or outside it from 12/08 and 16/09/76 (there are several visual recordings of this song on Youtube but none are danced to by Ruby Flipper nor appear to correspond with the 16/09 promo film), which was the theme tuned used to Duncan Johnson’s show of the same name on Capital Radio (FM, or VHF then, 95.8 and 194 metres/then 1546 kHz medium wave) in at least the late 1970s/early 1980s.
There is conflicting information between different sources as to whether 08/09/77 exists at the BBC. It certainly exists privately at the Private Video Library. However, Christopher Perry advised me that it now does, but Andrew Martin would be able to clarify if the BBC have since been supplied this edition. It looks as though the Dance Groups, in this case Ruby Flipper made two appearances on every edition, some of which not billed in the TOTP 2 Database, which lists the artists and songs the dance groups danced to with “Disc” or “Performance”, but not the actual dance groups, but going by 08/09/77, Legs and Co appeared only once on that edition. However, I’m gradually discovering various missing details during my findings and I’m not sure how you’ve found these details out but I am very impressed that you know the full information for those editions, as some of it was previously ambiguous.
Are any of the performances from 12/08 and 08/09 repeats from preceding editions? and
Is Rosetta Stone’s song a version of the Cream song Sunshine of Your Love?
tw.youtube.com/watch?v=RkAjzctsRt8 –
Pan's People dance to Norman Greenbaum-Spirit in the Sky #
TOTP 2 - "April 1970"
Is this definitely from April 1970?, or is it the later appearance from the 27/12/73 (Jimmy Savile) "10 Years Special" edition? -
this is 27-12-73 (as seen on the recent TOTP CD/DVD set) Sorry for my confusion over the Pan’s People appearance of Norman Greenbaum, so most likely the 02/04/70 rendition doesn’t exist after all. It’s just that up to several “No” entries actually exist at the BBC after all and I’m sure I won’t be alone in having been duped by the date misprint captions on TOTP 2!
In contrast, in line with your revised updates on the 12/08/76 and 08/09/77 editions, how accurate is the following information on 09/09/82 (I think there were two Zoo appearances on that edition, although I don't ever recall watching it at the time)?:
Top of the Pops #
09/09/82 (Peter Powell): Complete edition
Evelyn King-Love Come Down: Performance #
Dire Straits-Private Investigations (Promo Video) #
Wonder Dogs / Zoo (?)-Ruff Mix: Disc - With studio dancers dressed as dogs, one Simon Cowell as Wonder Dog #
Natasha-The Boom Boom Room: Performance #
Jonathan King report from New York, including:
Melissa Manchester-You Should Hear How She Talks About You (Promo Video);
John Cougar Mellencamp-Jack and Diane (Promo Video);
Chicago-Hard to Say I'm Sorry (Promo Video) #
Gillan-Living for the City: Performance #
Zoo (2 of...) dance to Shalamar-There It Is: Disc? #
Chart countdown (30-19) #
David Christie-Saddle Up: Repeat Performance (number 19) #
Chart countdown (18-11) #
Shakin' Stevens-Give Me Your Heart Tonight: Repeat Performance (number 11) #
Chart countdown (10-1) #
Survivor-Eye of the Tiger (Promo Video) (number 1) #
Rocker's Revenge featuring Donnie Calvin / Zoo / Crowd (?)-Walking on Sunshine over the closing credits: Disc #