Season 342 - Everybody’s On Top Of The Pops

One Man And His Uke

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SEASON 342 - EVERYBODY’S ON TOP OF THE POPS!

Fairly straightforward theme this week lovely people.

Bring me any song that has been played on the British musical chart show Top Of The Pops between its start in 1964 to its end in 2006.

There’s a lot of scope here. A lot of artists. A lot of songs. But it must be a song they played on Top Of The Pops.

Originals are welcome, but they must substantively reference the programme Top Of The Pops in some way. It can be to say how much you love it, or hate it. It’s up to you.

To help you pick songs, there’s a link below. You can also check out the numerous Top Of The Pops and TOTP2 videos on YouTube. They’re a good resource. I hope to make a contribution somewhere along the line.

Rules.
Season starts 00.00 Sunday Hawaiian time and ends 23.59 Hawaiian time the following Sunday.

Songs must be newly recorded for, and state somewhere that it is for, Season 342.

Please state in your intro who the song is by, and from what year. If there’s a particular reason you chose that song, include that too. It’s always interesting to hear the reasons for your song choices.

Ukulele must be clearly audible and prominent, but other instruments are allowed n the mix.

You can do a simple straight to camera take of your song, or a multitracked special in stereo surround sound with choir and orchestra, and all points in between, whatever works for you and you’re comfortable with. I don’t want any musical muscles sprained this week.

I’m really excited to see what you bring so we’ll have a 2 song a day limit, for starters at least. Please note that if you so desire, you can bring a 3rd song per day....but that song absolutely MUST be a piece of junk “Novelty Record”, and believe me, there were plenty of those on TOTP over the years. See Joy Sarney singing Naughty, Naughty, Naughty if you want something truly awful to inspire you (I’m still in therapy over that one!) In fairness, others were not so bad. So if you’re going to do a 3rd one, make sure it’s a novelty song.

There will be, as in my previous two seasons, token prizes which may or may not reflect the theme, and which will be awarded in some as yet undecided random fashion.

Any lurkers, or shy would-be Seasonistas, no time like the present for taking that first step and posting a video. This is a wonderful community of uke players and always welcomes newcomers.

I will keep a playlist and comment on all your videos.

Don’t forget Ryan’s Season L’esprit de l’escalier, still has a day to go so you’ve still got time to bring him “ the ones that got away...”

Go forth and have fun Seasonistas.

Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTNUmu6DfdZm49rFqeHouhMWufDeMOciC

List of songs played on TOTP
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_performances_on_Top_of_the _Pops#1964

There may be some missing from this list that you know of. If so, feel free to play them.
 
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Great idea, John ... and what a lot of songs to choose from!!!
 
BEV ain't gettin s** done this week...I'm thinking she is gonna challenge that 2 song limit.

Great season by the way. BEV has done Eurovision which is where I found my favorite Katrina and the Waves song so I am looking forward to this.
 
I'm leaving for the US on Wednesday. I was hoping there would be no good songs this season, but I've already found one that I really want to do. Argh!
 
stop press!

The 2 song a day limit is now 3 songs a day.

You can still do a fourth song, with the same proviso that the fourth must be one of the many novelty songs performed on top of the pops.
 
I know it seems a bit early to be making changes already, but mini OMAHU is back at school this week so I should have enough time to cope with 3/4 songs a day :music:

By my reckoning, still 4 1/2 hours to go before the season starts officially.
 
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Fantastic theme old chap.So many riches and a modicum of dross.
Any Gary Glitter covers must be accompanied by a Parental Guidance Advisory Notice!
 
Fantastic theme old chap.So many riches and a modicum of dross.
Any Gary Glitter covers must be accompanied by a Parental Guidance Advisory Notice!
:rulez: No Gary Glitter please!!!!!!

The Glitter Band on the other hand.....fine :D

Glad you like the theme John.
 
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Here is one from 1978 which should be played at every opportunity.

 
This song came onto my radar again recently.It was covered beautifully in a Westpac bank ad of all things. When I heard it I thought i'd like to have a go at that.And here it was by the Seekers on TOTP's in 1965.
The Seeker's hold strong nostalgic memories for me.My mum's favourite band.I remember her and my sisters dancing around the lounge room to Seeker's tunes.By the time I was a teen in the 70's the zeitgeist had change and the Seekers were considered a bit uncool...daggy in the Australian vernacular.I look at clips of them today...and they are uber cool in their own way.Judith Durham had a voice of Bohemian crystal.I enjoyed singing this a lot.
 
Here's one by that most English of English bands...The Kinks.The great observer of society Ray Davies was in good form on this one..The plight of the song's subjects summed up in the line "Sunday joint of bread and honey".IE they can't afford a nice Sunday roast, just bread and honey.
Dead End Street.On TOTP in 1967.
 
Jose Gonzalez played this cover of The Knife's "Heartbeats" in 2006.
thank you for hosting the week, John.
short film, 'Virginie' by Adam Cavanaugh.
playing a tenor reso uke tuned to Bb.
 
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