Top of the Pops

skirtyscot · Post by **skirtyscot** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 11:59 pm

Well, there I was, passing the time musing on this site about "The Boy in the Dress", when I started to hear some songs from my youth wafting through the wall from the TV in the next room. So I went through and found Mrs SS on a trip down Memory Lane, watching "Top of the Pops 1980". For those of you from foreign parts, TOTP was the king of pop music shows for many a long year, and the BBC repeats old ones now and again to fill up the schedules. So I stayed to watch, and what do I get as a reward? The sight of Spandau Ballet, clad in tartan, performing "To Cut a Long Story Short". Not exactly your traditional outfits: singer Tony Hadley was wearing tartan trews with a sporran, while one of the guitarists wore a tartan sash. But lurking in the corner, the other guitarist (or bassist - looks the same to me) is wearing something that sways as he moves. Eventually we get to see that he is sporting an rather over-long kilt. Actually on my phone I can't make out if it is tartan, so maybe it is just a midi skirt! Why? Why not! That's New Romantics for you, pushing the boundaries of menswear. (Adam and the Ants were on next, pushing quite a bit harder!)

Here's the link. Spandau B are near the end, 53 minutes in, but if you're nostalgic for the 80s, why not treat yourself to the entire programme!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... 0-big-hits

Website · Post by **crfriend** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 12:16 am

skirtyscot wrote:Here's the link. Spandau B are near the end, 53 minutes in, but if you're nostalgic for the 80s, why not treat yourself to the entire programme!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... 0-big-hits

Dammit, it's got DRM on it ("Digital 'Rights' Management" -- read, "Their rights, not yours.") and is not available outside the UK.

I still have fond memories of the BBC World Service on short-wave; it seems a shame that they've joined the likes of Sony. And, yes, Broadcasting House, if you're reading this and it sticks in your craw all I have to say on that is, "Good."

skirtyscot · Post by **skirtyscot** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 12:25 am

YouTube to the rescue! Thought it's even harder to see what the guy is wearing.
Spandau Ballet – To Cut A Long Story Short (Studi…: http://youtu.be/tR_g0wERTY0

r.m.anderson · Post by **r.m.anderson** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 4:29 am

2 of the blokes have sporrans - one brown to left of the lead singer who is wearing a white one and he appears to be
wearing a kilt with PANTS - UGH ! No skin showing on either performers legs.
In the middle of the video clip one spectators head rears up in front of the camera killing the best viewing angle shot.

Big and Bashful · Post by **Big and Bashful** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 10:41 am

I remember them talking about this performance in an interview. No kilts wer harmed in the making of this performance, they raided their parents for tartan cloth and things to wrap around them and look a bit different, that's all. It certainly worked for them because they had a great career. I think the music helped, I have their Best of, it has a lot of good music on it.

skirtyscot · Post by **skirtyscot** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 10:48 am

crfriend wrote:Dammit, it's got DRM on it ("Digital 'Rights' Management" -- read, "Their rights, not yours.") and is not available outside the UK.

Can't you get a British IP address somehow? We have Netflix, and my children say it's easy to fool the system into giving them access to American Netflix, which gas a different selection of programmes. Naturally I have no idea how they do it.

Reaper_Man · Post by **Reaper_Man** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 6:02 pm

skirtyscot wrote:
crfriend wrote:Dammit, it's got DRM on it ("Digital 'Rights' Management" -- read, "Their rights, not yours.") and is not available outside the UK.
Can't you get a British IP address somehow? We have Netflix, and my children say it's easy to fool the system into giving them access to American Netflix, which gas a different selection of programmes. Naturally I have no idea how they do it.

Proxy server .... search Google for an anonymous proxy server in the UK, use server to get content from BBC

the same system can be used for DRMed content from any country, just find a proxy server in the same country as the content

sometimes a particular proxy may not work, the BBC actively blocks known proxies, but new ones pop up on a daily basis, so if at first you don't succeed etc ...... try a different proxy

Reaper_Man · Post by **Reaper_Man** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 6:18 pm

Getting back on subject, i watched this TOTP show last night and i've never really been a fan of Spandau Ballet but i did mention to MOH about the sporrans and she was of the same opinion as me .... why? what was the point of wearing a sporran with trouser? ...... if only they had had the balls to wear a kilt

SB were followed by adam and the ants, .... great bit of glam rock, unfortunately things went seriously downhill after that ...... the program ended and was followed by Coldplay doing a live gig, ... Coldplay, seriously? who in their right mind would want to watch / listen to Coldplay? i reckon the number of viewers to that channel (BBC4) were very swiftly reduced

Departed Member · Post by **Departed Member** » Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:44 am

This vid might be a little more clearer; looks to be the official music video for the song. I'm only 30 and I know what New Romanticism is and who Spandau Ballet is. I had a new wave obsession in high school, so I know way too much about 70's and 80's music than a guy my age should.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjUyVDkS2w0

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