The other thing about the show was that it brought back just how fucking grim 1980-3 were. They were not funny, they were not crazy times. Rubik's Cube, Bucks Fizz, the Royal Wedding etc. were all shit - simple as that.
Nice to see Stuart Maconie reminiscing about Liquid Gold getting booked to play his 6th form college. He almost had me believing he'd remebered who they were all this time.
>Surprised no one' started a "Top 10: 1980" hate strand yet, but anyway...
>
>The bit I most objected to was when they showed a clip of To The Manor Born then cut to Jupitus laughing uproariously and then sayin: "Not funny!". I object to this because:
>
>1. I'd rather watch TTMB than NMTB any day, even though I don't think it was a comedy classic.
And me. He also said something unfunny about Yootha Joyce, who had more talent than Jupitus will ever fucking know.
>
>2. The clip was done in a way to suggest that the show was just about Penelope Keith being a posh woman all the time. In actual fact, it was about silly, selfish snob Penelope Keith making a fool of herself by mis-judging Peter Bowles' character, a self-made millionaire son of a Czech refugee. So it wasn't a deferential tribute to the class system, as seemed to be implied.
>
Absolutely. But hey! Young people! Lovers of Game On, and *real* sitcoms, not these falsities of a Britain that had long gone even in 1980! Yeah, right...
>At least they didn't have a go at 'Yes Minister'...
Quite.
Incidentally, where were The Jam? Two number one hits and several re-entries in the 1980 charts would have surely seen off Kelly Marie and Liquid Gold. Even if Weller didn't want to be interviewed (and I never want to see his old, smug face ever again, anyway, so good), surely Buckler and Foxton would have jumped at the fee.
Few other things:
1) When was the Rubik's Cube invented? TT felt 1980 - I Love The 70s the other week preferred to choose 1978. Anyone?
2) Stuart Maconie slating The Police, on the basis that their punk credentials were nil. Quite apart from the fact that SM is fast getting on my tits more than almost anyone on the box at present, he is only about three years older than I am and therefore would have only been 13 in 1980. The chances of him owning an entirely credible collection of punk rock at that time is hugely unlikely.
3) Could anyone now get away with Bad Manners' "Lorraine", with its hookline of "And when I find her, I'm gonna kill her..."? Ah, Eminem. Of course.
The story, told in a million Sunday colour supplements at the time, goes that Rubik was prof of maths in Hungary and devised it to explain permutations or something to his students, and then it gradually came out all over the world. I thought Rubikmania peaked around 1981/2, when The Barron Knights did a song about it, that kid who could solve one in 20 seconds was on Swap Shop (where is he now? No, I don't care either...) and there was a cash-in book called "Not Another Cube Book!" (nothing to do with NTNOCN) which I thought was hysterically funny and I entirely plagiarised it in creative writing at school, and when I found it by chance a few years back realised was a piece of completely unfunny shit.
I think you're right with the late cube-appearance, well at least in my country. Have actually missed the 1980s lark with SM etc, but caught enough of him on I love 1970s. Is there anything he's not an expert on?
Frankly, I found a much sadder retro programme the other night (can't remember the name, something like '..heroes...') about 1980s figures, including Steve Strange. Now, that almost broke my heart: he has been reduced to a shaking, dribbling wreck of an ex-junkie, trying to hold onto life by managing b-bands. He could hardly hold onto his fag. I fucking used to love that man!! Guess it's just as well I didn't leave town and move to London when I was 13 to join him...
Two things
1) The worst, and most misjudged, "80s sitcoms - they were crap" moment came with the clip of 'Hi-De-Hi' - where Paul Shane's Ted Bovis character made some dodgy crack about being the 'camp comic' - surely the whole point of the Ted Bovis character was that he was a reactionary old bugger? I don't think the show as a whole was condoning him or his ilk. I actually thought the first couple of series of HDH were quite funny. Especially the guy who played the jockey.
2) Didn't see Maconie slating The Police, and I 'm glad I didn't if he was going on about their lack of punk credentials. As I recall, they only really flirted with punk at the beginning of their career (from the release of 'Fall Out' to the first album 'Outlandos D'Amour') - by 1980 they were well and truly a pop/rock outfit. And one of the best ever IMHO.
Perhaps in 2015 we'll be watching clip shows of old clips shows, with me, Jon and Justin shaking our heads sagely saying "I don't know - people actually watched this drivel. Er, hang on. They didn't"
That struck me too.
When Maconie was on, I kept thinking how hilarious his shirt would look in 20 years' time.
All decades look bizarre in hindsight. We seem to think we're at some kind of taste / style zenith from where we can look down at the past and pass infallible judgement.
>I think you're right with the late cube-appearance, well at least in my country. Have actually missed the 1980s lark with SM etc, but caught enough of him on I love 1970s. Is there anything he's not an expert on?
Strangely enough, Emmanuelle....see below.
>
>Frankly, I found a much sadder retro programme the other night (can't remember the name, something like '..heroes...') about 1980s figures, including Steve Strange.
Would this have been "After They Were Famous" on ITV? It credits a writer by the name of....er, Stuart Maconie.
Truly, this man will do anything if it's a clip show. Expect his analysis to be included on Auntie's Bloomers' next series.
>All decades look bizarre in hindsight. We seem to think we're at some kind of taste / style zenith from where we can look down at the past and pass infallible judgement.
This reminds me, I was reading TMWRNJ scripts on leeandherring.com the other night, specifically the episode where Days Like These is Rich's favourite programme, and there's a great bit where he mocks pointless criticism of old stuff by just naming every date of the 70s then laughing at it.
"Remember January 1st 1970, Stew? Ha ha ha! Remember Janurary 2nd 1970, Stew? Ha ha ha!"
This batch of Top Ten shows has been a very poor shadow of the first series.
They used to get great interviews with pop movers and shakers, and actually try and say something musically / socially interesting about them.
This current series seems to merely be poking fun at old clothes.
If the 70s / 80s / 90s are so pathetic and laughable, why show lengthy nostalgia programmes about them? Surely the sort of people who tune in to watch the show might be expected to have some fondness for the year / music in question?
And if that's true, surely this show is insulting its audience by sneering at them.
And that's the lowest type of television.
"All decades look bizarre in hindsight. We seem to think we're at some kind of taste / style zenith from where we can look down at the past and pass infallible judgement."
PHIL JUPITUS: And now it's the Top10: 1940s show!
[Clip of Nagasaki bombing]
PHIL: What did people think they looked like, going about like that?
[Clip of street battles at Stalingrad]
PHIL: The music...[grimaces]
[Clip of Vera Lynn entertaining troops]
PHIL: And the fashions...
[Clip of desperate Berliners during the airlift]
STUART MACONIE: It was ridiculous, I mean, you look at all this old footage they show you at school, and you just think: "That's ridiculous!"...
PHIL: And now the top 10 Forties "moments" - #10: the Fall Of France!
[Etc.....]
>Incidentally, where were The Jam? Two number one hits and several re-entries in the 1980 charts would have surely seen off Kelly Marie and Liquid Gold. Even if Weller didn't want to be interviewed (and I never want to see his old, smug face ever again, anyway, so good), surely Buckler and Foxton would have jumped at the fee.
I was surprised at this, although I think it comes from the pisspoor points system they've dug themselves into. It seems to give too many points to weeks on the chart, hence Bad Manners (one No.3 and 3 mid-chart hits, each with about 4 months on the chart) winning and The Jam (2 number ones and several re-entries, but all very short lived) not appearing at all.
Mind you, at least they've got a system. I'd hate to think that the chart was just made up on the whim of the likes of Fatboy Phill.
Yes all very unclouded revisionist. But you're all missing some important points: To The Manor Born was shit; George and Mildred was shit; Sting *is* a narcissistic hypocritical wanker. Jupitus may be fat and Maconie may wear bad shirts, but they still made some good points. Fuck me, you'll be saying that Jim'll Fix It was a worthy attempt to empower young people soon.
>Yes all very unclouded revisionist. But you're all missing some important points: To The Manor Born was shit;
Still better than Buzzcocks. Seriously.
>George and Mildred was shit;
I said Yootha Joyce was a good actress. Read more carefully.
>Sting *is* a narcissistic hypocritical wanker.
The Police were a good band, for the most part. Again, you're using today's logic for something that happened 20 years ago.
>Jupitus may be fat and Maconie may wear bad shirts, but they still made some good points.
Jupitus's weight is the very least of what's wrong with him. Maconie gave the last Lighthouse Family album four stars out of five in Q Magazine - such are his punk credentials, the twerp.
>Fuck me, you'll be saying that Jim'll Fix It was a worthy attempt to empower young people soon.
Er, no. We'll leave that to ironic cunts like Ricky Fucking Gervais.
"Maconie gave the last Lighthouse Family album four stars out of five in Q Magazine - such are his punk credentials, the twerp."
Er, now you're being anachronistic, Justin. SM only claimed to be into punk in 1980, not that it was still his big thing today.
>"Maconie gave the last Lighthouse Family album four stars out of five in Q Magazine - such are his punk credentials, the twerp."
>
>Er, now you're being anachronistic, Justin. SM only claimed to be into punk in 1980, not that it was still his big thing today.
My point is that Maconie continues to dislike The Police even today, not just by his thirteen-year old 1980 standards. That would suggest that credibility is still his benchmark. Also, his persona in print is nothing like his "Older Brother" TV persona that he's been fashioning. His attempt to describe going to see Quadrophenia in the violent atmosphere of a Wigan cinema on I Love 1979 all but made me puke - he is trying much too hard.
>>Yes all very unclouded revisionist. But you're all missing some important points: To The Manor Born was shit;
>
>Still better than Buzzcocks. Seriously.
No. Seriously.
>
>>George and Mildred was shit;
>
>I said Yootha Joyce was a good actress. Read more carefully.
Sorry, only ever saw her in George and Mildred. Which was shit.
>
>>Sting *is* a narcissistic hypocritical wanker.
>
>The Police were a good band, for the most part. Again, you're using today's logic for something that happened 20 years ago.
>
The Police were an okay band. Sting's persona was much the same then as now though, so I don't think it's stretching a point to draw a line between then and now.
>>Jupitus may be fat and Maconie may wear bad shirts, but they still made some good points.
>
>Jupitus's weight is the very least of what's wrong with him.
So what is?
>Maconie gave the last Lighthouse Family album four stars out of five in Q Magazine - such are his punk credentials, the twerp.
Didn't realise that. That's pretty unforgivable.
>
>>Fuck me, you'll be saying that Jim'll Fix It was a worthy attempt to empower young people soon.
>
>Er, no. We'll leave that to ironic cunts like Ricky Fucking Gervais.
>
>
>>Jupitus's weight is the very least of what's wrong with him.
>
>So what is?
I just think he's been damned lucky, a chancer who, because he was moderately entertaining in a pub at some point (possibly), has now suddenly found himself ubiquitously spewed across any clip show, or discussion of pop culture. Millions clearly disagree with my reservations (oh alright, hatred), but there you go...that's my view.
Phillllllllllllll Jupitus, in tandem with being completely unfunny, has a rampant misogynist ego that cannot be constrained even by a quiz show format and the presence of such a domineering personality as that of Mark Lamarr. That's what's wrong with him.