Top of the Cheats
It's surprising what can catch your attention and become of special interest – especially during childhood – when you've got the kind of brain that thrives on that stuff.
In 1981 I narrowed my focus in on the bands appearing on Top of the Pops not least because I wanted to know when and how often Toyah would be appearing. So I became very familiar with the rules surrounding how often an artist could appear.
The only way a song would be played two weeks on the trot was if it was number one. In order to get two plays (including the viewers' holy grail of both the video and a mimed studio performance) the song would have to be going up the chart three weeks in a row and ideally by leaps and bounds.
To get three plays it would have to have been at least five weeks in the chart and probably be heading into the top 10 at least. I used to write down the lineups in my diary despite parental scorn.
This meant I was watching when someone cheated.
The Jets' song "Yes Tonight Josephine" was featured on 5 November 1981 when it was outside the top 40 at number 44. Then on 19 November it was featured again, despite only having climbed to 31 (still not even top 30). Then it was featured the very next week on 26 November having now reached 25 which was as high as it ever got.
I seem to recall the band appearing on Jim'll Fix It (or another kids' show) at around the same time though can't track down the date so may be conflating this memory with something else.
All I remember thinking was that this was breaking the rules and that someone, somewhere must have really wanted it to be a hit and been able to force these illegal moves through somehow. And despite this campaign it never entered the top 20.
It just wasn't fair, I thought. It was breaking the rules. Why didn't Toyah appear more often?
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