Reviewed by Chris Arnsby. Gary Davies: "Hi. Good
evening. Welcome to Top of the Pops. What a great show we've got for you
tonight and what a way to start."
Janice Long: " It's with a band who've been together
for a year. They come from Leighton Buzzard. It's their first appearance on Top
of the Pops. It's Kajagoogoo. Too Shy."
[33] Kajagoogoo: Too Shy. Kajagoogoo, the subeditor's nightmare. Limahl has very
eighties hair; bleached and spiked to perfection. The computer magazine Zzap!64
used to have little thumbnail sketches of the reviewers and Limahl looks
like one of those come to life. I didn't have a Commodore 64 you understand. I
was a proud Crash reader and Spectrum owner. I just used to
glance at the magazine for a glimpse into a strange otherworld. A bit like
sneakily trying to read Tammy in John Menzies. It's probably too late to
complain but the lyrics really are nonsense. "Modern medicine falls short
of your complaints/Try a little harder/You're moving in circles/Won't you
dilate." You wot? (Wikijohn – The Kaj’s
went on to have two more top 20 hits and an album `White Feather` before
sacking Limahl and trying to carry on without him. `Lim`had a couple of hits
including the title song to The Never Ending Story. The group briefly reformed
in 2003 before fully getting back together in 2007 and technically are still
going today!)
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[27] Echo & The Bunnymen:
The Cutter. Ian McCulloch (no, not the one
that played Greg in Survivors) ruins a perfectly good t-shirt by trying
to squeeze his entire torso out of the neck hole. Meanwhile the guitarist on
the left-hand side of the stage is wearing the lovely Christmas jumper his mum
brought him. It's a nice white one with a cheerful red reindeer pattern. He
brightens up a glum and downbeat performance from the rest of the band. It
doesn't matter how much Ian McCulloch (no, not the one that played Peter in Zombie
Flesh Eaters) sings about "sellotape and knives," I'm now
choosing to imagine that the cutter is the kind used to cut pastry to make
scrummy mince pies. (John – I preferred
follow up single `The Foodmixer`)
[25] Melba Moore: Mind Up
Tonight. Melba Moore faces the challenge
of fear. The Top of the Pops audience armed with balloons. Observe the
cool way Melba Moore uses the microphone to bat away a balloon aimed right at
her face. She doesn't even take her other hand off her hip.
[23] U2: New Year's Day. Is it even possible to be objective about U2? Here they
are in a time before tax avoision and flying hats first class; Bono's not even wearing
sunglasses. There's a very odd edit right at the start of the song. It looks
like the intent was for Janice Long to introduce U2 as the camera moved from
her to the group in a single shot; instead there's an abrupt cut to the drummer
while the introduction carries on in voiceover. Behind Janice Long someone -a
member of Zoo presumably- launches into a spontaneous backflip, did he fail the
landing? Let's draw a veil over Janice Long's "the luck of the
Oirish," remark at the end of the song.
[20] Laura Branigan: Gloria. According to Gary Davies Laura Branigan is going to sing
the theme song to the James Bond film Octopussy. Astonishingly Wikipedia
agrees, and adds that Mari Wilson was also under consideration which would have
been brilliant. Instead Rita Coolidge got the gig. Try listening to Gloria and
not thinking about Pulp's Disco 2000.
[9] The Stranglers: European
Female. Yet another subdued and strange
performance from The Stranglers. I think they do it on purpose. Janice Long
claims the song "make her go all weak at the knees." Gary Davies just
stares into the camera with a fixed grin on his face.
[1] Phil Collins: You Can't
Hurry Love. A repeat outing for the
multiple Phils video.
[28] Billy Griffin: Hold Me
Tighter In The Rain. It's time for the
credits and shots of the audience dancing. This week Michael Hurll is credited
as Executive Producer, and John Bishop is Director.
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