Top of the Pops 11 August 1988

 

Reviewed by Chris Arnsby.

Bruno Brookes: “Hello and welcome to Europe's number one TV pop show. This is Top of the Pops and 'ere's Liz with her 'andbag. What's in yer 'andbag Liz?”
Liz Kershaw: “Me [?] and me Mint Imperials. And I'm gonna dance round it. Like to this one. This week's number twenty six, Mica Paris and Courtney Pine. Like Dreamers Do.”
Bruno Bookes: “Yeah.” 

[26] MICA PARIS/COURTNEY PINE: like dreamers do. The revolving door of Top of the Pops presenters spins on. Janice Long leaves and Liz Kershaw arrives. For one week. This is her only hosting shift. Although, ominously, in 1990 the final act of the 22/11/1990 show is something called Bruno & Liz & the Radio 1 D.J. Posse with Let's Dance. Luckily I've got around two years to prepare. It sounds awful.

 

 

Meanwhile, what does Liz have in her handbag? (Sorry, this sounds like the sort of riddle you'd use to vex Gollum). It sounds like rain-o's. What are rain-o's. Alas my soft southern ears cannot penetrate Liz Kershaw's Lancashire accent. If you know what she keeps in her handbag then why not leave a comment and help me escape from the goblin's dungeon with the ring of invisibility.

Good lighting on this performance, courtesy of Dickie Higham. Most of the studio is lit purple and dark blue, but over on one side of the stage is a single orange spotlight which adds a fiery tint to some shots.

Mica Paris is joined on stage by Courtney Pine, fresh from filming for the Doctor Who story Silver Nemesis.

[15] ALL ABOUT EVE: martha's harbour. “If you were watching Top of the Pops last week you'll know we had one or two technical difficulties with the soundtrack to All About Eve and Martha's Harbour,” says Bruno Brookes. “Well being the kind people we are at the BBC we've invited them back.”

It's a lovely simple performance, shot for the most part with a single close up of Julianne Regan which Vision Mixer Kathryn Randall slowly mixes to a close up of Tim Bricheno playing the guitar. That said, one hand held camera pointing up at the stage gives a very odd effect. The slow zoom is very juddery, and instead of a nice smooth motion the shot moves forwards in tiny individual steps. Was the camera operator having problems with the zoom function?

The lighting is appropriately simple and atmospheric. Most of the studio is dark and Tim and Julianne are lit from the front with a warmly tinted spotlight. Small patches of colour give some texture and shape to the blackness behind them. Very nice.

TOP 40 FROM 40 TO 31.

[17] BREATH: hands to heaven. Sorry Breath. You made very little impression.

[6] IRON MAIDEN: THE EVIL THAT MEN DO. On video. Note the different caption typography. Format change halfway through the episode or did Margaret Horrocks (credited as Graphic Designer and thus probably responsible) forget to turn off CAPS LOCK on the Aston?

[23] TANITA TIKARAM: good tradition. Captions are back to normal. Stand down everyone. Meanwhile in a LE office on the fifth floor Michael Hurll writes a furious memo which Paul Ciani tosses unread in the bin.

The studio looks weird tonight. In a way I can't put my finger on. It looks... clearer? There's a lack of smoke which means the visibility is a little sharper than normal and I think  Dickie Higham has somehow squared the lighting circle and raised the overall light level higher while reducing the glare, which means it's possible to see further into the nooks and crannies of the studio. You can see the folds in the black backcloth in some of the wide shots.

TOP 40 FROM 30 TO 11.

[24] BROTHER BEYOND: the harder i try. Wow. Brother Beyond. I don't think my neurons have been troubled by Brother Beyond since 1988. I seem to recall really taking against Brother Beyond at the time but I don't remember why. Possibly because I couldn't think up an insulting nickname for them; Prick Astley, that was easy; Dros, obvious; Glenn Medeiros, more like Phlegm Medeiros.

Brother Beyond. Brother Beyond? I've got nothing. Please leave your insulting epithets for Brother Beyond in the comments. (John- Well this song got to number 2 in the charts and was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. So they did ok for a bit. Not that they look too pleased about it.)

TOP 10.

[1] YAZZ AND THE PLASTIC POPULATION: the only way is up. On video this week.

[4] B·V·S·M·P·: i need you. Mike Read and Simon Mayo next week. B·V·S·M·P· < New Edition. What's this? Produced and Directed by Stanley Appel? Turns out Paul Ciani's on holiday.

 PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK: Here's the thing. It should be All About Eve. They're supposed to get it as a consolation prize for last week but I really like Tanita Tikaram. Poor All About Eve, first the audio error and now this. It's clearly not their Pop Era. Tanita Tikaram, Good Tradition.