Top of the Pops 26 January 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

Simon Mayo: “We're the Breakfast Crew, staying up late just for you. New temporary time slot just while the Commonwealth Games are on. The only show on BBC1 without Des Lynham.”
Jakki Brambles: “Lots of portions of talent tonight for you. We've got Sinead O'Connor, Phil Collins, and the wonderful Del Amitri.”
Simon Mayo: “We're gonna start with an AARGH!”
Jakki Brambles: “Think that's a yell.”
Simon Mayo: “That is a Yell. Down there.”

 [24] YELL!: INSTANT REPLAY. Where to begin? There's a new old broom back in town. Paul Ciani has returned; the hosts start the show in the Crow's Nest; Quantel graphics are used while Yell! perform (and also, probably, breach article 106 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice by impersonating a Captain. They should be fine as long as they don't go to America).

And what's this? New captions. Welcome to Cypher. The operator gets a credit as well; this week the Cypher Graphics are by David Ward. The captions are multi-coloured (yellow for Simon and purple for Jakki) and they spin and shrink and make letters fly across the screen. It's a whole new world.

It's 8pm. The Commonwealth Games occupy the 7-8pm slot. Top of the Pops has been bumped from Thursday to Friday. Chaos!

But, I hear you ask. How come Eastenders and Top of the Pops can't share the 8-9pm slot between them? That's a good question. I can't answer it because I'm not a programme planner (unfortunately I've got a degree). However, Top of the Pops and Eastenders can't share the same hour because ToTP has temporarily expanded to 35 minutes. Top of the Pops has clearly struggled in a 30 minute slot and I'd like to think this has happened so The Powers That Be can learn if an extra five minutes make a difference. But it's more likely because the next programme is a 25 minute repeat of 'Allo 'Allo!

[18] PUBLIC ENEMY: WELCOME TO THE TERRORDOME. Promo VT.

CHARTS: 40 to 31

[23] DEL AMITRI: NOTHING EVER HAPPENS. I'm trying not to just go “Paul Ciani's back, everything's better,” but it does feel like people are making more of an effort this week. Chris Kempton sticks rigorously to his blue/purple/orange Lighting scheme but he allows a few more shades to creep in.

Del Amitri are on the Record Needle stage and Chris Kempton uses dark blue for the background and a lighter blue for the audience. He also uses a mixture of orange and white spotlights to pick out the various members of Del Amitri and make them stand out. The shafts of lighter blue and white shining through the studio smoke give an underwater effect. It looks really good. It's sombre and moody. It does what good lighting should and adds atmosphere to the performance.

BREAKERS

[32] LONNIE GORDON: HAPPENIN' ALL OVER AGAIN

[30] WRECKS-N-EFFECT: JUICY

[31] AND WHY NOT?: THE FACE

[9] F.P.I PROJECT featuring SHARON DEE CLARKE: GOING BACK TO MY ROOTS. BBC VT from the 11/01/1990 edition.

[27] QUINCY JONES featuring RAY CHARLES & CHAKA KHAN: I'LL BE GOOD TO YOU. Promo VT.

CHARTS: 30 to 11

[26] PHIL COLLINS: I WISH IT WOULD RAIN DOWN. This is a pre-record from the previous week. It's possible to tell from the really striking arrangement of white spotlights above the main stage which cast beams that, kind-of, feather outwards. The effect was clearly on display at the end of the 26/01/1990 edition when Nicky Campbell said goodbye from the Crow's Nest. I nearly drew attention to it during the write up for last week's show, and now I wish that I did because I could refer back to it and look all clever.

[12] ADAMSKI: N.R.G. : Adamski has brought along a few dancers to add visual interest to what would otherwise be a pasty guy in a hat noodling away on a keyboard.

Chris Kempton has set up a few red floor lights to shine on the lead dancer and Mr Ski (POP FACT: his name is Adam Ski). This is clearly a more labour intensive setup than you might think. Look at the two lights at the front of the stage, where a couple of technicians have been assigned to unobtrusively twist the lights and keep the lead dancer illuminated while he moves round the stage.

There's clearly something wrong with the positioning of one of the lights. It's not shining on Adamski. Either someone kicked it or Adamski moved because the light was hot and shining in his eyes. About 1:15 into the performance a handheld camera operator creeps into position to get a right profile shot of Adamski, and this must be when the lighting error is noticed in the gallery. The solution? Get one of the technicians to crawl across the stage and give the light a twist. Then crawl back without being trodden on. Mission accomplished.

[3] SINEAD O'CONNOR: NOTHING COMPARES 2 U.  Chris Kempton uses more white spotlights to cast beams with very sharp defined edges. They sculpt triangles out of the studio smoke and the effect is of simultaneously strong and delicate. It looks beautiful.

Obviously I'm now going to max out the bathos by speculating whether this is pre-recorded. I think it might be. You get quite a good look at the studio during N.R.G., some of the nifty handheld camera shots give a good 360 degree view, and there's nothing like this light sculpture on the stage opposite Adamski.

Given the way we cut in and out of Nothing Compares 2 U, and the similar tricks played with white spotlights in the background of Phil Collins, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume both were recorded the same week.

TOP 10

[1] KYLIE MINOGUE: tears on my pillow. Promo VT.

[19] GIONO LATINO: WELCOME. Promo VT. Who's hosting next week? If Simon Mayo and Jakki Brambles know, they ain't tellin'. The Commonwealth Games are clearly wreaking havoc on the schedule. Wasn't it supposed to be Mark Goodier and Jakki Brambles this week?

 Performance of the week: Sinead O'Connor, Nothing Compares 2 U.

Fast forward: No one.

Mute: No one.