Top of the Pops 31 May & 7 June 1990

 Words: Chris Arnsby

 31/05/1990

 Simon Mayo: “Hi, welcome to Top of the Pops. Not just half an hour of fabulous music but your own personal guide to some of the great outfits being worn during the world cup on your TV this summer. This is the figure hugging Italian outfit and we'll kick things off in Italy with Black Box. Yes indeed. This is Everybody, Everybody at twenty two this week.”

 [22] BLACK BOX: Everybody, Everybody. Didn't there used to be two blokes in Black Box? Yes but apparently only one of them could make it this week.

Simon Mayo has a running theme this week, the shirts of the World Cup. While Black Box are on he makes a quick change to the official Ireland shirt, to introduce Talk Talk.

[20] TALK TALK: It's My Life. Promo VT.

CHARTS: 40 TO 31. Spain, probably*, going into the charts.

*I know slightly less about football than I do about music. I'm not playing to any of my strengths here.

[23] SAM BROWN: Meet Me At The Kissing Gate. Confirmation that the shirt Simon Mayo is wearing is indeed Spain's. This leads into BBC VT for Sam Brown's appearance from the dull 18/05/1990 edition.

[19] ERASURE: Star. Promo VT and the shirt for Argentina.

[25] JANE CHILD: Don't Wanna Fall In Love. Brazil, and Promo VT.

CHARTS: 30 to 11

[12] CHAD JACKSON: Hear The Drummer (Get Wicked). Scotland kit, probably.

There are five people on stage I have no idea which one is Chad Jackson. It's probably the bloke in the nasty off-white tracksuit because he seems to keep promoting himself as the most important person on stage. He's playing the bongos. He's playing the saxophone. He's flailing away at the cymbals like a drunkard swatting a fly.

Normally I'd just look up a photo of Chad Jackson but the results are swamped by pictures of Wide Receiver Chad Wolfegang Jackson. I'm reasonably the pair are not the same person because Chad Wolfegang Jackson would have been five when this performance was recorded.

My eye is drawn to the bloke who has been given a couple of signs to hold. Each sign is double-sided and can be flipped at the appropriate time. One reads “Let's grove on 'cos it's time to move on/Hear the drummer get wicked” the other “Peace unity love/And havin' fun...”

Prop work is always tricky and the sign holder gets into a little difficulty during the second half of the song. He's been given a couple of stands to prop up the signs when they are not in use; easier to grab and more dignified than scrabbling around in the dry ice on the floor. Unfortunately at one point the Peace sign is poorly balanced when put down. It starts to topple over and he has to do a one-handed rescue to avoid blowing the take. Then he's having such a good time that he misses one of his cues to wave the Let's Grove on sign.

15] BETTY BOO: Doin' The Doo. Simon is wearing a World In Motion t-shirt but first, Betty's antics cause chaos at school. Promo VT.

[2] ENGLAND/NEW ORDER: World In Motion. Simon Mayo, wearing an England shirt, launches into a convoluted link about the 1970 World Cup song Back Home and how “twenty years ago the England World Cup squad stood in this very place.” Alas, I don't have access to the documentation to check if Back Home was performed in the same studio as the current edition. But if you can't trust Simon Mayo to do the necessary research then who can you rely on?

TOP 10

[1] ADAMSKI: Killer. BBC VT, repeated from 10/05/1990.

[24] THE CARLATANS: The Only One I Know. Promo VT. Mark Goodier next week.

 Performance of the week: Chad Jackson, Hear The Drummer (Get Wicked).

 07/06/1990

 Mark Goodier: “Hi, good evening and welcome to Britain's hot hit music show in stereo sound on 1FM and this of course on BBC1 where you are. We've got a great show tonight and before the end a really big special surprise. To start with, a new chart entry. Here is Pop Will Eat Itself.”

[28] POP WILL EAT ITSELF: Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina. Cicciolina being the stage name of Hungarian-Italian porn actress Ilona Staller.

A chaotic performance. I know the name Pop Will Eat Itself but I'd struggle to tell you anything about the group. There are seven people on stage and not one of them has spoken to the rest about how they plan to dress or what they are going to do.

The direction favours the audience a little more than normal. There's a pull back from people dancing in the crow's nest and a lovely 360-degree spinning shot along the front of the stage. It's different enough to make me check the credits and it turns out someone new(ish) is sitting in the gallery.

Babara Jones is in the director's chair this week. She's cropped up once before, behind the scenes on the 06/04/1989 edition doing a pre-show recording of Fine Young Cannibals (Good Thing) and a post-record of Yazz (Where Has All The Love Gone) and Ten City (Devotion). The Fine Young Cannibals and Ten City recordings were used on the 13/04/1989 Top of the Pops which got Babara Jones a directed by credit; misspelt like I keep doing, as Barbara Jones. The Yazz performance was used on the 20/04/1989 show but I forgot to check to see if she got a credit. I have failed you.

BBC Genome suggests this is the start of Babara Jones' directing career. She'll direct another Top of the Pops later in the year and in 1991 she will handle the final series of Little and Large. After that, there's more Top of the Pops, Wipeout with Paul Daniels, and then a series with the new Little and Large, Newman and Baddiel in Pieces.

[26] ELTON JOHN: Sacrifice. Promo VT.

CHARTS: 40 TO 31

[29] D-SHAKE: Yaah. Promo VT.

[32] THE MISSION: Into The Blue. Promo VT.

[4] DON PABLO'S ANIMALS: Venus. BBC VT. Repeated from 24/05/1990.

CHARTS: 30 to 11

[23] WILSON PHILLIPS: Hold On. Promo VT.

[31] MC TUNES VERSUS 808 STATE: The Only Rhyme That Bites. The second time The Big Country sample plays, the camera cuts to a long tracking shot which starts under one of the studio bridges. This cut catches floor manager Barrie Martin by surprise, he's caught in the centre of the shot shepherding some of the audience into position for Mark Goodier's next link. He gazes guiltily into the camera and then ducks off stage, thus drawing more attention to himself than if he's just stood there.

[12] WAS NOT WAS: Papa Was A Rolling Stone. Promo VT.

TOP 10

[1] ENGLAND/NEW ORDER: World In Motion. All through the programme Mark Goodier has been promising a “surprise”. It's a live satellite link up with the England boys in Sardinia.

Mark Goodier: “Live by satellite from Sardinia we should have John Barnes and Paul Gascoigne. Gentlemen, welcome to Top of the Pops and congratulations.

John Barnes: “Thanks a lot.” 

Mark Goodier: “John. How do you feel about the record, first. How do you feel about the record, first.” (this bit is an audio nightmare, there's a TV on in the background and the sound feedbacks until, presumably, someone sneaks over and turns down the volume.)

John Barnes: “Well we're glad it's at number one obviously. We didn't play that much of a role in it. It's really a New Order song but we're happy that it's there.”

Mark Goodier: “You're very modest. Gazza, tell me about the training and how preparations are going for the big match coming up on Monday. How are things going.”

Paul Gascoigne: “Well. That has absolutely nothing to do with the record.” (Laughter)

Mark Goodier: “Come on, we want to know about the football for one link.”

Paul Gascoigne: “Yeah well. I mean if we're playing as well as the record then obviously we'll do well.”

Mark Goodier: “It's a good line. We wish you lot's of luck. Here it is Britain's number one....”
Promo VT.

[21] ROXETTE: It Must Have Been Love. Promo VT.

 Performance of the week: Only two studio performances this week. I wonder if this performance light show was seen as good practice for Barbara Jones. Anyway, MC Tunes Versus 808 State, The Only Rhyme That Bites.