Top of the Pops 5 July 1990

 

Words: Chris Arnsby

Nicky Campbell: “Hello, good evening. Believe me there is absolutely no respite. World Cup fever. Wimbledon frenzy. And now, strap yourselves in for what could be the most exciting half hour in any of our lifetimes. Top. Of the. Pops. What a show. What a line up. Inspiral Carpets.”

 [30] INSPIRAL CARPETS: She Comes In The Fall. The dream is over. World Cup update. The Years-of-Hurt-omemter (pat. pending) ticks up from 24. England sailed through the quarter-finals to meet West Germany in the semi-final. The result, a 1-1 draw and England were knocked out on penalties. Fortunately, England will never play West Germany again so that can't happen any more.

This all took place on 04/07/1990. Wednesday. The day after Top of the Pops was recorded. Nicky Campbell does a good* job of recording a suitably neutral introduction which would work regardless of whether England won, or lost. Still, no one cares about football. We're all about the tennis, baby. And 1990 is definitely Neil Broad's year.

*wow. It actually hurt to type that.

[29] JANET JACKSON: Alright. Promo VT.

CHARTS: 40 TO 31

[17] POISON: Unskinny Bop. Promo VT.

[25] DOUBLE TROUBLE: Love Don't Live Here Any More. There's been a split from the  Rebel MC, then?

Vision Mixer Susan Brincat uses an upside down handheld camera shot of a keyboard at one point. Top of the Pops produces abstract images by cross-fading pictures or overlaying them, or tumbling them around, or subjecting their electrons to various grips and tortures, but a straightforward hold-the-camera-upside-down shot is more unusual.

I'm fascinated by the bloke who does the voice over at the start, Karl Brown I think. He does 20 seconds of work and that's it. He wanders off to the back of the stage and hangs around playing with a tambourine. Nice work if you can get it.

[10] MC TUNES VERSUS 808 STATE: The Only Rhyme That Bites. Promo VT.

TOP 5 JUNE ALBUMS

“Brand new feature on Top of the Pops now. Brand new every month we're gonna be having a look at the best-selling albums and now, for here the first time, the top selling albums for June.” Ooh. A new regular monthly feature. I wonder if it will have been forgotten by September?

[5] STEP BY STEP: New Kids On The Block. Promo VT for Step By Step

[4] VERY BEST OF TALK TALK: Talk Talk. Promo VT for Life's What You Make It

[3] BETWEEN THE LINES: Jason Donovan. Promo VT for Another Night

[2] VOLUME II 1990 A NEW DECADE: Soul II Soul. Promo VT for A Dream's A Dream

[1] THE ESSENTIAL PAVAROTTI: Luciano Pavarotti. Promo VT for Nessun Dorma

Well, that definitely filled 55 seconds.

[12] F.A.B. Featuring M.C. PARKER: Thunderbirds Are Go. Promo VT.

[4] CRAIG McCLACHLAN AND CHECK 1-2: Mona. Promo VT.

CHARTS: 30 to 11

[27] MASSIVO featuring TRACY: Loving You. How come Massivo gets to be called Massivo while Tracy can't change her name to something more rock and roll? (John- Despite the Italian sounding name Massivo were from Surrey and one of many projects involving producer Steve Mac who has worked with lots of artists including Ed Sheeran, Westlife, Little Mix, Celine Dion, Demi Lovato and Susan Boyle to name just a handful. Though nobody as famous as Tracy of course.)

I'm not sure a live vocal in the pressure of a television studio was a good idea. Tracy does a better job of reaching for the high note on the single.

[9] M.C. HAMMER: U Can't Touch This. Promo VT.

TOP 10

[1] ELTON JOHN: Sacrifice/Healing Hands. Promo VT. A video heavy week, this week.

[21] GLENN MEDEIROS featuring BOBBY BROWN: She Ain't Worth It. Promo VT.

Anthea Turner next week.

 Performance of the week: Inspiral Carpets, She Comes In The Fall