Words: Chris Arnsby
Graham
Rimmington is back on Lighting and he's decided the colour for this song is a
very sombre blue. It's a creative choice
but is it the right one? I'd have gone with something a bit brighter.
[4]
PARTNERS IN KRYME: Turtle Power. Promo VT. Next week we'll have a go at answering the pub trivia
question, what was the first rap/hip-hip song to reach Number One in the UK.
CHARTS: 40 TO 31
[21]
DIANA ROSS: I'm Still Waiting. Promo VT.
[27]
INSPIRAL CARPETS: She Comes In The Fall. BBC VT, repeated from 05/07/1990. “Stay tuned
later for some hot Madonna news,” teases Mark Goodier.
[32]
PAUL YOUNG: Oh Girl. Mark Goodier introduces Paul Young via a backhanded compliment.
“I like this show tonight. We're surrounded by trendy people. We have trendy
bands like the Inspiral Carpets* and next a guy who it's always a great
pleasure to welcome on Top of the Pops.” Is Paul Young not trendy then, Mark?
Paul
Young looks like he's been pre-recorded, so maybe Mark Goodier is just put out
that Paul didn't want to come into the studio to be welcomed by him.
*No
you don't Mark. They were on videotape.
CHARTS:
30 to 11
[5]
F. A. B featuring M. C. PARKER: Thunderbirds Are Go. Promo VT. Thunderbird 2
flies across the screen to deliver the video and take it away at the end, via
the magic of Quantel. Well done, Ian Simpson, Video Effects, and Vision Mixer
Hilary Brigel.
[14] MADONNA: Hanky Panky. Promo VT. Mark Goodier gives us a hot Madonna news update after the video. “Madonna's Saturday night concert is broadcast live and direct, exclusively on Radio 1FM. Do not miss it.”
[31] DREAM WARRIORS: Wash Your Face In My Sink. Man, I hated this song when I was 18. The thing is, I can't remember why. I didn't have a lot of points of comparison for rap at the time, and I think I just didn't know how to respond because it was so far outside of anything I was familiar with; and obviously, it was easier to write off an entire genre rather than, I don't know, try listening to it.
Do
I like this song now? Well. Not much. Which is ironic. Dream Warriors kind of
remind me of De La Soul and I was never much of a fan of them either. This
probably makes me a terrible person but at least I know I've given the song
more of a chance than I did in 1990. Also, sorry Dream Warriors, I don't
understand if me washing my face in your sink is a good or bad thing.
If
you're thinking I've rattled through this edition quickly, you're right. It's
been a very studio performance light show. Paul Ciani must have fancied getting
home early.
TOP
10
[1]
ELTON JOHN: Sacrifice/Healing Hands. BBC VT. Promo VT.
[28]
PAULA ABDUL: Knocked Out. Promo VT. Jakki Brambles next week.
[8] BLUE PEARL: Naked In The Rain.
Graham Rimmington is back on Lighting and previously I've been dismissive of
his work; at one point I may even have used the dread pejorative “Light
Entertainment”.
I
enjoyed his work a lot more this week because it feels like he's trying to give
each studio act a different atmosphere. Blue Pearl get a style which can best
be described as “Imaginary Rave” -that is, it fits the idea of how people
thought raves looked in 1990, rather than what they were actually like*. Blue
Pearl get all the colours, blue, magenta, yellow, green, red. The green lights
have been cut so they cast beams with sharply defined edges and no centre,
looking as much like a laser in the studio without actually shining a dangerous
laser anywhere near the crowd.
It's
been a while since we've had the chance to see what the host does during the
performance so watch out for the cut to the crane which drives across the
studio on the first outing for the line “take me dancing naked in the rain.”
The camera passes by Jakki Brambles, in the white top. Memories surface of Mike
Read and Simon Bates boogieing like it's 1979 but Jakki Brambles is too
sensible for any of that nonsense. She just stands there and watches the camera
glide past. Increasingly I'm coming to suspect that Jakki Brambles might be my
favourite host of the current roster; she just gets on with hosting the
programme and can be quietly funny or cutting when appropriate.
*which
from what my friends have subsequently told me, mainly involved hanging around
cabbage fields trying to work out which of the adjacent cabbage fields was the
source of distant music.
[9]
TECHNOTRONIC featuring YA KID K: Rockin' Over The Beat. Promo VT. For anyone
wondering (me, mostly) the “life function critical” and overlaid vector
graphics come from the film 2001.
CHARTS: 40 TO 31
[13]
D.N.A featuring SUZANNE VEGA: Tom's Diner. Promo VT
[10]
THE SOUP DRAGONS featuring JUNIOR REID: I'm Free. Blue Pearl and The Soup
Dragons? I hope this isn't turning into a repeat of the 12/07/1990 edition.
Reports that River City People have been seen heading towards W12 8QT are being
taken seriously.
BREAKERS
[29]
BEL BIV DEVOE: Poison
[31]
SINEAD O'CONNOR: The Emperor's New Clothes
[33]
BANANARAMA: Only Your Love
[21]
PAULA ABDUL: Knocked Out. A pre-recorded performance, but pre-recorded when? A while ago as
it turns out. Quite a while ago. August 1989, probably. I'm grateful to
commenter mumu03 for telling me about the behind the scenes photo
available on the BBC Photo Sales site (https://www.bbcphotosales.co.uk/asset/120459/) dated to almost a year
before broadcast. A terrific piece of detective work.
So
what happened? Knocked Out was originally released in September 1988 as Paula
Abdul's first UK single. It stiffed and peaked at [98] for one week. It
got a rerelease in August 1989, in the wake of the success of Straight Up and
Forever Your Girl. Knocked Out did twice as well in 1989 as it did in 1988, it
got to [45] for three weeks. Jump ahead to now, surely people will
finally buy Knocked Out after Opposites Attract? Yes, it will get to [21].
It might have made the Top 20 if they included MC Skat Kat.
CHARTS:
30 to 11
[5]
M.C. HAMMER: U Can't Touch This. Promo VT.
[16]
RIVER CITY PEOPLE: California Dreamin/Carry The Blame. And here they are.
TOP
10
[1]
PARTNERS IN KRYME: Turtle Power. Promo VT. Jakki Brambles is joined by two people dressed in
terrible foam-rubber ninja turtle costumes; Leonardo (despite what the song
tells you the leader, in the blue bandanna) and Michaelangelo, (orange). Well
done to Ian Simpson (Video Effects) and Hilary Briegel (Vision Mixer) for the
animated pizza which rolls across the screen, and the pizza slice which pops
out and Quantel transitions into the video.
I
seem to have a lot to say about Turtle Power. This is fortunate because the
song is going to spend a month at Number 1. Let's start with the obvious.
Although the cartoon had been going in America since December 1987 it only
arrived on BBC1 in January 1990. And it was renamed Teenage Mutant Hero
Turtles because anything ninja was wrapped up in the ongoing panic over
martial arts weapons which started around 1987 and saw “ninja death stars”
banned as part of the 1988 Criminal Justice
Act; along with seven other ninja weapons. Against this background its
remarkable the film kept the Ninja Turtle name but the tagline was “hey
dude this ain't no cartoon”. The film makers were obviously keen to establish
themselves as more grown up than those Hero Turtles but they still
accepted two minutes of cuts in return for that precious PG rating.
[23]
LFO: LFO. Promo
VT. Bruno Brookes hosts next week. Jakki Brambles waves goodbye with her two
turtle friends. Impressively, Jakki points at the correct turtle while naming
Leonardo and Michaelangelo but then goes on to spoil her street cred by
rendering their catchphrase as “carabunga”.
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