Top of the Pops 11th & 18th October 1990

 Words: Chris Arnsby

 11/10/1990

 Bruno Brookes: “Good evening. Welcome to all the hits in vision. This is Top of the Pops on a Thursday night. Hope you're well, you've had a good day. There are eleven new entries on the chart this week, and hopefully we will feature as many as we can during this show. Well to start off, with a new entry at twenty one, Sisters of Mercy and this song called More.”

 [21] THE SISTERS OF MERCY: More. Bruno Brookes is wearing a terrible pair of brown trousers. They are pleated in a way that causes a pouch to balloon outwards and down from his crotchal zone. This is matched to a nasty shirt with a brown bit designed to look like he is wearing a waistcoat. At least it does from the front, when Bruno Brookes turns round, the pattern doesn't continue down the back of the shirt which renders it pointless. The ensemble is hideous.

There's a chance to have a nice long look at two of the hand held camera operators doing their thing. It looks great and neither of the pair do the traditional oops-I've-nearly-been-spotted duck and cover move. Clearly Stanley Appel is more relaxed about the technical crew appearing on screen and quite right too. I love being able to see the behind the scenes team.

[19] CLIFF RICHARD: From A Distance. Promo VT.

CHARTS: 40 TO 31

[24] THE CHIMES: Heaven. This is one of those shows where I have very little to say about the studio acts. So with apologies to Pauline Henry I'm going to move on.

[16] NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: Let's Try It Again/Didn't I. Promo VT.

[9] THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH: A Little Time. Good staging for this song. Rather than put Dave Hemingway and Briana Corrigan next to each other facing the audience, they are arranged at 90 degrees. This allows the song to be shot more like a conversation than a duet. 

CHARTS: 30 to 11

[25] NENEH CHERRY: I've Got You Under My Skin. This is weird. The Crows Nest is back in use over the main stage. Was I wrong when I thought it had been retired? This will require more observation.

[14] MONIE LOVE Featuring TRUE IMAGE: It's A Shame (My Sister). Promo VT.

[4] STATUS QUO: The Anniversary Waltz – Part One. Promo VT. Top of the Pops overlays a CONGRATULATIONS caption at the end of the video because apparently Status Quo have been together for 25 years. I thought the band didn't name themselves Status Quo until 1967?

TOP 10

[1] MARIA McKEE: Show Me Heaven. BBC VT. A repeat of the 13/09/1990 performance.
[17] DEPECH MODE: World In My Eyes. Promo VT. Mark Goodier next week.

 Countdown to Year Zero revamp: 51

Performance of the week: The Beautiful South, A Little Time.

18/10/1990

 Mark Goodier: “Good evening and welcome to Top of the Pops and yes of course we are live on Radio 1FM. Tonight we have a hot show with the Number One and all the climbers. And we start with a band who were last on the chart with You Are The One, now they're back inside the Top Twenty with Crying In The Rain. Here is a-ha.”

 [19] A-HA: Crying In The Rain. My bare minimum for these write-ups is one side of A4. My summary of the 11/10/1990 show struggled to get to three quarters of a page. Hence this double-bill. Hopefully I'll have more to say about this week's edition.

The return of a-ha is a good start. Although the song title doesn't inspire confidence. Pop Relationship Tip: instead of going outside and crying, why not try couples counselling or a divorce? (John- This is actually a cover version of a song that was a hit for the Everly Brothers in 1961 and was written by Carole King)

Martin Kempton has been handling the Lighting for the last couple of weeks and he loves his shades of blue. Here it matches the mood of the song but frankly the best bit comes right at the start when he goes all King Lear and uses white floodlights to simulate lightning, to match the thunder on the backing track.

[23] AZTEC CAMERA & MICK JONES: Good Morning Britain. Promo VT. A round of applause for whichever bright spark* thought of overlaying the Good Morning Britain** clock over Mark Goodier, to match the one in the video. It's a fun link into the video but I can't help but notice the Top of the Pops clock runs forwards while the one in the video is going backwards.

*Presumably Ian Simpson, credited with Video Effects.

** The correct ITV one, with the triangles where numbers should be.

CHARTS: 40 TO 31

[33] INNOCENCE: Let's Push It. There's something odd about the picture from the hand held camera. I don't have the technical vocabulary to describe it but there's a rounding effect on the left side of the picture, as if there's something at the side of the lens that's stopping it from recording a picture with straight edges. The fault was there on a-ha's performance as well so maybe the camera is knackered.

[16] WHITNEY HOUSTON: I'm Your Baby Tonight. Promo VT.

CHARTS: 30 to 11

[20] HAPPY MONDAYS: Kinky Afro. Crows Nest update. It really does look like the Crows Nest has been returned to the old use with a couple of the more trustworthy audience members up there and the screen replaced with a reflective piece of scenery. Essential monitoring will continue.

When the Happy Mondays appeared on the 05/04/1990 edition it was clear that Paul Ciani did not understand the status of Bez within the band. He got zero closeups although this was something Bez did not appear to care about. Six months later, Stanley Appel is much more ready to throw Bez a few closeups but Bez still does not care. He simply is.

[24] RITA MacNEIL: Working Man. Promo VT.

BREAKERS

[27] BERLIN: Take My Breath Away

[28] TINA TURNER: Be Tender With Me Baby

[30 PAUL McCARTNEY: Birthday

[15] HI TEK 3 featuring YA KID K: Spin That Wheel (Turtles Get Real). Promo VT. The BBC graphic overlays are getting more ambitious. A (poorly cut-out) frame grab of Michelangelo drifts in from the right of frame while the Quantel transition into the video spins in the general area of his hand.

The video is allowed to continue into the section which contains all those naughty ninja weapons, swords, tonfas, and nunchuks; oh my. The BBFC had an absolute ban on these but I guess Top of the Pops was not so bothered, or maybe no one knew what nunchuks looked like?

TOP 10

[1] MARIA McKEE: Show Me Heaven. Promo VT.

[26] BELINDA CARLISE: (We Want) The Same Thing. Promo VT. Jakki Brambles next week.

 Countdown to Year Zero revamp: 50

Performance of the week: Happy Mondays, Kinky Afro.