Top of the Pops 1980 13 March 1980

Guest Post by Chris Arnsby

BBC4: Top of the Pops 1980 13/03/1980

Steve Wright, "Hello, good evening, and welcome to Top of the Pops with the sound of Rush and Spirit Of Radio." Chart music: Rush, Spirit Of Radio [23]. The Dooleys: Love Patrol [39]. I imagine my reaction on seeing The Dooleys again must be like that of the villagers living at the bottom of the road to Dracula's castle. Once again the ancient horror has resurrected. A terror which we thought long defeated has sprung back to terrible, terrible life. Joy is banished from the world. The woods. And the darkness... and the howling wind! Will the snows never cease? They seem to reach back forever! I yearn for the grave.

Bored with the song Debbie Dooley decides to do her lipstick

 The Police: So Lonely [6]. According to Wikipedia this promo was filmed on the streets of Hong Kong and the Tokyo subway. It's kind of hard to tell because Sting and the boys will insist on getting in the way when I'm trying to look at the scenery. Drummer Stewart Copeland definitely pretends to drum on a Hong Kong Police Land Rover at one point; the crazy fool.  
The Detroit Spinners:  Working My Way Back To You – Forgive Me Girl [20]. "Danger Ladies At Work," read the signs on Legs & Co's scaffolding stage. The word 'working' in the song title seems to be the tenuous linking theme.
Brothers Johnson: Stomp [25]. This band is overstaffed. There's a guy standing behind the lead singer who's not doing anything except swinging his hips. What's he there for? And how does he describe his job on his CV? STOP PRESS: He's pulled out a trumpet now so I guess he's justified his position.
Secret Affair: My World [40]. Back in the long ago of August 1979 Secret Affair were a smart looking Mod revival band with a great song called Time For Action. Look at them now. A couple of the band have ditched the suits for t-shirts, and there's suddenly a saxophonist wearing a two-tone pork pie hat. Have Secret Affair sold out and hitched their buggy to the Madness band wagon? You read it here first.
Liquid Gold: Dance Yourselves Dizzy [14]. Excerpt from the house magazine of International Desecration PLC. "...the boys and girls from Accounting had everyone in stitches with their hilarious band performance. Mr. Prenderghast of Invoices Payable wowed the ladies with his cheeky drumming routine and the next day his antics were the talk of Audit Processing. The Chief Cashier led the applause at the end of their song..."
Rainbow: All Night Long [5]. "You're sort of young but you're over age." Phew! Good job you explained that Rainbow. 

The Vapors: Turning Japanese [8]. Steve Wright spoils the party by using his funny oriental voice to introduce The Vapours. "Me so solly, me likely flied lice." NEW QUANTEL TRICK! The picture is rapidly spun round a horizontal or vertical axis. The excitement of spotting what will become a Light Entertainment standby nearly makes me miss the moment when the drummer loses one of his drum sticks and has to collect it after a short walk of shame across the stage.
Siouxsie & The Banshees: Happy House [36]. Good job Siouxsie & The Banshees weren't doing Hong Kong Garden.

The Gibson Brothers: Cuba [18]. There must be a rule about production staff not appearing on screen. The cameraman working the handheld camera has to keep dashing off stage and, towards the end of the song, during the final pan round the stage he -and the bloke standing next to him- both crouch down in a futile attempt to avoid the all seeing gaze of the camera.
Peter Gabriel: Games Without Frontiers [4]. Only the first 80 seconds of the song because we have to rush in order to fit in...
Marti Webb: Take That Look Off Your Face [3]... a repeat from the 28/02/80 edition.
Genesis: Turn It On Again [35]. Produced in an environment handling Phil Collins.

Number one: Fern Kinney, Together We Are Beautiful. It feels like this song has snuck up the charts. Actually it's been charting for about as long as Marti Webb's song but it hasn't had the same profile; being repeated on an edition presented by D*ve L** Tr*v*s hasn't helped.

Closing titles:Captain & Tenille, Do That To Me One More Time.

Performance of the week: Secret Affair: My World. They may have sold out but they are still infinitely better than The Dooleys.