Top of the Pops 11 Nov 1982

Reviewed by Chris Arnsby. David Jensen: "Good evening. It's my turn to introduce you to the big musical numbers and this week we kick off with Blue Zoo and Cry Boy Cry."

[21] Blue Zoo: Cry Boy Cry: We've skipped a show presented by Mike Smith (for boring rights reasons rather than anything salacious) and so there's a degree of repetition between this edition and the last one repeated on BBC4. Blue Zoo have been promoted to the top of the show slot. The lead singer is wearing his split top again (it looks draughty) but he's lost the red tabard which covered it last time. The hat-wearing guitarist is still doing his own complicated private dance routine but he's left his hat at home. Apparently he was given a choice and preferred the dance over the hat.

[2] Dionne Warwick: Heartbreaker. A second song from the 28/10/17 edition. Dionne Warwich, unlike Blue Zoo, doesn't do return engagements and so she appears in repeated footage. (John- But does she have the tabard and the hat?)

[9] Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney: This Girl Is Mine. This week Zoo are all dressed as golf caddies for reasons which never become clear. It's a change of direction from their usual Mad Max rags but not the right direction. Towards the end of the routine a selection of girls are superimposed in the top left corner of the screen; there's Miss Piggy, Mary Whitehouse, Selina Scott, Barbara Woodhouse, Margaret Thatcher, Dame Edna Everage, Barbara Cartland, don't know, a panda (presumably female so let's say Shao-Shao who gave birth in Madrid Zoo in September 1982 and was a bit of a panda celebrity at the time), and Diana Dors.

[5] Marvin Gaye: (Sexual) Healing. David Jensen (when did the "Kid" disappear?) is apparently not allowed to say the title of this record. It's too rude for the between Tomorrow's World and Sorry slot. The plot of the promo film is opaque. Marvin Gaye is appearing at a women only night club. Meanwhile, elsewhere, a woman in a limousine watches the same performance on a black and white portable television (footage of Marvin Gaye is overlaid onto a blank screen, presumably they could have overlaid the footage in colour but this would have been a step too far into crazy science fiction). Gasp. What will happen next? Is the woman being taken to see Marvin Gaye in the club? Why does the limousine have a flashing red light on the top? Is it a (Sexual) ambulance for (Sexual) emergencies? Sadly we will never know. Top of the Pops cuts away from the film before any of these questions can be answered.

Marvin won't let them have the microphone

[41] A Flock Of Seagulls: Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You). There's a very sneaky edit between Marvin Gaye and A Flock Of Seagulls to remove the US Chart report from J-n-th-n K-ng. The phantom editor has taken David Jensen's "Marvin Gaye there on Top of the Pops," from one side of the US Chart update and "here's A Flock Of Seagulls," from the other side and joined them together to make one seamless sentence. Smooth.

[29] Donna Summer: State Of Independence. On smeary NTSC video. Donna is singing her song from a stage decorated with cubes of various sizes. (Fact John- This song was penned by Jon and Vangelis and recorded by them the previous year. It includes a lyric that of course makes sense to us all: “Shablamidi, shablamida”)

[11] Clannad: Theme From ‘Harry’s Game’. Clannad look a little lost. Four of them are lined up at the front of the stage while the keyboard player towers over them from a rostrum. The four at the front face forwards and look like they've had a row. As nice as the  Theme From Harry's Game is, it doesn't make for exciting television. The next two and a half minutes are basically an opportunity for the camera operators to practice their slow zooms and for Vison Mixer Heather Gilder to practice her cross-fades. What happens at the end? The second keyboard player, on the far left, looks like he's about to launch into a celebratory fist-pump. Then he swivels on his heels, looks at his keyboard and starts to walk off the stage as if he's remembered he left the gas on.

[1] Eddy Grant: I Don’t Wanna Dance. Eddy Grant is on film from somewhere hot and sunny (probably Barbados). Sensible man.

[27] Raw Silk: Do It To The Music. Top of the Pops closes with the crowd bopping away to Raw Silk. Check out the four unfortunate members of Zoo (Eddie, Geoff, Heavon, and Mark according to the credits) who are still wearing their uncool golfing togs.