Reviewed by Chris Arnsby. Mike Read: “Hi, and welcome to Top of the
Pops with Gary and myself. USA for Africa are on tonight, and the RAH Band,
David Grant, Jaki Graham, and also Phil Collins.” Gary Davies: “In fact if you
want to know how to get 17 hits in 33 minutes just stick around. To get us
underway a song that's gone up 17 places to number 7 in the charts this week.
Bronski Beat and Marc Almond, I Feel Love.”
[7] Bronski Beat
& Marc Almond: I Feel Love.17 hits in 33 minutes? Yes, it turns out Top of the Pops has
been given extra time. When Only Fools And Horses finished, Top of
the Pops and Tomorrow's World swapped places on Thursday. Now Tomorrow's
World has lost five minutes and is scheduled from 7.30-7.55pm, and Top
of the Pops slots in between that and repeats of The Lenny Henry Show
at 8.30pm.
I Feel Love is a
study in contrasting performance styles.
Jimmy Somerville is a natural on stage. He dances like a club veteran
and looks at home and completely unselfconscious. Marc Almond looks more awkward,
and dances like... well, like me. Fair play to Marc. He's doing his best but
he's got the wry self-conscious smirk of a man out of his element. Clearly he
would rather be back in suburbia writing poetry about how ghastly it is to live
in the suffocating bourgeois embrace of the provinces where no one understands
him, and all his real talents go unappreciated. Marc Almond is wearing a small
gold star pinned to his blazer lapel. Is it his badge for mathematical
excellence? This is an oddly structured song with two false endings, put there
to frustrate any DJ with the temerity to play the song on the radio. The first
one shifts abruptly from I Feel Love to Johnny Remember Me. The pair continue
to sing as Lighting Director Fred Wright uses this moment to cut the main
studio lights leaving the stage lit by a spotlight, against a backdrop of neon
tubes. The studio lights are then slowly raised again as the song builds. It
looks great. Both false endings get big cheers from the studio audience.
[4] Phil Collins:
One More Night. On video.
[6] RAH Band:
Clouds Across The Moon. I
feel like I'm missing some important context. Imagine completing a jigsaw which
turns out to feature a baffling picture; Albert Einstein dressed as an
adjustable wrench and riding on the back of a gorilla. (John- Oh you’ve got that one too have you? ) I can see what the
picture is, but I don't understand why someone would commission that artwork,
then make a jigsaw of it, and then put it on sale. That's Clouds Across The
Moon by RAH Band. It's not a bad song, although the tune verges towards the
sort of bland jazz-funk Shakatak used to produce by the yard. But why are the
lyrics a phone conversation to an astronaut on Mars? And there's a war on? And
the singer only gets to call once a year? And why under these circumstances is
the conversation so banal? Given all this uncertainty it hardly seems necessary
to complain about the Intergalactic Operator routing the call via the asteroid
belt, which just seems like a cynical way to make more money by driving up the
call. (Fact John- Richard Anthony Hewson is
the mastermind behind The RAH Band – see what he did there- who first came to
our attention with `The Crunch` in 1977 and the band appeared on TOTP dressed in
diving skins. Hewson also produced Shakin Stevens so he’s committed crimes
alright..)
Top 40 Breakers:
[36] New Model Army, No Rest;
[34] Debarge, Rhythm Of The Night; [31] Eurythmics, Would I Lie To You?;
[23] Freddie Mercury, I Was Born To Love You.
Top 10: [10]
Howard Jones, Look Mama; [9]
Go West, We Close Our Eyes; [8] Simple Minds, Don't You Forget About Me;
[7] Bronski Beat & Marc Almond, I
Feel Love; [6] RAH Band, Clouds Across The Moon.
[5] David Grant
& Jaki Graham: Could It Be I’m Falling In Love? A pleasant enough song, but not interesting
enough that I don't spend the whole studio performance trying to work out if
the unfashionably bearded percussionist is Trevor Morais; last seen on Top
of the Pops the previous week backing Howard Jones. I don't think it is,
unless he's had a trim since 18/04/1985. Unfortunately positive ID is difficult
because Jaki Graham keeps selfishly dancing in front of the drummer. If it
isn't Trever Morais then how many unfashionably hairy drummers were roaming the
streets in 1985? (Fact John- Trev
actually joined Rory Storm and the Hurricanes after previous drummer Ringo
Starr left to join The Beatles. Just think; if Rings hadn’t worked out it
could have been John, Paul, George and Trevor!)
[3] Phyllis
Nelson: Move Closer.
Notable for using a clip of Phyllis Nelson performing on Top of the Pops (18/04/1985).
Is this the last time a record company was too cheap to make a video for a Top
10 single?
[2] Tears For
Fears: Everybody Wants To Rule The World.
[1] USA For
Africa: We Are The World.
The BBC4 repeat cuts straight from Tears For Fears to USA For Africa with no
introduction. This is reportedly because Mike Read does a J*mmy S*v*l*
impression.
[20] Steve
Arrington: Feel So Real.
Before the audience dancing and credits there's a brief interview with Vikki
Watson. She is taking the song Love Is to groovy Gothemburg for the 1985 Eurovision
Song Contest. This is the first time since at least 1980 (I couldn't be
bothered to check further back) that the Eurovision contender hasn't had a
pre-contest outing on Top of the Pops. Terry Wogan has stolen that
thunder by previewing the songs on his new thrice weekly chat show, the
originally named Wogan.It's a classic
piece of in depth pop-journalism. We learn that Vikki thinks “we're going to
win this year, Mike.” And nothing else. The UK did well, scoring 100 points,
but the 1986 Eurovision Contest was
held in Norway.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK: Bronski Beat & Marc Almond: I Feel Love
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