Top of the Pops 17 Oct 1985

Reviewed by Chris Arnsby. Peter Powell: “Hello! Welcome one and all to another edition of Top of the Pops! On the show tonight we've got Elton John, we've got Jennifer Rush, we've got Colonel Abrams, and who else!?” Mike Read: “Well, one of the biggest risers in the chart this week heading towards the top ten. We're going to kick off with a bit of Rock and Roll, it's Shaky and Lipstick, Powder, and Paint.”
[18] Shakin' Stevens: Lipstick, Powder & Paint. Gather round children and I'll tell you again of the remarkable story of Shakin' Stevens. Now in the sixth year of his pop career, he's released 18 singles and all bar one have reached the Top 20 (Hot Dog, 24 in March 1980), and 11 of those singles made the Top 10. Lipstick, Powder, and Paint will not be one of those Top 10 songs but if you were to draw a graph (with Pop Success on the X-axis and Shaky Factor on the Y-axis) I think this might be the performance to come out right in the middle. I'd describe it as mean Shaky, but that makes it sound like he's had a Billy Idol bad-boy makeover. If you listen to the song it's nothing remarkable. It's another Shakin' Stevens cover of a fifties single. It's the performance that elevates it, and it's a great example of how Top of the Pops is able to work its magic.

 

Shaky's been put on a podium in the middle of the audience, so you can see the crowd dancing and having a whale of a time in the background of everything except the closest of close-ups. The camera is nearly always moving, and when it isn't moving Shakin' Stevens is, because he's an old hand at this and knows what looks good on camera. All he does during the saxophone break is clap his hands and walk round the circular edge of the podium, but it works because he breaks eye contact with the camera and doesn't just continue using the same side-to-side dance moves he uses for the rest of the song. It also works because it's been camera rehearsed and Vison Mixer Priscilla Hoadley cuts seamlessly from an extreme close-up to a long shot, and allows the viewers at home to see Shakin' Stevens from head to toe as if this was an old Fred Astaire musical.

[5] A-ha: Take On Me. On video. Yes that video. The one that seemed to be everywhere in October 1985, even Blue Peter got in on the publicity with a making of feature.

[19] Elton John: Nikita. Michael Hurll is tending to the needs of Noel Edmonds, so this is Brian Whitehouse's eight week credited as Producer. Where's Gordon Elsbury, Michael Hurll's previous representative on Earth gone? In February he was launch producer of Wogan, Michael Grade's thrice weekly anchor for the new look BBC1. Since then he's drifted back into Michael Hurll's orbit and is now back on the cushy Entertainment USA gig.

Brian Whitehouse seems to be a fairly generic Light Entertainment Producer and Director, judging by his credits on BBC Genome; The Hot Shoe Show, An Evening with Howard Keel, Bob's Full House. That said, his work on Top of the Pops is always interesting as can be seem with Shakin' Stevens and here on Nikita where he directs a handheld camera operator to circle the piano while Elton John performs.

Top 40 Breakers: [21] Level 42, Something About You; [14] Grace Jones, Slave To The Rhythm; [10] Jan Hammer, Miami Vice Theme.

[3] Colonel Abrams: Trapped. “Colonel Abrahams,” according to Peter Powell, twice. Apparently like me, he mistook this for a Military Two Step version of The Smurf Song.

Top 10: [10] Jan Hammer, Miami Vice Theme; [9] Billy Idol, Rebel Yell; [8] Simple Minds; Alive & Kicking.

[7] Madonna: Gambler. “One under par,” according to Mike Read. It's not, as I initially thought, that he's mistaken this song for one called Golfer, but a funnee reference to the song at number 7.

[6] John Parr, St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion).

[5] A-ha: Take On Me. “One over par,” quips Mike Read. Where does he get his crazy ideas from? Disappointingly he fails later to refer to Colonel Abrams as three over par; oh and he also names him “Abrahams.”

[4] Red Box, Lean On Me (Ah-Li-Ayo); [3] Colonel Abrams: Trapped; [2] Midge Ure, If I Was.

[1] Jennifer Rush, The Power Of Love. Peter Powell has a pop-fact. He's noticed with his pop-eye that this is the third song of 1985 called The Power Of Love. Sadly in his excitement to drop this pop-bombshell he stumbles over his words and comes out with this word salad, “and now at number one the second single to have a title of the same to get to number one this year... so far!”

[7] Madonna: Gambler. An abrupt edit into Peter Powell's goodbye because he name checked Dixie Peach and Mike Smith, who were the next hosts in 1985 but not on BBC4. Then we're into the usual audience dancing and credits.

Performance of the week: Shakin' Stevens, Lipstick, Powder & Paint.