Top of the Pops 26 June 1986

 Reviewed by Chris Arnsby. [15] Bananarama: Venus. Mike Smith, “Welcome to London and a star-studded edition of Top of the Pops. Coming up later we've got Wham! in the studio and the new Madonna video. Let's start with the ladies who've come back from Los Angeles, Bananarama!” Bananarama are on the pentagram decorated Beelzebub stage, but Visual Effects Designer Guy Lunn obscures the offending symbols with dry ice.

 

 

Steve Wright: “That was a treat!! Wasn't it!! Hello, good evening and welcome to another Top of the Pops!! That was Bananarama!! Here's Mike Smith!!”

Mike Smith: “So many treats this evening including, coming up now, a fantastic video. This is David Bowie number 21 this week.”

[21] David Bowie: Underground. On video.
[14] Queen: Friends Will Be Friends. Also on video. Top of the Pops normally avoids running videos back to back. I wonder if a band dropped out at the last minute? Alternatively a song which was expected to be a hit might have underperformed. Both Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Falco, from the 11/06/1986 edition, must have been pencilled in for a return visit until their singles started going the wrong way. Meanwhile, Lovebug Starski's Amityville (The House On The Hill) is still going up the charts but he is probably back in the USA by now and Top of the Pops doesn't like repeating old studio performances any more.

Looking down the Top 100 for the week also reveals several performers who must have been on the provisional list before their singles stalled. Top of the Pops favourite Paul Hardcastle was wishing he'd released The Wizard instead of Foolin' Youself; it didn't break the Top 50. Culture Club's, God Thank You Woman was now at it's chart peak of 31. Gary Numan, Big Country, and The Eurythmics, are all bubbling under as well. 

Playing Michael Hurll for a Day: I'd have given Billy Bragg another chance. His performance of Between The Wars was a highlight of 1985, and his single Levi Stubbs' Tears was a new entry at 44. Unfortunately a weakness of the Top 40 Breakers format is that Top of the Pops now very rarely dips outside of the Top 30 for studio performances. Or, there is the song at number 53. Who wouldn't want to see a reformed Barry Gray Orchestra performing The Theme From Joe 90.

Top 40 Charts. Sam Fox's [24] New Entry is rendered as Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Touch Me), a mistake carried across into the Top 40 Breakers, when any fule kno the song is actually called Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me). This Freudian slip is probably related to the fact that the new single is largely indistinguishable from the previous one, Touch Me (I Want Your Body), both sounding like watered down Kim Wilde.

Top 40 Breakers. [26] Claire & Friends, It’s ‘Orrible Being In Love (When You’re Eight 'n' 'arf); [24] Samantha Fox, Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me).

[7] Owen Paul: My Favourite Waste Of Time. I appreciate Owen Paul's doubling up of the Saxophonist, getting him to also play the bongos is very cost effective.

[13] Madonna:  Papa Don’t Preach. On video.

Top 10 Charts: Shrieks from the audience, as Mike Smith and Steve Wright introduce the Top 10, let you know exactly when Wham! take the stage.
[1] Wham!: The Edge Of Heaven. “Their last Top of the Pops as Wham!” and broadcast two days before their last ever concert at Wembley Stadium.

The crowd shriek approvingly while George and Andrew do their stuff, and right down at the front of the crowd someone can be glimpsed holding a single rose. Did they hand it over? We'll never know because the camera cuts back to Mike Smith and Steve Wright while Wham! are taking their final bows and the audience are still applauding.

[27] Midge Ure: Call Of The Wild. It feels like Top of the Pops ends with unusual haste. Is this because Producer and Director Brian Whitehouse wants to cut away from the studio before the crowd get out of hand, or was it just that Mike Smith over ran with his whimsy about taking over from Wham! by forming a new duo with Steve Wright? Regardless, there are no goodbyes from the host and no mention of the presenters next week. We're straight into the video for Call Of The Wild, and once again the credits roll over a blurry close up of blue and purple neon scenery.

Performance of the week: Wham!: The Edge Of Heaven