Top of the Pops 6 November 1986

 

Presented by Chris Arsnby. Steve Wright: “Hello, good evening, and welcome to another exciting Top of the Pops!!” Peter Powell: “Thank you Steve! Right for starters here's hit fifteen, Bon Jovi!” 

[15] Bon Jovi: Livin' On A Prayer. Bon Jovi take Top of the Pops seriously. Which is a surprise. I would have assumed they were too busy to come to Shepherds Bush but here they are for the second time in two months and having a great time; lots of playing up to the camera; mucking about and grinning and pointing; and Jon Bon Jovi's been working on his Mick Jagger chicken walk. Keyboard player David Bryan is having so much fun he abandons his keyboard and comes to the front of the stage to join in on the guitar held by the one that isn't Richie Sambora... Alec John Such? Unfortunately for David he's largely off camera so his display of bonhomie is overlooked.

 

Stanley Appel is still sitting in the Producer and Director's chairs simultaneously. (John- They are quite small chairs) He makes good use of hand held cameras looking up from the studio floor to get dynamic shots of the band. Meanwhile Lighting Director Ron Bristow takes advantage of Michael Hurll's absence to (gasp) turn down the lights (a bit). With some of the flashing, blinking, and strobing, dialled back the low-angled shots look great with the band in the foreground and the lighting grid in the background. There's a perfect moment at the end of the second chorus , the “liivvvin on a prayeer” line. Vision Mixer Kathryn Randall cuts to a beautifully framed medium close-up of Jon Bon-Jovi standing with one arm aloft, backlit, and looking every inch the rock star.

[16] Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush: Don't Give Up. On video.

[22] Red Box: For America. Not seen on Top of the Pops since October 1985. What have you been up to guys? Writing lyrics?

 “Ya da dee yeh yeh ee oh, Ya da dee yeh yeh ee ah, Ya da dee yeh ah
In Americ urelei urelei urelei urelei urelei urelei eh!
Urelei urelei urelei urelei urelei USA (for America)
Where's the peace and understanding?
Go drum, go dance, sound on sound
All this peace and understanding
Go drum, go dance, round and round
In America yeeooo ay da yeeooo ah in America
Na na ne na ne na na, Ya da dee yeh yeh ee ah
Ya da dee yeh ah,In Americ urelei urelei urelei urelei urelei urelei eh!
Urelei urelei urelei urelei urelei USA (for America)”

I guess not.

(John- In case you think Chris is having you on, these are the genuine lyrics. Though some sites have Urelei translated as Uruguay! Google the word Urelei and it just takes you back to this song…so I suppose we’ll never know.)

 Top 40 Charts. Rejoice. Rejoice. Shaking Stevens, from last week's chart, has been given back his apostrophe privileges and he is now rightly referred to as Shakin' Stevens [25]. Pity poor Letitia Dean (& Paul Medford). Ignored by Top of the Pops, unlike Nick Berry, Anita Dobson, Su Pollard, or indeed any Yahoo with a rubbish song even tangentially related to a television programme. Except Paul Hardcastle and The Wizard. That's a great song and I'll fight anyone who says different. Round the bins. Come on. Right now.

[17] Swing Out Sister: Break Out. I am distracted by Corinne Drewery's suit. Her top is a traditional dinner jacket that someone has cut across the midriff. This makes it Z-shaped and it swings (appropriately) in a way that would make Pythagoras reconsider some of his theorems. Also, what's going on below the waist? Is Corrine wearing a very long straight skirt or loose fitting trousers? It's just not clear.

Top 40 Breakers: [25] Bob Geldof, This is The World Calling; [24] Shakin' Stevens, Because I love You; [20] Spandau Ballet, Through the Barricades.

[7] Duran Duran: Notorious. Red Box have been away for a year. Duran Duran have been away for twice as long. They last appeared in November 1984, with Wild Boys. They're in fine form and the audience are having a great time, but this was the peak. Next week Notorious will dip to [12] and then duck out of the Top 20 a couple of weeks later. (John – It was a good album though) “Duran Duran are back!” is Peter Powell's unfortunate verdict.

Top 10 Charts.

[1] Berlin: Take My Breath Away. On video.

[10] The Pretenders: Don't Get Me Wrong. “Mike Smith presents the show next week,” says Powell and we end with The Pretenders homage to The Avengers. Closing credits background? It's the title sequence still again.

 

Performance of the Week: Bon Jovi: Livin' On A Prayer