Top of the Pops 12 February 1987

 

Reviewed by Chris Arnsby. Simon Mayo: “Welcome, this is Top of the Pops and the twelve hundredth edition as well. Fantastic line up including Five Star and Pepsi and Shirlie.” Peter Powell: “And for openers! A band who have a triple-platinum album called World Machine! Starting on a nationwide tour in March and on Top of the Pops tonight! Level 42!

 [18] Level 42: Running in the Family. The 1200^th edition of Top of the Pops. That's a lot of counting. Hang on... the 1000^th edition was on 05/05/1983 and this is just under four years later. Plus there's 52 editions a year, or 53 if they've snuck an extra show in around Christmas/New Year. No. Can't be bothered. I'll leave someone else to fact check Simon Mayo's claim.

It's just under a year since Simon Mayo was first paraded in front of the Top Of the Pops audience, 20/03/1986 edition. He's still the Radio One newbug -and still mainly the holiday relief DJ- but he's becoming more prominent and about two weeks away from his first go in the Breakfast Show seat; the week of 2 March. His presence here seems more languid and low key than you'd normally expect from a Top of the Pops host but you need to remember three key facts.

1) He's standing next to Peter Powell who radiates enthusiasm at a level toxic to small mammals and tomato plants.

2) This is Simon Mayo's second go at hosting a full programme.

3) He's midway through two weeks of standing in for the never seen Adrian John, who hosts the very early in the morning show which starts at the ungodly hour of 5.30am. Adrian John is not to be confused with Adrian Juste.

[19] Ben E King: Stand by Me. On video. The film's release in the UK was a month away, on 13/03/1987.
[2] Pepsi & Shirlie: Heartache. Still stuck at number two because their old boss' song is topping the chart.

Top 40 Charts.

[11] Five Star: Stay Out of My Life. These Five Star performances and songs are blending into one. This is the one where they all wear white to do their synchronised dance routine. Sleep deprived Simon Mayo sums up my feelings, when he says “,what can you say, they're the band of the moment, they are Five Star...” A long pause follows while he tries to work out what he can say, “ and... fantastic,” is his less than rousing summary.

Top 40 Breakers. [25] Timbuk 3, Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades; [22] Carly Simon, Coming Around Again (Fact John- Carly Simon weirdly seems to have a UK hit every five years - 1972: `You’re So Vain`, 1977: `Nobody Does It Better`, 1982; `Why`, 1987: `Coming Around Again` but then broke that run with another hit in 1988 - `Let The River Run`) ; [20] Europe, Rock the Night.
[14] Vesta Williams: Once Bitten Twice Shy. On video.
Top 10 Charts.
[1] Aretha Franklin & George Michael: I Knew You Were Waiting. On video.

[6] Taffy: Radio. Simon Mayo has a Pop Fact. “George Michael is now the only person in the world to have four number ones with different acts. With Wham!, on his own, with Band Aid, and now with Aretha Franklin.”

Oh dear. Simon Mayo's Pop Fact is wrong. What about Paul McCartney with The Beatles, Wings, with Steve Wonder, and solo; or Cliff Richard with The Drifters, The Shadows, The Young Ones, and solo. Gary Davies hosts next week.

Background to the closing credits update. It remains a still from the opening titles, but this week it's a different still. For those keeping score, the pattern is as follows. 09/10/1986 to 04/12/1986, still one. 11/12/1986 DIFFERENT! 18/12/1986 to 05/02/1987, a return to still one. 12/02/1987 DIFFERENT! What will happen next week?

 Performance of the week: Level 42, Running in the Family. But it's a really grudging decision. I mean, look at the studio acts this week. Level 42 is clearly the best of a dull bunch.