Reviewed by
Chris Arnsby. Mike
Smith: “Good evening and welcome to Television Centre. Another half hour of
good clean family fun coming up.” Gary Davies: “And we start with the number
twenty nine record this week. It's called The Real Thing. Here is Jellybean
with Steven Dante.” Mike Smith: “This way.”
Stanley Appel takes over the Producering and Directoring this week. He starts Top
of the Pops with a well composed shot of the studio behind the hosts, with
a view of the crowd and Jellybean et al in the background. Normally the camera
would have panned from the hosts round to Jellybean (and Steven Dante) in one
continuous shot, but Top of the Pops is being directed with one eye
towards reusing performances in America and instead Vision Mixer Angela Wilson
cuts from the hosts to a nice clean wide shot of the stage which can be used as
the start of the performance, snipped out and put on the weekly rocket to
Pasadena. At least this is done for bands like Jellybean featuring Steven
Dante, two backing singers, and man playing the drums*, not so much for people
who may not be well known in America like, hypothetically, Steve Walsh.
* how many where going to St Ives?
[12] KISS: crazy crazy nights. “Tonight we bring you the first from Top of the Pops America,” says Mike Smith, unaware the show is correctly referred to as Top of the Pops USA. This links into the generic promo for Crazy Crazy Nights. Now, KISS did perform on Top of the Pops USA -but that happened two weeks later on 23/10/1987.
POP FACT: The correct footage was sent out. Nia Peebles loaded herself on to the return rocket to Croydon (via Tarooma) but crossing the international date line it reverted to the video because the performance hadn't been recorded yet. As always there's a lerfectly pogical explanation for seemingly inexplicable events.
[5] JAN HAMMER: crockett's theme. “Right down here, Jan Hammer,” lies Mike Smith as he links into a repeat from 24/09/1987.
Top 40 Charts. “Coming up now the countdown of Britain's fastest chart. The first week of it with the Gallop Top Forty.” I'd forgotten the fuss over the change of the chart, and to be honest I'm struggling to remember what it was all about. I'm pretty sure the big change involved revealing the new chart on Sunday evening (about 24 hours after the shops closed) rather than three days later on Tuesday. This was good for the Radio 1 Sunday chart show because the new chart was revealed live, rather than a belated five days later, but oddly enough it was bad for Top of the Pops, by the time they revealed the Top 40 it was already four days old. The solution might have been to oust Top of the Pops from it's“traditional”* Thursday night home to earlier in the week but instead the programme lumbered into the nineties looking more and more, what's the word, tired.
Songs taped off the radio, Little Lies by Fleetwood Mac [39], Walk the
Dinosaur by Was Not Was [38].
*not traditional
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[21] ERASURE: the circus. Okay. Who's been lying to Gary Davies again? “Two guys who are shortly off to Japan to take part in their equivalent to the Eurovision Song Contest. If they win, they get a great big medallion... and lots of money as well.” Suuuure Gary. The Japanese Eurovision Song Contest. With a medallion for a prize. Does Jimmy Hill present the medallion? [Finds Wikipedia Entry for World Popular Song Festival] What the..? It's true? And like the Eurovision Song Contest, the UK didn't win. Pseudo Echo did with Take On The World. I've been unable to find a picture of the great big medallion, so I reckon that bit's wrong.
Why did Erasure lose? It's all in the performance and presentation and Andy Bell has been given an accordion to play, which stops him dancing for some reason. The poor guy just looks a little lost when he can't cut loose. Vince Clarke looks furious, as always. I'd like to see him in a band with Chris Lowe from the Pet Shop Boys. Two blokes standing still, refusing to make eye contact, and occasionally interacting with a keyboard.
[9] LL COOL J: I NEED LOVE. A clip imported from America and introduced by Nia Peebles. The start of the performance uses the Top of the Pops USA captions because fortunately the song is at [9] in both charts.
The US audience lurves LL Cool J. He gets constant shrieks of approval from the crowd and some of them are apparently on the verge of tears in close ups. It's all a load of nonsense. LL's not the best person on stage, that's clearly the bloke standing behind Mr Cool J who wears a Davey Crockett hat and nods his head in time to the beat (this appears to be his full time job).
[22] STEVE WALSH: i found lovin'. The difference between Top of the Pops USA and UK is summed up in the whiplash inducing jolt between LL Cool J and Steve Walsh.
LL is slick and laid back, with abs to die for, and he gets the audience to wave their hands in time to the beat and repeat the word “love.” Steve Walsh looks like an especially badly dressed audience member has been put on the stage for a joke. He can't sing, he can't dance, but he's got confidence by the bucket load, and he gets the audience to chant “you wot, you wot, you wot you wot you wot.”
I don't remember the song. I do remember the chanting. (John- Nothing to do with Steve Walsh from the group Kansas who can sing very well)
Top 10 Charts.
[1] M/A/R/R/S: pump up the volume. Gary Davies and Peter Powell next week. Mike Smith has done his time and is released from his four week pop-jail sentence. M/A/R/R/S are again on video.
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