Mrs Coulter has been so
duplicitous up till now that you tend
not to believe a word she says so her seemingly heartfelt speech into his
episode about the bond between a mother and child may or may not be as sincere
as it seems. It’s the centrepiece of an absorbing episode which advances the
plot slowly but with increasing tension.
Spoilers after the, ahem, break...
It’s been twelve years
since Avatar helped change the face of cinema. Its motion capture and
digital work was pioneering in 2010 yet is far more familiar these days. That
has not always been a good thing. When you can make anything happen using software
and technology can the things that make good drama work- the characters, the
story, the emotions- still be present? In the case of this long-delayed sequel
the answer is a resounding Yes! Like a lot of people, I had some doubts but I
have to say that he’s pulled it off yet again. Fact is that James Cameron has
never made a bad film so in retrospect why wouldn’t this one work? Try to
ignore the way it was made and focus on what has been made. Of course, if you
disagree and you didn’t care for the first film I don’t think this will change
your mind. For me though The Way of Water ticks all the boxes of what a
great film should be and you need to see it on an IMAX screen as intended.
However big your television it will hardly fit this goliath of a movie.
Some sea sprayed spoilers ahoy..
aka Looking for Lyra. It’s a good thing they include a
Previous On…montage at the start of this episode because its been two long
years since we last saw Lyra and co and I have to admit I’d completely
forgotten whereabouts we are up to and that she’d been bundled into a trunk and
carted away by her mother Miss Coulter. Not only is there that recap but the
episode opens with an impressive narration and paintings that outline the
situation.
Reviewed by
Chris Arnsby. Mike Smith:
“The difference is that tonight Top of the Pops is live from Television Centre
so anything could happen in the next thirty minutes, some jolly good tunes
coming your way like down here we have the second highest new entry of the
week. At number four. The Pet Shop Boys and You're Always On My Mind.”
[4] PET SHOP BOYS: always on my mind. Mike Smith's opening line sounds like the second half of a sentence. Who is he talking to? My guess, the continuity announcer probably said something like “and now it's time for our regular Thursday night visit to Top of the Pops...” and Mike Smith being live could follow on directly.
The Pet Shop Boys now have a well established performance style. You've got
Neil Tennant's deliberately understated persona, where he does whatever the
word is for the opposite of making love to the camera. He's got a new move in
his diffident toolbox, he stands at the microphone with his arms folded. It's a
piece of closed body language, unexpected from a pop star which -of course-
makes him stand out and be more distinctive than if he was bopping along to the
song. And Chris Lowe wears a hat. This week his hat has the word POSH written
on it. He also wearing a super jumper with a silhouette of a robot on the
front.
Reviewed by
Chris Arnsby. Gary Davies: “Hi,
good evening. Welcome to Britain's number one pop show. In the studio tonight
we have T'Pau, we've got the Proclaimers, and Paul McCartney.”
Janice Long:
“And, interrupting
their world tour to be with us, at twenty two, it's The Hooters, Satellite.”
The great Xmas Single people forget!
You just may have heard it, you may not even have heard of
it but of all the Xmas songs from the last sixty years `Run with the Fox` has
to be one of the best. Yet somehow it never seems to feature when the annual
parade of Crimbo singles shuffles into play. You know the ones you always hear,
you know what people think of them (I even did a post about them a while back).
What you never seem to hear is `Run with the Fox`. So this post is to tell you
about it and at the end give it a listen and see if you agree.
Is that the question?
In this personal film Matthew Jacobs ventures into the heart of Doctor Who fandom which he initially imagines may not greet him with kindness. After all he was the writer of the 1996 TV Movie an attempt to relaunch the show - the name of this film comes from a melodramatic moment in that movie. However, the production failed to lead to a series and remained the only episode produced during a fifteen-year wilderness period. When he steps into the world of Doctor Who conventions what will he find and how will he be received? And, really, is that even what Doctor Who Am I is about?
Reviewed by
Chris Arnsby.
19/11/1987
Simon Mayo: “Hi, welcome to Top of the Pops with a
very big Barry White, a not quite so big Donna Summer, and a waif-like Steve
Wright.”
Steve Wright: “Yes it's true!! Welcome!! We're going to start off with Maxi Priest!! Some guys have all the luck!! Here!!”
If my mental
map of the Top of the Pops studio is correct then Maxi Priest is
standing on what would previously have been the stage with three perspex
pyramids in the background. You can see it in the 12/11/1987 edition, it's the
one Mirage performed on and opposite was the V-shaped stage used by Alexander O’Neil.
Wide shots suggest all the old stages have been swept away although the same
basic layout has been kept; a stage set into the corner of the studio, then
steps leading up to a bridge, then steps down to another stage. Having all the
stages look the same gives consistency and when cameras shoot of the edge of a
stage the scenery appears to continue off into the distance. Has this change
been driven by a desire to make the studio seem bigger, like the one used for Top
of the Pops USA? Take a bow Grenville Horner, who is credited with Design.
I assume he's the person responsible for the new look.
Brian Whitehouse (for it is he) delivers a nice camera move at the end of Maxi Priest's song. The camera pulls back for the standard wide shot of the studio then pans left and keeps going, and going, until it finds Simon Mayo standing on the stage opposite, and then it pans round him some more, until one of the Top of the Pops logos is visible in the background. Does Maxi Priest have a couple of siblings called Mini and Median? (John – Yes.)
The songbird has flown but the songs live on…
Reviewed by
Chris Arnsby. Gary Davies: “Hi,
good to see you again and welcome to another Top of the Pops. Action packed as
always, in the studio tonight we have Mirage, Alexander O'Neil, and T'Pau.”
Peter
Powell: “It's hit!
After hit! After hit! One of the biggest! The Communards! Never can say
Goodbyyyyyyyyyyye!”
Gary Davies:
“Yey,”
[6] THE COMMUNARDS: never can say goodbye. Brian Whitehouse is sitting in the studio gallery this week and taking the Produced and Directed By credit. Approaching Christmas, Michael Hurll is off tending to the far reaches of his Light Entertainment principality. There's a new series of Entertainment USA on BBC2, preparations are in hand for 1987's Noel-Edmonds-Christmas-Post-Office*-Tower-Thing, with Gordon Kaye in Battersea; Mike Smith presumably preferred to spend Christmas Day 1987 with Sarah Greene. He's not going to get far with that attitude. Most intriguing of all, Michael Hurll's got a new Noel Edmonds vehicle on BBC1 called Whatever Next... “Presented with an unusual situation can you foresee the outcome?” I can foresee this 16 episode oddity won't be picked up for a second series by programme planners. You can watch the opening titles here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_xLi1xu9PU, stay for the moment when Noel Edmonds bounds on to the most late eighties set ever. All pastel pinks, and muted greys.
Catching up on Zees…
Reviewed by Chris Arnsby.
29/10/1987: Steve Wright: “Oh
look!! There you are!! Good evening!! Welcome to the Top of the Pops!!” Gary
Davies: “Hi, nice to see you again. We have a terrific show lined up for
you. In the studio tonight we have Ray Parker junior, we have Scarlett
Fantastic, and Rick Astley.” Steve Wright: “And we have Style Council
and Wanted!! Right here!!”
26] THE STYLE COUNCIL: wanted. I'm restricting myself to one complaint about Steve Wright, in the hope it will reduce my overall number of bizarre rants. Look at him. All he has to do is turn and point but that's not enough for the mad-man of radio. He's too kerazy. It would be boring and kinda square. Instead he turns side on to the camera and sticks his tongue out. Wacky-doodle! We are less than one minute into this Top of the Pops and I'm in a sour mood.
Paul Weller
isn't. He looks happy to be in the studio and he's apparently blacked out one
of his front teeth for larks (I apologise in advance if he has some terrible
dental problem of which I'm unaware). Why is he in such a good mood? Maybe
because he's facing away from the flickering ceiling lights which Geoff Beech
has decided to shine direct into the camera. It must have been received as a
good idea at the time but the result is, it's difficult to spot Weller through
the stroboscopic haze of his close ups. During the closing camera crane pan
across the audience, watch out for the girl who flashes twin V-for-Victory
signs at the camera. It's a classic brief moment of audience misbehaviour, and
her friend throws a guilty look back as if she expects the camera to come
screaming across the crowd and eject the pair for bad behaviour.
Phoenix have become one of my favourite bands over the last ten years. They have a knack of producing memorable songs that sit in your memory for some considerable time. `Alpha Zulu` released earlier this month is their seventh album and maintains their high standard for songs that initially sound featherlight, but which reveal many hidden qualities the more you listen to them. Recorded in Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, part of the Louvre Palace (where else!) the songs have a simplicity that the purest pop will provide yet lyrics whose meanings can be difficult to comprehend, and sometimes spill into more than one language. That’s all part of their appeal; they create a world of their own and its a beguiling one. It’s the music that could just as easily be used in the background of an advert as it could be the soundtrack to someone’s significant moments. They play with traditional song structures yet deliver these on a bed of synthetisers and keyboards, echoed vocals and mostly medium to fast paced timing.
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Real life and fiction mesh effectively
as Marvel find a way forward after tragedy
Reviewed by
Chris Arnsby.
15/10/1987
Gary Davies:
“Hi, good evening, and
welcome to Top of the Pops. We have a belting show for you tonight. In the
studio Terence Trent D'Arby, The Alarm, the Fatback Band, and the Bee Gees.” Mike Smith Peter Powell: “But
for starters! They woke up in Birmingham this morning! Travelled down the M1!
They're on Top of the Pop tonight! Please welcome their brand new hit single!
UB40!
Gary Davies:
“Woo”
[29] UB40: maybe tomorrow. God blew, and they were scattered. In the real world of 1987, as this episode aired, a depression was deepening in the Bay of Biscay and moving north-east. The aftermath of the great storm of 1987 can be seen in the off-air news recordings on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5i5FhsIaAg Fortunately for UB40, Top of the Pops was recorded on Wednesday so their journey back up the M1 wouldn't have been disrupted.
I could believe this episode of Top of the Pops was being recorded in a
smaller studio. There's something about the presentation of UB40 which seems
cramped. It's not just the 472 people on stage, that's typical for a UB40
performance (check out their chart photo it looks like a world record attempt
to cram people into a phone box). It's the visuals which seem to bounce from
one static image to another and back again with a lot less of the camera
movement and sweeping crane shots.
Stanley Appel is back as Producer and Director and the Vision Mixer is
Priscilla Hoadley , a familiar name, so it's not as if there's anyone new
sitting up in the studio gallery. I ended up comparing this opening performance
to the one from last week's show, Jellybean featuring Steven Dante; with Vison
Mixer Angela Wilson. It turns out both performances are largely captured in the
same way, a couple of cranes but most of the work is done via hand held
cameras. Steven Dante is simply a more mobile performer than Ali Campbell, who
stands on stage so the camera operator doesn't have to do anything. A week
previously Steven Dante was dragging the eye of the camera all over the stage,
which makes for more interesting pictures. Also, much disappointment that Maybe
Tomorrow doesn't turn out to be UB40's cover of the theme to The Littlest
Hobo.
Sherlock’s little sister takes on the
world in superior sequel- and the first film is quite good, too!
Sequels are tricky and often in a film series the second one is a bit of a dip, yet Enola Holmes 2 is bigger and better than its predecessor which was quite good anyway. The confidence the team has is visible on screen. Whereas the storyline of the first was rather meandering and not sufficient for the run time, here there is plenty of incident and, crucially, it is more of a mystery that needs to be solved. Bigger and broader though it may be, the film does not lose the moral undertow that makes the character so empathic in these times.
Dojo mojo!
Has Twitter had its
day?
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?
Arctic Monkeys' first album was named with some prescience `Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not` and this is a mantra songwriter Alex Turner has followed through so some sixteen years on they now occupy a territory rather close to what was once known, with some disdain, as `middle of the road` music. These days people are too wise to dismiss an entire sub genre especially one that produced some of the best songs ever. Strings, slow songs, conversational lyrics and atmosphere tinged with thoughtful reverie pervade their new album `The Car`. It helps that the album’s release was preceded by that of its two best songs. `There’d Better Be A Mirrorball` is tethered by a repeated synth line and finds Turner less cynical than the characters that inhabited `Tranquillity Base`. Wistful might be the best description of this song. For me though it is equalled by `Body Paint` which I described on Facebook soon after I first heard it as “class” and I’d underline that description now. The final runout could be David Bowie and that’s a complement.
Reviewed by Chris
Arnsby. Gary Davies:
“Hi, really nice to see you again. We've got a terrific show lined up for you
tonight. In the studio we have Shakin' Stevens, Steve Winwood, we've got Gary
Numan, and the Bee Gees.” Mike Smith: “And also, live over here we have the
Sisters of Mercy. Highest new entry this week.”
Each year, Liverpool hosts the River of Light event in which ten works are displayed around the area near to the Mersey bringing art into the public domain. These are free, some of them interactive and you can wander around them in any order. The 2022 event opened on 21 October and runs till 6 November with displays switched on from around 5.30 till 9.00pm. Here's some photos and video clips from the various displays...
Action and
nostalgia aplenty mark a great finale for Jodie Whittaker
Regeneration stories always stand apart from regular
series of Doctor Who though sometimes can feel either anticlimactic or
too over the top. Laced with heavy doses of nostalgia, `The Power of the Doctor`
(complete with its double meaning title) manages to hold together remarkably well
considering the number of enemies and friends mounting up as it progresses. It has
the heft of a sixtieth anniversary story even though the date is a year away
and you wonder exactly what the series can do for that birthday. This ninety-minute special is exciting and includes moments that will make you cheer and gasp with surprise in one of Chris Chibnall’s more rigorous scripts. Ironically just as he leaves, he finally seems to have got the hang of how to put together an epic Doctor
Who story that doesn’t fall flat at the end.
MASTERFUL SPOILERS FOLLOW...
Reviewed by
Chris Arnsby. Gary
Davies: “Hi, good evening. I hope you're well. Welcome to another Top of the
Pops.” Mike Smith: “We've got a star-studded show tonight. Madonna, Mick
Jagger, Michael Jackson. All comin' up.
Gary Davies:
“We start off with Johnny Hates Jazz. I Don't Wanna Be A Hero.” Mike Smith:
“Right over there.”
[11] JOHNNY HATES JAZZ: i don't want to be a hero. A good song but not the one I'd chose to open this edition. I've always felt the opening song should be punchy and energetic. I Don't Want To Be A Hero is a little too laid back, despite lead singer Clark Datchler's literal air punching to the staccato beats in to the chorus. It's not my job to edit Top of the Pops. This week that job belongs to Brian Whitehouse who is back after a couple of weeks of musical chairs with his two other partners in the game; Stanley Appel and God-King-of-all-Light-Entertainment Michael Hurll.
Duck!
Sometimes a story is so delightfully absurd that it actually becomes
quite endearing despite itself. This six part series set on a cruise
ship sails expertly between horror and thriller tropes yet somehow ends up
smelling fresh. Courtesy of writer Ryan J Brown the narrative focusses on
teenager Jamie Walsh who has sneaked on board the cruise shop Sacramentum (even the name is creepy!) in an
attempt to discover what happened to his sister Pippa who seemingly vanished on
the previous cruise. The resulting mystery / thriller/ scare story probably won't help an industry still recovering from the `plague ship` headlines of the pandemic yet becomes a gripping if slightly bonkers joyride.
If you find yourself in London, then I'd highly recommend the Sea Life Centre London Aquarium as an interesting place for people of all ages. The place is so well presented, really atmospheric lighting with mood music and different environments recreated. The assorted fish and sea creatures are fantastic. It takes about an hour and a half to two hours to go round. As you can hear from the clips it can be a bit noisy but that's all part of the atmosphere. Here's some photos and footage from my own visit there on Friday. Exhibits and penguin behaviour can vary!
Words: Chris Arnsby. Gary Davies: “Hi, good evening. Welcome to Top of the Pops. We have six acts live in the studio including Cliff Richard, Karel Fialka, Rick Astley.” Mike Smith: “On video tonight we've got Luther Vandross and right over here we've got a deaf leopard. Look.”
Sensei and sensibility
Some series reach their fourth season and struggle to
reclaim the magic that made them a success in the first place. Not Cobra Kai.
This oddball series which once seemed an unlikely excursion is now firing on
all cylinders. The fourth season, which debuted at the end of last year, is the
best yet. Packed with incident it manages to overcome the potential hurdle of
characters constantly shifting allegiances each season by stealth every bit as
impressive as the fighting scenes. Mixing old and new characters there is more
than enough for both long term fans who recall the films and viewers who have
just become hooked by the series. That shorter episode ten part season
approach pays off every year meaning there is no slack whatsoever.
Titans has never
looked more gothic than it does in `Souls` which could be a pilot for a
spin off series. We left poor Tim Drake last episode after he’d been shot by
Crane and this episode opens with him on an old fashioned steam train being
bothered by an especially aggressive conductor. Also on this train is Donna Troy
who of course died at the end of last season. Before long Hank turns up with a car as the other two escape the train and head into a snowy forest. We’re in a
monochrome afterlife which makes a nice change to the usual grim Gotham
streets. It’s best not to examine too closely just how any of this can happen-
especially when they discover they can dream up weapons to fight off shadowy
ghouls- and go with it. As well as being visually interesting this episode also contains some great character beats and given the subject matter some humour as
well. Just listen to the song playing when Hank draws up- `Living on a Prayer`!
This is intermingled with Rachel who is trying to bring Donna back to life on
Paradise Island and it’s great to see so many characters back again.
Reviewed by
Chris Arnsby. Simon Bates:
“Thursday night. Welcome to Top of the Pops. We're working our way to Number
One just before seven thirty. Here's Peter Powell.”
Peter
Powell: “Thank you
Simon! And celebrating a massive hit in the States and now in the UK! Heart and
Soul! Here's T'Pau!”
T'Pau have, “been in the States, at the moment, for the last ten weeks,”
according to Simon Bates. So who did I see two weeks ago on Top of the Pops,
Simes?
Context is everything of course and albeit a tad late here we find out exactly what’s been going on with Jason in the excellent `Lazarus`. Arguably this would have made a great second episode even if it took way the shock of him seeming to die which was taken away in the actual second episode in any case. Essentially a four handed episode without any of the other Titans and an excellent script from Bryan Edward Hill unfurls a story of a boy trying to impress his mentor who in turns is doing his best to stop the kid getting into any more trouble. It reverses the arguments of episode one which painted Bruce as uncaring- as Dick saw him and accused him of- to reveal exactly the opposite. Stung by how his time as Robin damaged Dick, he is determined not to repeat the mistakes with Jason. The latter though, still traumatised by what happened to him in season two, thinks Bruce is trying to protect him because he’s weak and wants to show otherwise hence his attempt to confront the Joker. It’s a potent brew that bubbles constantly and includes some of the best scenes the series has so hitherto played.
Somehow, I had not seen Avatar in
the thirteen years since its release neither do I really know that much about
it which is curious for such a popular movie. So just before the sequel is
released Avatar is back in cinemas and so I finally got to see it this week. While
the digital effects look more commonplace now than they would have done in 2009
this only serves to enhance the urgency of the story. An allegory for colonialism
in the past and imperialism today as well as ecological issues the subject
matter is unfortunately just as relevant if not more so in 2022 even though it
is set two centuries from now. There is a righteous anger that permeates the
movie especially after we spend an extended period exploring the world of
Pandora. It’s a beautiful planet full of jaw droppingly exotic creatures yet
also the source of a much sought-after mineral. Tasked with getting to know the
native Na’vi in order to persuade them to move, paralysed marine Jake Sully (Sam
Worthington) becomes an `avatar` inhabiting a full size genetically produced Na’vi
which he controls while asleep in a tank. However, he is working to double
agendas. While ostensibly helping a team led by Doctor Grace Augustine (Sigourney
Weaver) to further the scientific knowledge of the planet, he’s also tasked
with deadlines by the hawkish General Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Inevitably these
priorities clash when Sully falls in love with the planet and with the Na’vi
girl Netyri (Zoe Saldana) who shows him it’s wonders.
Reviewed by
Chris Arnsby.
27/08/87
Gary Davies:
“Hi, good evening. I
hope you're well. We have a superb show for you tonight. In the studio we've
got Wet Wet Wet, we've got Black, we've got T'Pau, we've got Rick Astley but
first we start with a mega-band at number twenty three, Then Jerico, The
Motive.
“Their first
appearance on Top of the Pops,” says Gary Davies, “but be sure it's not going
to be their last.” He's right. Then Jeric(h)o will pop back eighteen months in
the future to perform Big Arena on an edition hosted by Gary Davies and...
Anthea Turner? Oh no. Stop the world I want to get off.
Great clips- shame about the presentation
The only likely way anyone could satisfactorily encompass the length and breadth of David Bowie’s career is a ten- part documentary series. Moonage Daydream is a two and a quarter hour long montage of some of his best bits albeit with notable omissions. The clips are great and like many a modern documentary you wish we could just watch them in the best quality possible but as ever we have a director with some ideas of his own. Brett Morgen appears to have been inspired by Bowie’s own preference for cut up imagery, mixing and matching material to create something new. It worked so well for the singer, less so when it comes to a film about him. The results are a bit of a cheat- yes you get to see some rare footage but you also have to sit through increasingly irritating visual gimmickry that makes even the `Little Wonder` video seems normal. I suppose you could say that it is an achievement to make Bowie seem less interesting than he was!
First shown a year ago, season three finds the series re-locating to Gotham
One of the
more fascinating aspects of US episodic shows is their ability to morph into
something different. Ostensibly a series about some super heroes ought to be repetitive
and focussed mostly on action but the
season three opener Barbara Gordon, shoehorns most of its fight scenes
into the opening section. Now back in
Gotham and Robin once again, Jason remains as hot headed as ever plus he
appears to have cooked up some sort of mega inhaler of yellow stuff. Yet for
all his bravado in defying Batman to confront the Joker, he falls woefully
short. Flinching from the first body he finds and some manic laughter he’s easily
taken down and, it seems, killed by the villain whom we only see in silhouette.
This contrast vividly with the very cool re-introduction of the Titans as they
take out another villainous brigade with supple skills all to the soundtrack of
`Ca Plane Pour Moi`. It’s a great sequence, perfectly directed and edited. As a
season opener you couldn’t ask for more.
Pomp meets circumstance
We're watching and making history all the time of course, in small ways, and
sometimes bigger ones. These past six years we’ve been privy to rather more
history than most people get what with Brexit, Covid and a seemingly endless
cycle of recessions. So, the death of a Queen, however long lived, may appear
to be a smaller affair. Not a bit of it. Even the television coverage of Covid
did stop sometimes for other matters but ever since Queen Elizabeth the second passed away BBC and ITV have had virtually non stop Royal programming. If you really
wanted to you could even watch a live stream of the lying in state of the
coffin, surely of all things this is something that if you wanted to see it the
preference would be to actually attend? The big day though was today. Why is it even in this blog, you're asking? Simply because it is the largest event any of us are likely to see this year.
Reviewed by
Chris Arnsby. Steve Wright: “Hello!!
Good evening and welcome to another Top of the Pops!! I'm the one who's not
pregnant!! This is the one who is!!”
Janice Long:
“Lots and lots of
things to get in tonight. We've got Sinitta. We've got Spagna coming on the
show. Bon Jovi are here. Loads and loads of stuff and this is Wax. They are
Building A Bridge.”
[20] WAX: bridge to your heart. The keyboard player is doing more than 50% of the work in this two - person band. He plays the keyboard, obviously, but he also plays the saxophone and does all the singing. He's also found time to work out little illustrative hand gestures to match the lyrics. On the line “I don't know what the future's going to be,” he looks all around with one hand shading his eyes. When he sings, “written guarantee,” he makes a signing-the-cheque motion. The other bloke doesn't bring anything to the group except guitar playing, vocal counterpoint, and a faint resemblance to Howard Stableford from Tomorrow's World. (John- The keyboard player is the genius Andrew Gold, multi- instrumentalist, producer, singer -`Lonely Boy`, `Never Let Her Slip Away`-and the son of Marnie Nixon who used to secretly provide the singing for actors such as Natalie Wood in West Side Story. The guitarist is Graham Gouldman from 10cc)
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Documentary
shows the serious men behind a-ha’s skyscraping music
Given how majestic and serious a-ha’s music often seems it’s
no surprise to discover it’s creators were serious young men back in the day
and now over thirty five years later they are serious older men! It’s possible
there were moments of unbridled joy during the band’s imperial period – there is
definitely smiling and laughing in the old clips- but this interesting
documentary suggests the trio have spent much of their career getting on each
other’s nerves. That is when they’re not liking the band as a whole.
Reviewed by
Chris Arnsby. “Come on
don't forget that applause.” It's BBC master tape shenanigans again, as the
picture rolls in on a wide shot of the Top of the Pops studio with Five
Star on stage; they seem to be dressed in Blake's 7 series four jump suits. The voice of God booms through the
studio speakers while the crowd whoop and applaud, “come on don't forget that
applause, more more!” Who is this cruel taskmaster? It could be Floor Manager
Hilary Bevan-Jones but I think you can hear Hilary just off mike carrying out
the traditional Floor Manager duty of giving a ten second countdown. So, who is
this voice roaring like a lion? Could it be Producer and Director Brian
Whitehouse himself? Whoever it is, they whip the crowd to a frenzy, and Five
Star launch into a performance of Whenever You're Ready. The show proper
follows afterwards.
Peter Powell: “Hi it's Thursday night! We're happening again! It's hit after hit! It's Top of the Pops!” Simon Bates: “I'll tell you what we have got. We've got a first time which is incredible for a band of this qualidy with this number of hits Def Leppard. On the Pops for the first time with Animal here.”
[9] DEF LEPPARD: animal. Excuse the odd typography but I've decided to copy Top Of the Pops's preferred caption format this week. It looks stupid. Will I continue with it? Who knows. Meanwhile, admire Simon Bates' ability to spout words which form sentences but need two or three attempts to parse. He's like a Chatbot jammed on stream of consciousness. And yes, he did say “qualidy”. I didn't think much of Def Leppard first time round, but time has softened me. I quite like the structure of the chorus, “an I want, an I need, an I lust, animal.”
People are often cruel, judgmental or dismissive about
the Royal Family in a way that they would never be about anyone else almost as if they didn’t
think they are people. I’m not a Royalist nor anti- Royals it but the Queen has
been a presence throughout my entire life in such a way that I feel like I know
her even though I obviously don’t. Yes, I can smile at the number of times in
the past twenty four hours the BBC has deployed their stock phrases (“mother of
the nation”) in sombre tones and the way websites have unveiled their black
livery but I do feel this all misses the sense of fun that the Queen herself
preferred. After all, one of the last pieces of footage we have of her is
tapping along on a teacup to `We Will Rock You`, the Queen playing along with Queen! Or the way she gamely engaged
in a little James Bond fun a decade back for the Olympics. I reckon she’d
prefer to be remembered like that.
One of the things of starting to stream stuff is the
abundance of material available and though I subscribed to Netflix to finally
see Stranger Things (some inevitable reviews will appear!) I’ve found
some other gems knocking around including a series I’d always wanted to see 13
Reasons Why. Running from 2017-20 across four seasons this dark glimpse
into the bruised psyche of American youth won many plaudits during its run and
it’s easy to see why. While a lot of dramas take easy options when it comes to
issues like mental health and suicide this is a programme that attempts a more grounded,
less sanitised portrayal. It centres on the aftermath of the suicide of a girl
called Hannah Baker. Her legacy is a series of cassette tapes, each one addressing
the behaviour of one of the people she blames for her ultimate act. The accused
have to listen to these tapes and the ramifications both of what she says and
what people think happened runs across the whole season.
