Top of the Pops 28 July 1988

 

Reviewed by Chris Arnsby.
Excitement! Over at the Top of the Pops repositorium (https://mega.nz/folder/h0snQACa#uiNNqosfbdrfzODHsE1clw) there's a choice between two episodes, the broadcast one which runs to 31 minutes and a 51 minute unedited version. Obviously I'm going for the longer one. Things get off to a good start with lots of random studio stuff. Rainbow colour bars captioned Gary Davies; random shots of audience members being herded into position around both hosts; an enigmatic request from Gary Davies “if there's any chance of a tinge more foldback that would be lovely, thank you”; Nicky Campbell rehearsing his numbers, he seems to feel “twenty six” needs more work; studio lights at higher than usual levels which allow you to see the dents and scratches in the scenery; Floor Manager Kevin Gill doing whatever Floor Managers do; Test Card F ! Roll titles.

Gary Davies: “Good to see you again. Hello, good evening. Welcome to another Top of the Pops. In the studio tonight we have Siouxsie and the Banshees, we have Yazz and the Plastic Population, and if you look just over there. It's Nicky Campbell.”
Nicky Campbell: “Yes. And we're going to start off tonight with a complete and utter newcomer... but don't listen to a word I say.  At number twenty six, with his twenty sixth Top 30 hit, Feel The Need In Me. Here's Shakey.”

 

[26] SHAKIN' STEVENS: feel the need in me. I feel the need to point out this performance starts with an odd camera move. The camera pans across from Nicky Campbell and then, while still panning, it tilts up before coming back down and showing the viewer Shakey's stage. This move avoids one of the gaps in the scenery where the audience and equipment move in and out of the studio -and where studio visitors and officials lurk during recording. Does it pan up to avoid showing us something/someone we shouldn't see or, more likely, does it pan up to take in the Top of the Pops logo; which would make a good visual edit point should Paul Ciani want to reuse this performance in a later edition.

Shakey is energised. I haven't seen him this dynamic for ages. He's dancing and leaping all over the place. His last couple of songs were slower (What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For? and Come See About Me) but when he was doing A Little Boogie Woogie the energetic stuff was handled for him by four, oiled, dancers. Has he got new knees?

Rod Litherland, Lighting, has positioned a couple of rotating multicoloured spotlights along the side of Shakey's stage. They shine sideways and dazzle the camera. It looks great, until the camera looks directly at the light and the picture whites out. Another problem comes when one of the handheld camera operators struggles to get on stage. Vision Mixer Hilary Brielgel cuts to his camera early and the shot has a very wobbly start.

This appears to be one problem too many because suddenly the picture fades to black. We hear Kevin Gill talking to the crowd but I can't really make out what he says. The phrase “from the top,” is in there, along with “you know who you are,” which suggests he is reassembling the crowd to stand adoringly round the two hosts. The studio sound is drowned out by Paul Hardcastle's The Wizard. “He's doing it again... start from the top,” says Gary Davies, apparently chatting to an audience member. “Woo!” says someone else. “Get your word sheet,” instructs Kevin Gill. “I don't think you were lively enough at the beginning of the programme,” Gary Davies tells the crowd.

The picture snaps back on and we're looking at the back of a camera operator sitting in front of a large wheel. I think he's the bloke that steers the crane. The picture pans round the studio finding Nicky Campbell looking a bit tense.

Meanwhile, Gary Davies continues to instruct the crowd on appropriate behaviour in the Top of the Pops studio, “so we're going to have to do this again with a bit more atmosphere and a bit more noise please. If that's alright with you. Okay?” The crowd applauds this sentiment.

Meanwhile, some sadist plays Don't Blame It On The Girl through the studio speakers. Nicky Campbell harmonises with some “buh buh buh buhs” while Gary Davies dances on the spot. “Come on Tony, alright?” asks Campbell. Who is Tony? He doesn't get a credit at the end of the programme.

Meanwhile, Hilary Brielgel starts flicking through the studio cameras. This includes a couple pointing at Shakin' Stevens and it's odd to get a glimpse of him off duty. He looks bored.

Up in the gallery, Paul Ciani is displeased. He sends Kevin to rearrange the crowd around Nicky Campbell. A girl standing to Nicky Campbells' right is grabbed and repositioned to his left, putting Nicky in the middle of a row of five. Was the symmetry off? No, the picture jerks back to include the Top of the Pops logo and Kevin rearranges everyone to better frame the logo for that all important branding. Then Hilary Brielgel cuts back to Test Card F, always a classic. The credits roll again.

 Gary Davies: “Good to see you again. Welcome to a very noisy Top of the Pops. In the studio tonight we have Siouxsie and the Banshees, Yazz and the Plastic Population, and if you look just over there. It's Nicky Campbell.”

Nicky Campbell: “Yeah. We're going to start off this evening with a complete and utter newcomer... but don't listen to a word I say.  At twenty six, with his twenty sixth Top 30 hit, Here is Shakey.”

 (John- Yes, this is meant to be more or less the same text)

[26] SHAKIN' STEVENS: feel the need in me. The same up-and-over camera move is used to take in the Top of the Pops logo (“branding!” shouts Paul Ciani grinding pencils in his clenched fist). Rod Litherland has repositioned the two horizontal spotlights so they no longer shine into the camera. Shakey starts the song with a very creditable double-legged jump forwards, he didn't do that last time. He must be working out some pent out adrenaline. The camera operator gets on stage more smoothly. Everything looks better but, weirdly, this is not the performance used in the final edit. The hosts' introductions are different as well. Paul Ciani must have dragged everyone back for a third time, but it's missing from this copy because when Shakey finishes we cut straight to Gary Davies introducing the next song.

[22] B.V.S.M.P. : i need you. Again, Gary Davies' introduction is slightly different to the final edit. Wikipedia tells me B.V.S.M.P. stands for Baby Virgo Shocking Mister P. Whoever they are, they are on video.

TOP 40 FROM 40 TO 31.

[30] SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES: peek-a-boo. This 51 minute version must be an assembly of footage not used in the final edition. When Nicky Campbell introduces Siouxsie and the Banshees in the 51 minute edit he is surrounded by ladies. In the broadcast version a bloke in a green shirt has been added to the line-up. I'm going to assume there are minor differences through the rest of the programme although I'm not going to document them all.

Except to note, as an experiment I tried to synchronise the broadcast version and 51 minute edit performances of Peek-a-Boo. It was reasonably successful and it was interesting to see how the Quantel effects and cuts to the video took place at the same time in both versions. The most notable difference, in the 51 minute version there's a woman dancing behind  Siouxsie and the Banshees who is gone from the line up used in the broadcast performance. She's wearing an outfit patterned with black and white horizontal stripes. My best guess as to why she was removed, her outfit looks superficially similar to Siouxsie Sioux's black and white patterned top, and it might have been considered distracting.

John- Simply one of the best singles ever, watch it here why don't you...

Peek-A-Boo

TOP 40 BREAKERS: [37 VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE i say nothing]; nope. There's a problem. “This is known in the trade as a recording fault, “ Gary Davies tells the crowd. Nicky Campbell looks bemused. Gary Davies is asked to move Nicky Campbell back into the glare of a floor light. “Bloody hell,” he says raising a hand in front of his face, “it's like standing in front of a fire.”

TOP 40 BREAKERS: [37 VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE i say nothing]; [36 ALL ABOUT EVE martha's harbour]; nope two. It's all gone wrong again. “Anyone know any jokes?” Nicky Campbell asks the people around him. “Songs?”

“Same again,” someone (Kevin Gill?) says. “What, the Peek-a-Boo bit?” asks Nicky Campbell, referring to the banter used to link from Siouxsie and the Banshees into the Breakers. “Shot 52,” says Kevin, which gets a lightly sarcastic response from Gary Davies. “Oh! Shot 52! Shot 52.” “That was my approach up to the second green yesterday,” adds Nicky Campbell.

TOP 40 BREAKERS: [37 VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE i say nothing]; [36 ALL ABOUT EVE martha's harbour]; [34 STEVEN DANTE i'm too scared]; [39 JULIA FORDHAM happy ever after].

[23] PAT BENATAR: all fired up. On video.

TOP 40 FROM 30 TO 11.

[10] YAZZ AND THE PLASTIC POPULATION: the only way is up. The introduction has barely got started when the music fades. Kevin Gill can be heard reassuring someone “that was good it was good, it was brilliant.” Is he talking to Yazz and her dancers or keeping the crowd in the moment?

The chart is rewound to [25] and Nicky Campbell repeats his countdown and introduction. The problem seems to have been an overexcited member of the audience who emitted piercing shrieks and overwhelmed the audio during the first introduction. Watching the first, failed, attempt back it's not clear who is responsible for the terrible noise but the person contains themselves on the second attempt. Two minutes into attempt two something else goes wrong.

I think the problem comes on a transition into a hand held camera shot. Hilary Brielgel cuts to the camera while it's still being moved into position and there are a couple of seconds of poorly framed footage before a rapid cut away to a wider shot of the studio. If this is the fault, it's a real blink-and-you'll-miss-it one but it must fall below the standards expected of Top of the Pops so Yazz is asked to go for a third take.

Take 3 is also aborted. The audience groan with sympathy as Yazz and the dancers react with understandable frustration. What goes wrong this time? On the lyric, “being on the bottom line,” a hand held camera operator runs along the front of the stage and visible (possibly too visible) in front of him is one of the people who are (I think) charged with moving cables and keeping paths clear for cameras. He's trying to move the audience back from the front of the stage. The picture then cuts to a shot of the back of the stage  while Yazz continues to perform. Presumably there's a conversation taking place in the gallery about going for a fourth attempt and while this takes place the picture shows a static image of the back of the stage; as if the recording itself is sulking at this third failure.

Take 4. It's noticeable the crowd are kept back from the front of the stage to allow the handheld camera operator to move along without being blocked. Take 4 is sucessful.

“They do that so well,” says Gary Davies at the end.

TOP 10.

[1] GLEN MEDEIROS: nothing's gonna change my love for you. Fourth week at Number One, third outing for this footage from 07/07/1988.

[32] FAIRGROUND ATTRACTION: find my love. On video. Janice Long and Mark Goodier next week.

 PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:  Siouxsie and the Banshees, Peek-a-Boo