Words: Chris Arnsby
13/04/1989
Mark Goodier: “Good evening. Welcome to Europe's top pop show. It's Top of the Pops and we've got a good one tonight with the brand new number one in the UK, plus you get the chance to see the U2 video, and first a band who just can't wait to get on, with Edwin Starr joining them, it's the Cookie Crew with Got To Keep On.”
[21] COOKIE CREW: got to keep on. Edwin Starr is not the same as Alvin Stardust. I'm not sure how I got the two confused.
Why
just Mark Goodier? He is the only presenter listed in the Radio Times so
the plan was always for him to go solo. Out of curiosity I went back to find
the last time there was only one host, it was 04/02/1988 and Mike Smith. While
I don't believe there was any serious interest in turning Mark Goodier into the
new Mike Smith, I started wondering about Goodier's television career outside
of Top of the Pops. It's basically a single episode of forgotten quiz Scruples
(“The game of moral dilemmas”) hosted by Simon Mayo (at the time much more of a
candidate to be the next Mike Smith). And an appearance on UP2U which
was the summer replacement for On The Waterfront, which was itself the
summer replacement for Going Live, but only ran up to the start of July
for some reason.
It
looks like solo hosted shows are coming back. It's presumably a good way to
spread out the presenting pool and also save a bit of cash.
[29]
TEN CITY: devotion. A pre-recorded performance, as I now know from the Top of the
Pops camera script which can be glimpsed online at https://content.easyliveauction.com/auctions/images_lots/59C27F972E0E337C9017486B42435C8C_bou01/1100329224.JPG
see the write up for the 06/04/1989 edition for context.
CHARTS FROM
40 TO 31.
[28] T'PAU:
only the lonely. “This
next band have a brilliant life. If they want to write a song they just jump
out of bed and go into their studio in the basement. It's incredible.”
Two things Mark. One, your catchphrase is “unbelievable,” not “it's incredible.” Two, do T'Pau really all live together in the same house, like The Brady Bunch? (John- Actually they do live together in T'House)
[16] INXS:
mystify. Promo VT -as
I'm going to insist on referring to it, from now on. Hope you like inaccurately
applied BBC internal jargon.
[19] FINE
YOUNG CANNIBALS: good thing. The
second pre-record from the studio session for the 06/04/1989 edition. There
were three in total, the last one from Yazz. Roland Gift does a reasonable
cartwheel across the stage. 6/10.
CHARTS FROM
30 TO 11
[12] U2 with
B.B. KING: when love comes to town.
Promo VT. Mark Goodier is unreasonably excited by this. “And here's your chance
to see that exclusive, re-cut version of
U2's video, with stuff that's not in Rattle and Hum on it”.
[22] PAUL
SIMPSON featuring ADEVA: musical freedom. Sorry, I've got nothing to say.
TOP 10:
[1] BANGLES:
eternal flame. Promo
VT.
[23] YELLO:
of course i'm lying.
Promo VT. Nicky Campbell and Sybil Ruscoe next week. Barbara Jones (whose name
was typed up as Babara Jones on the camera script) directed the pre-records of
Ten City and Fine Young Cannibals so she shares the Directed By credit with
Paul Ciani, who also gets the Produced By credit.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK: Cookie Crew, Got to Keep On.
Nicky Campbell:
“Welcome to Top of the Pops on BBC1 and also Radio 1FM. Where you can enjoy The
Cure, the Simple Minds, Inner City, Holly Johnson, and you can really enjoy
Sybil Ruscoe.”
Sybil Ruscoe:
“And tonight, first of all, challenging for next week's number one with the
woman who's put the raunch back into pop, it's Transvision Vamp and Baby I
Don't Care.
[3] TRANSVISION VAMP: baby i don't care. A barnstorming performance. I started wondering about the process of putting together the Top of the Pops running order when Transvision Vamp were last on, 06/04/1989. Obviously, it would have made more sense to write all this when I was writing up that edition but what am I going to do, send burst-coded neutrino emissions back in time to myself? I tried, it didn't work. Although I may have caused the invention of spandex.
It makes sense
to put Transvision Vamp on first this week (none of the other acts have the
required vim to kick off the show with a bang) but why weren't they on first on
06/04/1989 instead of seventh? Was it just, to coin a phrase, to keep the dads
watching? You know, I think it might have been. Week of 06/04/1989, the first
band on were Brother Beyond. Now, people might turn the TV on to see Brother
Beyond but they won't stick around and wait, whereas they will wait for
Transvision Vamp (alright, they will for Wendy James) and I think the
subsequent chart performance of those two singles shows that Paul Ciani got the
running order right.
[13] SIMPLE
MINDS: this is your land. Promo
VT. According to Nicky Campbell, Simple Minds have “embarked on a 14 month
British tour.” Fourteen months? How do you spend 14 months travelling around
the UK? Are they all on the square-wheeled bikes from Carry on Cleo?
CHARTS FROM
40 TO 31.
[20] INNER CITY: ain't nobody better. Going back to my point about the running order, this is a decent enough song but you wouldn't use it to open the programme. Can anyone else hear bits of Madonna's Vogue in this?
BREAKERS: Once again it is my duty to pluck the
format change harp. The scrolling captions on the Breakers ARE SLIGHTLY
DIFFERENT!
The Breakers
last appeared on the 06/04/1989 edition when the captions listed the band
followed by the song title. Now they are the other way round. Is this a
permanent change, or has the Aston Operator (who makes the captions) done it
wrong? We'll find out next week. Meanwhile, I take my typography guidance from
what appears on screen regardless of how little sense it makes written down.
So, I present to you. The new-look Breakers!
[26] me
myself and i: DE LA SOUL
[24]
requiem: LONDON BOYS.
[4] HOLLY
JOHNSON: americanos. BBC
VT. A repeat from the 06/04/1989 edition.
[18]
METALLICA: one. Promo
VT.
CHARTS FROM
30 TO 11
[21]
MIDNIGHT OIL: beds are burning. Promo
VT. A terrific song but I am incapable of listening to the lyric “the time has
come,” without adding on “the walrus said.” This is my curse. I share it with
you.
[12] THE CURE: lullaby. I'm slightly surprised by how regular a presence The Cure have been on Top of the Pops. They've appeared pretty much annually since 1980, with only 1982 and 1988 as fallow years. This is a vintage performance. Robert Smith mumbling away, with fright-wig hair, heavy mascara, and crimson lips. The slower presentation of the song, lots of gentle pans and very slow zooms, plus the studio smoke and purple lighting from Mike Manning, really adds to the atmosphere.
TOP 10:
[1] BANGLES:
eternal flame. Promo
VT.
[23]
BEATMASTERS WITH MERLIN: who's in the house. Promo VT. Next week it's Gary Davies' turn to go solo.
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