Top of the Pops 4 May 1989

 

Words: Chris Arnsby
Andy Crane: “And good evening and welcome to a truly international edition of Top of the Pops. Lot's of pretty ladies on the show tonight and making her debut is one of them.”
Jenny Powell: “And I'm very happy to be here. But I'm not the only girl on the show, there also Debbie Gibson, Kylie Minogue, and there's someone down there with my hair on their chin. It's Edelweiss”.

 [28] EDELWEISS: bring me edelweiss. I'm terribly sorry. I appear to have fallen into the wrong parallel universe. This one has a band dressed in Lederhosen opening Top of the Pops and doing baffling things to SOS by Abba.

How can I not remember this song? It's quite distinctive. There's a lot of stuff going on, maybe too much and the camera operators seem to have trouble working out what to focus on (although the dirty mind behind one of the hand held cameras doesn't have any trouble focusing on the moment when the pigtailed woman flicks her skirt a little too enthusiastically and gives the pre-watershed audience a glimpse of her knickers -a term known within the BBC as the Jo Grant, I believe).

But enough of such smut. Here's Jenny Powell. I loved No Limits. Cancelled by Janet Street-Porter immediately on her arrival at the BBC, in 1987. Which is a good a reason to scorn her for all eternity as far as I'm concerned. The quote I've seen attributed to Janet Street-Porter which I can't source or accurately recall but I'm going to use anyway, is that she disliked it because it was a “happy pop-py little programme.”

Since No Limits was unkindly axed, Jenny Powell has eked out a living in children's television; mainly Going Live and it's summer replacement UP2U, which was also responsible for Anthea Turner.

[9] MIDNIGHT OIL: beds are burning. Promo VT (although judging by the scratches and spots of dirt, it's actually on film).

CHARTS FROM 40 TO 31.

[21] DEBBIE GIBSON: electric youth. The first of two pre-recorded (probably) performances in tonight's show. One, or both of them, was directed by Babara Jones who shares the Director's credit with Paul Ciani. Here, her first name is spelt Babara and not Barbara as it was at the end of the 13/04/1989 edition. Which is correct? I'm guessing it is Babara, as that's also how it was typed on the camera script for the 06/04/1989 programme.

[18] BON JOVI: i'll be there for you. Promo VT.

CHARTS FROM 30 TO 11.

[26] ROXETTE: the look. Check out the swivelling floor lights behind Roxette. They're new. Mike Manning, Lighting, has found a new toy.

[2] KYLIE MINOGUE: hand on your heart. The second pre-recorded (probably) performance. Andy Crane is a filthy lair when he points and says Kylie is “over there.” Come at me Crane. If it isn't true.

Kylie and her dancers consistently put their hands on the wrong place when trying to locate their hearts. Good job I'm not relying on them for cardiac advice.

[16] POISON: your mama don't dance. Promo VT.

UK EUROVISION SONG CONTEST ENTRY: LIVE REPORT: why do i always get it wrong. Actually, this is probably a pre-record as well. By the time this episode was in the studio, Live Report would be in Lausanne, Switzerland preparing for Eurovision. And, you'd want to get the band in early before Why Do I Always Get It Wrong hits the charts next week, at 76, skyrockets up to 73 the following week, dips slightly to 79, and then vanishes forever.

The Eurovision winner, was a song called Rock Me by a band called Riva. They represented Yogoslavia and within a year the collective shame would cause the country to abandon Communism and break up. Live Report meanwhile scored... no way! 130 points and came second. It's terrible. The song, I mean.

TOP 10.

[1] BANGLES: eternal flame. Promo VT.

[23] CHAKA KHAN: i'm every woman. Promo VT. Bruno Brookes next week.

 PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:  Edelweiss, Bring Me Edelweiss.