Top of the Pops 8 June 1989

 

Words: Chris Arnsby
Bonus master tape bit: “This is not the start of the prog... another clock after the warm-up” That's the mysterious message on the VT clock at the start of tonight's edition. And there's a code as well EX T042097 / H50804. What can it mean? I wonder why the editor wanted to keep the studio footage of the warm up (sorry, warm-up) and produced a non-standard tape that had to have a message at the start to stop the wrong bit of the tape being broadcast to the nation?

Anyway, the fake clock reaches zero and we're into a wide shot of the studio. Nicky Campbell can be seen up the Crow's Nest, Nothin' That Compares 2U by the Jacksons is playing over the studio PA, and there are two people on stage. “Alright,” says the bloke holding a microphone who I'm going to guess is Floor Manager Iain McLean, “would Nicola Brand make herself known to me please.” It could be Brand or Brinde or Brine. Surely it's not Nicola Bryant, still loose in the Top of the Pops studio after sneaking in during a Doctor Who recording break on the 02/08/1984 show.

Iain McLean continues: “Nicola Brinde. She has three people, where is she? Nicola?” Did Iain ever find her? There's no way to know because the picture cuts to a 10 second countdown clock for the opening titles and the studio sound is blanked by an electronic tone. This disappointing state of affairs runs for around 40 seconds. And then the picture bursts back into life.

We see.... a closer angle on the main stage, looking up at the Crow's Nest through the audience. Iain McLean and friend are still wandering around on the stage. No sign of Nicola, and no sound either. Just the electronic tone. Iain McLean's friend starts beckoning people up on stage. He's building the audience wall used to hide the first band from the camera during the opening pan up from the crowd to the Crow's Nest. All this to a tuneless electronic warble. Suddenly the studio sound cuts in. Just as it does the picture cuts back to the 10 second countdown clock. Bugger.

Iain McLean is holding forth: “Okay, right. We're almost....” the audio fades as the picture returns. Vision Mixer Hilary Briegel is playing with me like a cat plays with a mouse. The audio is back. Vision on. Sound on. Who could ask for anything more?

Iain is warning the crowd: “.... silly signs out of your hands like that... okay, or making silly faces. We'll stop it we'll put someone else in there. Alright. So it's your big chance. Take it and enjoy it. Now. Listen. I'm gonna introduce you to who's gonna introduce the show... Mr Nicky Campbell. A round of applause please.”

Nicky Campbell: “Thank you.”
Iain McLean: “Say something Nicky.”
Nicky Campbell: “Ohhhh. Right. I want the biggest cheer I've ever heard in my life so we can all get psyched up for this. One. Two. Three. Go.”
Omnes: Cheers and applause.
Nicky Campbell: “And a big cheer for these girls [in the Crow's Nest] who are making their TV debuts ahead of all of you. And rhey're going to have to smile so can we have a big smile and a big round of applause. Give them lots of encouragement. They're going to be smiling at the nation very shortly. So we're going quite soon. Just enjoy yourselves. It's great fun. Great atmosphere. And a great band. Transvision Vamp down here [spoilers!].

Who likes Transvision Vamp.

Omnes: Slightly less cheers and applause than last time.

The studio PA begins playing Chaka Khan's I'm Every Woman.

Iain McLean: “Keep it going now.”

Then another 30 second countdown clock flicks on screen.

Titles.

 Nicky Campbell: “Welcome to an absolutely brilliant Top of the Pops. As ever. We've got Cliff Richard, Jason Donovan, D Mob, Beautiful South and we're starting off in cracking style with their second single and their second hit. From their forthcoming album, Velveteen with The Only One, here are the one and only... Transvision Vamp.

[25] TRANSVISION VAMP: the only one. Where's Wendy James? There's three blokes on stage but no Wendy James. Oh there she is, wandering on from stage left and drawing attention by coming in after everyone else. What a show off. Wendy looks hot. No, she looks unpleasantly sweaty, I mean. Is she running a fever. Has she oiled herself down for the cameras?

[2] CLIFF RICHARD: the best of me. I beg to differ. Promo VT.

CHARTS FROM 40 TO 31

[8] GUBS N' ROSES: sweet child o'mine. Promo VT

[23] BEAUTIFUL SOUTH: song for whoever. Not the video but... the video features a blancmange being chosen as a pop star (it's symbolic, go with it) and at one point the assorted record executives say to the blancmange, “you can't sing, you look awful... you'll go along way.” Which riffs off an old 1984 Kit Kat advert.

BREAKERS: Cripes. It's been a while since we've seen any Breakers. Not since [checks calendar] 18/05/1989 and even then it was a month since they'd last appeared, 20/04/1989. Have they gone monthly?

[36] VIXEN : love made me

[38] DONNA ALLEN: joy and pain

[37] NEW MODEL ARMY: green and grey

[26] PAULA ABDUL: forever your girl. Promo VT. If you arrange the last four songs into numerical order they form a pleasing haiku-like poem: “Forever your girl/love made me/green and grey/joy and pain”.

[19] D.MOB featuring L.R.S: it is time to get funky. Nicky Campbell introduces them as “The D Mob featuring the London Rhyme Syndicate, and D.C. Sarome.” Which makes it sound like there's going to be 300 people on stage.

Disappointingly it's just Gary Haisman rocking a keytar and three blokes in tracksuits, one of whom has forgotten his shirt. Shirt-forgetting bloke is wearing the same style tracksuit as another of the three (so I'm going to assume the identically dressed pair are the London Rhyme Syndicate) who I will call Shirt-remembering bloke. Keep your eye on him, he's often at stage left and keeps looking at his fellow dancers as if he needs regular reassurance that he's getting the dance moves right.

CHARTS FROM 30 TO 11

[12] SOUL II SOUL: back to life. Promo VT.

TOP 10.

[1] JASON DONOVAN: sealed with a kiss. A performance which I suspect is a pre-record, probably done on the week of 25/05/1989 which would explain why Jason Donovan appeared in the Top of the Pops studio.

[33] BANANARAMA: cruel summer '89. Mark Goodier and Simon Parkin next week. Banarama play out on Promo VT.

 Bonus master tape bit: It's the Bangles, they run through a quick post-show performance of Be With You. It's going to be used towards the end of the month, so I'll write about it then.

Bonus background gossip bit: This is probably the episode where Soul II Soul refused to play the studio because they were not allowed to sing live. There's an interview with Jazzie B at Redbull Music Academy

(https://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/jazzie-b-funki-dred-obe) where he says:

“We went on Top Of The Pops and they said we had to mime. Caron didn’t want to and we had an argument and they said, “You either mime or don’t do the show.” We didn’t do the show. Two weeks later, the song was number one, it was the fucking best ever.”

Thanks to mumu03, for pointing me in the direction of the Soul II Soul story.

 Performance of the week. Beautiful South, Song For Whoever.