Words: Chris Arnsby
Bonus master tape bit: The picture stabilises on a long shot of the new Triangle Stage. Two members of the studio crew are working the crowd. The sound quality is a bit too muffled to accurately transcribe what they are saying, alas for the historical record, but it's basically a warning to the audience to avoid the people shepherding the cameras around: “...They go rushing at great speed. People are going to push you out of the way. Don't hit them. Don't touch them. Don't do anything to them. These guys are here to save your lives alright? Give them a round of applause. Right? They're over there [points]. They're over there [points]. They're over there [points]. They've got a Top of the Pops t-shirt.... quiet... now listen... I want a great big round of applause for the brilliant the wonderful the divine Liza Minnelli!”
Liza
Minnelli enters. She waves shyly. And then starts to sing Love Pains. Her
performance style is very similar to the one she used for Losing My Mind
(10/08/1989) very mannered, very still, and a lot of direct eye contact with
the camera; a very Princess Diana-ish Bambi-eyes gaze looking up at the camera
through her fringe. The song comes to an end and the lens of the camera wanders
away as if it is hunting for something new to look at.
The
screen blanks out as the audio continues.
Voice
1: “Lovely.”
Voice
2: “Well done.”
Liza
Minnelli: [Joke shouting] “Oh drat! We have to do it again you guys.
[Crowd
cheers and applauds].
The
picture snaps back on and focuses again on a long shot of the Triangle Stage.
The long shot is held for around a minute, time enough to take in a strange
object which hangs from the ceiling and gently rotates, to the left of the
stage. Take two ends quickly, after about 25 seconds. There seems to be a
problem with the crane shot, it's misaligned as it pans in and Liza Minnelli
drifts out of the centre of frame. The screen blanks and the crowd groan as the
music cuts out.
“Throughout
the show we do get technical hitches. It's not always your fault.” Says one of
the studio crew. To the crowd presumably. “Don't worry about it. Just bear with
us. Bear with us as we try and record this show, yeah?” Take three is fine.
Love
Pains will not feature on Top of the Pops.
The
screen blanks again. When we return to the studio we are apparently looking at
Mark Goodier down the Death Star Trench. This odd look comes courtesy of either
Vision Mixer Hilary West or Ian Simpson in Video Effects. They are rehearsing
the Quantel transition out of the Top of the Pops titles and because the
countdown clock for the title sequence is currently held at 10 seconds, the
effect is of two black walls sandwiching the host.
