Top of the Pops 10 January 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

 Jakki Brambles: “Hello. Good evening. And welcome along to Top of the Pops. Allow me, first of all, to wish one and all a happy and healthy 1991. Got a good old show lined up for you tonight. We're starting off with a band celebrating a decade in the business of popular music. Please will you welcome, at twenty nine, Bananarama.”

[29] BANANARAMA: PREACHER MAN. The Main Stage is looking very purple tonight. Rod Litherland is on Lighting and he's seemingly hired every lilac light in London and set them off with a few blue highlights.

I might as well disgrace myself early in this write up. I don't really remember any of the songs in tonight's edition. If I really stretch my memory I might possibly recall hearing the Jesus Jones single playing on Radio 1 (FM) but for the rest, it's a solid no from me. I don't even remember Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter being Number One. My mind was clearly elsewhere in January 1991.

[17] WHITNEY HOUSTON: ALL THE MAN THAT I NEED. Promo VT.

CHARTS: 40 TO 31

[18] POP WILL EAT ITSELF: X Y & ZEE. Down at the other end of the studio, on the Neon Tube stage, is where Rob Litherland has put all the other colours; green, orange, yellow. It looks great, bright colourful and pop-py.

Missing from the Neon Stage, is Paul Ciani's neon tube structure. It first appeared on the 30/06/1988 show (Matt Bianco, Don't Blame It On That Girl, fans of facts) as an enormous looming construction which towered over the performers. It always looked pretty ricketty and unstable to me but I'm sure it complied with all appropriate safety laws of the time. At some point in the intervening years the colossus was cut down and was repurposed as a much safer looking structure made up of a bank of vertical neon tubes. It's been more and more neglected, and for a while it wasn't even properly illuminated. Last year, 22/11/1990, someone replaced the fuse and it was fully lit for 808 State. Now it's gone.

A quick review of the 03/01/1991 edition shows it was in studio (you can see it in the background of some handheld shots during Seal's performance) but now there's just a space where it used to be. Moved to make space for the amplifier thing used by Pop Will Eat Itself? Gone to be fixed or gone for good? Let's see.

[3] JOHN TRAVOLTA OLIVA NEWTON-JOHN: THE GREASE MEGAMIX. Promo VT.

[27] OFF-SHORE: I CAN'T TAKE THE POWER. Promo VT.

[15] JESUS JONES: INTERNATIONAL BRIGHT YOUNG THING. Vision Mixer Denise Foley files a flag-shaped Quantel insert across the top of the screen before the caption has even appeared. It's an unusually early appearance for this sort of effect.

The keyboard player, repeating his trick from the 12/04/1990 show, drags his keyboard all across the stage like an ill-behaved Labrador fighting with its basket.

CHARTS: 30 to 11

[8] MC HAMMER: PRAY: Promo VT.

[2] ENIGMA: SADNESS PART 1. Promo VT.

[30] ROBERT PALMER: MERCY MERCY ME/I WANT YOU. Back down to the purple end of the studio for Robert Palmer.

TOP 10

[1] IRON MAIDEN: BRING YOUR DAUGHTER... TO THE SLAUGHER. Promo VT. Apparently one of the lowest selling records to reach Number One. 42,000 copies in its first week at Number 1 and 29,000 this week. POP FACT!

[26] STING: ALL THIS TIME. Promo VT. Nicky Campbell hosts next week. There goes all my new year goodwill.

 Countdown to Year Zero revamp: 39

Performance of the week: Jesus Jones, International Bright Young Thing.