Top of the Pops 11 April 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

 Anthea Turner: “Hallo there! Welcome to another edition of Top of the Pops! On BBC1 and Radio 1 in FM stereo! We’ve got a really lively show for you tonight! That’s going to include Danni Minogue, Madonna, Monie Love, and we’re starting with The Wonder Stuff at six!”

 [6] THE WONDER STUFF: THE SIZE OF A COW. There’s an immediate difference to the look of the programme. Gone are the blue and purple lights and careful use of black spaces, instead the studio is lit with bright yellow and purple lights. Sure enough, there’s a new (old) name on the credits. Replacing David Lock, Graham Rimmington. He last had a go in the summer of 1990. I do like the way the BBC rotates staff off Top of the Pops. It keeps it looking different.

This week also sees another departure. This is Paul Ciani’s last show. I’ve really liked his work on the programme. I’ve said before, I think he gets overlooked because his time falls between two eras people really want to discuss; the way Michael Hurll transformed Top of the Pops in the early eighties or how Stanley Appel transformed the programme in [counts on toes]… 26 weeks time.

Given the falling ratings, I would expect people were, by now, beginning to discuss the possibility of a Top of the Pops revamp. Would Paul Ciani would have been involved in those early discussions or was it the change in producer which opened the door to doing something radical?

[4] MADONNA: RESCUE ME. Promo VT.

[29] ALISON LIMERICK: WHERE LOVE LIVES (COME ON IN). I’m trying to work out if the Video Caption Artist (this week it’s Tracie Coster) is trying to match the colour scheme of the captions to the studio lighting. The caption for The Wonder Stuff was red and purple and white, which matches, and now the caption for Alison Limerick is green and purple and white, which suits the cooler tones of the lighting for this performance.

Paul Ciani makes good use of the studio to get some unusual shots. There are a couple of good angles from the back of the stage looking out into the audience and a lovely one looking down from one of the scenery bridges.

CHARTS FROM 39 TO 12.

[12] GARY CLAIL: HUMAN NATURE. BBC VT. A repeat from 28/03/1991. Gary Clail’s caption is truncated, he’s lost the ON-U SOUND SYSTEM bit. It’s a shame Gary Clail couldn’t’ get back into the studio for a second time, last time round his odd but great performance was one of the highlights of the show.

[27] MONIE LOVE/ADEVA: RING MY BELL. Promo VT.

[23] MIKE & THE MECHANICS: WORD OF MOUTH. There’s a rare example here of a Quantel effect which doesn’t really work. For the bridge, Adam McInnes (Video Effects) and Sue Collins (Vision Mixer) switch to an effect which puts the output of three cameras on to three small windows. The windows are tilted and curved, to give a sense of perspective and make them look like pages which can be shuffled around, but each of the windows is individually too small to get a decent look at their picture.

TOP 5 MARCH ALBUMS

[5] DEBORAH HARRY AND BLONDIE: The Complete Picture. Promo VT for Heart Of Glass.

[4] R.E.M.: Out Of Time. Promo VT for Losing My Religion.

[3] THE FARM: Spartacus. Promo VT for All Together Now.

[2] CHRIS REA: Auberge. Promo VT for Auberge.

[1] EURYTHMICS: Greatest Hits. Promo VT for Love Is A Stranger.

[10] DANNI MINOGUE: LOVE AND KISSES. According to Anthea Turner, Danni Minogue is, “a great little actress! She’s got a charming personality!” Corks Mater. I can’t wait to meet her at the gymkhana.

TOP 10

[1] CHESNEY HAWKES: THE ONE AND ONLY. Promo VT.

[30] THE SHAMEN: HYPERREAL. Promo VT. Jakki Brambles next week.

 Countdown to Year Zero revamp: 26

Ratings: Top of the Pops is back in the Top 30, at [26] with 6.95 million. Just for a change, the equivalent 1990 edition didn’t chart. The 12/04/1990 show was watched by less people than the 7.71 million who watched the 6 O’clock News on Wednesday 11/04/1990.

 Performance of the week: The Wonder Stuff, The Size Of A Cow.

 Back in 2020, over at Roobarb’s DVD Forum, ex-BBC producer Richard Marson was asked for his memories of working on Top of the Pops with Paul Ciani. His words make a terrific tribute to the man and I’m quoting them here: “Paul was very unlike many of the stalwart producer/directors of LE (eg Michael Hurll, Stewart Morris) in that he never bullied or threw his weight around. Maybe partly because his career progression had brought him from children's, where he did stuff like Rentaghost and so on. But though he was a sweet, kind man, he was also very sharp and funny. I remember one band (EMF if I'm recalling right) wanting to put their kit in trestle tables on the TOTP stage. He said, "What do you think this is? A village fete?! Boys, I hate to break it to you, this is Top of the Pops..."
He was right. What they were proposing would have looked terrible.

Paul was a consummate director. He never overran and could navigate live without batting an eyelid. His ready wit meant he, as we used to say on the studio floor, "gave great talkback"!  He was personally very kind to me and always encouraging, letting me bring a video camera to record behind the scenes one week as part of my attempts at persuading my management to let me do the director training scheme (I made it on the third attempt - Paul was one of those who put in a good word)

 Sadly, he was HIV positive at a time when this was invariably a death sentence. His ill health was compounded by a car accident. He carried on as long as he could, hobbling across the studio floor using a stick. Brave, talented, generous, understated - just a few of his qualities. I feel privileged to have worked for him (in a very junior capacity) but even more to have seen him in action, leading his team and doing a job at which he excelled.”