Top of the Pops 26th September 1991

 Words: Chris Arnsby

Countdown to Year Zero revamp: 1 week.

 Gary Davies: “Hello. Very good evening to you. Welcome to Top of the Pops. Well it’s the end of an era tonight on Top of the Pops, next week a totally different look to the show. We’ll tell you a little bit more about that a little later on. We’ve got some great dance music in the studio tonight, we start off with PJB featuring Hannah and Her Sisters.”

 Housekeeping first. Several years ago I was delighted to learn of an early entry on Paul Ciani’s television CV.  A Christmas 1975, “rock-musical romp through the legend of The Wooden Horse of Troy.” It was called Great Big Groovy Horse and it has finally escaped the BBC Archives and you (yes, you!) can watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfUfDDrd0GQ

I only found it on Youtube this week. It seems appropriate to link to it here because this edition feels like the true end to the Paul Ciani era of Top of the Pops. It’s from next week that Stanley Appel really puts his mark on the programme.

 

[25] P.J.B. featuring HANNAH AND HER SISTERS: BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER. I need to start paying attention to the director’s credit again; this week Arch Dyson is back. Also back, Derek Slee on lighting. He pulls off an obvious but effective trick by keeping the lighting low and moody for the opening acappella section of the song and then increasing the brightness and colour and turning on all the flashing lights as the dance section begins. Yes, a dance version of Bridge Over Troubled Waters. It’s as if Shelia B. Devotion’s disco version of Singing In The Rain hadn’t already died for the sins of pop music.

I’ve been sent a ton of interesting stuff about Year Zero by regular commenter mumu03. I want to use it all and be definitive but there’s so much of it, and I am a lazy man, that I’m going to spread it out over October. However, there is one bit that needs to be used here.

Do you remember sixthirtysomething on Channel 4? It was a biweekly magazine programme presented by Ann Bryson and Maria McErlane that ran from Wednesday 14/08/1991 to Friday 18/10/1991. On Wednesday 02/10/1991 they broadcast a report filmed during the studio session for this, the last Television Centre, show. You can watch it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU54IjDJgAg&t=1111s

The report itself is not great. The mission statement of sixthirtysomething seems to have been “What if we took a sideways look at things?” so a chunk of the report deals with reporter Brenda Emmanus getting lost in the corridors of Television Centre. It’s as funny as it sounds. But the bits we do get about Top of the Pops are gold.

1. Top of the Pops was auditioning new presenters as late as 25/09/1991.

2. Stanley Appel is way older than I was expecting. He’s a grizzled veteran of the Light Entertainment wars.

3. His surname is pronounced App-el and does not sound like apple, like I thought.

4. The report includes gallery footage, and I’m assuming the man calling the shots is director Arch Dyson. This is him.

5. The report mentions some of the rules for the all-new Top of the Pops: “The new rules read like something from the VAT inspectors. Rule five says they can play album tracks. Rule six allows US chart singles. And rule eleven states that non-EEC promos in the top forty will be eligible for the programme.” Take this one with a pinch of salt, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve missed an obvious joke.

[19] SCORPIONS: WIND OF CHANGE. Promo VT and charts from [40] to [2].

[7] ROZALLA: EVERYBODY’S FREE (TO FEEL GOOD). Arch Dyson is once again allowed to play with the look of a performance. He directs Adam McInnes (credited with video effects) and Denise Foley (vision mixer) to apply a reduced colour electronic effect to the bridge of the song. This might bode well for the future. It can’t be a bad thing if Top of the Pops can go into Year Zero remembering it is a television programme and not a live concert.

[20] R.E.M.: THE ONE I LOVE. Promo VT.

[23] TINA TURNER: NUTBUSH CITY LIMITS. Promo VT.

[14] BIZARRE INC: SUCH A FEELING. This is not a bad performance. The problem is the one on the 12/09/1991 show was such a barnstormer that this one feels a bit lacking, even when it isn’t.

There’s a good piece of stage design on display. Bizarre Inc are three blokes with keyboards, and two dancers. Here, the keyboard players have been set at different heights. One on the stage, the second raised a little higher on a podium, and the third raised a head higher still on a bigger podium. It allows Arch Dyson to shoot the stage from any angle without one person blocking another and there’s always stuff going on in the background of any shot. It’s a really nifty trick to add visual interest. I’m not sure who to credit for this, presumably it’s the work of designer Donal Woods.

[24] MARC ALMOND: JACKY. Promo VT.

[8] SABRINA JOHNSON: PEACE. Sabrina Johnson was interviewed for the sixthirtysomething report where she talks briefly about the importance of an appearance on Top of the Pops for promoting singles. She certainly did well with this single, a listing as a Breaker on 06/09/1991, then a studio appearance on 12/09/1991, and then this second return visit.

BREAKERS

[37] FISH: INTERNAL EXILE

[35] OZZY OSBOURNE: NO MORE TEARS

[32] BELINDA CARLISLE: LIVE YOUR LIFE BE FREE

[1] BRYAN ADAMS: EVERYTHING I DO (I DO IT FOR YOU). Promo VT. Everyone is terribly excited because Bryan Adams has broken Slim Whitman's record of 11 weeks at Number One.

Afterwards, Gary Davies gives us a quick preview of the new-look Top of the Pops. “Next week the show will be completely different. It moves to a new studio in Elstree, there’s a brand new set, and a whole new look to the programme as well. So for the very last time we’ll wish you a good night from TV Centre in London. I’ll see you on Radio 1 tomorrow lunchtime. We’ll leave you with Bros. Bye bye.”
Bros? Bros!

[33] BROS: TRY. Promo VT.

 Ratings: Astonishingly, this episode of Top of the Pops didn’t make the Top 30. This is after a couple of weeks of strong performances boosted by the publicity of the forthcoming new look. All I know for sure, this episode was watched by fewer people than the 7.82 million who saw Telly Addicts. This at least mirrors the performance of the equivalent 1990 show which rated lower than the 7.14 million who watched Every Second Counts.

Performance of the week:  Rozalla, Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good).

In the following week, BBC1 broadcast this trailer voiced by Mark Goodier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0b6xtjOhKc

 One of the nice things about the sixthirtysomething report is, it shows the studio crew gathering together for a last group photo. I can’t think of a better way to end this write up.