When a giant spider walked round Liverpool...

Dateline 2008. Something is lurking on the drab exterior of a derelict city centre office…something very large and something that has eight legs. It has appeared overnight to startle early morning commuters already battling with high winds and lashing rain. Emerging from the train station below they can only gasp at the sight above their heads and in seconds mobile phones and cameras are clicking, people are talking, local radio and tv reporters are hovering about. On first glance the object appears to be some sort of Victorian era or steam punk machine made of metal with the appearance of a spider; sat on the side of the office block it seems to have no purpose and puzzles onlookers. There had been word of a unique piece of street theatre that would debut a couple of days later- was this part of it or something else? The more people gawp, the more obvious it became that this whatever-it-was is no machine and no abstract creation either but a creature that demands to be brought to life like some fugitive from a Tim Burton movie. It’s huge as well; even semi curled across several floors of the building in a shape that suggests it will crawl down any moment. Hey, didn’t it just move a fraction? Nah, that was the wind. Are you sure….

 

Top of the Pops 28 August & 4 September 1986

DOUBLE BILL! Reviewed by Chris Arnsby. 28 August:
[6] Jermaine Stewart: We Don't Have To... Janice Long. “Hello and welcome to a live edition of Top of the Pops, and here at number six it's Jermaine Stewart and We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off.” Brian Whitehouse likes to begin with a big dramatic camera move across the studio. In fact, since he returned from holiday on 14/08/1986 he's repeated the same move on a weekly basis. The camera crane is raised to capture the audience on one of the scaffolding bridges, then it moves down and under the bridge and zooms across the studio floor towards the main stage. At least that's what it says on the camera script. This week something goes a little wrong and the camera ploughs (gently) into the back of one of the audience. Either the crane failed to lift up and over the heads of the audience, which is what happened on the previous two shows, or Floor Manager Cliff Pinnock was distracted and unable to shove the dancers out of the way in time. Oh well, that's all part of the fun of live television.

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings review

 An efficient new entry to the burgeoning Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is thankfully not nearly as impenetrably mythic as its title suggests. In a sharp two hours it manages to stay grounded while at the same time providing plenty of mystical material plus some tub thumping action sequences. While there is a pattern to Marvel’s introductory films that this one sticks to, there is enough new ground to make it worthwhile even if the subject area is not as fresh as, say Black Panther or even Iron Man. Like the latter non  Marvel enthusiasts may never have heard of Shang Chi (I hadn’t) but just as we were all that time ago with Tony Stark we’re glad to have shared his story.

SPOILERS AFTER THE BREAK!

Under the Volcano review

 For a decade Air Studios was the go-to place for some of the world’s top rock stars to record. Situated on the remote Caribbean island of Montserrat it was founded by producer George Martin in 1979 as a spin off from his Air London studios. Over the next decade it birthed some of the Eighties’ biggest albums and was used amongst others by The Police, Duran Duran, The Rolling Stones, Dire Straits, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Buffet, Earth Wind and Fire and Elton John. It was a markedly different environment to the city bound or even countryside studios most of these artists were used to. Gracie Otto’s involving film includes anecdotes both from those who recorded there and also the people who lived there many of whom worked at the studios. It’s a great documentary reflecting the laid back atmosphere that made the studio such a favourite destination.

 

Top of the Pops 21 August 1986

Presented by Chris Arnsby. [25] Depeche Mode: A Question Of Time. Bruno Brookes. “Hello, good evening and welcome to Top of the Pops.” Gary Davies. “And here to start us off with a question of time it's Depeche Mode.” Lighting Director Derek Slee is conducting an experiment. How many spinning lights can he jam into a confined space before Brian Whitehouse tells him to stop being silly? Derek gets up to twelve; that's two globes hanging from the ceiling; four pairs of rotating lights at the front of the stage; and two spinning light poles at the back. Not counting, of course, the usual studio lights, and a myriad of flashing mini-strobes which have been packed into the scenery at the back. It's possible the scream from the studio audience is not excitement but an involuntary electrical spasm caused by induction from the massive electromagnetic field in the studio.

Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure

Five episodes first shown 16 May to 13 June 1981 W Richard Carpenter / D Gerry Poulson 

Back in the days when only scheduled television existed and there weren’t even videos the audience was very much at the mercy of schedulers and they sometimes made the oddest decisions. Two seasons of the regular Dick Turpin tv series had already been made but only half of the second broadcast when ITV decided to show what has since come to be called Season 3. The other half of season 2 thus became season 4. This is a larger scale co- production with RKO Pictures intended to be shown as a single feature length story in US cinemas. Instead ITV decided to break it up into a five episode serial only they tacked on the atmospheric (but rather lengthy) opening sequence to each episode. While Richard O’Sullivan and Michael Deeks are still on board, a raft of familiar faces take guest roles meaning there is no place for Christopher Benjamin or David Daker whose presence the production sorely needs.

Top of the Pops 14 August 1986

Presented by Chris Arnsby. [10] It Bites: Calling All The Heroes. Simon Bates. “It's Thursday night. It's Studio 6. And it's time for Top of the Pops. Here's It Bites with Calling All The Heroes.”

Solo hosts are the great new innovation of 1986. If by innovation you mean going back to an idea last used in 1983 which I do, fortunately. Lots of great things from 1983 should make a comeback; the Moonwalk, Octopussy, Clover spreadable butter, Raiders of the Pops Charts, the Oric-1, those keyrings which beep when you whistle; who keeps hiding my keys? Solo hosts are the great new innovation of 1986 but it's it's not an idea Top of the Pops immediately leapt upon with great abandon. There are 52 editions of Top of the Pops in 1986 (surprisingly) and only18 with one host. Mike Smith, Mr TV himself, clocks in with the most, 9; Gary Davies with 5; followed by Janice Long, 3; and Simon Bates with this, his solo effort. Which is odd, because he's the only one on the list to have solo hosting experience from the pre-1983 days. Gary Davies is a bit of a surprise but someone upstairs likes him. He was chosen to relaunch the solo host format, which at the time made me purse my lips and invoke the spirit of Sergeant Wilson, “do you think that's wise Michael Hurll?” But yes, apparently Michael Hurll did think this was wise and he's gone on to become one of the senior hosts since his first appearance in 1982.

 

Just the music...

Interesting Instrumental Hits from the 1970s...

Popcorn- Hot Butter (1972)

Probably one of the first electronic instrumentals a lot of people heard, `Popcorn` was originally composed by Gershon Kingsley of the First Moog Quartet on their album `Music to Moog By`. Born in 1922 in Germany, Kingsley was a pioneer of electronic music and in later life would compose for Broadway musicals. He lived to the age of 97!  Another member of the First Moog Quarter, Stan Free, re-recorded `Popcorn` and it became an unusual 1972 hit.

It is one of those pieces of music that seems timeless, it could have been recorded in 2021 rather than almost fifty years ago. The catchy tune is rendered with the lightest touch the sound resembling one of those old video game noises while the drums have the timbre of military snares. The production has a clarity allowing you to hear every element and it retains its allure of futurism even today.