0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello, good evening. Welcome to another edition of Top Of The Pops.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06The cream of the crop of British pop.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10This is the programme that does not hang around.
0:00:10 > 0:00:141981, Top Of The Pops in its 17th year...
0:00:14 > 0:00:1619 million people every week.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18..still on a Thursday night,
0:00:18 > 0:00:20holding ground against Kenny Everett - then on ITV...
0:00:20 > 0:00:23It's all done in the best possible taste.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26..as a generation of teens donned their glad rags
0:00:26 > 0:00:27and seized the day.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Hey, listen, you're on Top Of The Pops.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31If we can write good songs
0:00:31 > 0:00:33and we can somehow make some sounds,
0:00:33 > 0:00:35then we can get on Top Of The Pops.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38My mum had come to the school and said,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40"Our Susan and Joanne have got to go
0:00:40 > 0:00:43"cos they've got to go to Top Of The Pops."
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Under producer, Michael Hurll...
0:00:46 > 0:00:48- Spandau.- Yep.- Available, right?
0:00:48 > 0:00:52..Top Of The Pops embraced this shift and upped its game.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54We had a Planet Earth...
0:00:54 > 0:00:55LAUGHTER
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Yeah, they took things very literally, didn't they?
0:00:58 > 0:01:01And the show got cutting-edge titles
0:01:01 > 0:01:02as the studio was reborn
0:01:02 > 0:01:04as a full-on '80s party.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Have we got something brand-new for you tonight?!
0:01:06 > 0:01:08Complete with fire-eaters
0:01:08 > 0:01:10and notorious cheerleaders.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14I always took a bit of a dim view of them being anywhere near me.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16You think, "What's happened to the programme?
0:01:16 > 0:01:20"It's kind of sex-ridden all of a sudden. What's going on?"
0:01:20 > 0:01:25# And I just can't seem to get enough... #
0:01:37 > 0:01:39And so, it's official at last,
0:01:39 > 0:01:43Prince Charles is to marry Lady Diana Spencer.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45I think it's marvellous, I really do.
0:01:45 > 0:01:46Very nice, very nice.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Spring '81 came loaded with new intentions...
0:01:50 > 0:01:53What do they have in common?
0:01:53 > 0:01:55What a difficult question.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59- What do you think we've got in common?- Sense of humour.
0:01:59 > 0:02:00..but a Royal wedding
0:02:00 > 0:02:03and the first affordable home computer...
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Far and away, the best example here is the Sinclair ZX81.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08..couldn't hide this.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11The number of people out of work is still on the increase.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14More than one in ten of Britain's workforce
0:02:14 > 0:02:16is now out of a job.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20I grew up in the '30s with an unemployed father,
0:02:20 > 0:02:22he got on his bike and looked for work,
0:02:22 > 0:02:24and he kept looking until he found it.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26APPLAUSE
0:02:26 > 0:02:29But if the real world was in recession...
0:02:32 > 0:02:35..the pop universe was in escapist recovery.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38After a sales dip in 1980,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40entertainment was back in vogue.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45The arrival of the New Romantics at the end of the year
0:02:45 > 0:02:47had glammed up the charts
0:02:47 > 0:02:50and the cult was now spreading out of London.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55Birmingham saw the opening of new romantic haunt, the Rum Runner.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58With its own regional twist on the scene
0:02:58 > 0:02:59and a dashing house band.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08The Rum Runner was like a lot of kids went back towards Bowie
0:03:08 > 0:03:11and Kraftwerk, and this kind of European...
0:03:11 > 0:03:13There was a little bit of disco in there
0:03:13 > 0:03:15and it was a little bit more flamboyant.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17It was references to the film Cabaret.
0:03:21 > 0:03:22It was a lot of fun.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24Great energy, great music,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27fantastic sound system they had in there.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29In comparison to the scene I'd been part of in Birmingham -
0:03:29 > 0:03:33which was sort of 2 Tone - Dexys Midnight Runners, UB40,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37lots of band playing in back rooms of pubs and little halls -
0:03:37 > 0:03:40this felt really posh
0:03:40 > 0:03:42and dressed-up, and a bit intimidating,
0:03:42 > 0:03:46and a little bit pretentious.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49You just know when things are going to take off.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51I went to a pub one night
0:03:51 > 0:03:52and I got 30 bits of paper,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54I'd just started a breakfast show,
0:03:54 > 0:03:56and every request was for Planet Earth.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58These were all different people.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00I've only played the song twice on the breakfast show.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Everyone wants this song. I said,
0:04:02 > 0:04:03"They're going to be enormous."
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Spinning like an apple, just outside the top 40, Duran Duran.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11MUSIC: Planet Earth by Duran Duran
0:04:11 > 0:04:14# I only came outside to watch
0:04:14 > 0:04:20# the nightfall in the rain... #
0:04:20 > 0:04:22We always saw ourselves releasing singles.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26We wanted to be a singles band and we wanted to be on Top Of The Pops.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28# Some New Romantic
0:04:28 > 0:04:31# Looking for the TV sound
0:04:33 > 0:04:35# You'll see I'm right some time... #
0:04:35 > 0:04:37The song itself, when we wrote it,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40we took all the elements that we liked and merged the sound -
0:04:40 > 0:04:43a little bit of Giorgio Moroder,
0:04:43 > 0:04:44a little bit of Chic,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47disco, dance groove,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50and a little rock guitar...
0:04:50 > 0:04:53and a little bit of glam, and suddenly...
0:04:53 > 0:04:55that was our sound.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59# Look now, look all around
0:05:00 > 0:05:02# There's no sign of life... #
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Once they're in the charts, they are on the Pops.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07Top Of The Pops really pull out the stops.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09They want to present this new band brilliantly.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11They even made them
0:05:11 > 0:05:13a giant Planet Earth.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16# This is Planet Earth... #
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Yeah, they took things very literally, didn't they?
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Like you said, Soft Cell had a padded cell
0:05:23 > 0:05:26and we had a Planet Earth.
0:05:26 > 0:05:27Yeah, they made an effort
0:05:27 > 0:05:30and the people there were always really great.
0:05:30 > 0:05:31It was fun.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Duran Duran.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35CAMERAS CLICK
0:05:35 > 0:05:39As the year progressed, the show saw Duran swap a New Romantic image
0:05:39 > 0:05:43for the heavy fringes and shoulder pads of a different type of glam.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47# See them walking hand in hand across the bridge at midnight
0:05:50 > 0:05:54# Heads turning as the light's flashing on her so bright
0:05:57 > 0:05:59# Then walk right out to the four line track
0:05:59 > 0:06:01# There's a camera rollin' on her back... #
0:06:01 > 0:06:05I think the punk ethic felt, at the time, very anti-fashion...
0:06:05 > 0:06:08# I sense the rhythm's humming in a frenzy all the way... #
0:06:08 > 0:06:11..whereas this felt like it was all about hair and make-up,
0:06:11 > 0:06:13and dressing a certain way.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16# Girls on film... #
0:06:16 > 0:06:18Also, it felt like you had to have a certain amount of money
0:06:18 > 0:06:21to buy those clothes.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24# Girls on film
0:06:24 > 0:06:26# Girls on film... #
0:06:26 > 0:06:29We'd got some money from EMI and we'd gone shopping in London.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32We had been to Antony Price's store on the King's Road
0:06:32 > 0:06:36and I think we had gone to PX in Covent Garden and bought some gear.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39We upped the visuals a little bit.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45MUSIC: Any Second Now by Depeche Mode
0:06:45 > 0:06:48While Duran were swanking up in Chelsea
0:06:48 > 0:06:50and putting down the deposit on their yachts...
0:06:54 > 0:06:56..the locals of Southend,
0:06:56 > 0:06:58embracing a DIY punk ethic,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01were going electro.
0:07:01 > 0:07:02# Such a small affair
0:07:02 > 0:07:07# A relapse, someone closing like the nightclub door... #
0:07:07 > 0:07:08We use to rehearse really a lot.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11There was nothing else to do in Essex, in Basildon.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14# Here again and when you speak
0:07:14 > 0:07:18# I watch you move away and seem so sure... #
0:07:18 > 0:07:21We were playing music for our friends
0:07:21 > 0:07:24that we could dance to, move to
0:07:24 > 0:07:26that our friends would like, too.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28and that was really...
0:07:28 > 0:07:33That was probably about as far as our ambition went at the time.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37The successful local band, Depeche Mode.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42Their music is a blend of electronic futurism and disco.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46# Let's all get together, come and hold my hand
0:07:46 > 0:07:48# Baby, it's a bright new day. #
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Suddenly, at the turn of the '80s,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52synthesisers weren't expensive any more.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56Japanese companies were making very accessible models.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00We just gradually discarded our guitars for synthesisers.
0:08:00 > 0:08:01It was just a natural progression.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03We just loved the sound, it was good.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06With Depeche Mode, what you had was some young kids
0:08:06 > 0:08:08making a pop band at home
0:08:08 > 0:08:10and making these incredible sounds.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13CHEERING
0:08:13 > 0:08:15INDISTINCT
0:08:20 > 0:08:28MUSIC: New Life by Depeche Mode
0:08:35 > 0:08:38# I stand still stepping on the shady streets
0:08:38 > 0:08:41# And I watch that man to a stranger... #
0:08:41 > 0:08:43It gave us the ability to realise,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45"Well, if we can write good songs
0:08:45 > 0:08:48"and we can somehow make some sounds,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50"then we can get on Top Of The Pops."
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Let me introduce you to a new band called Depeche Mode.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Now, they had a record out earlier this year
0:08:55 > 0:08:58that didn't do everything it might have done -
0:08:58 > 0:09:00but this one, New Life, is just immaculate.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02# Complicating, circulating
0:09:02 > 0:09:05# New life, new life
0:09:05 > 0:09:09# Operating, generating
0:09:09 > 0:09:12# New life, new life... #
0:09:14 > 0:09:15When we first went on Top Of The Pops
0:09:15 > 0:09:18and I think a few times after that as well,
0:09:18 > 0:09:19we would get on the train and
0:09:19 > 0:09:22we'd put our synthesisers in a suitcase,
0:09:22 > 0:09:24wrap them in blankets and stuff so they wouldn't break...
0:09:24 > 0:09:27# Transition to another place... #
0:09:27 > 0:09:29..and then walk to the BBC.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32I think that went on for quite a while until...
0:09:32 > 0:09:34we realised other people were showing up
0:09:34 > 0:09:36with people helping them to do that.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39# Complicating, circulating
0:09:39 > 0:09:41# New life, new life... #
0:09:41 > 0:09:45Dave Gahan got into futurism by commuting to trendy London clubs
0:09:45 > 0:09:46from Mum's in Basildon.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49There wasn't any of that flash.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52We kept pretty down-to-earth for a long time.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58We were young, we were still teenagers -
0:09:58 > 0:10:01incredible when I think about it now.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06The cute, all-ears charm of a young Depeche Mode
0:10:06 > 0:10:08won them a string of hits
0:10:08 > 0:10:10and Top Of The Pops appearances.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Something that had eluded Sheffield's finest synth band,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20even though they'd appeared on the show the year before.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Famously, The Human League, they got Top Of The Pops,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25went on Top Of The Pops
0:10:25 > 0:10:27single went down.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29You have to ask yourself, "Why?"
0:10:29 > 0:10:32- # Rock and roll - # Hey
0:10:32 > 0:10:33# Rock and roll
0:10:33 > 0:10:34# Rock and roll... #
0:10:34 > 0:10:36The blokey and art school version of Human League
0:10:36 > 0:10:39failed to charm the charts...
0:10:39 > 0:10:41# Rock and roll
0:10:41 > 0:10:42# Rock and roll... #
0:10:42 > 0:10:44..which led to a split, with main synth players
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh departing -
0:10:47 > 0:10:50leaving just singer Phil
0:10:50 > 0:10:52and back projection man Adrian
0:10:52 > 0:10:54holding it all together.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56# Do you think they're wiser than in the past?
0:10:56 > 0:11:00# How long do you think it's going to last? #
0:11:00 > 0:11:02I went up to see the Human League in Sheffield
0:11:02 > 0:11:04recording in their home studio...
0:11:04 > 0:11:07# Boys and girls... #
0:11:07 > 0:11:11.. but they couldn't actually play instruments in the conventional way.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13When they were demoing Boys And Girls,
0:11:13 > 0:11:15they had all the numbers written on the keyboards.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20They couldn't play a chord or anything, it was just one finger.
0:11:20 > 0:11:21Usually, with a synthesiser,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23you don't have to be manually good at all.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26That was why we turned to them in the first place -
0:11:26 > 0:11:28cos no-one could learn how to do the guitars either.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33But two events would transform The Human League.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Phil hired Stranglers producer Martin Rushent.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Somehow the songs become bigger.
0:11:43 > 0:11:44He gave them a rounded sound.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47He took the potential of the tunes they had
0:11:47 > 0:11:49and emphasised the melody -
0:11:49 > 0:11:51and when you get that,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54you could actually appeal to a much broader audience.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02And Phil, thinking of the band's image and appeal,
0:12:02 > 0:12:05headed into Sheffield's club land
0:12:05 > 0:12:08and persuaded two teenage girls he met on a nightclub dance floor,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11who had never performed professionally,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13to front the band with him.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16We were both 18, we were doing A-levels at school.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19My mum had got a phone call,
0:12:19 > 0:12:20she had to come to the school
0:12:20 > 0:12:23where Joanne and I were having an English Lit lesson.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25She banged on the window first
0:12:25 > 0:12:28and then she came into the class and said,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30"Our Susan and Joanne have got to go
0:12:30 > 0:12:34"cos they've got to go to Top Of The Pops."
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Everyone hated us in sixth form anyway,
0:12:36 > 0:12:38so they were all like...
0:12:39 > 0:12:41MUSIC: The Sound Of The Crowd by The Human League
0:12:41 > 0:12:44# Put your hand in a parting wave...
0:12:44 > 0:12:46# Pass around... #
0:12:48 > 0:12:50They very much were girl-in-the-audience...
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Actually, the Top Of The Pops audience.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56They were just ordinary fans.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01- # In a parting wave...- Pass around
0:13:01 > 0:13:03# Make a shroud pulling combs... #
0:13:03 > 0:13:04There was no contrived image.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08Our clothes were what your mum had bought at a jumble sale.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10- No, that black dress, my mum used to wear.- Yes.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13The black dress you wore was one of my mum's.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16It was one of her mum's original dresses -
0:13:16 > 0:13:18yours, she'd got from a jumble sale.
0:13:18 > 0:13:19# Get around town
0:13:19 > 0:13:21# Get around town
0:13:21 > 0:13:22# Where the people look good
0:13:22 > 0:13:24# Where the music is loud
0:13:24 > 0:13:26# Get around town
0:13:26 > 0:13:27# No need to stand proud... #
0:13:27 > 0:13:29We weren't extraordinary.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30We're not the best singers in the world
0:13:30 > 0:13:33by any stretch of anybody's imagination.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35We'd have never got through the X Factor.
0:13:35 > 0:13:36We can't dance very well.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38We're not Cindy Crawford.
0:13:40 > 0:13:41You two were always like stars,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43that was the odd thing.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46You took on Top Of The Pops, or anything,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48as you would take on a club in Sheffield.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51It meant exactly the same to you.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53# The shades from a pencil peer...
0:13:53 > 0:13:55# Pass around
0:13:57 > 0:14:00# A fold in an eyelid brushed with fear... #
0:14:04 > 0:14:06I feel really proud that we did
0:14:06 > 0:14:09one of the weirdest ever successful singles.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12That must be the weirdest record that has ever got in the top ten,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14isn't it? It's so strange.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16# Get in line now
0:14:16 > 0:14:17# Get in line now
0:14:17 > 0:14:21# Stay in time with the rhythm and rhyme... #
0:14:21 > 0:14:24It was a very empty record...
0:14:24 > 0:14:25# Where the people look good... #
0:14:25 > 0:14:29..and it had motored along in a sort of cavernous, threatening way.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31# No need to stand proud
0:14:31 > 0:14:33# Add your voice to the sound of the crowd... #
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Then we hit the bit that we nicked from Iggy Pop, where it goes...
0:14:36 > 0:14:39"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ahhh!"
0:14:40 > 0:14:42Why did people buy that?
0:14:47 > 0:14:48# Get in line now
0:14:48 > 0:14:50# Get in line now
0:14:50 > 0:14:53# Stay in time with the rhythm and rhyme
0:14:53 > 0:14:55# Get around town... #
0:14:55 > 0:14:57It was odd and we got away with it.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00It went up the charts, it didn't go down.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08In '81, a generation of kids from the clubs
0:15:08 > 0:15:11came up with a new, joyful take on pop music...
0:15:12 > 0:15:15..and moreover, they pioneered a novel way
0:15:15 > 0:15:16of presenting their songs
0:15:16 > 0:15:18on Top Of The Pops.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Pop videos are a growing phenomena,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25capturing large slabs of free air time on pop and children's shows.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29This year, Top Of The Pops has transmitted more than 20 pop videos.
0:15:29 > 0:15:30APPLAUSE
0:15:30 > 0:15:32Also doing well in the charts as Mr Cliff Richard.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35He's wired for sound and vision.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37Music promos weren't exactly new
0:15:37 > 0:15:41but, this year, the young guns showed their elders - yes, you, Cliff -
0:15:41 > 0:15:43how to get the most out of them.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46# They're wired for sound
0:15:46 > 0:15:49# Into the car, go to work and I'm cruising... #
0:15:49 > 0:15:52There were sort of two styles of video in '81.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54# Traffic froze... #
0:15:54 > 0:15:55There's the old ones, like...
0:15:55 > 0:15:59The old style, I mean - like Shaky's This Old House.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00What does Shaky do?
0:16:00 > 0:16:03He stands in front of an old house and mimes.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06# Ain't got time to fix the shingles
0:16:06 > 0:16:08# Ain't got time to fix the floor
0:16:08 > 0:16:11# Ain't got time to oil the hinges
0:16:11 > 0:16:13# Nor to mend no window panes... #
0:16:13 > 0:16:18It seems during 1981 that videos somehow just changed.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20They stopped being straightforward,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23miming performances of songs.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26One synth band who'd make a huge impact,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29with what would perhaps prove to be the most popular video of the year,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31was Ultravox.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33I remember going to the record company
0:16:33 > 0:16:36and asking if we could make a video - we had this great idea.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39They just said, "Why? What's a video going to do?"
0:16:39 > 0:16:41I had to kind of explain...
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Here's me, some geeky artist,
0:16:43 > 0:16:44talking to the record label,
0:16:44 > 0:16:46trying to explain that, with your own video,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50you could be on multiple TV shows on the same evening -
0:16:50 > 0:16:54get all over Europe, all over the world, whatever.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56They eventually went off and...
0:16:56 > 0:16:59We borrowed the money to make the video cos they didn't get it.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01MUSIC: Vienna by Ultravox
0:17:01 > 0:17:03# We walked in the cold air... #
0:17:03 > 0:17:05The opening sequence,
0:17:05 > 0:17:07there's a horse running along the cobbled streets.
0:17:07 > 0:17:08That's in Covent Garden,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10before it became the tourist trap that it is today.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13# Freezing breath on a window pane
0:17:13 > 0:17:15# Lying and waiting... #
0:17:15 > 0:17:17There's a bit where this young lad
0:17:17 > 0:17:19gets shot, for whatever reason,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22and that was in Kilburn State Theatre.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25# The man in the dark in the picture frame
0:17:25 > 0:17:27# So mystic and soulful... #
0:17:27 > 0:17:30There's a girl dancing on an empty stage,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32that was in central London.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Then we all piled into this plane
0:17:35 > 0:17:38and went off there and shot all round Vienna for a day
0:17:38 > 0:17:40to shoot the rest of it.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42# The energy's gone, only you and I
0:17:42 > 0:17:45# And it means nothing to me
0:17:47 > 0:17:53# This means nothing to me
0:17:53 > 0:17:59# Oh, Vienna. #
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Of course, once Vienna was shown on Top Of The Pops,
0:18:09 > 0:18:10the world changed.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15That really is a magnificent film, isn't it? Good bit of music, too, from Ultravox.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18How bands presented themselves changed forever
0:18:18 > 0:18:22cos every band wanted a video.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25The video was shown repeatedly on Top Of The Pops
0:18:25 > 0:18:29and helped propel the band to number two for four weeks running.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Held off the number-one slot of course...
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Uno, due, tre, quattro...
0:18:34 > 0:18:35# What's-a matter you? Hey! #
0:18:35 > 0:18:38..by an Australian-Italian with a mandolin.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40# What-a you think you do?
0:18:40 > 0:18:42# Why you look-a so sad?
0:18:42 > 0:18:43# It's-a not so bad
0:18:43 > 0:18:45- # It's a nice-a place... # - Travesty.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47# Ah Shaddap-a your face! #
0:18:47 > 0:18:51At the same time as Midge was keeping the number-two spot warm,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53elsewhere in the charts...
0:18:53 > 0:18:56All right, Visage, Steve Strange, about to have himself painted -
0:18:56 > 0:18:58it's called Fade To Grey.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07..Midge had another project that was a pure product of this new video age.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12# One man on a lonely platform
0:19:12 > 0:19:16# One case sitting by his side... #
0:19:16 > 0:19:19This was something that was never intended to be performed live.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22It was a studio project.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25We never, ever appeared as a band.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Visage was a product of the video generation.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Never will you see these people
0:19:31 > 0:19:32in the same room together.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35# We fade to grey... #
0:19:35 > 0:19:37Personal appearance becomes less important.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39Getting your image out through these videos
0:19:39 > 0:19:42becomes the prime way of exposing your music.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44# Fade to grey... #
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Look at Adam and the Ants, how many weeks at number one during 1981?
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Six, seven?
0:19:49 > 0:19:52He didn't do a live spot in Top Of The Pops during that time.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55He was represented by his videos.
0:19:55 > 0:19:56A real revolution.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59# Stand and deliver
0:19:59 > 0:20:03# Your money or your life. #
0:20:03 > 0:20:05Narrative, storylines,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08dramas, costumes, situations.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Somehow that meant that it was a positive to have a video
0:20:11 > 0:20:14in a show like Top Of The Pops.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18THAT is the big change that happens in 1981.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20This is BBC One.
0:20:20 > 0:20:21In years gone by...
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Yes, it's number one, it's Top Of The Pops.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28..the show had always had an unforgettable theme tune...
0:20:31 > 0:20:34..and an era-defining title sequence...
0:20:34 > 0:20:37MUSIC: Whole Lotta Love by CCS
0:20:38 > 0:20:41..featuring eggs, oranges
0:20:41 > 0:20:43and Action Man...
0:20:45 > 0:20:50..but by the start of '81, as we moved into the pop video age,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53the show's theme tune and titles had both gone missing.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56You're right, it's Top Of The Pops.
0:20:56 > 0:20:57Some great music tonight.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59We've got the Pretenders to start the show
0:20:59 > 0:21:04with a Message of Love. Yes!
0:21:04 > 0:21:06In the summer of this year, producer Michael Hurll
0:21:06 > 0:21:09set about commissioning a title sequence
0:21:09 > 0:21:12that would place the show firmly in this new decade.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17And as the production team searched for a new theme tune...
0:21:17 > 0:21:20# We all must beware of the yellow pearl. #
0:21:20 > 0:21:23..a track co-written by Midge Ure with Thin Lizzy
0:21:23 > 0:21:25grabbed their attention.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33The original recording was quiet, small and very thin...
0:21:37 > 0:21:40..but when I was asked to do an instrumental version...
0:21:44 > 0:21:46..I put proper drums on it.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48Big kind of Burundi tom drums...
0:21:48 > 0:21:51HE AIR-DRUMS AND HUMS ALONG
0:21:51 > 0:21:53..which gave it a whole different flavour.
0:21:55 > 0:22:01- You've got the big synth melody... - HE HUMS ALONG
0:22:04 > 0:22:05It just kind of grew.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09# Attack, attack, attack
0:22:09 > 0:22:13# Attack, attack, attack, attack
0:22:13 > 0:22:15# That's what we like... #
0:22:15 > 0:22:17With a theme tune in place,
0:22:17 > 0:22:19young, in-house graphic designer
0:22:19 > 0:22:22Marc Ortmans began devising a new title sequence
0:22:22 > 0:22:26inspired by the idea of records flying through the air.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Coloured vinyl was one of the big things at the time,
0:22:29 > 0:22:33which was rather fortuitous because that gave us instantly great props.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36One of the sleeves I found in the box, says,
0:22:36 > 0:22:38"Young Blood in blood-red vinyl."
0:22:38 > 0:22:41So it's quite possible that's actually what this record is.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45# Where are you going now?
0:22:45 > 0:22:48- # Young blood...- #
0:22:51 > 0:22:52The way it was done was,
0:22:52 > 0:22:56we set the camera up in the ceiling of a studio,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59got a big box on the floor full of dry ice,
0:22:59 > 0:23:00so it was...
0:23:00 > 0:23:02We've got this bubbling cloud...
0:23:05 > 0:23:07..and then we hurled these records...
0:23:07 > 0:23:10There were two of us. ..next to the camera,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13throwing as many as we could get our hands on past the camera
0:23:13 > 0:23:15and down to the floor.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23As you can see, this one...
0:23:23 > 0:23:25had a bit of an accident on the way
0:23:25 > 0:23:28and most of them did actually get broken.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31The trick of making them appear to come right up to the camera
0:23:31 > 0:23:33and just miss, but never hit,
0:23:33 > 0:23:35is by reversing the film
0:23:35 > 0:23:37so they seem to come out of the clouds
0:23:37 > 0:23:39but come dramatically close to it.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43Probably about half of them got completely smashed to pieces.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Mark finished the day by filming the show's logo,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53cut out of reflective steel,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56and a hydraulic hammer smashing a pink screen print.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01He then set about editing it all together.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Nobody cut things fast.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Nobody cut things really tightly...
0:24:06 > 0:24:10Rhythmically.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12As you know, the film, when you're cutting it,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15you're literally sticking it together with Sellotape
0:24:15 > 0:24:17and a splicer, and I seem to remember, that cutting copy
0:24:17 > 0:24:20was more Sellotape than film by the time we finished.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22We just had so many cuts.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44All over London, foreign television crews
0:24:44 > 0:24:47have been holding last-minute conferences
0:24:47 > 0:24:49to ensure nothing has been overlooked for the big day.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54With a predicted worldwide viewing figure of close on 700 million,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57the royal wedding is the biggest audience catcher
0:24:57 > 0:24:58in the history of television.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02For days, they've been beaming pictures back to Tokyo.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Is your hat heavy? Your...?
0:25:04 > 0:25:06- No, not particularly.- No?
0:25:12 > 0:25:14In the countdown to the big day,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17the whole world looked to Britain
0:25:17 > 0:25:20just as a long-running problem
0:25:20 > 0:25:21reared its head again.
0:25:24 > 0:25:25It just kills you.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27You know you haven't done anything
0:25:27 > 0:25:29but yet still people try to pin something new.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32It's not a very nice feeling.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Complaints about the police are universal
0:25:34 > 0:25:36throughout the black community.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Middle-aged matrons and respectable working fathers,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40clerks and cooks, and councillors
0:25:40 > 0:25:42all have their own experiences.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46People were fed up being searched.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Black people were fed up with walking around
0:25:49 > 0:25:51under a cloak of suspicion the whole time.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54You could be walking any time of the night or the day,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58and a police car would stop and they would stop you and search you.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00It was difficult for my brothers.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02Fortunately for them, they didn't kick off.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05If you kicked off, then you'd get a kicking from the police.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07You'd worry every time somebody black and male
0:26:07 > 0:26:09left your house at night.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11From early afternoon, gangs of youths,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15some white but predominantly black, held the police at bay.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17At about 5pm this evening,
0:26:17 > 0:26:18it came to a head.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21Tonight, the violence turned toward starting fires.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24In the Fire Brigade's words, "Too numerous to count."
0:26:24 > 0:26:28It was the spark that lit the fuse.
0:26:28 > 0:26:33Riot after riot ripped the country apart in cities across England.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35It wasn't just anger with the police.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38With unemployment heading towards three million,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42amid factory closures and mass lay-offs of workers,
0:26:42 > 0:26:46the country was in its worst recession since the 1930s.
0:26:47 > 0:26:55HE PLAYS INTRO TO "GHOST TOWN"
0:27:05 > 0:27:08MUSIC: Ghost Town by The Specials
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Great pop music just gets the pulse,
0:27:11 > 0:27:12gets the zeitgeist
0:27:12 > 0:27:16and Jerry Dammers just tapped straight into that with Ghost Town.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20# This town
0:27:20 > 0:27:22# Is coming like a ghost town
0:27:24 > 0:27:30# All the clubs are being closed down... #
0:27:30 > 0:27:32The song took about a year to write it all.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35I was messing about with the tune first of all
0:27:35 > 0:27:37and the lyrics came afterwards.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41# Bands won't play no more
0:27:41 > 0:27:44# Too much fighting on the dance floor... #
0:27:46 > 0:27:50It was based on what we were seeing touring round the country.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52We did a gig in Glasgow
0:27:52 > 0:27:56and there were little old ladies selling their household goods
0:27:56 > 0:27:58and, in Liverpool,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01just driving into the city and all the shops were boarded up.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03It was just a very strange atmosphere.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11In the '60s, Coventry was like a boom town.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13It was like gold-rush town, really.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20# Do you remember the good, old days before the ghost town? #
0:28:20 > 0:28:23That had all gone pear-shaped, obviously,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25so I had this very joyful middle eight
0:28:25 > 0:28:27in the middle of the song,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29which was very commercial and sort of sing-along.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35It was a very strange coincidence
0:28:35 > 0:28:38that this was going up the charts
0:28:38 > 0:28:41and the whole country was erupting into rioting.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44The sus laws were in full effect
0:28:44 > 0:28:47so the song was written in reaction to that.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49That's the line, "People getting angry."
0:28:49 > 0:28:53# Can't go on no more
0:28:53 > 0:28:55# People getting angry... #
0:28:55 > 0:28:58It was an amazing thing that a song like that
0:28:58 > 0:29:00could be on Top Of The Pops.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02You know, the fact that it was on Thursday night,
0:29:02 > 0:29:05kids could discuss it the next day at school
0:29:05 > 0:29:07and also they had time to buy the record.
0:29:07 > 0:29:12It's almost like people voted with their cash for political ideas.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15It's strange but that's what they were doing in a way.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17# This town...
0:29:17 > 0:29:19# Is coming like a ghost town... #
0:29:19 > 0:29:22The song had this diminished chord in it...
0:29:28 > 0:29:32..which was the devil's chord in the Middle Ages.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35People were banned from playing it
0:29:35 > 0:29:39on the pain of death and...
0:29:39 > 0:29:41Yeah, that was the chord
0:29:41 > 0:29:44that launched Black Sabbath's career and...
0:29:44 > 0:29:47sadly, seemed to mark the end
0:29:47 > 0:29:50of the original line-up of the Specials.
0:29:50 > 0:29:56In fact, on Top Of The Pops was the last time we ever performed.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Fun Boy Three came in the dressing room
0:29:58 > 0:30:01and announced that they were leaving afterwards,
0:30:01 > 0:30:04so that added to the surreal
0:30:04 > 0:30:06and rather sad atmosphere
0:30:06 > 0:30:09of the whole time, really.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12Yeah, so there.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22So, London now sees, for the first time,
0:30:22 > 0:30:26their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29It is the happiness of the crowd,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32it is as though a whole nation is gathering
0:30:32 > 0:30:34in front of Buckingham Palace saying,
0:30:34 > 0:30:36"Yes, we do respect law and order.
0:30:36 > 0:30:37"Yes, we can be happy.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40"Yes, we do like each other
0:30:40 > 0:30:41"and we do like being British."
0:30:44 > 0:30:47If Charles and Di were '81's golden couple...
0:30:48 > 0:30:51Oh, that's what everybody's been waiting for.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55..22 years earlier,
0:30:55 > 0:30:57a pop dynasty was in the making.
0:30:57 > 0:30:591959's wedding of the year
0:30:59 > 0:31:03saw British rock and roll star Marty Wilde marry his teen sweetheart,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06singer Joyce Baker.
0:31:06 > 0:31:11# Each night I ask the stars up above
0:31:11 > 0:31:16# Why must I be a teenager in love? #
0:31:16 > 0:31:18In the '60s, Marty turned songwriter
0:31:18 > 0:31:21for Top Of The Pops star Lulu...
0:31:21 > 0:31:22# I'm a tiger
0:31:22 > 0:31:24# I'm a tiger
0:31:24 > 0:31:27# I'm a tiger, I'm a tiger... #
0:31:27 > 0:31:31..and in '81, it was his daughter's turn.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33We were all living at home.
0:31:33 > 0:31:34Me, together with my dad, Marty,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36and my mum, Joyce,
0:31:36 > 0:31:37and my brother, Ricky.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40He and I had bedrooms next to each other upstairs.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42He had left school and
0:31:42 > 0:31:44he had joined my dad's band -
0:31:44 > 0:31:46so he was becoming a very good musician.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51The Wasp synthesiser was in his bedroom
0:31:51 > 0:31:54and I do remember hearing the bloody thing making such a racket.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56It had this sort of incessant
0:31:56 > 0:31:59"ba-da-da-da-da-da-da".
0:31:59 > 0:32:01It was enough to drive me insane.
0:32:01 > 0:32:02But little did I know,
0:32:02 > 0:32:05he was writing the song that was going to change my life.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09Ricky had gone up to London to meet Mickie Most
0:32:09 > 0:32:11to try and get a record deal.
0:32:11 > 0:32:13Of course, you know, there's me all ears.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15I go, "I'll come up as well."
0:32:15 > 0:32:17I made myself look the best I could that day.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21I'd just been to the hairdressers and had my hair all dyed blonde
0:32:21 > 0:32:24and I just walked in determined to make something happen.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27Mickie Most really took to Ricky big-time.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30He had spotted me and asked my brother if I could sing
0:32:30 > 0:32:32and the rest is history, really.
0:32:32 > 0:32:33MUSIC: Kids In America by Kim Wilde
0:32:33 > 0:32:35# Looking out a dirty, old window
0:32:35 > 0:32:39# Down below the cars in the city go rushing by
0:32:41 > 0:32:45# I sit here alone and I wonder why
0:32:46 > 0:32:49# Friday night and everyone's moving... #
0:32:49 > 0:32:52If you see my first performance on Top Of The Pops,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55it looks like I'm snarling at the camera -
0:32:55 > 0:32:56that I'm meaning to do that, somehow -
0:32:56 > 0:32:58but actually, it was because I was terrified
0:32:58 > 0:33:00cos Madness were on the stage opposite me
0:33:00 > 0:33:03and I'd just been buying all their records
0:33:03 > 0:33:05and they're a young, overwhelming group of lads.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07They were a bit rough around the edges, Madness -
0:33:07 > 0:33:10well, they still are, aren't they?
0:33:10 > 0:33:13I just sort of stood there swaying a little bit.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15Just a little bit.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17That's because I was scared.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19# Hotshot, give me no problems
0:33:19 > 0:33:24# Much later, baby, you'll be saying never mind... #
0:33:24 > 0:33:27Then we kind of took that idea and did it with the video as well,
0:33:27 > 0:33:31so I became pouty, non-smiling, moody...
0:33:31 > 0:33:34Which, I sort of was a little bit sometimes -
0:33:34 > 0:33:36but it wasn't really me.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39Right now, for starters, who else but Kim Wilde?
0:33:39 > 0:33:41MUSIC: Chequered Love By Kim Wilde
0:33:41 > 0:33:43# You say everything's all right
0:33:43 > 0:33:46# I say nothing can go right, yeah
0:33:46 > 0:33:48# Oh what a game you can play... #
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Kim Wilde hit big...
0:33:50 > 0:33:51It's Kim Wilde's new video.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54- Quite an interesting one. Good morning.- Good morning.
0:33:54 > 0:33:55- How are you, all right?- Yeah.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58..but Kim, just a young '80s teen at heart,
0:33:58 > 0:34:00struggled with her traditional "It girl" image.
0:34:02 > 0:34:03Kim Wilde and her friend Claire
0:34:03 > 0:34:08went to a small shop where you can buy a whole outfit for just £5.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10Is this the sort of stuff that
0:34:10 > 0:34:12- you like to buy from here?- No.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Sometimes I found it really hard to switch hats
0:34:16 > 0:34:17from being Kim Smith
0:34:17 > 0:34:20with my best mates and buddies that I knew at school,
0:34:20 > 0:34:21which I was doing,
0:34:21 > 0:34:23and then being Kim Wilde.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Glamour puss with the red lips and the pouting, and all that stuff.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28Sometimes it got really confusing.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30It did get a bit lonely sometimes.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35The famous daughter of a famous father, Kim Wilde.
0:34:35 > 0:34:36CHEERING
0:34:36 > 0:34:39The best support that I had was that I had my family
0:34:39 > 0:34:40either physically there -
0:34:40 > 0:34:42as my brother Ricky was writing all of this material -
0:34:42 > 0:34:44and then of course my mum and dad,
0:34:44 > 0:34:46they'd just had two children themselves,
0:34:46 > 0:34:48so they were bringing up two more children.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53Yeah, my whole life was very focused on family first, actually.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56So, I'd go home after doing Top Of The Pops
0:34:56 > 0:35:00and I'd be changing my sister's nappy or my brother's nappy.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06APPLAUSE
0:35:07 > 0:35:11Back to the chart at number 14, it's Kool And The Gang, and Steppin' Out.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18For years, American R&B acts had had a huge presence on the show -
0:35:18 > 0:35:19but in this year, a genre would emerge
0:35:19 > 0:35:23that was a distinctly black British response.
0:35:23 > 0:35:28At the time, the Americans had become really, really slick.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31# You work hard the way I do... #
0:35:31 > 0:35:33Lots of the American musicians at the time,
0:35:33 > 0:35:37they were coming out with various music scores and everything -
0:35:37 > 0:35:41where the bands over here were just literally off of the street.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46- # Steppin' out tonight - # Steppin' out. #
0:35:46 > 0:35:50The way we recorded, the way we learned to play our instruments
0:35:50 > 0:35:53the way we applied our music was totally different.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57Often, we wouldn't go out there wearing sequinned clothes
0:35:57 > 0:35:59and shiny gear,
0:35:59 > 0:36:01we were just like street kids.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05Everybody had their own identity.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07There was a uniqueness.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09We didn't sound like someone else's remix.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11We were all very, very different.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13London is made up of all little villages and,
0:36:13 > 0:36:15depending where you come from,
0:36:15 > 0:36:16that's what you do.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20# I shot the sheriff... #
0:36:20 > 0:36:22Take Beggar & Co
0:36:22 > 0:36:23or Light of the World,
0:36:23 > 0:36:25who came from Tottenham,
0:36:25 > 0:36:28who had a big bass rhythm behind their stuff.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30MUSIC: Flashback by Imagination
0:36:30 > 0:36:32# Flashback to the days when the nights were young... #
0:36:32 > 0:36:34Leee John was from Mill Hill.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38# When we could do no wrong... #
0:36:38 > 0:36:41His slant on soul was the falsetto -
0:36:41 > 0:36:43very high voice.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46# When our hearts were so strong... #
0:36:47 > 0:36:49His experience of nightclubs like Brown's -
0:36:49 > 0:36:51that style of boys in shorts
0:36:51 > 0:36:53and very camp,
0:36:53 > 0:36:55then you had Freeez.
0:36:55 > 0:36:56They came from Hackney
0:36:56 > 0:36:59and what they drew from that
0:36:59 > 0:37:01was a more perky soul sound.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03It's always good to see new names on the charts
0:37:03 > 0:37:05and here they are now, the Freeez -
0:37:05 > 0:37:09a brand-new group with a brand-new sound, the Southern Freeez.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13With Ingrid, she was very...
0:37:13 > 0:37:15"I don't care" sort of attitude.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18She was actually singing slightly like she was singing cockney.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21HE MIMICS INGRID
0:37:21 > 0:37:22You know, like she didn't care.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25# Love
0:37:25 > 0:37:27# Saw it in your eyes
0:37:29 > 0:37:31# Sensed it in your smile... #
0:37:31 > 0:37:361981, I was a social worker in a children's home in Hackney.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40# When I saw you on the floor
0:37:40 > 0:37:44# Doing the southern freeez... #
0:37:46 > 0:37:49I just think it's about being authentic.
0:37:49 > 0:37:50It's about being yourself.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54I'm from North London, I'm not going to compromise who I am
0:37:54 > 0:37:57for the sake of...anything, really.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59That's why I did it as me.
0:37:59 > 0:38:03# In the way you move
0:38:03 > 0:38:04# I like it very much... #
0:38:04 > 0:38:06Top Of The Pops was a bit of a shock.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09You get a phone call and you get told to come down
0:38:09 > 0:38:11at least three hours before you actually appear,
0:38:11 > 0:38:13so you've got all this time to waste
0:38:13 > 0:38:14and they show you the BBC bar
0:38:14 > 0:38:18where a pint of beer cost about 10p in those days
0:38:18 > 0:38:21and there's all these middle-class old men
0:38:21 > 0:38:25who are intrigued by this black woman in tails and a bowtie -
0:38:25 > 0:38:27and keep buying me drinks because they are going,
0:38:27 > 0:38:29"Fascinating, fascinating."
0:38:29 > 0:38:33So, by the time I got on stage, I'm a little bit squiffy.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35First of all, they play the intro of the song
0:38:35 > 0:38:37and I walk up to the mic
0:38:37 > 0:38:39and it's not even pretending to be a mic,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42it's just a bit of metal in a mic stand, no wires on it,
0:38:42 > 0:38:43no holes in it
0:38:43 > 0:38:45and I burst out laughing.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47# Time
0:38:47 > 0:38:48# Time is moving on... #
0:38:48 > 0:38:50Michael Hurll got a little bit annoyed
0:38:50 > 0:38:54because I kept bursting out laughing every time I approached the mic
0:38:54 > 0:38:55saying, "Get that thing of the stage."
0:38:55 > 0:38:57He did take it off because I think he thought
0:38:57 > 0:39:00it was just going to take all night otherwise.
0:39:03 > 0:39:08And in '81, on the same show as Freeez,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11another Britfunk band made their Top Of The Pops debut
0:39:11 > 0:39:14with a song that came straight from their local streets
0:39:14 > 0:39:18and the harsh reality of '80s Britain.
0:39:18 > 0:39:19Somebody Help Me Out,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22it's funny because I remember me and Kenny once,
0:39:22 > 0:39:24we were walking down Tottenham.
0:39:24 > 0:39:29A homeless person came along, asking for change for a cup of tea.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32We gave him a couple of quid and I remember saying to Kenny,
0:39:32 > 0:39:35"Isn't it sad that guy's like that, that cry of help?"
0:39:35 > 0:39:37We went out and wrote that song
0:39:37 > 0:39:39immediately after that happened.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42Beggar & Company and Somebody Help Me Out.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47# Somebody help me out...
0:39:47 > 0:39:50The whole thing was based around this guy,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53so when we went on Top Of The Pops, it had already been set that
0:39:53 > 0:39:55this is how we were going to look.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58# Whoah-oh, whoah-oh, whoah-oh
0:39:59 > 0:40:02# Whoah-oh, whoah-oh, whoah-oh... #
0:40:05 > 0:40:08Basically, just go into your wardrobe, get donkey jackets,
0:40:08 > 0:40:10woolly hats, a coat, a mac,
0:40:10 > 0:40:14just turn up at Top Of The Pops and wear that.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18Like a bunch of musicians who needed help...basically.
0:40:20 > 0:40:21# Please help me out
0:40:21 > 0:40:24# Give me a chance
0:40:24 > 0:40:28# I'll show you that I'm still around... #
0:40:28 > 0:40:31We just did that real rugged look to sort of
0:40:31 > 0:40:34match the type of music that we were playing.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36We were surprised at the impact it had.
0:40:36 > 0:40:41If anything, no band in the soul-funk fraternity
0:40:41 > 0:40:44had ever dressed down in the manner that we had
0:40:44 > 0:40:46and that became our classic look.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48# It hurts deep inside... #
0:40:48 > 0:40:51The DJ said to us, "How do I introduce you?"
0:40:51 > 0:40:55I said to him, "Just say it's like tramp funk."
0:40:55 > 0:40:57That got edited out.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00MUSIC: Chant No 1 by Spandau Ballet
0:41:01 > 0:41:03Even bands like Spandau Ballet
0:41:03 > 0:41:05picked up on this sound.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08They got Beggar & Company to play on Chant No 1.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15- # I don't need this pressure on... # - Fantastic, heavy bass funk tune.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18# I don't need this pressure on
0:41:19 > 0:41:20# I don't need this pressure on... #
0:41:20 > 0:41:23We were doing Top Of The Pops the same day as Spandau Ballet,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27which was very interesting because they were like local lads like us.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30They were totally knocked out by the horns
0:41:30 > 0:41:32so they asked about a collaboration.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35For a while, we were going to the same clubs as them.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38Steve Strange's club in Camden Town
0:41:38 > 0:41:40and another one called the Le Beat Route.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45Brit funk brought black and white together.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47Suddenly there was this huge element of music going out
0:41:47 > 0:41:51and all the young black and white soldiers were integrating.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53Guys now were now going out with white girls
0:41:53 > 0:41:55and white girls were going out with black guys.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58It cut down that barrier.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01With the Spandau collaboration going to number three,
0:42:01 > 0:42:02members of Beggar & Co
0:42:02 > 0:42:04made the second most appearances
0:42:04 > 0:42:06on Top Of The Pops in '81 -
0:42:06 > 0:42:08second only to Shakin' Stevens.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13Joining them on the show in summer '81
0:42:13 > 0:42:16were the last Brit funk act to get signed up -
0:42:16 > 0:42:19who would be most successful
0:42:19 > 0:42:21and the most controversial.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24Imagination may have come out of the Brit funk movement
0:42:24 > 0:42:26but they'd kind of moved into something else.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29I'm not sure quite what it was because it's just them, isn't it?
0:42:29 > 0:42:30It is an Imagination sound.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32That dreamy, soulful,
0:42:32 > 0:42:33almost reflective quality
0:42:33 > 0:42:36was much slower Brit funk.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39MUSIC: Body Talk by Imagination
0:42:39 > 0:42:41I was watching all my friends going into the charts
0:42:41 > 0:42:44and it was like, "Wow, we're one of the last ones to break."
0:42:44 > 0:42:48We knew we had to be doubly dynamic, doubly top,
0:42:48 > 0:42:49really skilled at what we did -
0:42:49 > 0:42:51making sure that when we went live
0:42:51 > 0:42:53that we were a force to be reckoned with.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57# Morning, afternoon and night
0:42:57 > 0:43:00# We lay together side by side
0:43:01 > 0:43:02# Searching for lust
0:43:02 > 0:43:04# Searching for breath
0:43:04 > 0:43:07# Searching for the touch of life... #
0:43:07 > 0:43:09When I was a kid, you watched Top Of The Pops and think,
0:43:09 > 0:43:11"Wow, one day I'd love to be on that show."
0:43:11 > 0:43:14You are mimicking yourself in front of the mirror and,
0:43:14 > 0:43:16all of a sudden, you are doing it.
0:43:16 > 0:43:17# Body talk... #
0:43:17 > 0:43:20And I remember being in front of the camera and being told,
0:43:20 > 0:43:24"You've got to make love to it. You've got to make love to it."
0:43:24 > 0:43:27# As it overflows, pleasure grows
0:43:27 > 0:43:28# All the dreams it can bring... #
0:43:28 > 0:43:30Leee John had done rehearsals
0:43:30 > 0:43:32and there would be no problem at all.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34Come the take,
0:43:34 > 0:43:35Leee turns up,
0:43:35 > 0:43:39walks on stage wearing very baggy light cotton trousers
0:43:39 > 0:43:42and, very clearly, nothing underneath.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45# Cool and kind, so soft and pure
0:43:45 > 0:43:47# A touching moment... #
0:43:47 > 0:43:50His swaying dance portrayed him rather more graphically
0:43:50 > 0:43:53than the director was prepared to accept.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56I'm laughing...memory.
0:43:57 > 0:43:58Oh, dear.
0:43:58 > 0:43:59Michael Hurll came down,
0:43:59 > 0:44:01stopped the show dead,
0:44:01 > 0:44:02sent him off,
0:44:02 > 0:44:04"Put a jockstrap on!"
0:44:04 > 0:44:05# Body talk... #
0:44:05 > 0:44:08Except, I don't think the message got through to the drummer.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11By the end of the song, Errol gets up from the drums
0:44:11 > 0:44:14and starts coming out to the front to dance...
0:44:16 > 0:44:19..so, by the time the camera focused in,
0:44:19 > 0:44:22baby, he was like, "Hey."
0:44:25 > 0:44:28APPLAUSE
0:44:29 > 0:44:33Body Talk - and it doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it?
0:44:33 > 0:44:36# I ain't gonna stand for this... #
0:44:36 > 0:44:38And neither did Legs & Co.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42The dance troupe had been a staple of the show for the last seven years.
0:44:44 > 0:44:49But in this year, they increasingly found themselves wearing less...
0:44:49 > 0:44:51and less.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54- # Freak out!- Le Freak, C'est Chic.- #
0:44:54 > 0:44:58Now then, here's Legs & Co with something shocking for your eyes.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01MUSIC: Bermuda Triangle by Barry Manilow
0:45:01 > 0:45:04# It makes people disappear
0:45:04 > 0:45:07# Bermuda Triangle
0:45:07 > 0:45:08# Don't go too near. #
0:45:10 > 0:45:13I think that Legs & Co had got to the point
0:45:13 > 0:45:15where it was really like soft porn.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22They were in the tiniest clothes possible.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24MUSIC: Ai No Corrida by Quincy Jones
0:45:24 > 0:45:25# Ai No Corrida,
0:45:25 > 0:45:27# That's were I am
0:45:27 > 0:45:29# You sent me there
0:45:29 > 0:45:31# Your dream is my command... #
0:45:31 > 0:45:35The Ai No Corrida costumes were absolutely outrageous.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Strategic fig leaves placed -
0:45:38 > 0:45:40but when we actually recorded the number,
0:45:40 > 0:45:41we didn't do it in the show
0:45:41 > 0:45:44and it was supposed to have two camera crew,
0:45:44 > 0:45:46the rest of the studio had been cleared.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50Word must have got out about the costumes, or the lack of costumes,
0:45:50 > 0:45:52because we noticed the doors were opening
0:45:52 > 0:45:54and the studio started filling up again.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56People were coming in for a quick look and,
0:45:56 > 0:45:58"Oh, gosh, go and get someone else.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00"You won't believe what they're not wearing."
0:46:00 > 0:46:03By the end of the routine, everyone was in there. Again.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09Their wild, backcombed, mean bitch look has brought Hot Gossip
0:46:09 > 0:46:11countless admirers and imitators.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14Hang on, Laura, you've got to stay that way.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17Along had come Arlene Phillips on Kenny Everett's show...
0:46:19 > 0:46:21..and, in a way, Hot Gossip,
0:46:21 > 0:46:22they were in suspenders
0:46:22 > 0:46:24but they were just in control.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26It was a little more dominatrix, perhaps -
0:46:26 > 0:46:29like, "Us girls are taking over."
0:46:29 > 0:46:32I think bringing men into the dancing completely changed things,
0:46:32 > 0:46:34because then it wasn't just for the dads.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37It was always that horrible, seedy thing that the DJ would be like,
0:46:37 > 0:46:39"Pull your chair up, guys."
0:46:39 > 0:46:41Ladies and gentlemen, this is where Dad...
0:46:41 > 0:46:43You pull the chair a little closer, Dad,
0:46:43 > 0:46:45because it's time for the heavy breathing, Dad.
0:46:45 > 0:46:46There's no doubt about it at all
0:46:46 > 0:46:48because we have six very beautiful girls for you.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50They are Legs & Co.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52Suddenly Legs & Co looked really outdated.
0:46:52 > 0:46:54MUSIC: Will You? By Hazel O'Connor
0:46:56 > 0:46:58This was the way the show was going.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00# It's getting kind of late now... #
0:47:00 > 0:47:02We were aware, certainly by July,
0:47:02 > 0:47:04that the writing was on the wall for us and
0:47:04 > 0:47:06we were into our last few months.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08# Stay now, stay now
0:47:08 > 0:47:14# Or will you just politely say goodnight? #
0:47:18 > 0:47:20We didn't know till about halfway through the year
0:47:20 > 0:47:22of the ultimate change,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26which is that we would be no longer required to be on the show any more.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30One of our final performances as a group was to the Birdie Song.
0:47:30 > 0:47:36MUSIC: The Birdie Song by Werner Thomas
0:47:36 > 0:47:39It apparently went down a storm at parties
0:47:39 > 0:47:42but it certainly wasn't our favourite routine.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45Certainly not one that we were very pleased about being seen
0:47:45 > 0:47:47doing as our last performance.
0:47:47 > 0:47:48It was a bit of a shame...
0:47:50 > 0:47:52but that's how it ended -
0:47:52 > 0:47:54ended on the Birdie Song.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59MUSIC: Twilight by Electric Light Orchestra
0:47:59 > 0:48:02But Legs leaving was just part of Michael Hurll's plan
0:48:02 > 0:48:05to trump the competition.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08In November, he introduced Zoo -
0:48:08 > 0:48:11a 20-strong dance troupe to take on Hot Gossip.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14# The visions dancing in my mind... #
0:48:14 > 0:48:17It was a little bit more loose, it was more exuberant.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20You had more street dancers in Zoo,
0:48:20 > 0:48:25therefore you got a lot more energy, flips, splits and stuff like that.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28# Am I awake or do I dream? #
0:48:28 > 0:48:32One of the biggest changes was that suddenly there were male dancers -
0:48:32 > 0:48:35not only male dancers but black, male dancers.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38These guys who were amazing club dancers
0:48:38 > 0:48:41and amazing technical dancers.
0:48:41 > 0:48:46MUSIC: Let's Groove Tonight by Earth, Wind & Fire
0:48:46 > 0:48:48Clive Clarke, he was a street dancer.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50I knew him from clubs that we used to go to,
0:48:50 > 0:48:52like Crackers and Bird's Nest.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54# Let's groove tonight
0:48:55 > 0:48:58# Share the spice of life... #
0:48:58 > 0:49:00I entered the disco dancing championships.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04After winning, I did an audition for Top Of The Pops.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08They said, "Right, you're on the first show."
0:49:08 > 0:49:11# Let this groove get you to move...
0:49:11 > 0:49:15And, in the dress run, the cameras and for the lighting and all that,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19I hit my knee against a metal bit of scaffolding,
0:49:19 > 0:49:20right on the kneecap.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23I couldn't even stand up, it was so painful.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25Flick said,
0:49:25 > 0:49:26"Well, Tony and Pinkie..."
0:49:26 > 0:49:28Who I knew really well, fantastic dancers,
0:49:28 > 0:49:30they had worked with Kelly Marie,
0:49:30 > 0:49:33they said, "..they're ready to take your spot."
0:49:33 > 0:49:36I was like, "Hell, no!"
0:49:36 > 0:49:38Suddenly the pain went.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41# We can boogie on down...
0:49:43 > 0:49:48That competitive spirit against arch-enemies of the dance floor,
0:49:48 > 0:49:51I was never going to give it away, they would have to kill me.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54MUSIC: Runaround Sue by Racey
0:49:54 > 0:49:59By '81, Michael Hurll was injecting new life
0:49:59 > 0:50:01into all areas of Top Of The Pops.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06Increasing the size of the studio audience and, with hand-held cameras
0:50:06 > 0:50:10and swooping crane shots, bringing in a new immediacy to the show.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15Even though there were still visible crowd marshals
0:50:15 > 0:50:18in red tracksuits herding the public...
0:50:18 > 0:50:20# This girl will leave me with a broken heart... #
0:50:20 > 0:50:23..bored kids looking at the camera...
0:50:23 > 0:50:25saying hello to Mum
0:50:25 > 0:50:28and looking at themselves on the monitor.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32In November, Michael Hurll staged an intervention.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34Taking his cue from the advent of Zoo,
0:50:34 > 0:50:36he repopulated the studio
0:50:36 > 0:50:40with a huge swathe of entertainers and cheerleaders
0:50:40 > 0:50:43to create a permanent party atmosphere.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45Hello and welcome to Top Of The Pops.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48As always, we're changing things around just a little bit.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50We've got something brand-new for you tonight.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52Stay with us, enjoy the show, for starters,
0:50:52 > 0:50:54Modern Romance - Ay Ay Moosey.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02The public had to take a back step because of all these crazy,
0:51:02 > 0:51:05ego-driven dancers that had turned up, called "cheerleaders."
0:51:05 > 0:51:07I being one of them.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10Our job was really to show off.
0:51:10 > 0:51:11That was why we were chosen.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13We were show-offs.
0:51:13 > 0:51:14# When I hear those trumpets
0:51:14 > 0:51:16# The congas start to play
0:51:16 > 0:51:18# My heart it starts dancing... #
0:51:18 > 0:51:21Michael wanted us to look like we were fans of the music,
0:51:21 > 0:51:23people who would buy the music.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25He wanted us to look like the girl next door,
0:51:25 > 0:51:28but a super-sized version.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31I was a dancer but I would also be a cheerleader. I didn't care.
0:51:31 > 0:51:32I just loved it.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Sometimes people would wave to their parents,
0:51:35 > 0:51:36or God knows what else,
0:51:36 > 0:51:40and you could actually just curtail that with a hand action.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43We were packing in the audience.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45We were like a sheepdog.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48"Move them sheep, put them in front of the camera, pull them out,
0:51:48 > 0:51:51"hands up, wave, smile.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55"Big cheers, big whoop-whoop-whoops!"
0:51:55 > 0:51:56We would be there at the front of the stage,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00at the side of the stage, on the stage, at the back of the band.
0:52:00 > 0:52:01# Get away, run away
0:52:01 > 0:52:02# Far away... #
0:52:02 > 0:52:07Everyone just wanted to be seen on that show.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09It was incredibly competitive.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12You'd turn around while you're performing your song
0:52:12 > 0:52:15and there would be some girl gyrating like a go-go dancer
0:52:15 > 0:52:17on a podium next to you.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20You'd think, "What has happened to the programme?"
0:52:20 > 0:52:24"It was kind of sex-ridden all of a sudden. What's going on?"
0:52:24 > 0:52:26MUSIC: Cambodia by Kim Wilde
0:52:26 > 0:52:29I always took a bit of a dim view of them being anywhere near me.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32I never much cared for dancers interpreting my music
0:52:32 > 0:52:34because I was arrogant enough,
0:52:34 > 0:52:36not too arrogant, of course.
0:52:36 > 0:52:37Not as arrogant as some -
0:52:37 > 0:52:39but arrogant enough to think,
0:52:39 > 0:52:43"I just don't want those dancers around me."
0:52:43 > 0:52:45# Well, he was Thailand-based
0:52:45 > 0:52:47# She was an Air Force wife... #
0:52:47 > 0:52:49As well as the cheerleaders,
0:52:49 > 0:52:50in the audience,
0:52:50 > 0:52:53you would see people from nightclubs,
0:52:53 > 0:52:55like Blitz kids,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58who eventually would become stars in their own right.
0:52:58 > 0:53:00I vividly remember doing Cambodia
0:53:00 > 0:53:02and looking down
0:53:02 > 0:53:05and seeing this beautiful person standing in the audience
0:53:05 > 0:53:07and I couldn't quite work out
0:53:07 > 0:53:09if it was a male or a female,
0:53:09 > 0:53:12I had never seen anyone look like that, who was so unique...
0:53:12 > 0:53:15# I will get you by... #
0:53:15 > 0:53:17..and it was Boy George.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20# And if I don't, I sure will try
0:53:20 > 0:53:24# Yes, tonight, Josephine... #
0:53:24 > 0:53:26I just remember feeling like a bit of an impostor thinking,
0:53:26 > 0:53:29"What am I doing here? He should be up here."
0:53:29 > 0:53:32# Well I'm gonna give my heart to you... #
0:53:32 > 0:53:34He knew where he was going and
0:53:34 > 0:53:38very shortly after, of course, he was standing on that stage.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40It was sort of like a rites of passage.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42If you wanted to become a singer,
0:53:42 > 0:53:44Top Of The Pops was one of the only shows
0:53:44 > 0:53:46that was easy to get on a guest list
0:53:46 > 0:53:50and get yourself on TV to see how it worked.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52It's a bit like research.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54# Yes, tonight, Josephine
0:53:54 > 0:54:00# Yes, tonight. #
0:54:00 > 0:54:05APPLAUSE
0:54:05 > 0:54:08MUSIC: The Land Of Make Believe by Bucks Fizz
0:54:08 > 0:54:11Michael, we can all feel that it's cold, but exactly how cold is it?
0:54:11 > 0:54:13In fact, it's so cold that I had to
0:54:13 > 0:54:16get some more temperatures made this afternoon
0:54:16 > 0:54:18because we just haven't had call for temperatures
0:54:18 > 0:54:20as low as -16 or indeed -20,
0:54:20 > 0:54:22which I'm using on the chart for this evening.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24December '81 would prove to be
0:54:24 > 0:54:27one of the snowiest months of the 20th century,
0:54:27 > 0:54:30with record-breaking low temperatures and blizzards.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32Even...
0:54:32 > 0:54:36# In the land of make believe. #
0:54:37 > 0:54:39Here's The Snowmen and the Hokey Cokey.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47Christmas saw a seasonal pack of contenders climbing the charts,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50chasing the coveted number one slot...
0:54:50 > 0:54:55# Well, I wish it could be Christmas every day... #
0:54:55 > 0:54:57..but what few had their eye on
0:54:57 > 0:55:00was the synth pop dark horse coming up on the rails.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02Least of all, the band themselves.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06We'd had three singles from one album -
0:55:06 > 0:55:09Sound Of The Crowd, Love Action and Open Your Heart.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13- We thought that the public would be fed up with us, didn't we?- Yeah.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16We thought they'd be bored - that they'd had enough.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18The record company, "We're putting Don't You Want Me out."
0:55:18 > 0:55:21We said, "No, it's our sort of Des O'Connor song,"
0:55:21 > 0:55:22I think is what we said at the time.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25Hence last track, side two,
0:55:25 > 0:55:27bit of a gap between the one before.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34I'm sure what they meant by it being their Des O'Connor song
0:55:34 > 0:55:36was that it's a little bit cheesy, the sentiment,
0:55:36 > 0:55:39but we'd held back Don't You Want Me
0:55:39 > 0:55:42because we thought that was the best.
0:55:42 > 0:55:49MUSIC: Don't You Want Me by The Human League
0:55:49 > 0:55:51We insisted on putting a poster in with it
0:55:51 > 0:55:53because there was no added value.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56Anyone who had Dare had already got it,
0:55:56 > 0:55:57so why should anyone else buy it?
0:55:57 > 0:56:02# You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
0:56:02 > 0:56:05# When I met you
0:56:05 > 0:56:07# I picked you out
0:56:07 > 0:56:08# I shook you up
0:56:08 > 0:56:10# And turned you around
0:56:10 > 0:56:13# Turned you into someone new... #
0:56:13 > 0:56:15When you are in a band,
0:56:15 > 0:56:17your aim is to get to number one.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20When someone phones you up and says,
0:56:20 > 0:56:22"Fabulous, you're number one."
0:56:22 > 0:56:26You go, "Wow, that's brilliant," for about five minutes
0:56:26 > 0:56:28and then it's a bit...
0:56:28 > 0:56:30- "What we do now?" - Right, "What do we do now?"
0:56:32 > 0:56:36It's been the worst December weather since 1901.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39Abandoned cars and coaches had still to be dug out of snowdrifts
0:56:39 > 0:56:41this morning.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44It was the day we got stuck in the snow near Fishguard in Wales.
0:56:44 > 0:56:45Yeah.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48We were on tour, we were going to Ireland,
0:56:48 > 0:56:50getting the ferry to Ireland,
0:56:50 > 0:56:52our bus driver had to get off,
0:56:52 > 0:56:53go to the local farmer
0:56:53 > 0:56:55and get a tractor to come and pull us out.
0:56:55 > 0:56:56We were there for hours.
0:56:56 > 0:56:58We were freezing, we had no heating,
0:56:58 > 0:57:01we were wrapped in the curtains from the bus,
0:57:01 > 0:57:02and it's like...
0:57:02 > 0:57:06"Right, OK, so this is being number one, is it? Great(!)"
0:57:06 > 0:57:10# I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
0:57:11 > 0:57:13# That much is true
0:57:15 > 0:57:19# But even then I knew I'd find a much better place
0:57:19 > 0:57:21# Either with or without you. #
0:57:22 > 0:57:25My biggest memory of being on Top Of The Pops
0:57:25 > 0:57:28when we were number one at Christmas was when our producer,
0:57:28 > 0:57:30Martin Rushent, was in the crowd and...
0:57:32 > 0:57:35..he was a practical joker
0:57:35 > 0:57:39so he decided to bring along a can of crazy string.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41# Don't you want me, baby?
0:57:41 > 0:57:43It went straight into my mouth.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47There are just shots of me going...
0:57:47 > 0:57:49Spluttering.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52I tried to spit all this stuff out of my mouth.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54# Don't you want me
0:57:54 > 0:57:56# Oh
0:57:56 > 0:57:59# Don't you want me, baby? #
0:57:59 > 0:58:03Don't You Want Me was number one for weeks and weeks, and weeks.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06I think the band are very genuine people and, amazingly,
0:58:06 > 0:58:09unaffected by all of this huge success.
0:58:13 > 0:58:15As '81 gave way to '82,
0:58:15 > 0:58:18The Human League would also top the US chart
0:58:18 > 0:58:21and point the way for the new pop generation.
0:58:21 > 0:58:25It's MY first Top Of The Pops and it's THEIR first Top Of The Pops.
0:58:25 > 0:58:26Wham!
0:58:28 > 0:58:29As next year would see the arrival
0:58:29 > 0:58:32of yet more British young guns...
0:58:32 > 0:58:35# Hey, sucker
0:58:35 > 0:58:37# What the hell's got into you? #
0:58:37 > 0:58:40..who would storm the national and international charts...
0:58:40 > 0:58:42# That's the look
0:58:42 > 0:58:43# That's the look
0:58:43 > 0:58:45# The look of love... #
0:58:45 > 0:58:47..and Top Of The Pops added the "Ooh" factor...
0:58:47 > 0:58:50- Gary Davies, Gary.- Hi, Peter. - Janice Long, Janice.- Hello.
0:58:50 > 0:58:54..with new presenters in a balloon-packed pop paradise.
0:58:54 > 0:58:57# Heavens above!
0:58:57 > 0:59:02- # That's the look, that's the look - # Hip, hip, hooray
0:59:02 > 0:59:05- # That's the look, that's the look - # Yippy-ay! Yippy-ay-ay!
0:59:05 > 0:59:07# That's the look, that's the look
0:59:07 > 0:59:10# Be lucky in love
0:59:10 > 0:59:13# Look of love! #