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Hello, and welcome to the Scout. | 0:00:04 | 0:00:05 | |
A little later on, Mrs Thompson will be telling us | 0:00:05 | 0:00:08 | |
about her holiday in Sardinia, but first, some music. | 0:00:08 | 0:00:11 | |
MUSIC: Don't Go by Yazoo | 0:00:11 | 0:00:13 | |
1982, the year statement hair and the look-at-me generation | 0:00:13 | 0:00:17 | |
took over Top Of The Pops... | 0:00:17 | 0:00:19 | |
..while the show itself went into overdrive. | 0:00:21 | 0:00:23 | |
Suddenly, you see this man's got the whole studio. | 0:00:23 | 0:00:26 | |
If you watch it, it's just a live take, | 0:00:28 | 0:00:30 | |
one shot, and I don't think that had been done before. | 0:00:30 | 0:00:32 | |
The kids from Fame embraced the show... | 0:00:32 | 0:00:35 | |
-ALL: -Hi to everyone on Top Of The Pops! | 0:00:35 | 0:00:38 | |
..and inspired the cheerleaders. | 0:00:38 | 0:00:40 | |
And a featured dancer walked on the moon. | 0:00:41 | 0:00:44 | |
They didn't know if something was pulling me backwards, | 0:00:44 | 0:00:47 | |
if I had oil on the floor or if I had wheels on my shoes. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:50 | |
# Said he was a killer! # | 0:00:50 | 0:00:52 | |
It was a golden year for new pop. | 0:00:52 | 0:00:55 | |
Top Of The Pops crammed with transformation, | 0:00:55 | 0:00:58 | |
conceptualisation | 0:00:58 | 0:01:00 | |
and aspiration. | 0:01:00 | 0:01:02 | |
# Don't go! # | 0:01:02 | 0:01:03 | |
They were very dour, grey times back then. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:06 | |
So, Thursday night, 7.30, blam, you know. | 0:01:06 | 0:01:09 | |
And it was capped by the stunning debut | 0:01:09 | 0:01:11 | |
of the biggest new icon of the decade. | 0:01:11 | 0:01:13 | |
# Don't go! # | 0:01:13 | 0:01:14 | |
I did hear stores and people having cups of tea literally dropping, | 0:01:14 | 0:01:18 | |
going, "What is that?" | 0:01:18 | 0:01:20 | |
# Can't stop now, don't you know? | 0:01:22 | 0:01:24 | |
# I'm never going to let you go Don't go. # | 0:01:24 | 0:01:26 | |
MUSIC: O Superman by Laurie Anderson | 0:01:29 | 0:01:31 | |
The brave new world of '82 saw the launch of the first CD player | 0:01:31 | 0:01:35 | |
and the first voice-activated remote control. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:38 | |
-Channel. -OK. -Four! | 0:01:38 | 0:01:41 | |
-Repeat. -Four! -OK. | 0:01:42 | 0:01:46 | |
This year would also see the arrival of Channel 4 | 0:01:46 | 0:01:48 | |
and the first real rival to Top Of The Pops. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:52 | |
Walk to your television set and turn it up. | 0:01:52 | 0:01:54 | |
It's November 5th and we're going to do something now that's going to go | 0:01:54 | 0:01:57 | |
in the annals of television history. | 0:01:57 | 0:01:59 | |
But it was also the year Britain went to war... | 0:01:59 | 0:02:02 | |
..8,000 miles away in the Falkland Islands. | 0:02:03 | 0:02:06 | |
While at home, unemployment hit a shocking high of 3 million. | 0:02:09 | 0:02:14 | |
There have been many voices in the past few weeks calling on us | 0:02:15 | 0:02:19 | |
to spend our way back towards a higher level of employment. | 0:02:19 | 0:02:23 | |
Mr President, that is not what this government was elected to do. | 0:02:23 | 0:02:27 | |
And a household phrase | 0:02:29 | 0:02:31 | |
and a heartbreaking drama of life on the dole gripped the nation. | 0:02:31 | 0:02:34 | |
-Gizza' job. Go on, gizz' it, go ahead. -A job? -Yeah, gizz' it! | 0:02:36 | 0:02:41 | |
And this was reflected at TV Centre, home of Top Of The Pops, | 0:02:42 | 0:02:46 | |
by the writers of chart hits, including a Christmas song | 0:02:46 | 0:02:49 | |
that became the first new number one of '82. | 0:02:49 | 0:02:52 | |
# Run for the sun, little one | 0:02:55 | 0:02:59 | |
# You're an outlaw once again | 0:02:59 | 0:03:02 | |
# Time to change, Superman | 0:03:02 | 0:03:05 | |
# Will be with us while he can | 0:03:05 | 0:03:09 | |
# In the land of make believe | 0:03:09 | 0:03:13 | |
# Run for the sun, little one... # | 0:03:13 | 0:03:15 | |
Land Of Make Believe is a fairy story. | 0:03:15 | 0:03:17 | |
It was written by a guy | 0:03:17 | 0:03:18 | |
called Pete Sinfield. | 0:03:18 | 0:03:20 | |
He used to be in a band called King Crimson. | 0:03:20 | 0:03:22 | |
MUSIC: 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson | 0:03:22 | 0:03:28 | |
And I think he probably wrote it sitting on a cushion | 0:03:28 | 0:03:31 | |
with a spliff in his hand, playing his guitar. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:34 | |
# Blood rack, barbed wire | 0:03:34 | 0:03:39 | |
# Politicians' funeral pyre... # | 0:03:39 | 0:03:42 | |
I'd learned how to write weird songs. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:45 | |
Now I had to write weird songs | 0:03:45 | 0:03:46 | |
that were going to be bought by 12-year-olds. | 0:03:46 | 0:03:49 | |
I was trying to write a Christmas song. | 0:03:51 | 0:03:53 | |
But I wanted to suggest that spooky, scary side of Christmas. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:59 | |
# Shadows tapping at your window | 0:03:59 | 0:04:05 | |
# Ghostly voices whisper, "Will you come and play?" # | 0:04:05 | 0:04:12 | |
It was just in the beginning of the Thatcher era. | 0:04:13 | 0:04:16 | |
# Or the corn in Carolina... # | 0:04:16 | 0:04:18 | |
There was a lot of greed in the air and it was quite an evil atmosphere. | 0:04:18 | 0:04:23 | |
Toby! | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
# They're running after, you babe | 0:04:25 | 0:04:27 | |
# Run for the sun, little one | 0:04:27 | 0:04:31 | |
# You're an outlaw once again | 0:04:31 | 0:04:33 | |
# Time to change, Superman... # | 0:04:33 | 0:04:35 | |
It's a magical song, it came at a magical time of year | 0:04:35 | 0:04:38 | |
when every little boy and girl, you know, | 0:04:38 | 0:04:40 | |
is looking forward to Christmas. | 0:04:40 | 0:04:42 | |
# In the land of make believe. # | 0:04:42 | 0:04:44 | |
But look at any good fairy story and there's always a dark side, | 0:04:44 | 0:04:48 | |
there's always a wicked witch. | 0:04:48 | 0:04:50 | |
There a few lines we're talking about Thatcher, | 0:04:50 | 0:04:52 | |
I referred to it as there being something nasty in your garden | 0:04:52 | 0:04:56 | |
waiting till it can have your heart. | 0:04:56 | 0:04:59 | |
# Something nasty in your garden's waiting | 0:04:59 | 0:05:06 | |
# Patiently, till it can have your heart... # | 0:05:06 | 0:05:12 | |
I mean, actually that's a bit creepy, it's a bit scary. | 0:05:12 | 0:05:15 | |
# Don't you know it's out to get you running? | 0:05:15 | 0:05:20 | |
# Keep on running | 0:05:20 | 0:05:22 | |
# They're running after you, babe | 0:05:23 | 0:05:26 | |
# Run for the sun... # | 0:05:26 | 0:05:28 | |
On Top Of The Pops, there was a sort of false bonhomie | 0:05:28 | 0:05:32 | |
which went with the spookiness. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:34 | |
Though everything else is jolly merry | 0:05:34 | 0:05:36 | |
and you've got your tangerine in your Christmas stocking, | 0:05:36 | 0:05:40 | |
there's something that gets you between the shoulders. | 0:05:40 | 0:05:43 | |
I didn't see that. | 0:05:43 | 0:05:46 | |
Perhaps because I look at everything through rose-coloured glasses | 0:05:46 | 0:05:50 | |
and I just saw it as a fairy story. | 0:05:50 | 0:05:52 | |
# Aha... # | 0:05:55 | 0:05:57 | |
Hidden message or not... | 0:05:57 | 0:05:58 | |
# Aha... # | 0:05:58 | 0:05:59 | |
..one thing Bucks Fizz enjoyed in this year... | 0:05:59 | 0:06:02 | |
# Aha... # | 0:06:02 | 0:06:03 | |
..was a step up in the staging of Top Of The Pops. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:06 | |
# Da, da, da | 0:06:07 | 0:06:09 | |
# Da, da, da... # | 0:06:11 | 0:06:12 | |
In the music business, the show was the golden ticket. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:14 | |
# Da, da, da. # | 0:06:14 | 0:06:16 | |
And ambitious producer Michael Hurll | 0:06:16 | 0:06:18 | |
dialled into the competition | 0:06:18 | 0:06:20 | |
amongst record pluggers to push standards of presentation. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:24 | |
# You don't love me Da, da, da... # | 0:06:24 | 0:06:27 | |
I would go in to Michael and suggest, "Look, I've got an idea." | 0:06:27 | 0:06:30 | |
And I would do it very respectfully because obviously, | 0:06:30 | 0:06:32 | |
he was the producer, he's the director. | 0:06:32 | 0:06:34 | |
-Erm, Spandau. Available, right? -Yeah. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
-And that is a rehearsal tonight, correct? -Yes. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
Right, rehearsal tonight in the studio. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:42 | |
Whether it be Madness, where I was going in and suggesting the car | 0:06:42 | 0:06:45 | |
or let's build a house in the middle of the studio and what do you think? | 0:06:45 | 0:06:49 | |
# Our house In the middle of our street | 0:06:49 | 0:06:53 | |
# Our house In the middle of our | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
# Our house Was a castle and our keep | 0:06:56 | 0:07:01 | |
# Our house In the middle of our street | 0:07:01 | 0:07:04 | |
# Our house... # | 0:07:04 | 0:07:07 | |
These were ideas that I think were very useful coming from us | 0:07:07 | 0:07:10 | |
because from Michael's point of view, | 0:07:10 | 0:07:12 | |
they helped and he was able to say, "I like that, let's do it." | 0:07:12 | 0:07:15 | |
Driving My Car with Madness was really interesting. | 0:07:17 | 0:07:19 | |
It was one where we brought in the Morris Minor, | 0:07:19 | 0:07:21 | |
the Maddie car, the Maddiemobile | 0:07:21 | 0:07:23 | |
# I've been driving in my car | 0:07:23 | 0:07:25 | |
# It's not quite a Jaguar | 0:07:26 | 0:07:28 | |
# I bought it... # | 0:07:30 | 0:07:31 | |
And there was a huge amount of issues | 0:07:31 | 0:07:33 | |
because you can't bring a vehicle into a BBC studio that has fuel | 0:07:33 | 0:07:36 | |
and you have to empty all the fuel and all that kind of stuff. | 0:07:36 | 0:07:38 | |
# It was made in '59... # | 0:07:38 | 0:07:40 | |
There was a skeleton behind it which the boys were | 0:07:41 | 0:07:43 | |
using as kind of a xylophone or a percussive instrument. | 0:07:43 | 0:07:46 | |
# It says Morris on the door The GPO owned it before | 0:07:46 | 0:07:49 | |
# I drive in it for my job The governor calls me a slob. # | 0:07:49 | 0:07:53 | |
I think it was very important creatively to kind of bring things | 0:07:53 | 0:07:57 | |
and to gently nudge the BBC into allowing us | 0:07:57 | 0:08:01 | |
to do things that looked visually much more exciting. | 0:08:01 | 0:08:04 | |
Quite early on in 1982, | 0:08:04 | 0:08:06 | |
Michael Hurll tried to create a circus atmosphere in the studio. | 0:08:06 | 0:08:10 | |
MUSIC: Invitations by Shakatak | 0:08:10 | 0:08:12 | |
And there were people on trapezes. | 0:08:12 | 0:08:14 | |
There was this one girl hanging from her mouth from the trapeze. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:18 | |
There was a merry-go-round. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:20 | |
I mean, it was just extraordinary to have all this in Top Of The Pops. | 0:08:20 | 0:08:24 | |
# And her fingers touch your hand below the lace... # | 0:08:24 | 0:08:27 | |
And in May, the king of the pop video joined in | 0:08:27 | 0:08:31 | |
at a Top Of The Pops | 0:08:31 | 0:08:32 | |
that was becoming less about pretending to play | 0:08:32 | 0:08:35 | |
and more about entertainment. | 0:08:35 | 0:08:37 | |
Not so much mime as pantomime. | 0:08:37 | 0:08:39 | |
I split the band up and I went solo. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:42 | |
So, Goody Two Shoes was a very important critical record for me. | 0:08:42 | 0:08:46 | |
I had a call from Michael Hurll saying, | 0:08:48 | 0:08:50 | |
"Can we do something a bit different? | 0:08:50 | 0:08:52 | |
"I'd like to try and open it up a little bit." | 0:08:52 | 0:08:55 | |
I suggested, "Why don't we try and do a live video with the set?" | 0:08:57 | 0:09:03 | |
I did some watercolours and I had a meeting with him. | 0:09:07 | 0:09:09 | |
He just looked at it and he just said, "Yeah." | 0:09:09 | 0:09:11 | |
# With the heartbreak open | 0:09:11 | 0:09:13 | |
# So much you can't hide | 0:09:13 | 0:09:16 | |
# Put on a little make-up, make-up | 0:09:16 | 0:09:18 | |
# Make sure they get your good side, good side... # | 0:09:18 | 0:09:21 | |
The first set was ancient Greece | 0:09:21 | 0:09:22 | |
and girls in their kind of flowing robes. | 0:09:22 | 0:09:26 | |
# Don't drink, don't smoke What do you do? | 0:09:26 | 0:09:28 | |
# You don't drink, don't smoke... # | 0:09:28 | 0:09:30 | |
And then to the Paris and the French maid. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:33 | |
# There must be something inside | 0:09:33 | 0:09:35 | |
# We don't follow fashion... # | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
Suddenly you see this man's got the whole studio! | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
# Don't drink, don't smoke What do you do? # | 0:09:41 | 0:09:43 | |
He had freedom. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:45 | |
# What do you do? | 0:09:45 | 0:09:46 | |
# Subtle innuendos follow... # | 0:09:46 | 0:09:48 | |
We went to Dick Turpin and the Puss in Boots road to London. | 0:09:48 | 0:09:51 | |
And then all coming onto a circular stage at the end. | 0:09:54 | 0:09:58 | |
# What do you do? You don't drink, don't smoke | 0:10:00 | 0:10:02 | |
# What do you do? | 0:10:02 | 0:10:04 | |
# Subtle innuendos follow | 0:10:04 | 0:10:06 | |
# Must be something inside... # | 0:10:06 | 0:10:08 | |
Definitely helped me get to number one. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:10 | |
Because I was up against Madness with Our House on that one. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
# Subtle innuendos follow | 0:10:12 | 0:10:15 | |
# Must be something inside. # | 0:10:15 | 0:10:17 | |
If you watch it, it's just a live take, | 0:10:17 | 0:10:19 | |
one shot, and I don't think that had been done before. | 0:10:19 | 0:10:22 | |
MUSIC: Walking On Sunshine by Rockers Revenge | 0:10:22 | 0:10:26 | |
In just three years, the circulation has overtaken | 0:10:26 | 0:10:29 | |
all competition to become Britain's number one pop magazine. | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
2 million readers rely on the pen-chewing editorial team | 0:10:32 | 0:10:36 | |
to come up with the goods. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:37 | |
In the '80s, what was happening at Top Of The Pops was in sync | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
with the dynamic use of the media by a new breed, | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
as a self-aware new pop | 0:10:46 | 0:10:47 | |
moved on from the old ways of the music press. | 0:10:47 | 0:10:50 | |
Bands back then, obviously, they were very defined. | 0:10:54 | 0:10:56 | |
Every band was like its own movie. | 0:10:56 | 0:10:59 | |
When you look at Dexy's and The Human League and Duran Duran. | 0:10:59 | 0:11:03 | |
The music scene was changing, definitely, | 0:11:04 | 0:11:06 | |
and the way people wanted to present themselves was changing, | 0:11:06 | 0:11:08 | |
and it was getting more and more glossy. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:10 | |
The print technology was changing, | 0:11:10 | 0:11:12 | |
so it went from the black inkies towards Record Mirror, | 0:11:12 | 0:11:14 | |
towards Smash Hits, which was colour photography. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:17 | |
And I mean, that affected how bands presented ourselves. | 0:11:17 | 0:11:21 | |
There was a whole world of colour to play with. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:23 | |
It was like that moment | 0:11:23 | 0:11:24 | |
in The Wizard Of Oz when it kind of... | 0:11:24 | 0:11:26 | |
One minute it's black and white, and then, boom, it's colour. | 0:11:26 | 0:11:29 | |
# Walking on sunshine! # | 0:11:29 | 0:11:31 | |
Smash Hits' cover picture was very bright, lots of eye contact. | 0:11:31 | 0:11:35 | |
It was smiley, it was active, you know. It was kinetic. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:38 | |
Whereas, you know, the NME's brand values at the time | 0:11:39 | 0:11:43 | |
were detached, were serious, were furrowed brow. | 0:11:43 | 0:11:47 | |
But after a while, the NME thought, | 0:11:47 | 0:11:49 | |
"We can't compete with this. This is a new generation." | 0:11:49 | 0:11:51 | |
We started to get a new emphasis on the look. | 0:11:53 | 0:11:56 | |
And so, people tended to turn up | 0:11:56 | 0:11:59 | |
with a new single or a new band with a new look. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:02 | |
And so, it was very often represented by a picture | 0:12:02 | 0:12:05 | |
before it was represented by a sound. | 0:12:05 | 0:12:07 | |
And in spite of coming from Sheffield's streets, | 0:12:11 | 0:12:14 | |
hit by massive closures and lay-offs, | 0:12:14 | 0:12:17 | |
one group emerged from the city's earnest post-punk scene... | 0:12:17 | 0:12:20 | |
..with the most self-aware and Technicolor concept of them all. | 0:12:24 | 0:12:28 | |
In magazines, | 0:12:30 | 0:12:32 | |
videos | 0:12:32 | 0:12:33 | |
and on the floor of Top Of The Pops. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:36 | |
Does appearing on Top Of The Pops | 0:12:36 | 0:12:39 | |
affect your image in any way? | 0:12:39 | 0:12:40 | |
It just means a lot more people get to know the group, | 0:12:40 | 0:12:42 | |
and that's why we enjoy doing it so much. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:44 | |
It's like introducing yourself personally to everybody, | 0:12:44 | 0:12:47 | |
you know, through the television set. | 0:12:47 | 0:12:49 | |
Top Of The Pops would always be taped on a Wednesday | 0:12:49 | 0:12:51 | |
and it would go out Thursday. | 0:12:51 | 0:12:53 | |
So Thursday, by about eight o'clock, you were famous, you know? | 0:12:53 | 0:12:56 | |
Everybody had their own little visual shtick, | 0:13:06 | 0:13:09 | |
so ours was definitely, | 0:13:09 | 0:13:11 | |
even though we were walking down West Street signing on the dole, | 0:13:11 | 0:13:14 | |
and like The Full Monty, we had aspirations of playing Las Vegas. | 0:13:14 | 0:13:18 | |
# Who broke my heart? You did, you did... # | 0:13:20 | 0:13:23 | |
For us, it was about building a whole separate universe, | 0:13:23 | 0:13:26 | |
an imaginary world to live in. | 0:13:26 | 0:13:28 | |
Because the real world was tough, yeah. It really was. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:31 | |
# Shoot that poison arrow to my heart | 0:13:31 | 0:13:35 | |
# Shoot that poison arrow | 0:13:35 | 0:13:37 | |
# Shoot that poison arrow to my heart | 0:13:39 | 0:13:42 | |
# Shoot that poison arrow. # | 0:13:42 | 0:13:45 | |
I had a gold lame suit, which was kind of, | 0:13:45 | 0:13:47 | |
walking around Sheffield in a gold lame suit was kind of dangerous. | 0:13:47 | 0:13:50 | |
You'd walk in and the guys playing dominoes | 0:13:50 | 0:13:53 | |
would kind of stand up and try and push you out the door. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:56 | |
# Shoot that poison arrow. # | 0:13:58 | 0:14:00 | |
With Poison Arrow, we were on Top Of The Pops. | 0:14:00 | 0:14:02 | |
And we kind of came onto the show. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:04 | |
We had the keyboards, the drums, the bass and the guitar. | 0:14:04 | 0:14:06 | |
When we came to present The Look Of Love, | 0:14:08 | 0:14:11 | |
we kind of wanted to play with the medium a bit, and we loved | 0:14:11 | 0:14:14 | |
Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, the whole tradition of Motown. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:18 | |
# Whoa, whoa, whoa! | 0:14:19 | 0:14:20 | |
# When your world is full of strange arrangements | 0:14:20 | 0:14:24 | |
# And gravity won't pull you through... # | 0:14:24 | 0:14:27 | |
We decided to present it as I'm there singing, | 0:14:28 | 0:14:31 | |
and there's David Palmer, Mark White, Stephen Singleton | 0:14:31 | 0:14:35 | |
and they're doing the moves, | 0:14:35 | 0:14:37 | |
you know, choreographed moves. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:38 | |
That was probably one of the toughest | 0:14:38 | 0:14:40 | |
TV performances we ever did, yeah. | 0:14:40 | 0:14:42 | |
# You know it's true | 0:14:42 | 0:14:44 | |
# All I mean now | 0:14:44 | 0:14:46 | |
# There's one thing, yes, one thing | 0:14:46 | 0:14:49 | |
# That turns this grey sky to blue... # | 0:14:49 | 0:14:51 | |
On Top Of The Pops, it was like going into the ring. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:54 | |
You know, you put your gloves on and you're in there with your chorus | 0:14:54 | 0:14:57 | |
and your verse, battling it out. | 0:14:57 | 0:14:59 | |
# That's the look, that's the look Hip, hip hooray! | 0:15:01 | 0:15:05 | |
# That's the look, that's the look # Yippee yi-yay | 0:15:05 | 0:15:09 | |
# That's the look, that's the look | 0:15:09 | 0:15:11 | |
# Be lucky in love | 0:15:11 | 0:15:14 | |
# Look of love! # | 0:15:14 | 0:15:16 | |
Some of our enjoyment, fear and idiocy is in that performance, | 0:15:18 | 0:15:24 | |
but I think it's what makes it very entertaining, even today. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:28 | |
MUSIC: Only You by Yazoo | 0:15:28 | 0:15:32 | |
But ABC shedding instruments on Top Of The Pops | 0:15:32 | 0:15:35 | |
was part of another trend, | 0:15:35 | 0:15:37 | |
towards a freedom of presentation and line-up. | 0:15:37 | 0:15:40 | |
# Sometimes when I think of her name When it's only a game | 0:15:41 | 0:15:46 | |
# And I need you | 0:15:47 | 0:15:50 | |
# Listen to the words that you say | 0:15:50 | 0:15:53 | |
# It's getting harder to stay | 0:15:53 | 0:15:56 | |
# When I see you... # | 0:15:56 | 0:15:58 | |
There certainly was a huge amount of duos coming through. | 0:15:58 | 0:16:01 | |
I think Soft Cell, Blancmange that I was working with... | 0:16:01 | 0:16:04 | |
..Yazoo that I was working with. | 0:16:06 | 0:16:08 | |
# And all I ever knew... # | 0:16:08 | 0:16:09 | |
And back in those days, we were using things like Fairlights | 0:16:09 | 0:16:12 | |
and Synclaviers, which were cutting-edge technology | 0:16:12 | 0:16:15 | |
and able to play huge amounts of sounds at one go. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:18 | |
So, you don't need to deal with what is traditionally | 0:16:21 | 0:16:25 | |
the most difficult to thing to deal with in pop music, | 0:16:25 | 0:16:27 | |
which is the drummer. | 0:16:27 | 0:16:29 | |
In terms of doing a performance, it was all focused on those two people. | 0:16:29 | 0:16:35 | |
# All I needed was the love you gave | 0:16:36 | 0:16:39 | |
# All I needed for another day | 0:16:40 | 0:16:44 | |
# And all I ever knew | 0:16:44 | 0:16:48 | |
# Only you. # | 0:16:48 | 0:16:50 | |
Cos it wasn't getting kind of watered down | 0:16:50 | 0:16:52 | |
by other members of a band. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:54 | |
It was just focusing on two people for the whole | 0:16:54 | 0:16:56 | |
two and a half minutes. | 0:16:56 | 0:16:57 | |
That's kind of quite powerful. | 0:16:57 | 0:16:59 | |
I think a lot of people were visually expecting to see | 0:17:05 | 0:17:07 | |
a drummer, they were expecting to see a guitarist. | 0:17:07 | 0:17:10 | |
And they found it quite strange just to see two people, | 0:17:10 | 0:17:12 | |
one person playing a keyboard and one person singing. | 0:17:12 | 0:17:15 | |
And I think what the duo did is kind of ask us to re-evaluate | 0:17:15 | 0:17:19 | |
what it is we're hearing with what we're seeing. | 0:17:19 | 0:17:22 | |
And actually think, "No, this is fine, this is cool, | 0:17:22 | 0:17:24 | |
"this is really good." | 0:17:24 | 0:17:25 | |
-KIDS: -Oh! | 0:17:26 | 0:17:28 | |
And one teenager duo made their debut with | 0:17:28 | 0:17:31 | |
a Home Counties take on New York rap. | 0:17:31 | 0:17:34 | |
And a take-no-prisoners manifesto for success. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:37 | |
I got a call to go do a session at a studio | 0:17:40 | 0:17:43 | |
and work with this band called Wham! | 0:17:43 | 0:17:46 | |
There was this kid called George Michael, he was 18 maybe. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:53 | |
He was extraordinary. | 0:17:53 | 0:17:55 | |
He was so focused, he knew exactly what he wanted from this record. | 0:17:55 | 0:18:02 | |
I did all the BVs of, "What the hell's gotten into you?" | 0:18:03 | 0:18:08 | |
All the, "Get back, hands off, go for it!" | 0:18:08 | 0:18:12 | |
And "Young Guns," all that stuff with him. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:15 | |
And then I had to do the rap. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:17 | |
"Hey, tell this jerk to take a hike, | 0:18:17 | 0:18:19 | |
"there's something about that boy I don't like." | 0:18:19 | 0:18:21 | |
And then he couldn't find the last two lines and I was like, | 0:18:21 | 0:18:25 | |
"Oh, my God, I've got to do a Pal dog food commercial next," | 0:18:25 | 0:18:28 | |
and I'd already been there five hours, | 0:18:28 | 0:18:30 | |
I didn't want to be late for Pal. | 0:18:30 | 0:18:32 | |
So, I helped him with the last two lines. | 0:18:32 | 0:18:35 | |
"Shut up, chick, that's a friend of mine. | 0:18:35 | 0:18:37 | |
"Watch your mouth, babe, you're out of line." | 0:18:37 | 0:18:40 | |
Those two lines are straight out of Chicago. | 0:18:40 | 0:18:42 | |
But this isn't just the story of a duo and one backing singer. | 0:18:44 | 0:18:48 | |
In keeping with presenting more freely, | 0:18:48 | 0:18:51 | |
you were who you pretended to be. | 0:18:51 | 0:18:53 | |
At the time, I was still living at home with my mum | 0:18:55 | 0:18:57 | |
in Stratford, East London. | 0:18:57 | 0:18:59 | |
Was working as a singer | 0:18:59 | 0:19:00 | |
and occasionally doing a sort of little office job. | 0:19:00 | 0:19:03 | |
I met Wham! They're just like, "You interested in doing some | 0:19:05 | 0:19:08 | |
"Top Of The Pops stuff? | 0:19:08 | 0:19:10 | |
"And it's basically Andrew and I, Shirlie's his girlfriend | 0:19:10 | 0:19:13 | |
"but we want two girls in the band. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:15 | |
"So she's going to be one, we want somebody else | 0:19:15 | 0:19:17 | |
"who looks cool, looks good." | 0:19:17 | 0:19:18 | |
I thought, "Oh, thank you, thanks for thinking of me. | 0:19:18 | 0:19:21 | |
"Yeah, you fit the bill." | 0:19:21 | 0:19:22 | |
And they were trying to be very polite, then basically they're like, | 0:19:22 | 0:19:25 | |
"Yes, we'd just like you to kind of mime over these things." | 0:19:25 | 0:19:28 | |
I was like, "Oh, I can't do that, I can't be miming. I'm a singer. | 0:19:28 | 0:19:33 | |
"OK then, if I don't sing on the track, I have to walk." | 0:19:33 | 0:19:37 | |
"OK then, we'll put you on the track." And I recorded something. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:41 | |
But I just got washed out. | 0:19:41 | 0:19:43 | |
# Young guns, having some fun Crazy ladies keep 'em on the run | 0:19:44 | 0:19:48 | |
# Wise guys realise there's danger in emotional ties | 0:19:48 | 0:19:53 | |
# See me, single and free | 0:19:53 | 0:19:55 | |
# No tears, no fears What I want to be | 0:19:55 | 0:19:57 | |
# One, two, take a look at you Death by matrimony! # | 0:19:57 | 0:20:01 | |
When we performed Young Guns, finally, | 0:20:03 | 0:20:05 | |
when the audience were there, it was absolutely electric. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:09 | |
Went down so well. | 0:20:09 | 0:20:11 | |
# Hey, sucker! # | 0:20:11 | 0:20:12 | |
If you watch that first ever performance by Wham! | 0:20:12 | 0:20:15 | |
on Top Of The Pops, you can see | 0:20:15 | 0:20:17 | |
George choreographing his friends as he went along. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:21 | |
So, he's pulling Andrew out to the front, he's arranging the girls. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:24 | |
As well as giving his own performance everything he's got. | 0:20:24 | 0:20:27 | |
# A married man? You're out of your head | 0:20:27 | 0:20:30 | |
# Sleepless nights on an HP bed | 0:20:30 | 0:20:31 | |
# A daddy by the time you're 21... # | 0:20:31 | 0:20:34 | |
George already knew he definitely wanted something | 0:20:34 | 0:20:37 | |
a bit more flashier. | 0:20:37 | 0:20:38 | |
You know, statement, statement hands, showbizzy. | 0:20:38 | 0:20:40 | |
# ..the good old days | 0:20:40 | 0:20:42 | |
# Well, this young gun says Caution pays! # | 0:20:42 | 0:20:44 | |
You know, the pointing and the going around. | 0:20:44 | 0:20:46 | |
# Young guns having some fun | 0:20:46 | 0:20:48 | |
# Crazy ladies keep 'em on the run... # | 0:20:48 | 0:20:50 | |
That's the sort of thing that looks really good on the TV. | 0:20:50 | 0:20:52 | |
# There's danger in emotional ties... # | 0:20:52 | 0:20:54 | |
The night that this was on Top Of The Pops, | 0:20:54 | 0:20:57 | |
I was living above a dry cleaners. | 0:20:57 | 0:21:00 | |
I was desperate, poor, scrubbing my floor. | 0:21:00 | 0:21:05 | |
And I just remember the smell of Pine Flash coming up at me. | 0:21:05 | 0:21:10 | |
And I look up, Top Of The Pops is on and there it was. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:15 | |
My big voice coming out of little Shirlie's mouth. | 0:21:15 | 0:21:21 | |
# Hey, tell this jerk to take a hike... # | 0:21:21 | 0:21:23 | |
# There's something about that boy I don't like. # | 0:21:23 | 0:21:25 | |
# Well, sugar, he don't mean the things he says | 0:21:25 | 0:21:27 | |
# Get him out of my way cos I'm seeing red... # | 0:21:27 | 0:21:29 | |
# We got plans to make We got things to buy. # | 0:21:29 | 0:21:31 | |
These people can't talk like this! | 0:21:31 | 0:21:33 | |
# Hey, shut up, chick That's a friend of mine | 0:21:33 | 0:21:36 | |
# Just watch your mouth, babe You're out of line. # | 0:21:36 | 0:21:38 | |
You know, that's how I talk. Not her! | 0:21:38 | 0:21:40 | |
# Get back, hands off, go for it! Get back, hands off | 0:21:40 | 0:21:44 | |
# Get back, hands off, go for it! Get back, hands off. # | 0:21:44 | 0:21:48 | |
The whole thing is kind of funny, knowing that this was | 0:21:48 | 0:21:52 | |
going to be a huge success and there was nothing I could do. | 0:21:52 | 0:21:57 | |
# Young Guns, having some fun | 0:21:57 | 0:21:58 | |
# Crazy ladies keep 'em on the run | 0:21:58 | 0:22:01 | |
# Wise guys realise there's danger in emotional ties... # | 0:22:01 | 0:22:05 | |
After we did that Top Of The Pops performance, | 0:22:05 | 0:22:07 | |
we were like, "Yeah, we've got it, we've nailed it." | 0:22:07 | 0:22:09 | |
We were very drunk with success and power and all the rest of it. | 0:22:09 | 0:22:13 | |
Their performance was just fantastic. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:21 | |
That first performance on Top Of The Pops | 0:22:21 | 0:22:23 | |
just set everything alight. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:25 | |
MUSIC: Fame by Irene Cara | 0:22:25 | 0:22:29 | |
But Wham! weren't alone. | 0:22:38 | 0:22:39 | |
Their naked ambition was echoed across the Atlantic | 0:22:39 | 0:22:42 | |
in a Hollywood film whose theme tune shot up the charts. | 0:22:42 | 0:22:46 | |
# I've got more in me | 0:22:48 | 0:22:51 | |
# And you can set it free | 0:22:51 | 0:22:54 | |
# I can catch the moon in my hand | 0:22:54 | 0:22:58 | |
# Don't you know who I am? | 0:22:58 | 0:23:01 | |
-# Remember my name -# Fame! # | 0:23:01 | 0:23:03 | |
Not only did Fame go to number one, | 0:23:03 | 0:23:06 | |
but the spin-off TV show Fame was scheduled to run | 0:23:06 | 0:23:10 | |
in tandem with Top Of The Pops. | 0:23:10 | 0:23:12 | |
Just before we go to the number one, which is Irene Cara and Fame, | 0:23:14 | 0:23:16 | |
our film director, Gordon Elsbury, was in Los Angeles this week | 0:23:16 | 0:23:20 | |
and he met up with the cast. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:21 | |
He heard their record was number one, and this is the message | 0:23:21 | 0:23:24 | |
they have for you. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:25 | |
-ALL: -Hi, to everyone on Top Of The Pops! | 0:23:25 | 0:23:28 | |
Stay tuned for the newest episode of Fame, | 0:23:28 | 0:23:30 | |
coming up next, after Top Of The Pops. | 0:23:30 | 0:23:33 | |
-ALL: -Bye! | 0:23:33 | 0:23:34 | |
And the "Baby, look at me" ethos of Fame | 0:23:37 | 0:23:39 | |
found its Top Of The Pops equivalent | 0:23:39 | 0:23:42 | |
in Michael Hurll's squadron of audience cheerleaders, | 0:23:42 | 0:23:45 | |
whose numbers got bigger and antics even more extrovert in 1982. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:51 | |
# Some guys get all the fun | 0:23:51 | 0:23:53 | |
# Some guys have all the luck All the luck | 0:23:54 | 0:23:59 | |
# Woo, what you gonna do? # | 0:23:59 | 0:24:00 | |
The atmosphere in the studio at Top Of The Pops was insane, yes. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:04 | |
You can see it. | 0:24:04 | 0:24:05 | |
They're revving that audience up, to a point of hysteria. | 0:24:05 | 0:24:10 | |
The audience, if you look back, | 0:24:11 | 0:24:14 | |
were obviously not your average boy and girl on the street. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:17 | |
Because they'd stand on podiums and do this extravagant dancing. | 0:24:17 | 0:24:21 | |
# It's good! # | 0:24:21 | 0:24:23 | |
And the regular Joes would just be doing what everybody does. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:26 | |
# Don't say you shouldn't do that. # | 0:24:27 | 0:24:29 | |
If enthusiastic's there, they were kind of there. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:32 | |
You know what I mean? | 0:24:32 | 0:24:33 | |
# Say, I don't miss you every day | 0:24:33 | 0:24:36 | |
# Don't need you anyway | 0:24:36 | 0:24:38 | |
# Can take your love away. # | 0:24:38 | 0:24:41 | |
And if you were a jazz funk band without a singer, times were tough. | 0:24:41 | 0:24:46 | |
There's always somebody in front of me on the podium, | 0:24:46 | 0:24:49 | |
pretty much all the time. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:50 | |
There was a time when I think we were all thinking, | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
"Wish they'd get rid of those bloody dancers." | 0:24:53 | 0:24:55 | |
As the musicians found themselves outnumbered and upstaged, | 0:24:55 | 0:24:59 | |
Michael Hurll also brought in strategically placed models | 0:24:59 | 0:25:03 | |
and Page 3 girls. | 0:25:03 | 0:25:05 | |
For Flick, the choreographer, it was... | 0:25:05 | 0:25:09 | |
She's got a vision of what the dance is going to be like. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
So then, Michael then superimposes these beautiful girls | 0:25:12 | 0:25:17 | |
that may have legs for days but have no dance ability. | 0:25:17 | 0:25:21 | |
Women had tried to get so far and then with one shot, | 0:25:26 | 0:25:30 | |
they were put down to a pair of tits and fuzzy hair. | 0:25:30 | 0:25:34 | |
The Stranglers had two great hit singles this year. | 0:25:34 | 0:25:37 | |
One was called Strange Little Girl, the other live, Golden Brown! | 0:25:37 | 0:25:41 | |
THEY CHEER | 0:25:41 | 0:25:43 | |
If things were tough for a jazz funk group, | 0:25:43 | 0:25:45 | |
God help you if you were an ageing punk band with a world-weary waltz. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:50 | |
The party atmosphere on Top Of The Pops was great | 0:25:51 | 0:25:53 | |
for a lot of bands that were on there. | 0:25:53 | 0:25:56 | |
But some bands really didn't enjoy the balloons and the streamers | 0:25:56 | 0:25:59 | |
and the shouting and everything else. | 0:25:59 | 0:26:01 | |
# Golden brown, texture like sun | 0:26:01 | 0:26:05 | |
# Lays me down With my mind, she runs... # | 0:26:05 | 0:26:08 | |
Like The Stranglers, for example, hated that kind of | 0:26:08 | 0:26:12 | |
good-time party atmosphere because their music was serious. | 0:26:12 | 0:26:15 | |
# Golden brown... # | 0:26:15 | 0:26:17 | |
And at the Christmas show when they performed Golden Brown, | 0:26:17 | 0:26:19 | |
which was supposedly, who knows, about drug-taking, | 0:26:19 | 0:26:24 | |
part of my job at that point was to go round with a pin | 0:26:24 | 0:26:27 | |
and try and burst as many balloons as I could | 0:26:27 | 0:26:29 | |
and to keep the streamers away from them | 0:26:29 | 0:26:31 | |
and stop the frivolity that was going on hitting the stage. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:34 | |
# Never a frown with golden brown | 0:26:40 | 0:26:47 | |
# Never a frown with golden brown. # | 0:26:47 | 0:26:52 | |
THEY CHEER | 0:26:52 | 0:26:56 | |
Seriously, on behalf of, particularly Gordon Elsbury | 0:26:56 | 0:26:58 | |
and Michael Hurll up there, also the production crew and crew down here, | 0:26:58 | 0:27:02 | |
thank you. That's one of the best audiences we've ever had | 0:27:02 | 0:27:04 | |
for a live Top Of The Pops, so thank you so much. | 0:27:04 | 0:27:06 | |
But perhaps inevitably, the world of cheerleaders developed | 0:27:06 | 0:27:10 | |
a pecking order, and certain dancers started to climb the ranks. | 0:27:10 | 0:27:14 | |
Craig Fairbrass was on a few times and got letters. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:19 | |
And people would count them. | 0:27:19 | 0:27:22 | |
And that would be taken note of. | 0:27:22 | 0:27:24 | |
I mean, Craig was a stunning guy. | 0:27:25 | 0:27:28 | |
6'2", very slim, snake hips. | 0:27:28 | 0:27:33 | |
# Oh, Mickey, what a pity you don't understand | 0:27:33 | 0:27:36 | |
# You take me by the heart when you take me by the hand | 0:27:36 | 0:27:40 | |
# Oh, Mickey, you're so pretty, can't you understand? | 0:27:40 | 0:27:43 | |
# It's guys like you, Mickey! # | 0:27:43 | 0:27:45 | |
So, Toni Basil comes up dressed like a clown. | 0:27:45 | 0:27:48 | |
# Don't break my heart, Mickey! # | 0:27:48 | 0:27:50 | |
And Craig has a feature. | 0:27:50 | 0:27:51 | |
# Oh, Mickey, you're so fine | 0:27:52 | 0:27:54 | |
# You're so fine, you blow my mind... # | 0:27:54 | 0:27:56 | |
She bounced off him, she kind of rebound off him. It was very smooth. | 0:27:56 | 0:27:59 | |
# Oh, Mickey, you're so fine You're so fine, you blow my mind | 0:27:59 | 0:28:01 | |
# Hey, Mickey! # | 0:28:01 | 0:28:03 | |
And he looked good. | 0:28:03 | 0:28:04 | |
And that's worth, you know, a million dollars. | 0:28:04 | 0:28:06 | |
See him now, he frightens the life out of me. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:13 | |
You're going to regret that. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:15 | |
He is now, I would call him, an action man. | 0:28:15 | 0:28:17 | |
Quite rugged, tough. | 0:28:20 | 0:28:21 | |
And doing really well in Hollywood. | 0:28:25 | 0:28:26 | |
Argh! | 0:28:28 | 0:28:29 | |
He's totally 360 degrees. But, hey, he's a professional. | 0:28:34 | 0:28:38 | |
MUSIC: The Message by Grandmaster Flash | 0:28:38 | 0:28:41 | |
# It's like a jungle sometimes | 0:28:48 | 0:28:49 | |
# It makes me wonder how I keep from going under. # | 0:28:49 | 0:28:52 | |
'82 was a big year for a new American sound | 0:28:52 | 0:28:54 | |
known back then as electro. | 0:28:54 | 0:28:57 | |
As the first records crossed the Atlantic, the cheerleaders | 0:28:57 | 0:29:00 | |
and dancers of Top Of The Pops treated them | 0:29:00 | 0:29:02 | |
as they would any other dance record. | 0:29:02 | 0:29:05 | |
Until Shalamar entered the charts. | 0:29:05 | 0:29:07 | |
The band's singer, Jody, was pregnant and couldn't make the show. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:12 | |
But Michael Hurll took a chance | 0:29:12 | 0:29:13 | |
on guitarist and street dancer Jeffrey Daniel's offer | 0:29:13 | 0:29:16 | |
to demonstrate a whole new set of dance moves, alone. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:21 | |
I'd gotten to my hotel room and I just listened to the song | 0:29:21 | 0:29:25 | |
and I just worked out a routine that I wanted to do. | 0:29:25 | 0:29:28 | |
So, I began it as preparing myself to go out. | 0:29:30 | 0:29:34 | |
So, I'm like in the mirror, I'm fixing myself up, I'm doing my hair. | 0:29:34 | 0:29:37 | |
So, I'm kind of like re-enacting the theme of the song. | 0:29:37 | 0:29:41 | |
# When you love someone, it's natural, not demanding... # | 0:29:41 | 0:29:44 | |
I go back, I do the wall climber. | 0:29:44 | 0:29:47 | |
# And that's one thing I'm proud to say I found in you... # | 0:29:47 | 0:29:50 | |
Then I go back and I put my coat on. | 0:29:50 | 0:29:52 | |
I had someone holding my jacket for me. | 0:29:52 | 0:29:55 | |
And then I slip into my jacket, | 0:29:55 | 0:29:56 | |
OK, I'm ready, let's go. | 0:29:56 | 0:29:58 | |
# Gonna make this a night to remember... # | 0:29:58 | 0:30:02 | |
And then that's when I went into the back cocking, | 0:30:03 | 0:30:05 | |
where I cock back, like that. | 0:30:05 | 0:30:07 | |
# And there's nothing in this world to come between me and you... # | 0:30:08 | 0:30:13 | |
And then, bring myself back up again. | 0:30:13 | 0:30:16 | |
# To think of what the power of love can do... # | 0:30:16 | 0:30:20 | |
I knew that there was a music breakdown in the middle | 0:30:23 | 0:30:26 | |
of the song with the bass... # Boom, boo-boom-boom, boom-boom. # | 0:30:26 | 0:30:30 | |
So, there's a music breakdown, | 0:30:30 | 0:30:32 | |
so I saved that part of the song to do the backslide. | 0:30:32 | 0:30:37 | |
And so, I set it up, and when I knew it was coming... | 0:30:37 | 0:30:40 | |
So, all the kids are going, "Wow! | 0:30:47 | 0:30:51 | |
"That looks great, how do you do that?" | 0:30:51 | 0:30:54 | |
# Gonna make this a night to remember... # | 0:30:54 | 0:30:57 | |
And that's the first time I believe it had been shown on British TV. | 0:30:57 | 0:31:02 | |
I even got one of the dancers to handcuff me at the end of the song | 0:31:02 | 0:31:06 | |
and drag me into the backslide across the floor. | 0:31:06 | 0:31:09 | |
The impact that it had on the public was that | 0:31:13 | 0:31:16 | |
they didn't know if something was pulling me backwards, | 0:31:16 | 0:31:19 | |
if I had oil on the floor, if I had wheels on my shoes. | 0:31:19 | 0:31:22 | |
They couldn't work out how I was doing this backslide. | 0:31:22 | 0:31:26 | |
So, we flew over to Amsterdam to continue our promotion. | 0:31:26 | 0:31:30 | |
While we were in Amsterdam, the record company | 0:31:30 | 0:31:33 | |
came banging on my hotel door. | 0:31:33 | 0:31:35 | |
Said, "Jeffrey, Jeffrey, everyone's looking for you." | 0:31:35 | 0:31:38 | |
I said, "What's happening? What did I do?" | 0:31:38 | 0:31:40 | |
He said, "No, we have to go back to the UK. | 0:31:40 | 0:31:42 | |
"That performance you did on Top Of The Pops yesterday | 0:31:42 | 0:31:45 | |
"has everybody buzzing." | 0:31:45 | 0:31:47 | |
A couple of weeks ago, | 0:31:47 | 0:31:48 | |
Jeffrey Daniels from Shalamar danced his way onto the programme | 0:31:48 | 0:31:51 | |
and we've had hundreds of letters of people asking for him back. | 0:31:51 | 0:31:54 | |
Well, he is back, moving to his music, A Night To Remember. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:56 | |
Then he was brought back, which is a really unusual phenomena, | 0:31:56 | 0:32:00 | |
through public demand. | 0:32:00 | 0:32:01 | |
Public demanded to see this man dance. | 0:32:01 | 0:32:04 | |
MUSIC: A Night To Remember by Shalamar | 0:32:04 | 0:32:07 | |
And so, the song was used as a backdrop to him. | 0:32:08 | 0:32:12 | |
Normally, dancing is used as a package for the product. | 0:32:12 | 0:32:15 | |
He became the product. | 0:32:15 | 0:32:16 | |
# Let's make a toast to those who helped me this occasion | 0:32:16 | 0:32:20 | |
# They turn their back on love, but that's what drove you straight to me | 0:32:20 | 0:32:25 | |
# Now to you, I make a lasting dedication | 0:32:25 | 0:32:29 | |
# I'll show you all that love... # | 0:32:29 | 0:32:31 | |
Because of my performance on Top Of The Pops, | 0:32:31 | 0:32:33 | |
somebody else was watching me. | 0:32:33 | 0:32:35 | |
So, Michael actually wanted to learn a lot, all of the dancing. | 0:32:42 | 0:32:45 | |
MUSIC: Billie Jean by Michael Jackson | 0:32:45 | 0:32:47 | |
He wanted to learn popping, you know. | 0:32:47 | 0:32:50 | |
He wanted to learn waving. | 0:32:50 | 0:32:52 | |
Ticking - tck, tck, tck! | 0:32:52 | 0:32:54 | |
And of course, after we taught Michael Jackson the backslide, | 0:32:57 | 0:33:01 | |
so he names it the moonwalk. | 0:33:01 | 0:33:03 | |
And once again, he waited for the breakdown. | 0:33:03 | 0:33:06 | |
HE HUMS THE GUITAR RIFF | 0:33:06 | 0:33:08 | |
When he did it on the Motown 25th, that was 1983, | 0:33:10 | 0:33:13 | |
and that's the first time he did it. | 0:33:13 | 0:33:15 | |
AUDIENCE SCREAM | 0:33:15 | 0:33:19 | |
And I was in the audience and I was watching. | 0:33:19 | 0:33:21 | |
# She says I am the one | 0:33:21 | 0:33:23 | |
# But the kid is not my son | 0:33:23 | 0:33:26 | |
# No, no, no! # | 0:33:26 | 0:33:28 | |
So, it was the beginning of this new dance revolution, | 0:33:28 | 0:33:32 | |
which was going on with the graffiti artists, which was going on | 0:33:32 | 0:33:36 | |
with the DJs scratching and break-beating everything. | 0:33:36 | 0:33:40 | |
That was the groundwork which is now called hip-hop. | 0:33:40 | 0:33:45 | |
RADIO STATIC | 0:33:46 | 0:33:49 | |
In '82, if you were after something different from pop, | 0:33:55 | 0:33:59 | |
there was one person you could trust above all others | 0:33:59 | 0:34:02 | |
for a taste of the alternative. | 0:34:02 | 0:34:04 | |
And that's the end of tonight's programme on which you heard | 0:34:05 | 0:34:07 | |
The Desperate Bicycles, The Slits, The Mekons, Alternative TV, | 0:34:07 | 0:34:11 | |
the UK Subs and Sham 69. | 0:34:11 | 0:34:12 | |
More of the same unpleasant and disorientating racket | 0:34:12 | 0:34:15 | |
on tomorrow night's programme. | 0:34:15 | 0:34:16 | |
Until then, from me, John Peel, good night and good riddance. | 0:34:16 | 0:34:19 | |
John Peel had only ever hosted Top Of The Pops once back in 1968. | 0:34:21 | 0:34:26 | |
Apparently, he used to tell me that it was such a mess, | 0:34:27 | 0:34:30 | |
he had one of those admonishments along the lines of, | 0:34:30 | 0:34:33 | |
"You'll never work in TV again!" | 0:34:33 | 0:34:34 | |
But this year, in spite of turning Top Of The Pops | 0:34:36 | 0:34:39 | |
into a three-ring circus, | 0:34:39 | 0:34:41 | |
Michael Hurll invited John Peel back. | 0:34:41 | 0:34:43 | |
This is from John Peel's diary. | 0:34:45 | 0:34:48 | |
"To TV centre in a highly nervous condition. | 0:34:48 | 0:34:51 | |
"I was rather thrown when I saw | 0:34:51 | 0:34:53 | |
"how many kids there were in the studio. | 0:34:53 | 0:34:56 | |
"I was introduced to them and left to say amusing things, | 0:34:56 | 0:34:59 | |
"which I was quite clearly incapable of doing. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:02 | |
"This rattled me. | 0:35:02 | 0:35:04 | |
"I messed up takes two and three, | 0:35:04 | 0:35:06 | |
"completely forgetting the spontaneous drolleries | 0:35:06 | 0:35:10 | |
"I'd been working on for months and started sweating unpleasantly." | 0:35:10 | 0:35:14 | |
Howdy, partners, and welcome to Top Of The Pops. | 0:35:19 | 0:35:22 | |
This is my first Top Of The Pops in 14 years, | 0:35:22 | 0:35:25 | |
but it's consistency that counts, | 0:35:25 | 0:35:27 | |
so you can watch me again in 1996. | 0:35:27 | 0:35:28 | |
And in case you're thinking to yourselves, "Who is that twerp?" | 0:35:28 | 0:35:31 | |
I'm the bloke who comes on the radio late at night | 0:35:31 | 0:35:34 | |
and plays you records by lots of sulky Belgians. | 0:35:34 | 0:35:36 | |
These people are not Belgian. Theatre Of Hate. | 0:35:36 | 0:35:38 | |
I mean, he genuinely was really chuffed to be asked to be on it. | 0:35:38 | 0:35:42 | |
Cos I don't think he thought he'd ever do it again. | 0:35:42 | 0:35:45 | |
Back to number 24, Renee and Renato coming up. | 0:35:45 | 0:35:47 | |
See if you can guess which one's which. | 0:35:47 | 0:35:50 | |
John Peel was a natural because as you heard John Peel | 0:35:50 | 0:35:53 | |
and saw John Peel, that wasn't John Peel all the time. | 0:35:53 | 0:35:56 | |
Love makes the world go round, and interesting philosophy, | 0:35:56 | 0:35:59 | |
and those were The Jets. | 0:35:59 | 0:36:00 | |
Three brothers, I'm advised, and I see no reason to disbelieve that. | 0:36:00 | 0:36:03 | |
Now, Soft Cell. Last time I saw them, a rather squalid gig in Leeds. | 0:36:03 | 0:36:06 | |
Now on Top Of The Pops. | 0:36:06 | 0:36:08 | |
When Peel was on, he just didn't really smile, | 0:36:08 | 0:36:12 | |
he didn't dance, he just stood there, he did it. | 0:36:12 | 0:36:14 | |
We're going to play you out tonight with Shakatak. | 0:36:14 | 0:36:16 | |
The fella in the dreadful shirt is my mate Bill Sharpe. Good night! | 0:36:16 | 0:36:20 | |
It was great because it just gave it a different feel. | 0:36:20 | 0:36:23 | |
In case you're a latecomer and you were thinking that was Motorhead, | 0:36:23 | 0:36:26 | |
you're wrong, it was Dollar, Give Me Back My Heart. | 0:36:26 | 0:36:28 | |
A rather surgical title for a family programme, in my view. | 0:36:28 | 0:36:31 | |
This is Leo Sayer. | 0:36:31 | 0:36:33 | |
There were occasions on Top Of The Pops | 0:36:33 | 0:36:35 | |
where you were asked by Michael, the producer, to do an interview. | 0:36:35 | 0:36:39 | |
And the interviews were, you know, quite quick | 0:36:39 | 0:36:42 | |
and really not meaningful in the slightest. | 0:36:42 | 0:36:45 | |
Well, that's the Duran Durans and she's still here. | 0:36:45 | 0:36:48 | |
I think it's my jumper she's after. | 0:36:48 | 0:36:49 | |
Debbie, do you have any particular favourites of your own | 0:36:49 | 0:36:52 | |
-in the top 30? -Well... -While you're thinking about that, | 0:36:52 | 0:36:54 | |
here's a chance for you to enjoy me doing the countdown. | 0:36:54 | 0:36:57 | |
Michael Hurll, I think, was concerned that maybe | 0:36:57 | 0:36:59 | |
some of the presentation on Top Of The Pops was getting a bit | 0:36:59 | 0:37:02 | |
too unctuous and so eager to please and maybe a little bit bland. | 0:37:02 | 0:37:05 | |
So, by introducing Peelie to the proceedings, | 0:37:05 | 0:37:07 | |
you've got somebody who brought with him an edge. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:09 | |
She made this herself in remedial needlework. | 0:37:09 | 0:37:11 | |
It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I'm not so sure, myself. | 0:37:11 | 0:37:14 | |
John Peel developed this act that he ran for years | 0:37:14 | 0:37:18 | |
of pretending that he wasn't keen on being there. | 0:37:18 | 0:37:21 | |
He LOVED being there. | 0:37:21 | 0:37:23 | |
This is the first time I've managed to get my mother into the studio. | 0:37:23 | 0:37:26 | |
We're going to go back to number 16, Soft Cell. | 0:37:26 | 0:37:28 | |
I know that he would have been aware that maybe some of his credibility | 0:37:28 | 0:37:31 | |
might have been diminished because he was so happy doing it. | 0:37:31 | 0:37:35 | |
But he really didn't care. | 0:37:35 | 0:37:36 | |
I mean, he was quite happy to mix with the young kids | 0:37:36 | 0:37:40 | |
and the bands and the artists and things like that as a fan would. | 0:37:40 | 0:37:43 | |
He really had that kind of mentality when he did it. | 0:37:43 | 0:37:45 | |
It was like being part of - well, for both of us - a big party. | 0:37:45 | 0:37:49 | |
If Peel became the court jester who refreshed the show, | 0:37:54 | 0:37:58 | |
not everyone from his world of indie | 0:37:58 | 0:38:00 | |
was buying into the Top Of The Pops party. | 0:38:00 | 0:38:02 | |
Pigbag, we were fairly chaotic, disorganised, | 0:38:05 | 0:38:09 | |
kind of anarchic, punk free jazz funk band. | 0:38:09 | 0:38:14 | |
We didn't really play by the rules. | 0:38:16 | 0:38:18 | |
Weren't really interested in being pop stars. | 0:38:18 | 0:38:22 | |
We liked playing saxophones and trumpets and congas | 0:38:23 | 0:38:28 | |
because we didn't need electricity. | 0:38:28 | 0:38:30 | |
We could play in the park. | 0:38:30 | 0:38:32 | |
Well, all our songs were 20 minutes long. | 0:38:34 | 0:38:36 | |
We tended to just jam until we wanted to stop. | 0:38:36 | 0:38:39 | |
You didn't know what to expect. | 0:38:41 | 0:38:43 | |
And there was just this anarchy. | 0:38:43 | 0:38:45 | |
But among the anarchy was definitely these cool little tunes. | 0:38:45 | 0:38:49 | |
MUSIC: Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag by Pigbag | 0:38:49 | 0:38:53 | |
I mean, the early Pigbag sets were basically we'd play | 0:38:54 | 0:38:57 | |
Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag for most of the set. | 0:38:57 | 0:39:01 | |
20 minutes, 30 minutes. | 0:39:01 | 0:39:03 | |
The single had been in the indie charts for, | 0:39:10 | 0:39:13 | |
I suppose, almost a year. | 0:39:13 | 0:39:15 | |
When they reissued it, it shot straight into the chart | 0:39:18 | 0:39:21 | |
and we got invited on to Top Of The Pops. | 0:39:21 | 0:39:23 | |
But a few of us felt kind of like... | 0:39:23 | 0:39:25 | |
..this is, "Why are we doing this kind of show?" You know? | 0:39:27 | 0:39:30 | |
It didn't seem the right programme for us. | 0:39:36 | 0:39:39 | |
Hi, folks. Welcome to Top Of The Pops. | 0:39:39 | 0:39:41 | |
A great big party tonight, stacks of interest. | 0:39:41 | 0:39:43 | |
Lots of bands and lots of action. | 0:39:43 | 0:39:45 | |
You had some people in the band who didn't really | 0:39:45 | 0:39:49 | |
think of it as something that would perhaps be that cool to do. | 0:39:49 | 0:39:53 | |
You know, there was this hangover from punk, you know, The Clash. | 0:39:53 | 0:39:57 | |
They said, "We're not going to do Top Of The Pops." | 0:39:57 | 0:39:59 | |
And Roger Freeman, who played trombone, | 0:39:59 | 0:40:02 | |
just said, "I'm not doing it." | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
Roger said, "I ain't turning up, I ain't doing it, I've left." | 0:40:05 | 0:40:09 | |
Join us on Radio 1 over the Easter holiday if you can | 0:40:09 | 0:40:12 | |
for the marathon music quiz, all through Friday and into Saturday. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:15 | |
Meantime, we'll say good night with Pigbag. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:17 | |
Have a great Easter from Top Of The Pops. | 0:40:17 | 0:40:19 | |
MUSIC: Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag by Pigbag | 0:40:22 | 0:40:26 | |
Doing Top Of The Pops for the first time, | 0:40:26 | 0:40:29 | |
it was kind of a bit of an anti-climax, really. | 0:40:29 | 0:40:31 | |
You know, our song was instrumental, we didn't have a singer, | 0:40:31 | 0:40:35 | |
we didn't have that natural focus. | 0:40:35 | 0:40:37 | |
So, I think they overcompensated with us with the dancers | 0:40:37 | 0:40:40 | |
and the cheerleaders. | 0:40:40 | 0:40:42 | |
It almost looked like they're part of the band, but they're not | 0:40:43 | 0:40:46 | |
part of the band, they're like just hired Top Of The Pops cheerleaders. | 0:40:46 | 0:40:51 | |
So, after the first two appearances later in the year, | 0:41:04 | 0:41:07 | |
we were on the New Years' show, and it went out live. | 0:41:07 | 0:41:10 | |
Which means BBC producers become Nazis, really. | 0:41:10 | 0:41:14 | |
It's live television, it's got to work smoothly. | 0:41:17 | 0:41:20 | |
And we made it not work very smoothly that day. | 0:41:20 | 0:41:23 | |
Lots of drinking went on and I suppose I imbibed too much. | 0:41:23 | 0:41:30 | |
I mean, | 0:41:30 | 0:41:32 | |
surprisingly drunk. | 0:41:32 | 0:41:33 | |
Beyond any sort of capacity to almost stand up. | 0:41:33 | 0:41:39 | |
MUSIC: Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag by Pigbag | 0:41:40 | 0:41:44 | |
He goes on stage with a false beard, a raincoat, | 0:41:45 | 0:41:49 | |
stuff we hadn't actually even seen ourselves. | 0:41:49 | 0:41:52 | |
He was spinning his trumpet around, he wasn't miming properly. | 0:41:54 | 0:41:58 | |
To me, the track's all about being anarchic, and it's a dance track. | 0:42:00 | 0:42:05 | |
And I was trying to put that across. | 0:42:05 | 0:42:07 | |
And the camera has basically moved away from us. | 0:42:08 | 0:42:11 | |
And we just carried on. | 0:42:14 | 0:42:15 | |
I mean, you can see us laughing and looking around and thinking, | 0:42:15 | 0:42:18 | |
"What's going on?" | 0:42:18 | 0:42:20 | |
At the end of the show, it's kind of deathly quiet. | 0:42:27 | 0:42:30 | |
All just suddenly, you know, it's like... | 0:42:30 | 0:42:32 | |
Thank you very much indeed, everybody. | 0:42:32 | 0:42:34 | |
We are off the air. | 0:42:34 | 0:42:36 | |
There was a producer shouting. | 0:42:36 | 0:42:38 | |
Like we were school kids and he was the head master, | 0:42:38 | 0:42:42 | |
saying that we'd ruined the show. | 0:42:42 | 0:42:44 | |
And certain drunk parties decided to shout back. | 0:42:44 | 0:42:48 | |
Which he obviously didn't like, | 0:42:48 | 0:42:50 | |
being sworn at in his Top Of The Pops studio | 0:42:50 | 0:42:53 | |
by some upstart band. | 0:42:53 | 0:42:55 | |
And we were taken to our dressing room, | 0:42:55 | 0:42:57 | |
told by somebody or other to get ready to leave | 0:42:57 | 0:43:01 | |
as soon as we possibly could | 0:43:01 | 0:43:02 | |
and we were escorted completely out of the building. | 0:43:02 | 0:43:05 | |
MUSIC: When You Were Sweet Sixteen by The Fureys and Davey Arthur | 0:43:07 | 0:43:10 | |
In the early '80s, in spite of IRA violence reaching a peak | 0:43:16 | 0:43:20 | |
and the Irish as a whole having the finger pointed at them... | 0:43:20 | 0:43:24 | |
..curiously, traditional Irish music had its moment. | 0:43:26 | 0:43:29 | |
The Fureys and Davey Arthur and then Foster and Allen, | 0:43:32 | 0:43:36 | |
nurtured by Terry Wogan, found their improbable place in the top 20. | 0:43:36 | 0:43:41 | |
The British audience just took to it | 0:43:44 | 0:43:46 | |
and it went right up to number 18 in the charts | 0:43:46 | 0:43:49 | |
and got us on Top Of The Pops. | 0:43:49 | 0:43:50 | |
So, we went from Dublin to London. Stayed in a guesthouse in Kilburn. | 0:43:50 | 0:43:56 | |
All the Irish bands used to stay there. | 0:43:56 | 0:43:59 | |
So, you know, there could be six beds in a room. | 0:44:03 | 0:44:07 | |
But, you know, you could have your breakfast at one o'clock on the day. | 0:44:07 | 0:44:10 | |
There was no such thing as breakfast was over at nine or 10. | 0:44:10 | 0:44:14 | |
So, it was serious fun. | 0:44:15 | 0:44:17 | |
Here's a traditional song from Foster and Allen. | 0:44:19 | 0:44:22 | |
They come from Westmeath, it's in Ireland, | 0:44:22 | 0:44:24 | |
and they do it in their own impeccable way. | 0:44:24 | 0:44:26 | |
# Come, ye maidens young and fair | 0:44:26 | 0:44:32 | |
# All you that are blooming in your prime... # | 0:44:34 | 0:44:40 | |
When we went on to do Top Of The Pops, | 0:44:43 | 0:44:45 | |
we were wearing the 18th-century Irish gear. | 0:44:45 | 0:44:50 | |
Everybody thought we were dressed as leprechauns, | 0:44:52 | 0:44:55 | |
but we had been wearing those suits from 1975. | 0:44:55 | 0:44:58 | |
# For thyme, it is a precious... # | 0:45:01 | 0:45:05 | |
The media, they tore into us because, you know, | 0:45:05 | 0:45:08 | |
for daring to dress up as leprechauns for Top Of The Pops. | 0:45:08 | 0:45:12 | |
# And thyme brings all things to my... # | 0:45:12 | 0:45:14 | |
The suits were probably more help than the actual song. | 0:45:14 | 0:45:19 | |
# Thyme with all its flavours... # | 0:45:19 | 0:45:21 | |
People mightn't remember our names. | 0:45:21 | 0:45:23 | |
But they all remembered the suits. | 0:45:25 | 0:45:27 | |
# Thyme brings all things to my mind. # | 0:45:27 | 0:45:32 | |
Really, it was a programme that, I suppose if you want to be | 0:45:35 | 0:45:40 | |
really down to earth about it, we shouldn't have been on. | 0:45:40 | 0:45:43 | |
So, you tell us! | 0:45:43 | 0:45:45 | |
We weren't a pop group by any... | 0:45:45 | 0:45:48 | |
No matter how much imagination you had, we weren't a pop group. | 0:45:48 | 0:45:52 | |
MUSIC: Geno by Dexy's Midnight Runners | 0:45:52 | 0:45:56 | |
But the irony for the real Irishmen with a perceived phoney image | 0:46:01 | 0:46:06 | |
was that in the same studio | 0:46:06 | 0:46:08 | |
there was a band from Birmingham without a big hit for two years | 0:46:08 | 0:46:12 | |
who re-emerged with a surprising new image. | 0:46:12 | 0:46:16 | |
Ladies and gentlemen, | 0:46:18 | 0:46:20 | |
I give you the Celtic Soul brothers and Strong Devoted. | 0:46:20 | 0:46:23 | |
It was an affectation, really. The whole Irish thing was fake. | 0:46:28 | 0:46:32 | |
When we were talking about incorporating the strings, | 0:46:35 | 0:46:38 | |
Kevin came up with the idea to call them the Emerald Express. | 0:46:38 | 0:46:41 | |
-# Celtic Soul Brothers! # -They were very English. | 0:46:41 | 0:46:45 | |
They all changed their names. | 0:46:45 | 0:46:47 | |
Helen Bevington went to Helen O'Hara. | 0:46:47 | 0:46:49 | |
Steve Shaw, which is a pretty Irish name anyway, | 0:46:50 | 0:46:53 | |
got renamed to Steve Brennan. | 0:46:53 | 0:46:55 | |
And there's a guy called Roger who became Roger Macduff. | 0:46:55 | 0:46:59 | |
And collectively, they became the Emerald Express. | 0:46:59 | 0:47:02 | |
# Seemed it, dreamed it, scheemed it. # | 0:47:02 | 0:47:04 | |
When Helen joined the band, | 0:47:05 | 0:47:08 | |
she came out of the Birmingham conservatoire | 0:47:08 | 0:47:10 | |
as the lead violinist with an orchestra. | 0:47:10 | 0:47:14 | |
Kevin asked us to play as hard as you can. | 0:47:14 | 0:47:17 | |
You had to really lay your bow into the fiddle, | 0:47:17 | 0:47:20 | |
use all the open strings you can, don't use any rubato. | 0:47:20 | 0:47:24 | |
Play with the same phrasing as the brass. | 0:47:24 | 0:47:26 | |
And that created a unique sound. | 0:47:26 | 0:47:28 | |
# You see, I know this to be true | 0:47:28 | 0:47:31 | |
# Now, would I lie to you? | 0:47:33 | 0:47:36 | |
# And I'm not waiting for approval from you... # | 0:47:40 | 0:47:43 | |
While first single Celtic Soul Brothers | 0:47:45 | 0:47:48 | |
didn't make the top 30, the next single took off | 0:47:48 | 0:47:51 | |
and came with a memorable tweak to Dexy's reinvention. | 0:47:51 | 0:47:55 | |
# How do you do? # | 0:47:55 | 0:47:58 | |
We were talking about what could be wear to go with the new sound. | 0:47:58 | 0:48:03 | |
Going into Birmingham Central Library, | 0:48:03 | 0:48:05 | |
you know, doing a bit of research, | 0:48:05 | 0:48:07 | |
looking up what Romany Gypsies would have traditionally worn. | 0:48:07 | 0:48:12 | |
Kevin went down to Kings Road and he brought loads of | 0:48:12 | 0:48:16 | |
massive oversized dungarees back to the rehearsal. | 0:48:16 | 0:48:19 | |
And the look on some of the band's faces were priceless. | 0:48:20 | 0:48:23 | |
# Come on, Eileen Oh, I swear what he means | 0:48:26 | 0:48:29 | |
# At this moment You mean everything | 0:48:29 | 0:48:34 | |
# You in that dress My thoughts I confess... # | 0:48:34 | 0:48:38 | |
It was this seriousness and commitment to the point where Kevin | 0:48:38 | 0:48:43 | |
would want us to wear our stage clothes around often in the street. | 0:48:43 | 0:48:46 | |
We were quite intense. Very serious about what we did. | 0:48:48 | 0:48:52 | |
# These people round here... # | 0:48:56 | 0:49:00 | |
You know, even when we went to Top Of The Pops, | 0:49:00 | 0:49:03 | |
there was a lot of the dos and don'ts in Dexy's, if you like. | 0:49:03 | 0:49:07 | |
# No, not us No, never! | 0:49:07 | 0:49:10 | |
# We are far too young and clever | 0:49:10 | 0:49:13 | |
# Remember | 0:49:13 | 0:49:14 | |
# Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye, aye... # | 0:49:14 | 0:49:20 | |
It was understood from the rest of the band that you didn't talk | 0:49:20 | 0:49:23 | |
to any other bands, you know, if you were at Top Of The Pops. | 0:49:23 | 0:49:25 | |
And you kept yourself completely separate. | 0:49:25 | 0:49:27 | |
# Come on, Eileen Oh, I swear what he means | 0:49:27 | 0:49:30 | |
# Aah, come on let's take off everything | 0:49:30 | 0:49:35 | |
# That pretty red dress, Eileen Tell him yes | 0:49:35 | 0:49:38 | |
# Aah, come on, let's Aah, come on, Eileen... # | 0:49:38 | 0:49:42 | |
You didn't argue. You didn't argue with Kevin or the rest of the band. | 0:49:43 | 0:49:47 | |
You did as you were told. | 0:49:47 | 0:49:48 | |
If you wanted to be in the group, you did as you were told, really. | 0:49:48 | 0:49:51 | |
Come On Eileen was the most successful single of the year, | 0:49:53 | 0:49:57 | |
topping the charts for four weeks running. | 0:49:57 | 0:50:00 | |
But the follow-up would lead to one of the most notorious moments | 0:50:00 | 0:50:03 | |
of Top Of The Pops, | 0:50:03 | 0:50:04 | |
when producer Michael Hurll went along with a whimsical | 0:50:04 | 0:50:07 | |
staging suggestion of Kevin's for a special edition of the show. | 0:50:07 | 0:50:12 | |
And welcome to a special edition Top Of The Pops. | 0:50:12 | 0:50:14 | |
Today, it's Radio 1's 15th anniversary. | 0:50:14 | 0:50:16 | |
And to help celebrate, | 0:50:16 | 0:50:17 | |
all my Radio 1 colleagues are here to help introduce the hits. | 0:50:17 | 0:50:20 | |
And we kick off with Dexy's Midnight Runners | 0:50:20 | 0:50:22 | |
and Jackie Wilson Said. | 0:50:22 | 0:50:23 | |
An in-joke within the band was to call it Jocky Wilson. | 0:50:23 | 0:50:27 | |
I think someone said at rehearsal one time, | 0:50:27 | 0:50:30 | |
"Jocky Wilson said I'm in heaven when you smile." | 0:50:30 | 0:50:33 | |
# Jackie Wilson said, "It was great news to see | 0:50:33 | 0:50:36 | |
# "I kind of love you, baby"... # | 0:50:36 | 0:50:37 | |
And at Top Of The Pops, Kevin said, "I wonder if they'll go for this." | 0:50:37 | 0:50:41 | |
# Oh... # | 0:50:42 | 0:50:43 | |
And I saw this big picture of Jocky Wilson, the darts player, | 0:50:43 | 0:50:46 | |
and I thought, "That's a bit odd." And I thought, "Wait a minute." | 0:50:46 | 0:50:49 | |
One dart could give him the world championship, double 16. | 0:50:49 | 0:50:52 | |
Yes! | 0:50:52 | 0:50:54 | |
And that's to Jocky Wilson! 1982. | 0:50:56 | 0:51:00 | |
It's not Jocky Wilson, it's Jackie Wilson. | 0:51:00 | 0:51:02 | |
# I'm in heaven | 0:51:02 | 0:51:05 | |
# I'm in heaven... # | 0:51:05 | 0:51:07 | |
Later that week, a couple of the newspapers started saying, | 0:51:07 | 0:51:10 | |
"How could the BBC make this ridiculous mistake?" | 0:51:10 | 0:51:13 | |
# When you smile, when you smile | 0:51:13 | 0:51:15 | |
# I'm in heaven... # | 0:51:15 | 0:51:17 | |
When the BBC saw the negative press they got, | 0:51:17 | 0:51:20 | |
we heard via the record company that they weren't happy | 0:51:20 | 0:51:24 | |
that they'd been made to look foolish. | 0:51:24 | 0:51:27 | |
And that that might reflect on any more chances | 0:51:27 | 0:51:30 | |
to play on Top Of The Pops for us, you know. | 0:51:30 | 0:51:32 | |
We never went on Top Of The Pops again after that! | 0:51:37 | 0:51:40 | |
But the biggest new star of '82 was yet to arrive. | 0:51:46 | 0:51:50 | |
Only a year ago, he'd been a cheerleader | 0:51:52 | 0:51:54 | |
in a Top Of The Pops studio audience. | 0:51:54 | 0:51:57 | |
And now, he had a band. | 0:51:57 | 0:51:58 | |
But Culture Club's first two singles flopped. | 0:52:00 | 0:52:05 | |
Their last chance rested with the next single. | 0:52:05 | 0:52:08 | |
And the record label's choice, a slow reggae song, | 0:52:08 | 0:52:11 | |
seemed a huge risk. | 0:52:11 | 0:52:12 | |
George was really not sure about it. | 0:52:14 | 0:52:17 | |
You know, this is a really difficult track to release. | 0:52:17 | 0:52:21 | |
It's a very unusual flavour. | 0:52:21 | 0:52:23 | |
It is a reggae track, | 0:52:23 | 0:52:24 | |
but it's not a sort of authentic reggae track. | 0:52:24 | 0:52:26 | |
It's our interpretation of reggae. | 0:52:26 | 0:52:30 | |
# Give me time... # | 0:52:30 | 0:52:34 | |
We did have some absolutely dreadful reviews. | 0:52:34 | 0:52:38 | |
I mean, they weren't just bad reviews, they were spiteful. | 0:52:38 | 0:52:41 | |
Including one that said it was like third-rate reggae or something. | 0:52:41 | 0:52:44 | |
But within days of it being released, | 0:52:48 | 0:52:51 | |
it was clear something had changed. | 0:52:51 | 0:52:53 | |
I remember just turning on the radio of my car one day going, | 0:52:56 | 0:52:59 | |
"They're playing Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" | 0:52:59 | 0:53:01 | |
And it was Radio 2. | 0:53:01 | 0:53:03 | |
Very sort of like that, | 0:53:04 | 0:53:05 | |
"Good morning, I hope you're having your coffee. | 0:53:05 | 0:53:07 | |
"We've got a record here to make you feel better." | 0:53:07 | 0:53:10 | |
-It was that kind of thing. -# Inside... # | 0:53:10 | 0:53:12 | |
Nobody had seen George in the flesh, and yet I felt in my heart, | 0:53:12 | 0:53:16 | |
as did Virgin and everyone else, if the world could see George - | 0:53:16 | 0:53:19 | |
and the only way to see George in 1982 was Top Of The Pops - | 0:53:19 | 0:53:24 | |
it would make all the difference, and it worked. | 0:53:24 | 0:53:27 | |
# Do you really want to hurt me? | 0:53:28 | 0:53:31 | |
# Do you really want to make me cry? | 0:53:32 | 0:53:36 | |
# Precious kisses Words that burn me | 0:53:37 | 0:53:42 | |
# Lovers never ask you why... # | 0:53:42 | 0:53:44 | |
The immediate reaction was, "Oh, my God." | 0:53:44 | 0:53:48 | |
# In my heart, the fire's burning | 0:53:48 | 0:53:51 | |
# Choose my colour... # | 0:53:51 | 0:53:52 | |
What is George? Is he male or is he female? | 0:53:52 | 0:53:55 | |
And yet, this beautiful voice. | 0:53:55 | 0:53:57 | |
# Precious people always tell me | 0:53:57 | 0:54:01 | |
# That's a step, a step too far... # | 0:54:01 | 0:54:04 | |
I did hear stories of people, I know it sounds ridiculous now, | 0:54:04 | 0:54:07 | |
of people having cups of tea and literally dropping them | 0:54:07 | 0:54:10 | |
in their lap, going, "What is that?" | 0:54:10 | 0:54:11 | |
# Do you really want to make me cry? | 0:54:11 | 0:54:15 | |
# Do you really want to hurt me? # | 0:54:15 | 0:54:19 | |
That was the thing about him, because the record was so beautiful | 0:54:19 | 0:54:23 | |
and it was so delicate, and sort of like a flower, you know. | 0:54:23 | 0:54:25 | |
And George, you know, he was so light on his feet. | 0:54:25 | 0:54:28 | |
And George's make-up is fantastic. | 0:54:33 | 0:54:35 | |
Women would go, "I wish I could do mine as good as that." | 0:54:35 | 0:54:38 | |
# You've been talking but believe me | 0:54:38 | 0:54:41 | |
# If it's true, you do not know... # | 0:54:43 | 0:54:45 | |
He did, he looked unbelievable. | 0:54:45 | 0:54:47 | |
It's why I fell in love with him. | 0:54:47 | 0:54:49 | |
You know, it's like, "Shit." | 0:54:49 | 0:54:51 | |
I'm serious, I met George, I was like, "Oh, my God, I've got a crush. | 0:54:51 | 0:54:54 | |
"Looks like a girl. It's not a girl, it's a man." | 0:54:54 | 0:54:56 | |
# If it's love you want from me | 0:54:56 | 0:55:00 | |
# Then take it away | 0:55:00 | 0:55:03 | |
# Every thing... # | 0:55:05 | 0:55:07 | |
Also, there were few multicultural groups at that time. | 0:55:07 | 0:55:11 | |
George had the kind of big coat and the sort of Hasidic Jew vibe | 0:55:13 | 0:55:18 | |
with the hat. | 0:55:18 | 0:55:19 | |
And a lot of that imagery came to him through Jon Moss, | 0:55:19 | 0:55:22 | |
because Jon Moss was from a Jewish family. | 0:55:22 | 0:55:24 | |
Mikey, of course, has the Afro-Caribbean heritage, | 0:55:24 | 0:55:28 | |
his family are Jamaican. | 0:55:28 | 0:55:29 | |
Roy, you've got the quintessentially British, | 0:55:30 | 0:55:33 | |
Essex working-class British iconography. | 0:55:33 | 0:55:36 | |
People felt there was something really happening, | 0:55:36 | 0:55:39 | |
I think that was the main thing. | 0:55:39 | 0:55:40 | |
People looked at him and went, "Blimey, what is this?" | 0:55:40 | 0:55:43 | |
Hi, nice to meet you. | 0:55:43 | 0:55:46 | |
Culture Club. | 0:55:46 | 0:55:47 | |
-You're at number two at the moment, aren't you? -Yes. | 0:55:47 | 0:55:50 | |
-So, don't look at me like that! -THEY LAUGH | 0:55:50 | 0:55:53 | |
-You've got the wrong idea. -No, quite. | 0:55:53 | 0:55:56 | |
-My mum asked me... -THEY LAUGH | 0:55:56 | 0:56:00 | |
..would I ask you, "Are you all right?" | 0:56:00 | 0:56:02 | |
I'm fine. Did she buy my record? She must have bought my record. | 0:56:02 | 0:56:05 | |
Yes, she's an enormous fan. | 0:56:05 | 0:56:06 | |
A lot of housewives have bought our record, that's why it's number two. | 0:56:06 | 0:56:10 | |
Enormous fan of yours. Hope to make it to number one. | 0:56:10 | 0:56:12 | |
Thank you, Culture Club, and George! | 0:56:12 | 0:56:14 | |
We were in Edinburgh in a hotel room | 0:56:14 | 0:56:15 | |
and we had a tour manager who came in, | 0:56:15 | 0:56:17 | |
and I was with George in the room, | 0:56:17 | 0:56:19 | |
and he said, "Congratulations, guys, you're number one." | 0:56:19 | 0:56:21 | |
A brand-new number one. It's Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? | 0:56:21 | 0:56:24 | |
It's Culture Club. | 0:56:24 | 0:56:25 | |
And I remember jumping around the room. | 0:56:25 | 0:56:27 | |
I remember sort of being naked, covered in champagne. | 0:56:27 | 0:56:30 | |
But the one thing I do remember is we felt invincible. | 0:56:31 | 0:56:34 | |
And it's a great feeling. People don't get it. | 0:56:34 | 0:56:36 | |
I hope everybody has it once in their life, | 0:56:36 | 0:56:38 | |
when you're doing something and you know you're invincible. | 0:56:38 | 0:56:41 | |
In December with their next single, | 0:56:42 | 0:56:44 | |
Culture Club were chasing the Christmas top spot, | 0:56:44 | 0:56:47 | |
in competition with The Jam's farewell. | 0:56:47 | 0:56:50 | |
But the brand-new number one which I've been promising you | 0:56:50 | 0:56:53 | |
comes from The Jam - what a way to finish off a fantastic career. | 0:56:53 | 0:56:55 | |
It looks like they're set | 0:56:55 | 0:56:57 | |
-for Christmas with Beat Surrender. -THEY CHEER | 0:56:57 | 0:56:59 | |
# Beat surrender! | 0:56:59 | 0:57:02 | |
# Come on, boy Come on, girl | 0:57:03 | 0:57:07 | |
# Succumb to the beat surrender | 0:57:07 | 0:57:09 | |
# Come on, boy Come on, girl | 0:57:09 | 0:57:12 | |
# Succumb to the beat surrender... # | 0:57:12 | 0:57:15 | |
Until... | 0:57:15 | 0:57:17 | |
# Save your love, my darling Save your love... # | 0:57:17 | 0:57:21 | |
Appropriately enough, it's Father Christmas. | 0:57:21 | 0:57:24 | |
Wait a minute, no, it's not, it's Renato. | 0:57:24 | 0:57:26 | |
-Congratulations on your success. -Thank you, thank you very much. | 0:57:26 | 0:57:29 | |
How are you going to spend your Christmas? | 0:57:29 | 0:57:31 | |
Me and Renee, for a change, we're going to have a night off. | 0:57:31 | 0:57:34 | |
# The reddest rose I'll always... # | 0:57:34 | 0:57:35 | |
But the Italian and the blonde were one-hit wonders. Just a diversion. | 0:57:35 | 0:57:39 | |
As a new year dawned with more statement hair, | 0:57:44 | 0:57:48 | |
power duos | 0:57:48 | 0:57:49 | |
and reinventions. | 0:57:49 | 0:57:51 | |
Younger DJs frolicked on a new set... | 0:57:52 | 0:57:54 | |
Hi, good evening, welcome to Top Of The Pops. | 0:57:54 | 0:57:56 | |
What a great show we've got. | 0:57:56 | 0:57:57 | |
..as indie made its grand entrance. | 0:57:57 | 0:58:00 | |
Top Of The Pops, hosting its first live band performance | 0:58:00 | 0:58:03 | |
in a generation. | 0:58:03 | 0:58:05 | |
# How does it feel when you treat me like you do | 0:58:05 | 0:58:10 | |
# And you've laid your hands upon me and told me who you are | 0:58:11 | 0:58:17 | |
# I thought I was mistaken | 0:58:19 | 0:58:22 | |
# And I thought I'd heard you speak | 0:58:22 | 0:58:26 | |
# Tell me, how do I feel? | 0:58:26 | 0:58:30 | |
# Tell me now, how do I feel? | 0:58:30 | 0:58:32 | |
# Those who came before me | 0:58:34 | 0:58:37 | |
# Lived through their vocations | 0:58:37 | 0:58:41 | |
# From the past until completion | 0:58:41 | 0:58:44 | |
# Will turn away no more | 0:58:44 | 0:58:48 | |
# And I still find it so hard | 0:58:48 | 0:58:52 | |
# To say what I need to say... # | 0:58:52 | 0:58:55 |