0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello. We're on a £5-an-hour bonus for wearing these hats.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06Welcome to another Top Of The Pops.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08We're the Burke and Hare of British broadcasting.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10I'm John. He's the likeable Canadian.
0:00:11 > 0:00:141983...
0:00:14 > 0:00:18and Britain's favourite pop show was celebrating a landmark birthday.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Happy birthday, Top Of The Pops, for a thousand weeks,
0:00:21 > 0:00:22and many happy returns.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24But with the march of the video age,
0:00:24 > 0:00:28was Top Of The Pops facing a midlife crisis?
0:00:29 > 0:00:32Top Of The Pops is dead meat if it's just showing videos.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34# Oh-ho... #
0:00:34 > 0:00:38And yet, a new pop ambition was in the air.
0:00:38 > 0:00:39We said to ourselves,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42"If you're not in the top ten by the end of this year, we have to quit."
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Bass guitars held high...
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and low, as indie entered the mainstream,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52with a live performance that wasn't exactly lively.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57"Saw you on Top Of The Pops the other week. What was that about?!"
0:00:57 > 0:01:02In 1983, the new order of pop stars was more flamboyant than ever.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Dangerous, glamorous, beautiful.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07Is it a man? Is it a woman? What is it?
0:01:07 > 0:01:11And a strong image made you stand out from the crowd.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Well, Haircut 100 did it very well with pullovers so I thought
0:01:14 > 0:01:15maybe I can do it with beads.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20Appearing on Top Of The Pops remained the dream...
0:01:20 > 0:01:24It was so important, you know. It could make or break you.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28..even if the reality could be a rude awakening.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31I really didn't want to do it. It still makes me cringe now.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35And, for the new pop aristocracy, it was time to go for it.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41It's a vintage year. I'd say that the '80s began in '83.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49A group of prominent international scientists say the world
0:01:49 > 0:01:53has moved another significant step towards nuclear destruction.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59In the year the doomsday clock moved closer to midnight,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02protest was in the air at Greenham Common.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06The recent antinuclear demonstrations at Greenham have
0:02:06 > 0:02:10indeed been exceptional, as was the police response.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14A strong leader had been in place for several years now.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16But, like Margaret Thatcher,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Top Of The Pops producer Michael Hurll
0:02:18 > 0:02:21believed his work was only beginning.
0:02:21 > 0:02:22And they've plenty of reason to celebrate,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25even though we celebrated it 20 days ago.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28It's U2 in at number 23, and New Year's Day.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32In January, to inject young blood into the show,
0:02:32 > 0:02:3727-year-old Janice Long became its first regular female presenter.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40I was absolutely thrilled to bits
0:02:40 > 0:02:43with the fact that I was introducing U2.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45I mean, that doesn't get... You know, your first Top Of The Pops!
0:02:45 > 0:02:47# All is quiet
0:02:47 > 0:02:49# On New Year's Day
0:02:52 > 0:02:58# A world in white gets under way... #
0:02:58 > 0:03:00I think I came out of it, as well...
0:03:00 > 0:03:04And I'm sure I did, actually, cos I remember the NME going, "Really?"
0:03:04 > 0:03:06I went, "Ah, it's the luck of the Irish!"
0:03:06 > 0:03:08- SHE CHUCKLES - Oh, no!
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Great. Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam there from Dublin,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13doing very nicely.
0:03:13 > 0:03:14- IRISH ACCENT: - It's the luck of the Irish!
0:03:14 > 0:03:16How embarrassing!
0:03:16 > 0:03:20It's back to the charts and, this time, we start at number 19.
0:03:20 > 0:03:26Earlier that day, Janice had learned how to talk Top Of The Pops.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28When we did the chart rundown,
0:03:28 > 0:03:31you'd get there in the afternoon and that was the first thing you'd do.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33So I'd just be, "In at 40, it's Tears for Fears
0:03:33 > 0:03:35"with Change, or Mad World," whatever...
0:03:35 > 0:03:39And they'd... "Could you be a bit more lively?"
0:03:39 > 0:03:41"I think I'm really lively at the mo..."
0:03:41 > 0:03:42So, up it a bit.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Dionne Warwick is at number 15, All The Love In The World.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48"No, could you make it really lively?"
0:03:48 > 0:03:52And, in the end, I just sounded as though I'd had too much caffeine.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55I was, like, over the top, but that's how they wanted it.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58And at number 12, Cacharpaya from Incantation.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01It was really nice to see a female face
0:04:01 > 0:04:04and somebody who is genuinely enthusiastic about music.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07# Who's on the seventh floor? #
0:04:07 > 0:04:09She was young, she was clearly a proper fan,
0:04:09 > 0:04:11so that was really refreshing.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13# What's in the bottom drawer? #
0:04:13 > 0:04:15I was very excited that there were
0:04:15 > 0:04:17lots of Liverpool bands doing Top Of The Pops.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20# Spare us the cutter... #
0:04:20 > 0:04:23You had Pete Wylie, you had China Crisis,
0:04:23 > 0:04:24and Echo And The Bunnymen.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28# Couldn't cut the
0:04:28 > 0:04:31# Mustard
0:04:31 > 0:04:35# Conquering myself until
0:04:35 > 0:04:38# I see another hurdle approaching... #
0:04:38 > 0:04:41And my mum phoned me up afterwards when I got home.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Promptly phoned me up and she said,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47"That Echo And The Bunnymen fella..."
0:04:47 > 0:04:49She said, "I hope you're not hanging around with him -
0:04:49 > 0:04:52"he's on drugs or drink!"
0:04:52 > 0:04:56# Am I the worthy cross?
0:04:56 > 0:05:00# Will I still be soiled
0:05:00 > 0:05:04# When the dirt is off? #
0:05:12 > 0:05:17In 1983, the pop charts were also given an overhaul.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Political pollsters Gallup took charge,
0:05:20 > 0:05:22in a bid to stop chart rigging.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Selected record shops like this will be linked electronically
0:05:25 > 0:05:30to a computer. It will show where and at what time a record was sold.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35As the charts were being professionalised, so were the turns.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40Art Nouveau were a futuristic, avant-garde four-piece
0:05:40 > 0:05:42from Leighton Buzzard
0:05:42 > 0:05:45who'd been struggling to break into the big time.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50We'd been playing the local pub circuit for a while,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53but things weren't really moving forward very fast
0:05:53 > 0:05:54and I said to the guys,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58"We really need another guy. We need that focus."
0:05:58 > 0:06:01The solution was a new frontman - Chris Hamill,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04a waiter and face at the hip Embassy Club in London.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Chris became Limahl, and Art Nouveau became Kajagoogoo.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15Now all they needed was a record deal.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17# Nobody knew the people who
0:06:17 > 0:06:19# Were needing to save time
0:06:19 > 0:06:20# So... #
0:06:20 > 0:06:23Limahl had run into Nick Rhodes one night
0:06:23 > 0:06:25in the Embassy Club in London.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Limahl said, "Yeah, yeah, I've got a band.
0:06:27 > 0:06:28"Do you want to hear my demos?"
0:06:28 > 0:06:32Nick took the demos to EMI
0:06:32 > 0:06:34and they said, "Yeah, we've heard these," and he said,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37"Yeah, well, you haven't been listening to them properly, then,"
0:06:37 > 0:06:38and we got signed.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44Despite Gallup's efforts, an ambitious band like Kajagoogoo
0:06:44 > 0:06:46understood what they needed to do
0:06:46 > 0:06:49to get their debut single into the charts.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52We were hitting all the Gallup chart return shops because that was
0:06:52 > 0:06:53the big thing back then.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57So, nobody knew where the chart return shops were,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59but you knew they were in a certain area,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02so you had to do certain shops.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Once that was done, we were set, really, for TV.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08It's their first appearance on Top Of The Pops.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09It's Kajagoogoo, Too Shy.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21It seemed like the producers of the show knew we were these new faces...
0:07:23 > 0:07:24..so they did...
0:07:26 > 0:07:28..an individual cutaway to each one of us.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34And then finishing with Limahl.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37# Time... #
0:07:37 > 0:07:43Kajagoogoo were the paragon of 1983.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Perfect for Smash Hits and the teen press.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48Perfect for Top Of The Pops.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50# You're too shy, shy
0:07:50 > 0:07:53# Hush-hush, eye to eye
0:07:53 > 0:07:55# Too shy, shy
0:07:55 > 0:07:57# Hush-hush, eye to eye
0:07:57 > 0:07:59# Too shy, shy... #
0:07:59 > 0:08:02The band had been given a lesson in pop do's and don'ts
0:08:02 > 0:08:05by Nick Rhodes, now their producer.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09I remember it had a very avant-garde jazz middle eight.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13It wasn't until Nick Rhodes said,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15- IN BRUMMY ACCENT: - "It plummets in the middle eight.
0:08:15 > 0:08:16"We've got to change it."
0:08:20 > 0:08:22I thought, "Well, this is now."
0:08:22 > 0:08:25It may not have been ten years ago, it may not be ten years from now,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27but it is pop music, and it is now.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32The transformation into pin-up chart-toppers was complete.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36It's gone to number one. This is Kajagoogoo. This is Too Shy.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40I think we were just eager and very excited.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45# Hush-hush, eye to eye... #
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Naive.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54When Kajagoogoo reappeared on the show in September, however,
0:08:54 > 0:08:56someone had gone AWOL.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00I think we all realised we'd come to a point that we couldn't,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03we couldn't carry on working with Limahl any more.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06# Crying in some avenue... #
0:09:06 > 0:09:09So that week, I was the lead singer on Top Of The Pops
0:09:09 > 0:09:10with a new single.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14# Life in the Big Apple
0:09:14 > 0:09:17# Moves very fast and so must... #
0:09:17 > 0:09:20They thought they could be just as successful without him.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Fatal.
0:09:22 > 0:09:23# Cops en route
0:09:23 > 0:09:25# Are hot in pursuit
0:09:25 > 0:09:28# As windows are shattered... #
0:09:29 > 0:09:32We sacrificed something and, in the long term,
0:09:32 > 0:09:33it didn't work out as well.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38A lot of people talk about what vapid music came out of that period.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42It wasn't about making records to make people think.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44It was a party time.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Unemployment's gone up again to almost 750,000,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56with school leavers accounting for most of the increase.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00With nearly one in four under-25s out of work,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03for some the mood was defiant.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Sign on and party.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10The New Romantic "look at me" generation had vied for attention
0:10:10 > 0:10:14in the early '80s in the underground nightclub scene.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Now they were ready to enter the mainstream
0:10:17 > 0:10:19and vie for chart success.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21# Hey, everybody, take a look at me
0:10:21 > 0:10:23# I've got street credibility
0:10:23 > 0:10:26# I may not have a job but I have a good time
0:10:26 > 0:10:28# With the boys that I meet down on the line... #
0:10:28 > 0:10:301983 was the year of "go for it".
0:10:30 > 0:10:33By this stage, the mechanics of how you
0:10:33 > 0:10:35become a pop star, get into the pop press,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39get on the TV, had become known to that generation.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41- # Get yourself a job - Get out of this house
0:10:41 > 0:10:43- # Get yourself a job - Are you a man or a mouse? #
0:10:43 > 0:10:45They were a very visually aware generation,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47thanks to having been brought up on TV.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50It was almost as if they were born to become TV stars.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53- # Are you gonna get down? - Yeah... #
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Pop was hip again. You were allowed to like pop music.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00# Wham, bam, I am a man... #
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Groups like Wham! were now the darlings
0:11:02 > 0:11:04of the glossy music magazines,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07aimed at a young, often female readership.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10Keen to join the party,
0:11:10 > 0:11:14Number One was launched by the NME's publisher in May.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18IPC Magazines had spotted the massive success of Smash Hits
0:11:18 > 0:11:20and decided, "We'd like one of those,"
0:11:20 > 0:11:25so decided to do, like, a weekly one, which was Number One magazine.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Number One started because nobody wanted to read,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31like 5,000 words thesis on Wham! and their place in society.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33What they wanted was a picture of Andrew and George
0:11:33 > 0:11:35to put up on their wall.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37We were writing for the pop fans.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41It was just not the kind of music that really stood up
0:11:41 > 0:11:44to much analysis, at the end of the day.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47MUSIC: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) by Eurythmics
0:11:47 > 0:11:50If Number One magazine was the young pretender, the Kajagoogoo,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54then Smash Hits was still the Duran Duran of pop magazines.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58And it even helped create a pop star from its own readership.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02The previous autumn, one of those readers, Tracie Young,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06responded to an ad placed by Paul Weller.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08He wanted somebody 18 to 22.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10I was 17 at the time, so I thought,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12"Well, I'm not going to get away with that." I let it go.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17And then the advert appeared again two weeks later so I thought,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20"Well, if he hasn't found anybody yet, I've got nothing to lose."
0:12:20 > 0:12:24# Sweet dreams are made of this... #
0:12:24 > 0:12:27It was kind of odd to find myself
0:12:27 > 0:12:30suddenly on the cover of Smash Hits.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33Just even doing interviews with magazines which I still bought,
0:12:33 > 0:12:35papers which I still bought, as a fan,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38and to be taking part in a show like Top Of The Pops which I'd been
0:12:38 > 0:12:40a fan of for so many years...
0:12:40 > 0:12:42It's very surreal.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45It's Tracie, Paul and Mick.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47Collectively, they're called the Style Council,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49and this is Speak Like A Child.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51# Your hair hangs in golden steps
0:12:51 > 0:12:55# You're a bona fide in every respect
0:12:55 > 0:12:58# You are walking through streets... #
0:12:58 > 0:13:02When we did Speak Like A Child, he wanted me to sit on the organ.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04I think he just thought the notion of saying
0:13:04 > 0:13:06"Tracie sat on Mick's organ" was hilarious.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11And then I was supposed to jump off at a certain point in the song
0:13:11 > 0:13:14and he said, "Right, we're going to practise this dance.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17"You do it and I WILL be doing it behind you." "No, you won't."
0:13:19 > 0:13:23And you can see, as I come off the organ and land on my feet,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25you know, just the little smirk that appears.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27It's like, "Will she? Won't she?"
0:13:27 > 0:13:30# You're cool and hard, never sound like a lecher... #
0:13:30 > 0:13:34The following week, the golden Top Of The Pops rule
0:13:34 > 0:13:36that no artist could appear two weeks running,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39unless they were at number one, was inadvertently broken
0:13:39 > 0:13:44when Tracie was on the show again, but this time in her own right.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47# Who owns the house that Jack built?
0:13:47 > 0:13:51# Don't you know that we own the house that he built... #
0:13:51 > 0:13:54There was something about Tracie's ordinariness
0:13:54 > 0:13:56that people responded to.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59# You hold to the sides and you go down... #
0:13:59 > 0:14:01She was a breath of fresh air.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04What made the Top Of The Pops experience so vivid for
0:14:04 > 0:14:08a newcomer like Tracie was meeting her fellow performers.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11We had Twisted Sister on that show.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15That's the most memorable part of my first
0:14:15 > 0:14:17solo performance on Top Of The Pops.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20# I'm on to your thinking
0:14:20 > 0:14:23# And how you deceive... #
0:14:23 > 0:14:26They just came in, you know, loud, American guys,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28T-shirts and long hair.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31They just looked like a bunch of American rock dudes.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35And when it came to showtime, they came out of the dressing room with
0:14:35 > 0:14:40enormous hair, loads of make-up, reeking of aftershave and cologne
0:14:40 > 0:14:43and they were just huge, cos of these heels they'd got on.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46And they were quite intimidating.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49# I am and I'll be
0:14:49 > 0:14:53# I will, you'll see
0:14:53 > 0:14:56# I am and I'll be
0:14:59 > 0:15:03# I am, I'm me. #
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Here's Tracie, Give It Some Emotion, or whatever you've got.
0:15:06 > 0:15:07Know what I mean?
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Appearing with her second single, however,
0:15:10 > 0:15:14was a much less pleasant experience for Tracie, thanks to an idea
0:15:14 > 0:15:17from Top Of The Pops choreographer Flick Colby.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19I was on a stage and there were two dancers,
0:15:19 > 0:15:24one either side of me, and after the rehearsal, Flick Colby came over
0:15:24 > 0:15:27and said, "I really think that you should dance with these guys."
0:15:27 > 0:15:29And I said, "I don't dance".
0:15:30 > 0:15:32"But it'll look great. You don't have to do much -
0:15:32 > 0:15:36"just kind of move about. You know, just, you know, writhe a bit."
0:15:36 > 0:15:37# Shooby-dooby-doo-ah
0:15:37 > 0:15:41# I'd like to kick you really hard... #
0:15:41 > 0:15:44And I really, really didn't want to do it.
0:15:44 > 0:15:45# But the black-and-blue bruise
0:15:45 > 0:15:47# Would be... #
0:15:47 > 0:15:51And what is even worse is that you can see I didn't want to do it.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55Yeah, it still makes me cringe now.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58MUSIC: John Wayne Is Big Leggy by Haysi Fantayzee
0:16:00 > 0:16:02If Tracie's appeal lay in her ordinariness,
0:16:02 > 0:16:06most of '83's new pretenders came from the underground scene
0:16:06 > 0:16:08and wanted to look extraordinary.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16I was living in this squat, and Kate just marched into our bedroom once
0:16:16 > 0:16:20and she saw me sitting in the corner playing the guitar
0:16:20 > 0:16:23and she said, "You look good. Can you be in my band?"
0:16:23 > 0:16:25And I was like, "I don't want to be in your band."
0:16:25 > 0:16:26She was like, "Well, why not?"
0:16:26 > 0:16:29And I was like, "Well, I don't really know you!"
0:16:29 > 0:16:31# Now, listen, honey, I can't do that
0:16:31 > 0:16:33# Not even for you, my sweetness... #
0:16:33 > 0:16:35And she was like, "Yeah, but you look cool.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36"We could do anything you want."
0:16:36 > 0:16:38# Now, big John, if that's a fact
0:16:38 > 0:16:40# Then how do you propose we do our act? #
0:16:40 > 0:16:43And then I was like, "Well, I've only had this guitar a week
0:16:43 > 0:16:46"so I'm not really that good. I'm not really ready for it."
0:16:46 > 0:16:47But she was very persistent.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50# He knows I tried, and he knows... #
0:16:50 > 0:16:54Jeremy and Kate's first single, John Wayne Is Big Leggy,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56was released in 1982.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03We were so enthralled with video at that time.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05We wanted to be a video-only band.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08I mean, my dream was to be a cartoon band, you know.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10# Take me away
0:17:10 > 0:17:11# John Wayne... #
0:17:13 > 0:17:14# Well, I feel fine
0:17:14 > 0:17:15# No, it ain't no crime
0:17:15 > 0:17:17# I was dreaming of a demon and I ate a dime... #
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Haysi Fantayzee brought some spice to the Top Of The Pops studio
0:17:20 > 0:17:24in February with their third single, Shiny Shiny.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Well, it's about absolutely nothing.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31That was... That was a sort of a nonsense song.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33# Shiny, shiny, bad times behind me
0:17:33 > 0:17:36# Shiny, shiny, sha-na-na-na... #
0:17:36 > 0:17:38So I had this sort of clapping song idea
0:17:38 > 0:17:41but wanted to do it in a Cajun style.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49What was clever about it was that rap and singing formula,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52which hadn't really existed.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54# Sa-Sa-Saw a cop on the line
0:17:54 > 0:17:56# Machinegun shine
0:17:56 > 0:17:58# I was dreaming, not believing that I was alive... #
0:17:58 > 0:18:01I was going for the Child Catchery kind of thing because that
0:18:01 > 0:18:04really scared me when I was a kid and it was really powerful,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07and you were looking for any really powerful image
0:18:07 > 0:18:08that would get you across.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12# No chance
0:18:12 > 0:18:13# No chance... #
0:18:13 > 0:18:16Their stylist for Top Of The Pops was another scenester
0:18:16 > 0:18:19with their own designs on pop fame.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22I used to do their styling, Haysi Fantayzee,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25and then I got Kate to wear a corset...
0:18:25 > 0:18:26Like, basically, do my look.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29I sort of made Kate be a surrogate Marilyn.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Then I coached her in how to act on Top Of The Pops.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35# Shiny, shiny, sha-na-na-na
0:18:35 > 0:18:36# Shiny, shiny... #
0:18:36 > 0:18:40It was fraught. Fraught and...
0:18:40 > 0:18:42Because you're very nervous...
0:18:42 > 0:18:45I mean, we weren't badly behaved.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48We were, sort of, very professional, actually.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Shiny Shiny would be Haysi Fantayzee's last top-40 hit
0:18:54 > 0:18:58but it would have a curious afterlife in the charts.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Strangely enough, it was really funny,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04because the double-bass player called me up about two months later
0:19:04 > 0:19:07and he said, "I've got this guy from The Cure
0:19:07 > 0:19:12"and he wants me to do exactly what I did on your record."
0:19:12 > 0:19:14So if you listen to Shiny Shiny...
0:19:14 > 0:19:17# Shiny, shiny, sha-na-na-na... #
0:19:17 > 0:19:19..and you listen to The Lovecats...
0:19:19 > 0:19:21# We couldn't get closer than this... #
0:19:21 > 0:19:24..you'll realise where he got the idea from.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26# I'll show you in spring It's a treacherous thing
0:19:26 > 0:19:29# We miss you, hissed the lovecats
0:19:29 > 0:19:32# Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba
0:19:32 > 0:19:35# We missed you, hissed the lovecats... #
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Actually, The Lovecats is better than Shiny Shiny, so...
0:19:43 > 0:19:47If Haysi Fantayzee were ragamuffins knocking on the door in '83,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51an old friend of theirs from clubland was going global.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54It was like Beatlemania all over again in Montreal last week,
0:19:54 > 0:19:58when Boy George and Culture Club arrived in the city.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01Culture Club were more photographed, more written about
0:20:01 > 0:20:05and sold more singles than any other British band that year.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07'83 was the year that they actually became
0:20:07 > 0:20:12the biggest band in the world. They were a media phenomenon.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17Not content to stand still, Culture Club's first single of 1983,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Church Of The Poison Mind,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21added a couple of new elements to their sound.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24# Desolate loving in your eyes
0:20:24 > 0:20:27# You used to make my life so sweet... #
0:20:27 > 0:20:30The feedback from Church Of The Poison Mind was fantastic
0:20:30 > 0:20:34for Helen Terry because I guess that was her unveiling
0:20:34 > 0:20:36to the Great British public.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40- # In the church of the poison mind - In the church of the poison mind
0:20:40 > 0:20:43- # In the church of the poison mind - In the church of the poison mind
0:20:43 > 0:20:49- # Church of the poison mind - In the church of the poison mind
0:20:49 > 0:20:52# In the church of the poison mind... #
0:20:52 > 0:20:55Also notable for the appearance of Judd Lander.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Judd was a plugger
0:20:58 > 0:21:02and who knew that he played a mean harmonica?
0:21:03 > 0:21:05Yeah, I got a phone call from Steve Levine.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08He said, "I need a bit of harmonica work on a track,
0:21:08 > 0:21:09"could you come over?"
0:21:11 > 0:21:13And then the next thing is, "Judd!
0:21:13 > 0:21:17"We're doing Top Of The Pops! Can you come along?"
0:21:17 > 0:21:21HARMONICA SOLO
0:21:21 > 0:21:25I had this sort of dead cat on my head, and I also had a beard,
0:21:25 > 0:21:27so it looked as if I was a hairy beast.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Culture Club, Church Of The Poison Mind,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36including grizzly Judd Lander on harmonica there.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41But it was their follow-up, Karma Chameleon,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44that became the bestselling single of 1983.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48# Desert loving in your eyes all the way... #
0:21:48 > 0:21:50And, on Top Of The Pops,
0:21:50 > 0:21:53the band's appearance reflected their new international appeal.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55# Karma, karma, karma... #
0:21:55 > 0:21:57And we did a photo session in San Francisco,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00where George wanted to dress the band up
0:22:00 > 0:22:03in American football outfits, with the helmets and the pads.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07So we had to rent those from a sports shop in San Francisco,
0:22:07 > 0:22:08which was my job.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11They were wearing them when they launched Karma Chameleon
0:22:11 > 0:22:13with their appearance on Top Of The Pops.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Those were the same outfits - they never returned them.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19I remember getting a bill from a very outraged sports outfitter.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22# You used to be so sweet I heard you say... #
0:22:22 > 0:22:25On Top Of The Pops, George did all his own make-up.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27I remember there always used to be
0:22:27 > 0:22:28an ironing board in the dressing room.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31You know, and George used to do a bit of ironing.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37I think he drove the band bit nuts, styling them.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39Always drama, always...
0:22:39 > 0:22:40haberdashery.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43# Red, gold, and green... #
0:22:43 > 0:22:45I think I'd been to the bar.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Because, quite often, you'd do your rehearsals in the afternoon,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51you can pop in, have a quick snifter and then go back
0:22:51 > 0:22:53and then get into the whole thing.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56I thought, "Well, you know, bugger it. I'm enjoying this,"
0:22:56 > 0:22:57and I got into the groove.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59# ..an addiction
0:22:59 > 0:23:03# When we cling, our love is strong... #
0:23:03 > 0:23:05Their music was very middle-of-the-road,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09which went brilliantly with George's really un-middle-of-the-road look.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12# You string along... #
0:23:12 > 0:23:15And then they bloody did better than us! Bastards!
0:23:19 > 0:23:21As George became a household name,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24a friend who'd work with him in the cloakroom of the Blitz nightclub
0:23:24 > 0:23:27was about to launch his own androgynous look
0:23:27 > 0:23:29on the British public.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Famously, a new term was coined
0:23:32 > 0:23:37for artists like George and Marilyn - gender-benders.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43George had broken through with that look.
0:23:44 > 0:23:50They saw me as a dangerous, sexy counterpart to that.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53It was like, "Oh..." Like, a bit bandwagon-y.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58"Oh, let's pop her... HIM in and see what happens."
0:23:58 > 0:24:02- REPORTER:- 'But similarities between Boy George and Marilyn remain.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06'So is the public being duped into buying not the music,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09'but an outrageous and slightly second-hand image?'
0:24:09 > 0:24:12I kind of deluded myself into thinking, "No, that's not why...
0:24:12 > 0:24:14"They've signed me cos I'm fab."
0:24:14 > 0:24:16But they actually hadn't. You know?
0:24:16 > 0:24:19And they would lie. The record company would lie, they would say...
0:24:19 > 0:24:22I'd say, "You're not trying to sell me as the new Boy George, are you?"
0:24:22 > 0:24:25And they would go, "No, of course we're not, Marilyn."
0:24:25 > 0:24:28Marilyn's debut single quickly followed,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31inspired by the success of his famous friend.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33I was walking along Oxford Street and, like,
0:24:33 > 0:24:34I was hearing all of this...
0:24:34 > 0:24:37# Do you really want to hurt...? #
0:24:37 > 0:24:40And I was like, "If I hear that song..."
0:24:40 > 0:24:41I hear... The lyrics are right there.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45"I hear you on the radio, I hear you... I want peace of mind!"
0:24:45 > 0:24:48You know? So, that's how it came about.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52# I hear you on the radio
0:24:52 > 0:24:57# I hear you all the time... #
0:24:57 > 0:25:01But even Marilyn was a bag of nerves when Top Of The Pops came calling.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05Yeah, I made a huge mistake the first time I did Top Of The Pops.
0:25:05 > 0:25:06I was getting more and more nervous,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and I started putting on more make-up and more make-up.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12So, by the time of the actual performance...
0:25:12 > 0:25:15- LAUGHING:- I mean, it was like a death mask.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17# Open up your loving arms
0:25:17 > 0:25:19# See my heat burn white... #
0:25:19 > 0:25:21I didn't make that mistake twice.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24# Catch one breath, a silent sigh... #
0:25:24 > 0:25:25I think the biggest surprise
0:25:25 > 0:25:27was, actually, simply that he could sing.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30You know? He had a quite gorgeous soul voice.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32# How can I tell you, baby?
0:25:34 > 0:25:36# How can I tell you, baby?
0:25:36 > 0:25:38# You're not here... #
0:25:38 > 0:25:42Marilyn looked absolutely beautiful and more sexual than George.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44You could see his midriff.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46# How can I tell you, baby?
0:25:46 > 0:25:48I don't think George ever showed any flesh, ever.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50# Hey, you call into my brain
0:25:50 > 0:25:53# I want peace of mind... #
0:25:53 > 0:25:56The headline was "The Unacceptable Face Of Pop"
0:25:56 > 0:25:57after my first Top Of The Pops.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00And it was just ranting, like, "How could they let this...this...
0:26:00 > 0:26:02"THIS on the TV?"
0:26:02 > 0:26:06And I was like, "Ooh. Touched a nerve, have we?"
0:26:06 > 0:26:08HE LAUGHS
0:26:08 > 0:26:11# Who's that girl
0:26:11 > 0:26:13# Running around with you? #
0:26:13 > 0:26:171983 was the year when gender-bending was front-page news
0:26:17 > 0:26:22and, suddenly, the front page was where everyone wanted to be.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25I think people are learning lessons as we go into '83.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Some of them that have been on the go for three years already,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31on the basis of having an underground following,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33are now wanting to go mainstream.
0:26:33 > 0:26:34# Tell me... #
0:26:34 > 0:26:36And they want the big bucks.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42In '83, the pound coin entered circulation for the first time.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45And, in the charts, everyone was going pop.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Including the Thompson Twins.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59After six years and two albums without chart success.
0:26:59 > 0:27:00# Hey, you
0:27:02 > 0:27:04# I've seen your face before
0:27:05 > 0:27:08We became a three-piece because there was a sudden
0:27:08 > 0:27:11kind of jolt of realisation that carrying on the way we were...
0:27:11 > 0:27:14we had been doing wasn't really leading us
0:27:14 > 0:27:17out of the kind of very earnest underground music scene
0:27:17 > 0:27:18that we were a part of.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21# All of those things that they say about you... #
0:27:21 > 0:27:22We said to ourselves,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25"If you're not in the top ten by the end of this year,
0:27:25 > 0:27:26"we have to quit..."
0:27:26 > 0:27:27# What am I supposed to do? #
0:27:27 > 0:27:29"..and we'll do what it takes to get it."
0:27:31 > 0:27:34# I hear you laughing in some other room
0:27:34 > 0:27:38# And it makes me feel locked out... #
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Being in a band at that point was more than just making music -
0:27:41 > 0:27:44you had to look the right way.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46# And you need to move about
0:27:47 > 0:27:51# But I was taught that boys need girls and girls need boys
0:27:51 > 0:27:53# You say that's not true... #
0:27:53 > 0:27:56And we said, "OK, in that case, Alannah," who was blonde,
0:27:56 > 0:27:58"should be very blonde and Joe," who's black,
0:27:58 > 0:28:00"should be very black and have dreadlocks,
0:28:00 > 0:28:04"and therefore I can't be either of those two - I'll dye my hair red."
0:28:04 > 0:28:05# Cos you got love, love
0:28:05 > 0:28:07# Love on your side
0:28:07 > 0:28:10# Cos you got love, love
0:28:10 > 0:28:11# Love on your side... #
0:28:11 > 0:28:13It was a pop experiment for us.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15We thought, "Let's see if we can do this."
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Once upon a time, in the adventures of Tintin, they were two detectives
0:28:18 > 0:28:21who dressed just like this, and they were called the Thompson Twins.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23Now, the Thomson Twins are somewhat differently dressed,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25but I'll tell you they're down there
0:28:25 > 0:28:26and they've got a number-four record.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28It's called Hold Me Now. Here they are!
0:28:28 > 0:28:29CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:28:29 > 0:28:31# I have a picture... #
0:28:31 > 0:28:34A band like the Thompson Twins, they could see that there was no reason
0:28:34 > 0:28:36why they shouldn't be having hits.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40# An image of you and of me
0:28:40 > 0:28:44# And we're laughing We're loving it all
0:28:44 > 0:28:46You knew you'd made it on Top Of The Pops
0:28:46 > 0:28:48when the flags came out.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53'83 was probably the critical moment where it all tipped over
0:28:53 > 0:28:57into this kind of giddy, headlong run of success that we had.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59You go from invisible to visible.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02# We cry until dawn
0:29:03 > 0:29:04# Oh-oh-oh
0:29:04 > 0:29:07# Hold me now... #
0:29:07 > 0:29:12It did feel a time when people thought, "Let's make some money,
0:29:12 > 0:29:15"let's get big, let's see how big we can take this."
0:29:15 > 0:29:18I think the Thomson Twins are a really good example of that.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22They went very, very pop, very percussive, almost cartoonlike,
0:29:22 > 0:29:24and just took off.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30In a year of change, there was something reassuring
0:29:30 > 0:29:33about Top Of The Pops celebrating its longevity that May,
0:29:33 > 0:29:37when it reached the grand age of 1,000 shows old.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41I just seem to remember every Tom, Dick and Harry
0:29:41 > 0:29:43from Radio 1 was doing a link.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45And I was in my pram for the first Top Of The Pops.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48- Do you believe that, Janice?- Andy, I don't believe it for a minute.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51I wasn't in my pram, but we're having a marvellous time tonight.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53It really is great.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Pop royalty sent birthday wishes by video.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00Happy birthday, Top Of The Pops, for 1,000 weeks, and many happy returns.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02To all of my friends at the Top Of The Pops,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05congratulations for making it 1,000 shows.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09And may you have 1,000 more.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13And bands crammed into the studio to offer a word or two.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16And no stranger to great occasions is one Steve Strange. Welcome.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18Hello, it's great to be here. What a great party.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21Roger Taylor, what was the last time you were actually live
0:30:21 > 0:30:23- on Top Of The Pops?- Er, Under Pressure?- Under Pressure?
0:30:23 > 0:30:26And only number one, actually, John. Only one number one, that is.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28A rather reserved Bahamian Rhapsody.
0:30:28 > 0:30:29Happy 1,000th either way.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33# They say our love won't pay the rent... #
0:30:33 > 0:30:37The show celebrated its past with classic black-and-white archive.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40# Let's spend the night together
0:30:40 > 0:30:43# Now I need you more than ever... #
0:30:43 > 0:30:50# And the lights all went out in Massachusetts... #
0:30:50 > 0:30:52While, in the studio,
0:30:52 > 0:30:56one of the colourful class of '83 had come in fancy dress.
0:30:56 > 0:31:01But I'd made a possibly ill-advised decision to dress as a policeman.
0:31:01 > 0:31:03# Last night when I got home... #
0:31:03 > 0:31:05It didn't work well for me because
0:31:05 > 0:31:08policemen wear these epaulettes over their shirts,
0:31:08 > 0:31:10and then I was playing an accordion which has straps on here,
0:31:10 > 0:31:12so they were digging into me.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14Actually a painful experience physically.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16# We dress up in disguise... #
0:31:16 > 0:31:19Phil Oakey said, "I used to like the Thompson Twins
0:31:19 > 0:31:22"until that guy dressed as a policeman on Top Of The Pops."
0:31:22 > 0:31:24# Leave no track... #
0:31:24 > 0:31:27Phil Oakey's former Human League bandmates, now Heaven 17,
0:31:27 > 0:31:30were also in the studio with their biggest hit yet.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32# Temptation
0:31:32 > 0:31:34# Keep climbing higher and higher
0:31:34 > 0:31:36# Temptation
0:31:36 > 0:31:38# Adorable creatures
0:31:38 > 0:31:39# Temptation
0:31:39 > 0:31:42# With unacceptable features
0:31:42 > 0:31:43# Temptation... #
0:31:43 > 0:31:46More than any other Top Of The Pops show, I thought,
0:31:46 > 0:31:48"This is it, we've made it. We're part of pop royalty now."
0:31:48 > 0:31:52# But you'd better believe it, yeah! #
0:31:52 > 0:31:55# And it seems a little time is needed... #
0:31:55 > 0:31:58To add spice, also appearing on the 1,000th show
0:31:58 > 0:32:00were The Human League themselves.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04# The good advice of friends unheeded... #
0:32:04 > 0:32:07We weren't really talking to each other, to be honest.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09As I remember it,
0:32:09 > 0:32:13it was kind of like furtive glances in the corridors,
0:32:13 > 0:32:15trying to avoid each other's stares.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21# And so the conversation turned... #
0:32:21 > 0:32:24This was kind of at the peak of our rivalry,
0:32:24 > 0:32:26cos we'd kind of come up on the rails.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28# And many fantasies were learned... #
0:32:28 > 0:32:31And we were competitive, there's no shadow of a doubt.
0:32:31 > 0:32:32# On that day
0:32:32 > 0:32:36# Keep feeling fascination
0:32:36 > 0:32:37# Passion burning... #
0:32:37 > 0:32:40But holding on to the number-one spot for the third week running
0:32:40 > 0:32:43was a band who'd come out of the underground club scene
0:32:43 > 0:32:46when they made their Top Of The Pops debut three years earlier.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48# To cut a long story short
0:32:48 > 0:32:50# I lost my... #
0:32:53 > 0:32:57But now Spandau Ballet were about to enter their imperial phase.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00This was going to be our tenth performance on Top Of The Pops.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03It's only so many Top Of The Pops that you're allowed
0:33:03 > 0:33:06before you're not really a cult band any more.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12And I'd grown up buying singles, I'd grown up loving Top Of The Pops,
0:33:12 > 0:33:16I'd grown up wanting to be part of that, um...
0:33:16 > 0:33:17that chart.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19Up from four to three, Fascination...
0:33:19 > 0:33:21To take it to the next level,
0:33:21 > 0:33:25Spandau had to take a gamble on a whole new look and sound.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28And number one on the 1,000th edition of Top Of The Pops...
0:33:28 > 0:33:30It's Spandau Ballet and True.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:33:37 > 0:33:40It was a sense of taking a risk, really,
0:33:40 > 0:33:42by doing something so commercial.
0:33:42 > 0:33:43But you have to remember,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46True, at that time, was an original thing to do.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49You know, it was... A blue-eyed, soul thing like that didn't...
0:33:49 > 0:33:51There wasn't much of that going on.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56# Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha... #
0:33:58 > 0:34:02The fact that we were number one on the 1,000th edition
0:34:02 > 0:34:03was very exciting for us.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06Because we knew that was going to be great night,
0:34:06 > 0:34:09a really important night, and it was going out live.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11# So true
0:34:11 > 0:34:14# Funny how it seems
0:34:14 > 0:34:16# Always in time
0:34:16 > 0:34:20# But never in line for dreams... #
0:34:20 > 0:34:23But the new soulful Spandau sound presented the band
0:34:23 > 0:34:26with a challenge when it came to miming.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30There's no bass guitar on True. It's a bass synth.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33But, of course, Martin could not be standing there, not doing anything.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37I then said, "Well, I'll play piano, mime piano,
0:34:37 > 0:34:39"and Martin mimes guitars,"
0:34:39 > 0:34:41which is my part, obviously. Which, if you look at it,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45Martin's kind of not quite sure what he's meant to be playing.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49So it was a bit of a risky one, it looked very different for us.
0:34:49 > 0:34:54# This much is tru-ue This much is tru-ue
0:34:56 > 0:34:58# I know, I know, I know... #
0:34:58 > 0:35:00Being number one on the 1,000th show
0:35:00 > 0:35:02brought with it the ultimate accolade.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06They actually baked a huge great cake,
0:35:06 > 0:35:10and then I think it was Spandau cutting it and it was awkward,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13but it was quite British and it was, you know...
0:35:13 > 0:35:17There was nothing slick about it, so why not?
0:35:19 > 0:35:23Once the cake had been eaten, though, an uneasy truth remained.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27Perhaps it was Top Of The Pops just as much as its acts
0:35:27 > 0:35:30that needed to change with the times.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34It was great that Top Of The Pops had made it that long and that far,
0:35:34 > 0:35:36but at the same time, I think there was a sense of maybe
0:35:36 > 0:35:38it was going through a midlife crisis as well.
0:35:38 > 0:35:43# Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop that crazy rhythm... #
0:35:43 > 0:35:45I think Michael Hurll saw the writing on the wall,
0:35:45 > 0:35:49and I think that's why he was keen to experiment as much as possible.
0:35:49 > 0:35:50How can we do these charts?
0:35:50 > 0:35:53How can we make the charts more entertaining?
0:35:53 > 0:35:55MUSIC: Let's Dance by David Bowie
0:35:56 > 0:35:59The challenge for Top Of The Pops was to find its place
0:35:59 > 0:36:03in this new global video age.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05The first push would always be, "Could you...
0:36:05 > 0:36:08"Could we just have the video on, please?
0:36:08 > 0:36:09"Well, how available are you?"
0:36:09 > 0:36:11"Well, we're not available, we're in Australia,"
0:36:11 > 0:36:14which is what Bowie would've done.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18But then you got nervous, because they might not put your video on,
0:36:18 > 0:36:21and you had to get on the plane and come back and do Top Of The Pops.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26It was much better introducing an artist.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29I was always disappointed when you introduced a video.
0:36:29 > 0:36:30It's the first chance we in Britain
0:36:30 > 0:36:32get to see this video on Top Of The Pops.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35He's at number 17, Michael Jackson, Billie Jean.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42Michael Jackson was at the forefront of this pop video revolution,
0:36:42 > 0:36:44and in 1983, it was his promos
0:36:44 > 0:36:49rather than Michael himself that appeared on Top Of The Pops.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52# I am the one... #
0:36:52 > 0:36:54Michael had become such an acquisition
0:36:54 > 0:36:59and a valuable acquisition that it was impossible to get him over.
0:36:59 > 0:37:04He really focused in on suddenly realising the value of video.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07# She told me her name was Billie Jean
0:37:07 > 0:37:09# And she caused a scene... #
0:37:09 > 0:37:12I totally remember being blown away by seeing Billie Jean
0:37:12 > 0:37:14and the pavement lighting up,
0:37:14 > 0:37:17Michael Jackson just looking beautiful and cool.
0:37:17 > 0:37:18# People always told me
0:37:18 > 0:37:20# Be careful of what you do
0:37:20 > 0:37:24# And don't go around breaking young girls' hearts... #
0:37:24 > 0:37:26He couldn't have done that in the studio. It just...
0:37:26 > 0:37:28It would never have happened.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32# You know, I'm still standing better than I ever did
0:37:32 > 0:37:34# Looking like... #
0:37:34 > 0:37:37Big-budget videos brought some foreign sunshine
0:37:37 > 0:37:41to the Top Of The Pops studio, but it came at a price.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43You wanted your video on Top Of The Pops,
0:37:43 > 0:37:47but Top Of The Pops is dead meat if it's just showing videos
0:37:47 > 0:37:50and there's no-one dancing around the acts.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54Top Of The Pops was now challenged.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56If you don't have a unique performance,
0:37:56 > 0:37:59why watch Top Of The Pops?
0:37:59 > 0:38:03# If our love was just a circus, you'd be a clown by now... #
0:38:03 > 0:38:05What couldn't be denied was that
0:38:05 > 0:38:08pop videos offered drama and a sense of the exotic,
0:38:08 > 0:38:12so one response was to build the programme around them.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15Well, we've had a number of letters from viewers recently who commented
0:38:15 > 0:38:18on the great quality of some of the pop videos around, haven't we, John?
0:38:18 > 0:38:19John?
0:38:19 > 0:38:22Oh, yes, we call this section of the programme the Top-10 Video Show.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24Cute, eh? Well, it was his idea.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33One of the innovations that we brought into Top Of The Pops
0:38:33 > 0:38:35was the video countdown.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38This was a way of, I suppose, embracing what the enemy was doing.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40# This is a sign of the times... #
0:38:40 > 0:38:42Here's the Belle Stars who have just come back from Japan
0:38:42 > 0:38:45where they've been recording some beer commercials.
0:38:45 > 0:38:46They're at number four with Sign Of The Times.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49One of the fears I had at the time was that maybe
0:38:49 > 0:38:50we'd be selling the soul of Top Of The Pops
0:38:50 > 0:38:52for the sake of doing cheaper videos
0:38:52 > 0:38:54rather than having artists in the studio.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59That's Men At Work still number one.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02And I hope you enjoyed that new way of doing the charts
0:39:02 > 0:39:04with moving pictures. If you did, please write in and let us know.
0:39:04 > 0:39:09Another strategy to compete with the international glamour
0:39:09 > 0:39:12of video was to send its presenters to foreign climes.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16At number 16, we have Hoffmann & Hoffmann, Rucksicht -
0:39:16 > 0:39:19this is the German entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22Monsieur? Cheers.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24# Rucksicht
0:39:25 > 0:39:28# Keiner hat das wort gekannt und Nachsicht... #
0:39:28 > 0:39:29Michael said to me...
0:39:29 > 0:39:32He rang up and he said, "You're going to be in Singapore next week?"
0:39:32 > 0:39:34I said yes. He said, "How'd you like to do a chart from Singapore?"
0:39:34 > 0:39:36I said, "Fantastic! I'm going to have my holiday
0:39:36 > 0:39:38"and stay on Top Of The Pops at the same time."
0:39:38 > 0:39:39Welcome to Singapore.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42They call it the Lion City or the Garden City and with good reason
0:39:42 > 0:39:45because, in full bloom, this place is staggeringly beautiful.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48So imagine my disappointment when I discovered that they didn't
0:39:48 > 0:39:51have a singles chart, so I phoned Michael and I said, "Michael,
0:39:51 > 0:39:54"we have a little bit of a problem here. What am I going to do?"
0:39:54 > 0:39:55He said, "Oh, you can busk it."
0:39:55 > 0:39:58Well, despite the relatively cheap cost of LPs and cassettes here,
0:39:58 > 0:40:01some for as little as the cost of a single in the UK,
0:40:01 > 0:40:04pop music is not really as important for Asians
0:40:04 > 0:40:05as it is for us in the UK.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09No-one in the UK, I think, cared about Asian pop at that time.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13No-one cared about the European charts. It felt like...
0:40:13 > 0:40:16It felt like Top Of The Pops were just trying to see what worked.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19Next up, it's a Chinese movie star,
0:40:19 > 0:40:21television personality and song and dance man.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24He's also a heartthrob for millions of Asian women.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27He is called Lam and here he is performing Mirages.
0:40:27 > 0:40:28HE SINGS IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:40:28 > 0:40:32The fact that we never did another chart from a far remote corner
0:40:32 > 0:40:34of the globe tells you something about
0:40:34 > 0:40:36what Michael Hurll may have thought of it.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38HE SINGS IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:40:42 > 0:40:44As well as trying new things,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48a long-standing Top Of The Pops tradition was finally ripped up.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50MUSIC: Rip It Up And Start Again by Orange Juice
0:40:50 > 0:40:52Flick Colby's Zoo were the last incarnation
0:40:52 > 0:40:57of the show's dance troupes, like Pan's People and Legs & Co.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05That November, they strutted their stuff for the last time.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09The dancers were great when you couldn't get the acts over,
0:41:09 > 0:41:12you know, in the '70s or '60s, but once there's a video
0:41:12 > 0:41:14that you can show of that band,
0:41:14 > 0:41:18then why wouldn't you want to watch that rather than six people
0:41:18 > 0:41:21doing their interpretation of it, quite literally, sometimes?
0:41:21 > 0:41:24# I said, rip it up and rip it up
0:41:24 > 0:41:27# Rip it up and rip it up... #
0:41:27 > 0:41:30What didn't disappear was the Top Of The Pops tradition of miming.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40# Out the window
0:41:43 > 0:41:45# Look what's happening... #
0:41:47 > 0:41:48# I'm rocking
0:41:50 > 0:41:51# I'm miming... #
0:41:51 > 0:41:52# I can't break away
0:41:52 > 0:41:54# Though you make me cry
0:41:54 > 0:41:56# I can't break away
0:41:56 > 0:41:58# I can't say goodbye... #
0:41:58 > 0:42:00Even this, though,
0:42:00 > 0:42:02was about to be challenged by a band and a tune
0:42:02 > 0:42:04from the indie underground.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07MUSIC: Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division
0:42:14 > 0:42:17Joy Division had been the epitome of indie cussedness.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26After singer Ian Curtis died in 1980,
0:42:26 > 0:42:29the others reformed as New Order.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34But their attitude remained defiant.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42We were men and women of principle.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46We wanted to change the world, and one way of changing the world
0:42:46 > 0:42:49would be to insist on performing live because
0:42:49 > 0:42:52that's what the problem was with Top Of The Pops, we thought.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54And finally, with Blue Monday,
0:42:54 > 0:42:59there must have been sufficient momentum that somebody relented
0:42:59 > 0:43:04and to teach us a lesson they said, "Yes, you can play it live."
0:43:04 > 0:43:07So we're kicking off with New Order playing live,
0:43:07 > 0:43:09singing live with Blue Monday.
0:43:11 > 0:43:12We thought, "What have we done?"
0:43:12 > 0:43:15I remember Bernard saying, "How are we going to do this live?"
0:43:15 > 0:43:17- It's impossible.- It's impossible. - It's impossible.
0:43:17 > 0:43:25# How does it feel when you treat me like you do?
0:43:25 > 0:43:31# And you've laid your hands upon me and told me who you are... #
0:43:32 > 0:43:37We did a camera run through and because I don't really move
0:43:37 > 0:43:40on keyboards, the cameraman was like...
0:43:40 > 0:43:44He zoomed in on my fingers and then of course I didn't play anything
0:43:44 > 0:43:48and that was wrong, cos it was like all these different bits
0:43:48 > 0:43:52where you hear the keyboard, but I'm not actually playing it.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54Then I didn't move, so that was another...
0:43:54 > 0:43:58- "What are we going to do with her?" - "What are we going to do with her?"
0:43:58 > 0:44:00# And you've laid your hands upon me... #
0:44:00 > 0:44:04I made the cardinal error of looking like we were mining
0:44:04 > 0:44:06but actually playing it live.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09# I thought I was mistaken and I thought... #
0:44:09 > 0:44:12You don't expect New Order to turn up at Top Of The Pops,
0:44:12 > 0:44:17embrace the cheerleaders, get the streamers out and whoo!
0:44:17 > 0:44:19# How do I feel... #
0:44:20 > 0:44:23While the lighting was livelier than the band,
0:44:23 > 0:44:26the BBC sound crew were on New Order's side.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30Absolutely great for me because, all of a sudden,
0:44:30 > 0:44:33from a show that was fairly formulaic...
0:44:34 > 0:44:37..to be given the live band, ears pricked up
0:44:37 > 0:44:39and, "This is going to be exciting."
0:44:41 > 0:44:44My moment of glory was the thunderclap, so I had to swap...
0:44:44 > 0:44:47You had to keep swapping the discs and pressing the buttons.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50I got that wrong and instead of going "bang" it went "aaah!"
0:44:50 > 0:44:52# Aaah! #
0:44:52 > 0:44:53No!
0:44:58 > 0:45:00We'll keep on!
0:45:00 > 0:45:02- It's live.- It's live.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07In a year of slick image and theatrical presentation,
0:45:07 > 0:45:11New Order's machine-driven pop was just a bit...underplayed.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15I remember waiting to go on to do our slot,
0:45:15 > 0:45:17and New Order were about to go on.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20I said to Hooky, "It's great that you're doing this live."
0:45:20 > 0:45:22And he turned round to me and he said,
0:45:22 > 0:45:24"Yeah, you should try it sometime."
0:45:24 > 0:45:26# Now I stand here waiting... #
0:45:26 > 0:45:29I remember thinking about it afterwards, thinking...
0:45:29 > 0:45:32"You're only playing three notes, it can't be that difficult."
0:45:40 > 0:45:42To perform that track,
0:45:42 > 0:45:43in that environment,
0:45:43 > 0:45:47it couldn't have been ideal and...they just did it.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49Their musicianship got them through.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52Or maybe not.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:45:54 > 0:45:57Eventually, in our Top Of The Pops performing career,
0:45:57 > 0:46:00to move on, we realised that it was...
0:46:00 > 0:46:02a little bit too much heartache
0:46:02 > 0:46:04and that, perhaps...
0:46:04 > 0:46:07maybe, if we just stuck to the live vocal...
0:46:07 > 0:46:10- perhaps that would be better. - Yeah, perhaps we should mime a bit.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12Or maybe not even that.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21In June, whether there was a mood for change in the country
0:46:21 > 0:46:23as a whole was put to the test at the ballot box.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27Mrs Thatcher's decision,
0:46:27 > 0:46:30the general election will be on June the 9th.
0:46:30 > 0:46:31Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
0:46:31 > 0:46:35was hoping to secure a second term in Number Ten.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37There aren't many voters inside.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39What there are, are hundreds of members of the media,
0:46:39 > 0:46:42who swarm around the Prime Minister,
0:46:42 > 0:46:43follow her every move -
0:46:43 > 0:46:46and the idea, from the Conservatives' point of view,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48is to get the best possible exposure...
0:46:48 > 0:46:52on the TV news that evening.
0:46:52 > 0:46:53Let's bomb Russia!
0:46:53 > 0:46:55CHEERING
0:46:55 > 0:46:58Let's kick Michael Foot's stick away!
0:46:58 > 0:47:00CHEERING
0:47:00 > 0:47:02The result was a landslide victory
0:47:02 > 0:47:05for Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07Her political vision was consolidated.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11# It's a cruel, cruel, cruel summer...#
0:47:11 > 0:47:14In the aftermath, Labour gained a new leader...
0:47:14 > 0:47:16# Leaving me here on my own
0:47:16 > 0:47:18# It's so cruel... #
0:47:18 > 0:47:20..as well as a future Prime Minister.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22The image of the Labour Party's
0:47:22 > 0:47:25got to be an image that's more dynamic, more modern,
0:47:25 > 0:47:27more suited to the 1980s.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35But in the summer heat, the mood seemed relaxed.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38Even Paul Weller, once the angry young man of pop,
0:47:38 > 0:47:42now appeared laidback in the new, hedonistic present.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45# They tell me that it helps
0:47:45 > 0:47:48# But I know when I'm beaten... #
0:47:48 > 0:47:51If you watch Long Hot Summer, he's...
0:47:51 > 0:47:54you know, he's riding around topless in a punt, going down the Cam,
0:47:54 > 0:47:56and he's just enjoying it.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58You can see the look on his face, actually.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01I think it was quite a relief for a lot of these acts.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03# Don't matter what I do
0:48:03 > 0:48:09# Cos I end up hurting you... #
0:48:10 > 0:48:14From Number One magazine, we got Boy George to style Paul Weller
0:48:14 > 0:48:17and did a cover with him in, sort of, fake furs and things,
0:48:17 > 0:48:20which is not a look that had ever gone down with The Jam.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23# Club Tropicana drinks are free... #
0:48:23 > 0:48:26Britain swooned by day...
0:48:26 > 0:48:28# There's enough for everyone... #
0:48:28 > 0:48:31But by night, it partied,
0:48:31 > 0:48:35and no-one captured that summer vibe better than Wham!
0:48:37 > 0:48:39Club Tropicana is all about the video.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43It just felt really exotic.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45They went to Ibiza, they were in the pool, there's cocktails,
0:48:45 > 0:48:47there's girls in swimsuits.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49You couldn't do any of that in the Top Of The Pops studio.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55That didn't stop Top Of The Pops from trying.
0:48:55 > 0:48:57# Fun and sunshine
0:48:57 > 0:48:58# There's enough for everyone. #
0:48:58 > 0:49:00Michael Hurll had seen the Club Tropicana video
0:49:00 > 0:49:02and he was very impressed by it,
0:49:02 > 0:49:05and he decided he'd rather like to recreate
0:49:05 > 0:49:07the atmosphere of the video in the studio.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10So, it was set out as a club
0:49:10 > 0:49:13with people at chairs and tables, apparently drinking.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21In the corner was a girl in a shower.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25Unfortunately, the shower tray started leaking
0:49:25 > 0:49:27over the studio floor
0:49:27 > 0:49:30and everything had to be stopped and mopped up, and...
0:49:30 > 0:49:33started again, but it was good fun.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35# Please, please tell me now... #
0:49:37 > 0:49:40Causing a splash on the other side of the Atlantic
0:49:40 > 0:49:43were bands at the forefront of this new British pop,
0:49:43 > 0:49:47spearheading a second British invasion of the States.
0:49:47 > 0:49:49Did you expect this sort of fantastic reception?
0:49:49 > 0:49:50No.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53In short, no.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55And their calling card was video,
0:49:55 > 0:49:58perfect for the young MTV generation.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07What we noticed, in '83,
0:50:07 > 0:50:10was that the states that had MTV...
0:50:10 > 0:50:14we were huge amongst young girls,
0:50:14 > 0:50:17there was a real "fan" thing that happened to us.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20In California, we did a Tower Records signing.
0:50:20 > 0:50:21It was just mental.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25My God, I can't breathe! I can't breathe!
0:50:25 > 0:50:29Our experience was, as MTV spread, so did British acts,
0:50:29 > 0:50:31because British acts were younger,
0:50:31 > 0:50:33they were willing to make the videos,
0:50:33 > 0:50:36they looked cool and that added to the power.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39For this generation of teenagers,
0:50:39 > 0:50:43this combination of fashion, videos and music was so exciting
0:50:43 > 0:50:45and Britain got there first,
0:50:45 > 0:50:49and it dominated the world in it in 1983.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53Not every British band, though,
0:50:53 > 0:50:56was prepared to embrace the new exotic of the video age
0:50:56 > 0:50:58in their pursuit of chart glory.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02A lot of those videos, at that time...
0:51:02 > 0:51:05You know, whether you're in the Seychelles or you're in Sri Lanka
0:51:05 > 0:51:07and it's on the boat and you're clinging onto the mast...
0:51:07 > 0:51:09# Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand... #
0:51:09 > 0:51:11What...are you on about?
0:51:13 > 0:51:16It doesn't say anything. That was the beauty of The Smiths.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20The beauty of The Smiths' lyrics is that it brought home
0:51:20 > 0:51:22the reality of life.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27In keeping with this down-to-earth attitude,
0:51:27 > 0:51:29rather than send in a video,
0:51:29 > 0:51:31The Smiths made their debut in person
0:51:31 > 0:51:34in the Top Of The Pops studio in November.
0:51:34 > 0:51:36What a charming man and, talking of charming men,
0:51:36 > 0:51:39at number 30 this week, these are The Smiths.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41CHEERING
0:51:45 > 0:51:47The intro to This Charming Man...
0:51:47 > 0:51:50HE HUMS INTRO
0:51:50 > 0:51:52What's going on there?!
0:51:52 > 0:51:55# Punctured bicycle on a hillside... #
0:51:55 > 0:51:59The whole song had a great, kind of, finger-snapping feel to it.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02# Will nature make a man of me yet? #
0:52:02 > 0:52:03It had more of a pop-y feel
0:52:03 > 0:52:05than a lot of the other stuff that we'd done.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08It seemed as though it was our, kind of, conduit to the mainstream.
0:52:09 > 0:52:14# This charming man... #
0:52:15 > 0:52:18The first time we'd seen Morrissey with his shirt undone,
0:52:18 > 0:52:20whirling some flowers around his head,
0:52:20 > 0:52:24and it was one of the few moments I think of that year.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27# I would go out tonight
0:52:27 > 0:52:31# But I haven't got a stitch to wear... #
0:52:31 > 0:52:33They were not shiny pop.
0:52:33 > 0:52:34They were something a bit more,
0:52:34 > 0:52:36and they were something a bit edgier,
0:52:36 > 0:52:40but they were still young and it still felt fresh.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43# Should care... #
0:52:43 > 0:52:45Ah!
0:52:45 > 0:52:47# A jumped-up country boy... #
0:52:47 > 0:52:50But the band looked and sounded very different
0:52:50 > 0:52:53to the majority of the acts on Top Of The Pops that year.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56We were in the green room and there was a couple of girls there
0:52:56 > 0:52:57and they were saying to me,
0:52:57 > 0:53:00"Are you in one of the bands that's playing on Top Of The Pops?"
0:53:00 > 0:53:01I was proud as anything, I said,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04"Yeah, yeah, I'm in one of the bands, called The Smiths."
0:53:04 > 0:53:06# I would go out tonight
0:53:06 > 0:53:09# But I haven't got a stitch to wear. #
0:53:09 > 0:53:11I said, "We're just going to go on now."
0:53:11 > 0:53:12And she looked me up and down, and said,
0:53:12 > 0:53:14"When are you going to get changed?"
0:53:18 > 0:53:20About two-thirds of the way through the performance,
0:53:20 > 0:53:23Morrissey's got some gladioli and he's swinging them round...
0:53:23 > 0:53:25and a balloon comes.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28As he's swinging it round, it catches the air.
0:53:28 > 0:53:30I can see it coming towards me
0:53:30 > 0:53:33and I was thinking, "That's all right, it's just a balloon."
0:53:33 > 0:53:35And then I'm like, "Hold on a minute,"
0:53:35 > 0:53:38and it comes straight in here and it nestles, just right there.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40# He knows so much about these things... #
0:53:40 > 0:53:42And I'm playing, and I'm petrified,
0:53:42 > 0:53:45cos normally, I'd just knock it out of the way
0:53:45 > 0:53:46but, because it's Top Of The Pops,
0:53:46 > 0:53:49I just froze and I thought, "I hope nobody can see that."
0:53:59 > 0:54:01CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:54:01 > 0:54:02# Ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma
0:54:02 > 0:54:06# Ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma... # Chorus.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10# Ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma
0:54:10 > 0:54:12# Ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma
0:54:12 > 0:54:14# Ba-ma, ba-ma... #
0:54:14 > 0:54:16And so on, for another three times.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18And the idea of doing all those "ba-ma, ba-mas"...
0:54:18 > 0:54:21# Ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma... #
0:54:21 > 0:54:23..it was fun. It took us ages to get right, didn't it, actually?
0:54:23 > 0:54:25Yeah. Yeah.
0:54:25 > 0:54:26Cos one person was doing the...
0:54:26 > 0:54:30# Ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma... #
0:54:30 > 0:54:31And another person was doing a...
0:54:31 > 0:54:34# Ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma, ba-ma... #
0:54:34 > 0:54:36# Ba-da-da-da...#
0:54:36 > 0:54:38But it seemed to work.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40- # Ba-da - Ba-da
0:54:40 > 0:54:43- # Ba-da-da-da... - Da-da-da-da #
0:54:43 > 0:54:47As Christmas loomed, three minutes of fame beckoned
0:54:47 > 0:54:48for The Flying Pickets -
0:54:48 > 0:54:53a bunch of left-wing actors turned unlikely pop stars.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56# All I needed for another day... #
0:54:56 > 0:54:59And if '83 was a year for reinvention,
0:54:59 > 0:55:01it was apt that their song was a reinterpretation...
0:55:01 > 0:55:03# When I see you... #
0:55:03 > 0:55:06..of a hit for Yazoo, from the previous year,
0:55:06 > 0:55:07that peaked at number two.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10# All I needed was the love you gave
0:55:10 > 0:55:12# All I needed... #
0:55:12 > 0:55:15I liked the idea of taking something that was very synthesized
0:55:15 > 0:55:18and doing it for voices.
0:55:18 > 0:55:19# Only you... #
0:55:21 > 0:55:24And it's Only You by The Flying Pickets, live in the studio.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28- Here they are. - APPLAUSE
0:55:28 > 0:55:29# Ba-da-da-da... #
0:55:29 > 0:55:31The Flying Pickets went one better,
0:55:31 > 0:55:34reaching number one in the second week of December,
0:55:34 > 0:55:39but had they peaked too soon in the race for the Christmas number one?
0:55:39 > 0:55:42# I believe in woman
0:55:42 > 0:55:44# My, oh, my. #
0:55:44 > 0:55:47The race hotted up when a familiar bunch of faces
0:55:47 > 0:55:51made their annual tilt for the top spot.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56# Don't a woman need a man?
0:55:56 > 0:56:00# Try and catch one if you can
0:56:00 > 0:56:03# I believe in woman
0:56:03 > 0:56:04# My, oh, my. #
0:56:04 > 0:56:08But with a week to go, The Flying Pickets upped their game.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10# All I needed was the love you gave... #
0:56:10 > 0:56:12At the height of the video age,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15a group willing to turn up every week was a godsend,
0:56:15 > 0:56:19especially if they were willing to put on a bit of a show.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21# Only you... #
0:56:21 > 0:56:23We were never cool,
0:56:23 > 0:56:26and dressing up as snowmen isn't cool, so they...
0:56:26 > 0:56:28I think they all thought we were a bit barmy.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31# Wonder if you'll understand
0:56:31 > 0:56:33# It's just the touch of your hand... #
0:56:33 > 0:56:35It was my idea to say,
0:56:35 > 0:56:38- "What if we just melt at the end?" - Yes.- "That would be a good idea."
0:56:38 > 0:56:42- Yeah.- I think it was my idea. - Probably, you're full of good ideas.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44# Ba-da-da-da... #
0:56:45 > 0:56:49Come the day of reckoning, producer Michael Hurll was a bit gutted.
0:56:49 > 0:56:50Well, I'm so disappointed,
0:56:50 > 0:56:53I would have liked a new number-one record for Christmas.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56We've now had The Flying Pickets for four weeks...
0:56:56 > 0:56:59and I suppose, really, I hoped Slade would be number one,
0:56:59 > 0:57:02because it has a Christmassy feel to it.
0:57:02 > 0:57:04# Ba-da-da-da
0:57:04 > 0:57:06# Ba-da-da-da... #
0:57:06 > 0:57:09So, in a year of change at Top Of The Pops,
0:57:09 > 0:57:13the Christmas number one wasn't by one of the new pop peacocks,
0:57:13 > 0:57:17there wasn't a synthesizer in sight, and there was no exotic video.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22Instead, six 30-somethings with dodgy haircuts
0:57:22 > 0:57:25were happy to turn up in the studio and hum.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30I remember hearing it a lot that Christmas.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34Every flipping shop you went into was playing it, which...
0:57:34 > 0:57:37I got a bit tired of it in the end.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39The Christmas number one is a great tradition.
0:57:39 > 0:57:42I think it was significantly more than just having had...
0:57:42 > 0:57:44A CHRISTMAS number one.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47- Not just a number one, but a CHRISTMAS number one.- Yeah.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51# Ba-da-da-da
0:57:51 > 0:57:53# Ba-da-da-da
0:57:53 > 0:57:56# Ba-da-da-da
0:57:56 > 0:57:57# Ba-da-da-da... #
0:57:57 > 0:58:01And so 1983 came to a close on a melancholic note,
0:58:01 > 0:58:05with an IRA bomb killing six at Harrods in London.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11And at Greenham Common, the protestors continued their vigil.
0:58:12 > 0:58:18But 1984 would see Top Of The Pops regain its confidence and bounce.
0:58:18 > 0:58:19# Relax, don't do it
0:58:19 > 0:58:21# When you want to go to it
0:58:21 > 0:58:23# Relax, don't do it
0:58:23 > 0:58:25# When you want to come... #
0:58:25 > 0:58:30A controversial debut single would climax at number one...
0:58:30 > 0:58:33# Relax, don't do it
0:58:33 > 0:58:35# When you want to come... #
0:58:35 > 0:58:38..a young pop princess from New York
0:58:38 > 0:58:40would make a memorable first appearance...
0:58:42 > 0:58:44# Relax, don't do it
0:58:44 > 0:58:46# When you want to go to it... #
0:58:46 > 0:58:48..and new pop's aristocracy
0:58:48 > 0:58:51would put aside their rivalries for a good cause
0:58:51 > 0:58:53on the mother of all Christmas singles.
0:58:55 > 0:58:57# Relax, don't do it
0:58:57 > 0:58:59# When you want to suck to it
0:58:59 > 0:59:01# Relax, don't do it
0:59:03 > 0:59:05# One more time...
0:59:05 > 0:59:07Hey!
0:59:11 > 0:59:13# Come. #