1979: You'd imagine getting Legs & Co to dance to Neil Diamond's Forever In Blue Jeans would be simple enough to costume, right? Wrong - as the blurb clarifies, they went the roundabout route to promoting denim. None of them are actually wearing jeans. Gonzalez's horn section more than make up for that, even though the actions at 1:42 might lead you to wonder whether that man knows what a trumpet is actually for, while the front four make up the spectrum of disco robes.
1984: Here's an awkward gear change, as the audience are required to go from party people to respectful onlookers at The Special AKA's Nelson Mandela. They can't, obviously. Mike Reid attempts comedy at the end, the reason for which is the pacifist leanings of Captain Sensible. The good Captain's usual vocal backing Dolly Mixture were many things - a perfectly decent post-punk band in their own right, for one - but convincing miming evidently wasn't a strength. Reid clearly fancied himself that week - you know, like every week - as he 'plays' us into the Thompson Twins, with Tom Bailey's accessorised leather jacket - what does it say on the back? - and a backdrop that runs off sync. The bands on that stage seem to be getting much less space than usual from the camera perspective, something that doesn't play well if you're Jim Kerr of Simple Minds and want to use all the space available to pose in.
1 comment:
Yeah, for some reason in February and March 1984 Pops seemed to be confined to a much smaller studio than usual so the sets were all squashed together, I dunno why.
I'm always surprised how they were able to play Free Nelson Mandela on Pops, and do it in such a frantic atmosphere as well like a rally, the second performance even more so. Surely the Beeb would have thought it was too political? Ace song, though.
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