1981: Five days before Bucks Fizz had won Eurovision, making their victory lap something of a triumph of the polyester will. And that iconic moment? They, er, don't do it, which means even Saxon come with more showbiz flourishes, what with Biff Byford's New York Dolls-cribbed stance and the guitar swing on its axis while the bassist spends the whole thing hopping from foot to foot in an attempt to dissuade attention from his balding with tache look. Public Image Ltd always brought something offbeam to their performances, this time an impromptu avant-garde mini-string section and what looks like parts and costumes borrowed from a mad scientist's lair. The attempt to put some visual effects in only cheapen it.
1987: For a record produced to the most exacting standards of AOR The Rainmakers' frontman Bob Walkenhorst seemed to see himself as a loose cannon in his patchwork jacket, midway continuity-buggering adoption of a top hat and whooping ad libs. Because it was the mid-80s one of the band is wearing a headband. And then there's Blow Monkeys' Dr Robert, going for the classic combination of crimson jacket and heavily feathered choker like he's Prince or something. That stool is comically high too, doubtless for effect but he must have needed a stepladder. Terence Trent D'Arby's dancing has been noted before, but by this time at 1:10 he completely neglects the miming angle.
2004: Eminem made his Pops studio debut on this day in 1999 with My Name Is but I can't find that online. Five years later he came back mob-handed with D12, and note the absolute audience silence whenever anyone else is rapping.
2006: After a horribly stilted attempt at proxy praise by Rufus Hound, The Crimea fly the flag for slightly baffling booking (not like the show needed to fill a guitar band gap either, Belle & Sebastian were also on that week). Davey McManus will take them all on if necessary.
1 comment:
Yes! I've been looking for that Crimea performance for bloody ages, only to find it's been on YouTube forever. Davey MacManus needs to label his videos better, given the low number of hits. It is ace, though, probably the last time a band got on who nobody had heard of on a quiet week.
That D12 song is rather ungraciously about how everybody's only bothered about Eminem rather than his dull bandmates, and was rather brilliantly trailed the previous week as "EMINEM! Watch EMINEM next week of Top of the Pops as EMINEM performs HIS new single!". Ofcom later kicked off about some of the gestures in that performance but the Beeb said they did it in rehearsal and they told them not to on the show, but they did anyway. I think there's some swearing in it too.
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