11th September

1980: "Music with a difference" this week, apparently, starting with the Skids, Richard Jobson this time in his cricket whites not sure whether to remain in straight-laced character or not. His band long decided otherwise. Even then in costuming terms he's well behind both the two girls with Flock Of Seagulls hair before Ian Dury & The Blockheads and the band themselves. The band self-introduction intro lent itself to doing something to camera. Wilko Johnson, inevitably, steals the show. Richard Skinner pops in to run through the week's pop news before Shakin’ Stevens takes advantage of time honoured camera-shot-in-camera-shot effects to launch his look for the next decade. Now, this is what Jimmy must have meant, Splodgenessabounds covering Two Little Boys with strict uncoordination. Who can say what guests Robin and Maurice Gibb would have made of it as they come on afterwards to be talked to, not the opposite, by Jim before the strictly colour-coded Split Enz. Legs & Co just had time to pop down the novelty shop and buy some plastic ten gallon stetsons to offset the costumes, if you can call them that, in which they danced to Elvis Presley. Some extraordinary face pulling to express the lyrics here.

1986: The Psychedelic Furs demonstrate a very 80s rock on TV trope, the guitarist and bassist gathering around the singer's mike to join in on the chorus.

1998: You wouldn't have thought much could compete with Courtney Love for playing to camera style when Hole are in town, but drummer Samantha Maloney seems intent on staring us down at a couple of points. Courtney makes sure she gets the last extended word, though. In contrast someone must have been concerned about All Saints' relative charisma (alright, more likely Melanie Blatt's sixth month of pregnancy, but surely the others didn't need to be restrained) as they get kept at the back behind some street dancers.

2005: Franz Ferdinand experimented with a band uniform for a little bit but found nothing gets a crowd going like Alex Kapranos standing on a bass drum. A good deal more displacement activity was carried out by Arcade Fire ("this is proof that the world is ending" - Win Butler on the prospect), a barnstorming live performance on a stage literally, it turns out, too small for everyone. Suggs seems unimpressed at the end, mind, carrying on with the next bit of autocue however much sense it makes.