1st October

1981: "Something you've been wanting to do all week" claims Mike Read, perhaps a masochist. Much is left unexplained about The Tweets, including what Legs & Co are doing there. It's hard to think of a greater disparity on a pop show than between the Birdie Song and The Creatures, nominature aside. Mind you, it'd be hard to think of anything pop that could easily lead into Siouxsie in big hair and thigh-high boots leading an entirely percussive two minutes. Not quite as big hair as Toyah's, though, and hers would stand out in a crowded room. She's not actually being electrocuted towards the end, that's the magic of BBC SFX. Denied suffient volume and combing, Altered Images' Clare Grogan instead dons as wide brimmed a hat as she can find, one with string under the chin as if bought from a seafront.

1987: More backcombing. Not, this time, by Sisters Of Mercy's Andrew Eldritch, who seems to be channelling Iggy Pop to the obvious delight of one keen clapper at the front. That version is from an insert for the shortlived US TOTP, included for the pointless length of Gary Davies' new intro. Turning the world upside down, Gary Numan ("their father taught (Numan) to fly!" - worth knowing) strapped on a guitar while The Bee Gees' Robin played something that clearly wasn't a guitar - a STEPP DGX MIDI guitar synth controller, in fact - but he was going to play it like one nevertheless.

1992: Crowded House arrived Fed-Ex and had to play where their parcel was opened. No such set designs for rugged old Status Quo, from the period where they decreed a single wasn't worth it unless it was a medley. Not sure I agree with Steve Wright (no, really) that Dr Alban is "bizarre" as such, but he's still trying to convince us there's guitar on the track. What is bizarre is Andrew Lloyd Webber's attempt at cracking the novelty dance market, Dr Spin. Imagine the looks when those costumes arrived.

1999: Live from Newcastle, Kelle Bryan didn't get the clothing memo.