5 November 1981: Presenter – Peter Powell: Broadcast BBC Four 27/05/2016 (Thanks to POPSCENE for the running order)
(45) Modern Romance – “Ay Ay Ay Ay Moosey”
(3) The Police – “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
(47) The Dukes – “Mystery Girl”
(26) Rush – “Tom Sawyer”
(44) The Jets – “Yes Tonight Josephine”
(30) ELO – “Twilight” (Zoo)
(21) Julio Iglesias – “Begin The Beguine”
(50) ABC – “Tears Are Not Enough”
(1) Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin – “It’s My Party”
(5) The Four Tops – “When She Was My Girl”
It’s the full launch of the new era (should that be error?) for Michael Hurl’s Top Of The Pops, and there’s two debut performances to look out for.
First debut is Zoo. Flick Colby's new repertory dance troupe feature anything from one to about twenty members depending on the record, including - gasp! - some men (remember how well that went down when Ruby Flipper tried it?). Their debut here is pretty underwhelming, but, err, interesting, as would be the case with many of their routines. Their arrival is also accompanied by the introduction of the Pops cheerleaders, regularly elbowing gormless punters out of the way so they could get their boat in front of the camera. While this is all a bit cynical, when they get it right it can look tremendously exciting. An example is this episode which has some fire eaters to make sure the party atmosphere doesn’t get extinguished... or become a damp squid.
Second debut and much more impressive are ABC. The gold lamé jacket hasn’t made it into Martin Fry’s wardrobe yet, and the song “Tears Are Not Enough” sounds just a little undercooked. It takes the arrival of Trevor Horn to do his magic and polish the band with later singles like “Poison Arrow” and "The Look of Love”.
Julio Iglesias sings “Begin The Beguine”. A Beguine was originally a Christian lay woman of the 13th or 14th century living in a religious community without formal vows, but in the creole of the Caribbean, especially in Martinique and Guadeloupe, the term came to mean "white woman", and then to be applied to a style of music and dance, and in particular a slow, close couples' dance.
It’s an old song that suggests sexual dalliance, or seduction, and an aural invitation to take to the dance floor at a time when the foxtrot was all the rage. It was written by Cole Porter and musically, it has an unconventional length and structure. Josephine Baker danced to it in her return to America in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1936. Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, and Elvis Presley have all recorded versions of the song. So has Pete Townshend, Johnny Mathis, Sammy Davis Jr, and Dionne Warwick. In fact, it’s easier to name artists that have not recorded this song. Julio Iglesias's 1981 version, and we get to see the video tonight, reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1981.
Finally, Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin are still No. 1 with “It’s My Party”. For a cover version it’s ok, but why does Dave have to play that horrible huge keytar? Like double neck guitars, they are the musical instruments of the devil.
The Four Tops on 'Top Of The Pops' 1971 Levi Stubbs, Renaldo 'Obie' Benson, Abdul 'Duke' Fakir and Lawrence Payton