When it was said of Goody Two Shoes that it was only one of two performances on the show I could think of, the floodgates didn't exactly swing wide open but the notion was disabused none the less. There was Fun Boy Three and Bananarama facing off like a percussive pop chanting Jets and Sharks, and of course the studied chaos of Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, but most glaring of the walkabouts was Cyndi's debut. She's fully committed to acting it out from the start, though the audience members up there seem surprised to find her among them despite the presence of a cameraman already. Then there's some comedy percussion that may have influenced Vic and Bob, and down the other side to a stage at right angles to the rest of the studio with some dancers behind her who must have won a raffle or something, they're definitely not there for their interpretative ability. This was suggested by Paul Dumont, who points out that its sense of occasion was heightened as it was number two in a week TOTP couldn't play the number one, Relax, as it was banned.
2 comments:
Oh, I'd completely forgotten about this one when it comes to walkabouts, which is brilliant...
http://youtu.be/pBRPJZBimdo
This was the eighth time Frankie performed Two Tribes on Pops so clearly they were up for anything, and this is fabulous fun, talk about pushing the boat out.
The deckchair's there because Tracey Ullman was doing Sunglasses earlier in the show. I remember a rumour a few years back that this show had been wiped because they'd never shown any of it on TOTP2, even this brilliant clip.
I guess there were a couple of reasons why more acts didn't do more performing walkabouts in TC3.
On a visual level, it showed up 'the other side of the screen' and just how tatty and ramshacked the sets looked and were constructed (gaffer tape and badly welded joints on display on the balcony can be observed here).
Plus on a technical level, to direct a fast moving walkabout, you can't do that with the old clunky Link125 cameras pointing up at the acts on manouvers from floor level.
Technocranes or Hothead Jibs were still around 5 years away, and PSC handhelds (which was in use here) were still a novelty and mainly in use on the sprawling Saturday Morning BBC One kiddie programme (hey, remember them?!)
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