we are, i believe, approaching or near enough to all that christmas stuff to justify presenting a very much christmas related moment from pop history. a most peculiar and interesting one, look you see. or, at the least i think so.
the eighties (80s) were a glorious time for pop. it was very much an era of flaunt it, to go bigger, bolder, more exotic, outrageous and attention grabbing as possible. go big or go home, it all was. pop stars embraced being megastars and truly thrived on it. sadly, this seems all gone now. maybe it's just because the constant stream of information and social media just doesn't make them special no more.
for who won the overall battle of the decade, who was the most outrageous, who was the most flamboyant and grandiose to attract all the attention, i know not. hard to determine the greatest of them all. but still, rather not worry on who or what was the best, just enjoy all the moments. like, for instance, that time they put an ostensible pop star on a plane and asked them to perform.
oh, yes. i am indeed speaking of that time in the mid-80s (i forget when, exactly, but possibly 85) when excess got to the stage of throwing no less than Feargal Sharkey on a plane, asking him to perform a bit as it flew over the sky of london (innit), for where else would they do such at the time.
being (or to be) fair, this was a grand, ambitious, bold and most importantly fun move. indulgence was the go, and no one was really whining all that much about excess or waste. why would you not shove a pop star in a plane and have it fly around for the sole purpose of a three minute song was the mantra, or motto, of the era. how i miss those days.
although, that said, as it turned out there was (very) good reason as to why you would not shove a pop star on a plane and ask them to perform. no, not even those reasons, the saucy things what the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Stones were rather (in)famous for on planes in the 70s. more a practical reason, but rather watch what happened rather than me just write it all.
so yes, then, on a plane, a pop star cannot really hear the feedback or monitor sound, so is (as was the case back then, think it was something to do with unions and "live" music on the tele) unable to mime along to the tape of the tune. oh dear.
quite class, that is. i mean, if you are going to put a pop star (and band) on a plane to do a song, yes, maybe, just maybe test it before broadcasting the effort live? surely it wouldn't have been a bad idea to do a bit of a test run, make sure there was no technical issue with doing what they planned? going full tilt billy ho with it was brave and ambitious, but ultimately only created a moment remembered for reasons perhaps not intended.
if you are going to have a pop show on a plane, then yes, only the (very) best of the best should be on board to present it. which is why, yes indeed, that is (oooooh) Gary Davies (on your radio) acting as the presenter, or master of ceremonies if you like, of it all.
many thanks indeed to whoever had the good idea to do a video of this fantastic incident, and of course also to them what went and put it on the internet, making it possible to share here.
no, so far as i am aware, this idea was never ever tried again. so, in a very real sense, i guess Feargal Sharkey reigns supreme as giving the best ever live top of the pops performance off of a plane. that he equally holds the title of worst ever such performance is simply being picky.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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