As a bit of a diversion from the relentless chronological trudge through the early ’80s editions of TOTP, and because it’s nearly Christmas, here’s a quick distraction with the Christmas Day edition from 1985, courtesy of a seemingly apropos-of-nothing repeat on Channel Five back in 2010. Remember the days when it wasn’t on BBC Four twice a week? Anyway, we’re in a curious limbo here as the flying coloured discs era, now familiar from the 1981 and ’82 editions, has been reimagined into a swirling tunnel of coloured light, with the 1981 opening sequence playing on a CRT TV screen which twists and twirls as if desperately trying to escape the future’s irresistible pull. Or something. Although this is new to us in this context, it’s about be replaced in 1986 by an entirely new sequence set to Paul Hardcastle’s The Wizard, so make the most of it while you can. Being Christmas Day we’re looking back at the hits of the year that listeners to Absolute ’80s voted the best of the decade. Watch as we prove them wrong.
Dec152016
