Thursday September 30, 1982: At 7.35pm millions of people settle down in their living rooms to watch Top of the Pops, BBC One's weekly music programme that provides a shared experience up and down the country; from the parents complaining about the musical output or the clothing worn, to kids discussing the programme the next day at school.
As Yellow Pearl by Phil Lynott kicks in, the lights flash, and the records flying towards us are obliterated, the anticipation builds. Who will be presenting the show? Who will be performing? And which dancers will be able to thrust themselves towards the cameras whilst retaining a tiny bit of their dignity?
This edition of the show is slightly different, as the first presenter David "Kid" Jensen explains in his Canadian accent. "Today it's Radio One's 15th anniversary, and to help celebrate, all my Radio One colleagues are here to help introduce the hits. And we kick off with Dexys Midnight Runners and Jackie Wilson Said."
It had been a big year for Dexys Midnight Runners & The Emerald Express. Their previous single Come On Eileen had been a number one for four weeks in the UK, and would later reach the top spot of the US Billboard charts. The biggest selling UK song of 1982, it will become a firm favourite of many a family party as the years roll on.
As the camera pans round to the stage, lead singer Kevin Rowland starts singing Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile), a cover of Van Morrison's 1972 original. Currently the song is No. 26 in the charts, but with the success of the band in 1982, this will peak at No. 5 in the coming weeks.
"Der der der der der der, Der der der der der," Rowland mouths, although in truth we all know he is miming like everyone else on the programme at that time. "Jackie Wilson said it was 'Reet Petite', I kind of love you, Yes it knocks me off my feet, Let it all come down."
Hang on. Rewind that a minute. In the background, behind the dancers swaying and clapping along to the tune, it appears as if there is a large picture of a familiar face. Yet this is the sort of thing we should be seeing in the Picture Board round during Question of Sport. Because the image displayed behind Rowland is that of John Thomas Wilson.
If 1982 had been an annus mirabilis for Dexys, then the same could be said for Scottish darts player Jocky Wilson. Winning the World Championships in Stoke at the start of the year, Wilson was a recognisable face of the sport, along with Eric Bristow, John Lowe, and Bobby George. But why on earth was he making a cameo appearance on Top of the Pops?
"I saw this big picture of Jocky Wilson, the darts player, where Dexys Midnight Runners were, and I thought 'that's a bit odd'" Jensen explains on Top of the Pops: The Story of 1982. "I thought, wait a minute, it's not Jocky Wilson, it's Jackie Wilson."
Had the producers of the programme made a massive error? Jackie and Jocky do sound fairly similar, but why would Dexys be singing a song about the cigarette and alcohol loving darts player with a toothy grin? And surely someone in Dexys or their record label would have spotted this glaring mistake?
Source: Dailymotion
On the Story of 1982, Dexys banjo player Kevin "Billy" Adams reveals the real reason behind the mysterious incident. "An in-joke within the band was to call it Jocky Wilson. I think someone said at rehearsals one time 'Jocky Wilson said I'm in heaven when you smile'." The seeds had been planted for the famous moment in television history.
Dexys were seen as a fairly serious band. According to violinist Helen O'Hara, Rowland instructed his fellow band members to ignore other artists on Top of the Pops and to wear their stage outfits in everyday life, as a commitment to the image of the group. Yet it would be Rowland that came up with the Jocky Wilson idea.
"At Top of the Pops, Kevin said 'I wonder if they'll go for this?'," Adams recalls. Approaching producer Michael Hurll with the plan to show a picture of Jocky Wilson, Rowland indicated in a 2002 interview with the Guardian that initially the response was hesitant. "'But Kevin, people will think we have made a mistake'. I told him only an idiot would think that," Rowland states.
But come the next day, Radio One DJ Mike Read was one voice questioning the BBC. "Bloody Top of the Pops. How could they mix up one of the great soul singers with a Scottish darts player?" Adams explains Read was not alone in his criticism.
"Later that week, a couple of the newspapers started saying 'How could the BBC make this ridiculous mistake?'." The joke looked like it had backfired. "When the BBC saw the negative press they got, we heard via the record company that they weren't happy that they'd been made to look foolish, and that might reflect on any more chances to play on Top of the Pops for us," Adams adds.
Adams concludes by saying that the band never went on the programme again, although they did appear in April 1983 singing The Celtic Soul Brothers, and in 1986 they performed the theme tune to Brush Strokes. But sometimes it is easy to cement a new reality in your head when a tale like this is often repeated.
The version of the story that is frequently churned out is that the Top of the Pops staff made an unbelievable error in putting up a picture of Jocky Wilson. Interestingly, the TOTP2 programme that was launched in 1994 showed this performance by Dexys, describing it as "one of the biggest cock-ups in Top of the Pops history."
Source: YouTube
"Dart player Jocky Wilson's face was projected onto the back to the studio. No-one in the band seemed to notice or care," the information panel highlights on TOTP2. Well, at least these myths can now be put to bed. This was no cock-up and the producers and band were fully aware of what they were doing. Unfortunately, not everyone was game for a laugh.
Sometimes sport and music are not great bedfellows. But the brief relationship between Dexys and Jocky Wilson rightly goes down in television folklore. I'm in heaven when you smile. Well the appearance of Jocky Wilson grinning on a big screen on Top of the Pops continues to make me smile at least.
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