| Talk Show Appearances - 1984 | ||
| Sunday
Sunday, Jan. 8 Tonight Show, Feb. 17 Late Night with David Letterman, Apr. 30 ASPEL & COMPANY, July 1984 Clicking on the thumbnail images will cause larger versions of the images to open in a separate window.
Sunday Sunday was a talk show that aired on London Weekend Television during the 1980s. This interview is included in the UK DVD release of Girls On Top - The Complete Series. As the segment begins, Tracey comes out on stage and sits across from host Gloria Hunniford, who likes the big bag she carried in with her and loves the video for "Move Over Darling." How involved was she in the production? "I write them," says Tracey, getting a delayed laugh from the audience, though she mentions that Stiff Records head Dave Robinson also contributes some ideas. The videos take about a day to make, and they try to work in any funny ideas or situations they may encounter. Spontaneity makes for a better product (though the hanging from the mirrorball bit was planned). Gloria observes that Tracey is very much into the '60s thing, the frocks and all that. This prompts her to point out that she's just a baby, having recently turned 24. All she can remember of the '60s is her mother going out clubbing on a Saturday night, wearing a miniskirt, going twisting with auntie Irene. She and her sister could stay up to watch The Saint but then had to go to bed, and she'd remember Roger Moore going through a disco where the crazy kids were wearing Lurex frocks with big hoops in the middle [sounds like her outfit from "They Don't Know" -- RR]. And this love of the '60s extends to the music. Tracey says she'd receive lots of new songs for consideration for her next single, but she doesn't like them as much as the older songs. There's nothing wrong with Toyah or Kate Bush, but they didn't have the impact on her that Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield, Sandie Shaw or Lulu did. Gloria then asks if she was a performing child. Yes, Tracey explains, she went to the Italia Conti Stage School from ages 12 to 16 and had a good laugh. But the audition scene was lousy, because nobody was looking for awkward 13-year-olds who looked terribly Jewish. She then tells the story of her final childhood cattle call audition for Kismet. This is the one where she thought the director had selected her, but he'd actually chosen one of those blondes standing next to her. The conversation then turns to her short (16 to 18) dancing career, starting out with Second Generation and Dougie Squires. It did allow her to get an Equity card, but she wasn't really that dedicated to it. Besides, the Hot Gossip girls were so good, they made her want to give up. Then there were the on-stage misfortunes, such as the famous no panties incident in Blackpool. She then checks to see that she's not pulling a repeat, although her skirt tonight is quite long, there would be no danger of overexposure. Gloria asks Tracey if her impressions of people come from watching them as they go around. They generally come from watching videos, she says, and then she proceeds to do an impression of Gloria, emphasizing her cool and collected manner. She doesn't think it's very good, but Gloria said it was better than any she'd ever seen before. Tracey then talks about impersonating Toyah [recall Annoyah from Three of a Kind -- RR], pointing out the lisp, then mentioning she used to lisp like that when she was 12 but overcame it by lots of mouth exercises. She thinks Toyah's lisp is appealing. There was a time when she and Toyah were caught outside a stage door with 40 Toyah fans who wanted to hear Tracey's impression of Toyah. Toyah would have been all right with it, she says, but she wasn't comfortable with the situation and so declined. Her preference is for her own characters. Gloria asks about the one with a fungus problem -- Betty Tomlinson. The writers on Three Of A Kind tried to discourage her from doing the character, as they thought her too weird, but she insisted, and there you are. Then there's the Sloane Ranger Ros, based on her friend Rosemary. When shown a video of Ros, Rosemary said "it's beautiful", much to Tracey's relief, for she was expecting a response more along the lines of "you little cow -- !" And on that note, the interview ends.
To the best of my knowledge, this was Tracey's first appearance on American broadcast television (she was wrapping up a week as a guest VJ on MTV this week). This was in support of her single "They Don't Know" and her LP "You Broke My Heart In 17 Places", both of which had already been hits in her native Britain. She appears in the second half of the program, after Johnny Carson had interviewed Madeline Kahn. Wearing a blue-ish ballroom dressing dress, she performs "Move Over Darling", her most recent British single. This is not a lipsynched performance; this is live, with backing by Doc Severinsen and the NBC Orchestra. Was she nervous? Perhaps; one can hear a distinct tremor in her voice as she begins to sing. But the audience does not mind, for they warmly applaud her performance. Afterwards, Johnny invites her over for a chat. However, as she attempts to sit down, it becomes apparent that her dress is wider than the chair, causing the dress to awkwardly pile up. It is definitely not a sit-down dress. As Johnny puts it, "It's like talking to an ostrich in heat." She feels around the bottom of his desk, looking for the chewing gum Julie Walters had left the last time she was on (it wasn't there), and treating us to a few moments of Julie-speak. Was she named for Spencer Tracy, asks Johnny. "No..." Was she familiar with the Tonight Show? Yes, she says, she's seen the show before. She compares Johnny to the chat show hosts in Britain (Terry Wogan, et al.), saying they're not as odd as he is, that he's a bit more offbeat. However, he thought she said they weren't as OLD as he was, so he was a bit taken aback by it. Her backup singers are schoolgirl friends from the stage school she'd attended when she was 11 or so. This leads to the story of how she was once sacked for going on stage in Brighton without any knickers on. After the break, Johnny introduces Tracey's second number, "They Don't Know." She's changed into "another nice frock": a sleeveless pink outfit, including a micro-miniskirt (this was the outfit she wore in the video for "They Don't Know"). The men in the audience are very appreciative; one can hear a few wolf whistles, plus a "hey hey!" from Johnny. This number is also live. Afterwards, she comes back for part 2 of the interview. She's been having a good time over here, but she will soon head back to Britain to work on two series, one of which features her characters from "Three Of A Kind" [note: I'm not familiar with this -- perhaps it was never made. The other series was probably "Girls On Top"]. Johnny says he's sure he's seen 3OAK here, but it becomes clear that he's confusing it with something else (Alistair Cooke?). After the final break, Johnny asks Tracey if this is her first visit to the States. No, it's her 6th, she says. Then, in a good California voice, she observes that it's more laid back in California, that one can cool down a bit out here [note: I was impressed by this voice back in '85]. And so the show comes to an end. 3. Late Night with David Letterman, Apr. 30
This was Tracey's first visit with Dave. He introduces her via a brief excerpt from the "They Don't Know" video. She comes out wearing a leather miniskirt of McBealian proportions -- in other words, very mini. The men in the audience announce their approval. She talks about being in stage school at age 12, going through the mass auditions, seeing the "dreadful stage mums" pushing their kids, etc (much of this is delivered in the voice of a 12 year old). She recalls one of those mass auditions, where she thought for an instant that she'd been selected for "Kismet", but it was not to be [and where is the blonde girl who beat her out now, I wonder?] Dave points out the view on the monitor -- no, it's not the notes on her cheek, but the ample show of leg, which might be a bit too ample for comfort. "It gives us reason to live," he says. This earns him some good-natured chastisement from Tracey. Dave wonders how she got Paul McCartney to appear in her video; she explains that he was returning the favor for her appearing in "Give My Regards To Broad Street", which at the time was a few months away from release. Does she know what the movie's about? No [she's not alone in that]. She describes her character as someone who's crying throughout the picture -- running mascara, the works. But she did receive some comforting from Paul, which wasn't too bad. As they come out of the break, Dave and Tracey are talking about Joan Collins and how great she always looks when getting off of airplanes, how dynamic she appears. Tracey doesn't think she looks dynamic when she gets off planes; Dave says if she were wearing the outfit she's now wearing, she'd be dynamic (I agree). Which does she like better: London or L.A.? London, because she sounds like a Londoner. But L.A. does have some benefits, such as being able to find an open restaurant at all hours of the day, later pub closing times, etc. Don't make any Polish jokes, for she's got a lot of family in Poland, including an aunt who's prone to cry (and who was the inspiration for the "Broad Street" character). She then talks about her dogs Miss Lillian and Binky Beaumont (he bites poseurs). And with a young dog like Binky (5 months old), you still have the occasional accident to contend with. Did she ever consider something other than show business, asks Dave. Yes, responds Tracey, there was a time when she considered becoming a travel agent or a tour guide. This was when she had become totally disgusted with the stage school experience. We next see her impression of a tour guide on the job in Spain. The conversation then turns to the tour guides at Universal Studios Hollywood. What's next for her? A new LP ("You Caught Me Out") -- notice the musical notes penciled in on her left cheek as a salute to her musical undertakings -- and a new TV series of five half-hour episodes [note: I'm not familiar with this series]. Dave invites her back as the segment concludes.
This was the debut broadcast for this UK chat show, and Tracey was one of the guests, along with Paul McCartney and pianist Richard Clayderman. I do not have the complete broadcast; I only have Paul's interview, which includes a few remarks from Tracey. At the conclusion of the show, in commemoration of the forthcoming Buddy Holly week, they all sing "That'll Be The Day." Tracey remarks that she's never sung live before, which isn't quite true; see the writeup on the Tonight Show from Feb. 1984. Then again, that show was taped; this could have been going out live. Prepared by Roger
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