Legs & Co. – After the Love Has Gone

Top of the Pops, August 2 1979: Legs & Co. dance to Earth Wind & Fire’s After the Love Has Gone.

Thanks to Andeebee for the YouTube post.

From the old blog:Monday, 14 July 2014:

Here’s Legs & Co. performance from last week’s BBC4 Top of the Pops repeat: dancing to Earth Wind & Fire’s After The Love Has Gone. 2 August 1979.

Working as a professional dancer, at least in the world of popular entertainment, generally involves a lot of professional smiling. Indeed, it’s a cliché of the putting-on-a-show movie that at some point we’ll see the chorus rehearsing while a camp choreographer admonishes them for not smiling enough.

It must be a relief then, for the cheek muscles if nothing else, when dancers get the chance to look professionally glum, as L&C do here.

And such glumness. Surely the stoniest of hearts would be melted by these big, sad eyes. Right from the start, with Sad Lulu for instance…

Such sweet sadness I’m sure you’ll agree: but that’s only the start. Soon we have to look into the beautifully heartbreakingly sad eyes of Patti. What pain: what regret: what sorrow. Ah, si belle tristesse!

Of course simulating melancholy does come easily to everyone. For someone with a naturally sunny disposition, like Rosie, it’s hard work keeping your smile suppressed. Indeed, poor Rosie does slip a couple of times, losing her serious expression.

But it would be hard-hearted indeed to condemn someone for the heinous crime of smiling to much. So let’s forgive Miss Hetherington. Each dancer has her own weaknesses, and indeed strengths.

Luckily, we have Miss Hammond on hand: and with just a single devastating look, she fully restores the air of sweet melancholy that the music requires.

Call it a hunch, but I’ve a feeling that the reason Rosie never gets a close-up here is that she just can’t be trusted to hold her smile back. Likewise Pauline, always an easy smiler. It’s a shame we don’t get to see Gill’s glum expression: I’m sure she’d have a lovely one. And surely Sue could manage one.

But we must rely on Flick’s judgement I guess. A beautiful, atmospheric routine.