PORTSMOUTH -- [December]

[RYAN]

PORTSMOUTH -- TOTPs dance number 8 by Legs & Co.
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Performed by Mike Oldfield and reaching No 3 in the UK charts.
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Original broadcast date 09/12/76 Duration time of dance 1.59 mins
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Dancers -- Gill, Lulu, Patti, Pauline, Rosie, Sue.
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A link to the dance  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x25khi5_legs-co-portsmouth-totp-tx-09-12-1976_creation
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A jolly nautical jig danced by the six girls here, but after watching this routine about three times, the music is making me sea sick. A very nauseating melody which i hope i don't hear again for a while. As for the dance, well its one that doesn't appear to often on my playlist, but it compliments the song very well. At least the Christmasy crowd got their hands on Legs & Co`s  treasure at the end, lucky people. In my watchable ratings i will give this one a 6 out of 10.

[Paperboyplod]

That Parrot probably had the best vantage point for seeing this particular effort from the girls, & I really loved the piggy-back riding, a good fun dance routine by the looks of it, although the music does get in the way, I'll second that!

7/10

[Lookmacinanger]

Good track from Mike Oldfield, you never really knew what he was going come up with next but being the genius who wrote 'Tubular Bells' he was entitled to do whatever he wanted. The girls though put on a good performance and look great so overall I think it's worth a score of 7/10.

[bucksby]

I don't really like the song but the girls did their best and had some fun at the same time 7 out of 10

[PattiforPM]

I think the ladies deserve all sorts of Kudos for making this watchable and for managing to dance in those huge boots.  The tune is a little irksome, I agree with Ryan, and those pathetic Ocean Waves make me wonder whether this was Jools Holland's second visit to TOTP (recalling his Tie a Yellow Ribbon story).  Overall I find this a reasonable routine and it gets 6/10 for me, mainly for the fun the ladies convey.

[Suefan]

'Black Patch' Sue and her bunch of generous south coast pirates can certainly buckle the squash but this tune does them no favours and those gigantic boots don't help.

[Floid Fan]

I like the song very much and love the routine which goes very well with it. The girls costumes are also fabulous, with  their extremely long, kinky boots and those fetching hats.

[Old Bill]

I'm with Floid Fan! I love this routine - boots n all. Well, especially the boots. :-)

And the waves are a nice jolly innocent bit of audience participation.

Top stuff, and you even get one extra bird! I do like the song too. The only better dancing you'll see to this is in the proper video filmed in Mike's personal oast house or whatever it is with the Morris-type ladies.

9/10 from me!

[SuPaLu]

There is some great dancing in this jig,and i like the costumes too.I like the stage 'in the round' and the good audience participation.9/10.

[Stu]

Legs performed well and the routine felt appropriate to the song, but I don't really care for those kind of nautical ditty's and found myself wanting the song to end which is a rare thing for me when our girls are involved. Nice to see good audience participation although the parrot looked decidedly indifferent to it all. :-)

5.5/10

Stuey

[Old Bill]

Ryan - Can i up this one to a full 10 / 10? My paltry 9 was a bit harsh I think!

[RYAN]

10 out of 10 for this !!!! and you give `Maid In Heaven` just seven ! Hey that rhymes. Okay, i will amend it on the main board.

[Andeebee]

OB you need to have a sit down and rewatch Maid In Heaven again and again {just like in Clockwork Orange} till you change it to 10

[Old Bill]

I know i know i know!! Even though I'm still new here I knew you'd say that! :-p hehe

Portsmouth all the way!

[LNV]

The audience participation makes this dance into a jolly piece of theatre. Now we know for sure that the BBC cardboard cut-outs were actually living persons! It is fun to watch but I find it to be laugh out loud funny too. I am not sure if indeed this was Flick’s somewhat crafty intention. Those buccaneer boots with overlarge top openings are more suitable for the ministry of funny walks. And when Patti came into view with raven hair bobbing up and down I was reminded of one of our favoured Northern delicacies; two black-puddings flapping at the side of her head!
So much effort Patti gives at this moment was she trying to dazzle us with her dance moves or deliberately look to be three sheets to the wind? One step made Patti look knock-kneed, and another as the others did also provide a faint resemblance to a jumping frog with those elongated boots.

I am in agreement with our feathered friend Chalky, the dour parrot who I am sure squawked out a begrudgingly well-earned 9 for the Girls, just for being such entertaining good sports. And who were lovely to look at in their gaily feather- hatted merry costumes. A classic comedic dance to a jaunty sailors jig, Rosie even throws back our entrance fee to us! Not only are these Girls of a merry disposition but so magnanimous too! I will take that as my cue and award a hearty me ship-lads and lassies: 9/10.

[Old Bill]

Totally agree LNV. I kept meaning to add though if there is anything wrong with this one it's that the director should have stayed on the wide shot when they chucked the gold dubloons to the little stowaways below. With the close up you lose the effect and might even miss what they're doing. Would have 10.5 if it weren't that !hehe

[Andeebee]

5 for me

[VintageVideos]

I love this one. The medieval atmosphere goes very well with this lovely instrumental. Definitely a favourite, 8.5/10.

[Doc]

A fun routine that suits the song perfectly. However I'm not giving it any pieces of eight. No I'm giving it a piece of 9!

[Who's That Hurll]

I'm surprised at some of the low marking here, must be some landlubbers on deck. I'll have to instruct 'Shiver Me Timbers' Sue to make em all walk the plank!.
I love it when people go to an effort with the stage and props and make it a real event. There's plenty of nautical action here to keep one amused and the parrot is rightly transfixed by proceedings.
As I can't vote for 'Chalky',  Gill will carry away the Dancer of the Day award.
9.25/10