They had a string of low-charting hit singles in the mid 1970's (including "I Love Rock n Roll"), and then went on to have two 13 week TV series after the point where most groups would be dropped by their record companies.

Look-In (who were Sinn Fein to ITV's IRA) stubbornly tried to forcefeed teenage girls the notion that they were the best thing since er...Flintlock throughout this period, but the Julie Burchill generation showed their taste by having none of it.

Six months airtime in little over a year? Steven Poliakoff, Michael Palin, David Attenborough, Paul Abbott or The Chuckle Brothers would kill for that kind of exposure these days.

What's more, at a time when the ITV networks (like the BBC) were still occasionally wiping or accidentally leaving tv gold dust in skips, someone made the decision to retain this series for posterity.

Were they originally from a TV show on ITV? I remember there being a comic strip featuring them in Look In magazine. I also dimly recall one of the Tomorrow People (ITV's attempt at Dr Who) being in Flintlock.

They were, seemingly, everywhere for a period of time. I do not recall ever hearing a single song by them.

The mid-70s were a funny time though. I remember Crackerjack over on BBC having the show's stars singing a medley of popular hits every week, usually with a slight oompah/Salvation army brass band feel to them. It was almost as if the authorities believed that they could wean kids off dangerous rock and roll and get them back on the straight and narrow. There were quite a lot of records with a brass band feel around that time too, usually on lesser labels like Bell.

Never heard this in my life until now. The guitar guy is almost as good as the skinny bloke out of Kasabian.

... what was ITV's "incentive" for relentlessly pushing Flintlock & Arrows at an unappreciative public? Not suggesting any dodgy kickbacks, but presumably ITV had the bands on ironclad retainers for when they became "bigger than the Beatles", but they were clearly sold two pups.

For the record, Arrows had a few decent tracks, albeit lighter-than-light powerpop, but even the 11 year-old Mickey thought Flintlock beyond the pale.

Were they in this vein? And what about Child or Buster? So many casualties.

It's all here...it appears that they did have their own show...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/entertainment/theatre/mikeholloway.shtml

At least he's still working.

It seems that in 1975 there was still a gravitational pull trying to undo everything that the 60s had put in place. There was a belief that light entertainment would come back, and that everything would somehow be alright.

I put it to you that punk was as much to do with this as it was to do with Tales from Topographic Oceans.

In what I suppose was an attempt to do an up-to-date 'new wave' version of the Bay City Rollers' TV show Shang-a-Lang, Granada did a series called Moondogs Matinee. The Moondogs were a powerpop group from Derry. The poor man's Undertones, to be brutally frank, but likeable enough. I've got one of their singles Talking In The Canteen which came with a free neckerchief, which in 1980 constituted a massive promotional hype. A flop nonetheless. Not even sure the show was shown outside 'Granadaland' (ITV was still very regional in those days). A cracking single though, if you like that sort of thing. It mentions the Nolan Sisters. Which is nice.

I've been slagging them off for years. Mike ,Jaime,derek and the other two. Absolutely awful.Thames Tv always tried to advertise "Hot from the Lock" after every kids tv programme but we weren't fooled.
There's another Paul on the web who hates them more than me.
http://paul-paulsboutique.blogspot.com/2008/08/hall-of-shame.html
Check out The Tomorrow people episode called "Hearts of Soggoth" where Flintlock play a band called the Fresh Hearts.

Mike H's plank-like perfomance in The Tomorrow People helped any. He was awful. Of course, being only about 7 or 8 at the time he was parachuted in, some of it sailed over my head. All I knew was he wasn't as good as wht he'd replaced.

Thanks to the Massive researchers for finding these YouTube clips.

Tops so far - Candlewick Green, & Arrows.

May I draw your attention to these fine fellows, M25-wide lapels and double glazing spectacles included?

They were pushed at us pop kids by Thames TV and we didn't believe a word of it. A song by them was often introduced as "their latest hit" - and any hysteria was generated inside a TV studio. The lead singer looked a little like a toothy, emaciated Richard Jobson. Not a looker by any means.

Flintlock seemed to be the vaguely musical kids who were at the same stage school that Pauline Quirke, Dexter Fletcher, Susan Tully and Gillian Taylforth all went to. They had so many vehicles on ITV for these kids that it was almost impossible for them not to end up as household names. However, in a feat that still baffles popologists, Flintlock turned the trick of side-stepping fame.

For your viewing pleasure, here are some recent-ish clips of Flintlock's lead singer and saxophonist, Derek Pascoe. He teaches sax at Adelaide's Conservatorium of Music.

The first one is interesting. He spends most of his time moving things. Certainly, a step up from the cheesy teen pop of the mid 70s.

This one will have you whistling along:

Maybe this showcases his talents a little better: