Entertainment For Lively Minds
TOTP 1976
Posted by jazzjet on 29 April 2011 - 8:55pm.
Just catching up with the rebroadcast of 1976 Top of The Pops shows on BBC Four. Also touched on in the recent Word podcast, these were fast becoming variety shows with silly stunts, the Hairy bloody Cornflake et al. It made me wonder whether we've got the whole rise of punk thing wrong all these years, ie maybe it wasn't the prog rock dinosaurs that were the stimulus for punk but the awful corruption of what we should remember was the main populist pop show on TV. Disgust must have been rampant.
- More from jazzjet.
- Login or register to post comments
-
You are absolutely right Jazzjet
I wasn't yet in long trousers when Punk came along so I've relied on the received wisdom of the likes of Jon Savage who have peddled the idea that Punk came along as a reaction to ELP when in fact it wasn't ELP..it was D. L. T
What I do get is a startling sense of bleak, slightly nauseating mid-70s ennui from hearing 'All By Myself' by Eric Carmen, or 'Music was my First Love' by John Miles. That music turns the world a washed out shade of beige, it makes me want to find a 70s doctor who can prescribe me some dangerously addictive tranquilizers.
This point at where the BBC4 TOTP re-runs have chosen to start might just have been the absolute rock bottom of Pop *ever*. Did it ever get any worse?
Rue Morgue
When Nik Cohn wrote the best book ever about Pop - Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom - at the end of the sixties, he described 1960 as "Rue Morgue" - Holly and Cochran were dead, Elvis was emasculated, Little Richard had found Jesus and Jerry Lee run out of town on a rail. All that was left was "Bobbies" - Vee, Vinton, Frankie Avalon, Bryan Hyland etc etc - mush for girls too young to know better.
Of course, Cohn wrote before 1960, so he had no idea - in a year that saw Cathy's Clown, Apache and Elvis Is Back - how bad things could really get.
I'm with the posters above - a combination of the sickening, smug, self-loving DJs, and "the well's run dry" music of early 1976 must have been a major contributing factor to the rise of punk. Stuff had been bubbling in London pubs and NYC clubs for a year or two already by the time Brotherhood of Man bought their lease on number one.
Having watched Fearne Cotton on the Mall yesterday, I appreciate that there will always be room for talent-lite brightness on the telly, but Travis, Hamilton and Edmunds were truly vile. It's hard to comprehend that Travis continued to broadcast on Radio 1 for well over a decade, sincerely believing that he was the sine qua non of youthful, entertaining broadcasting. I'm a mild-mannered fellow, but I'd like to dance on his grave. (I give Blackburn a pass, he's been extraordinarily consistent over the years, and knows he just spins records.)
The effect of seeing Eric Carmen, John Miles, Sailor et al again is strange. Quite a few of these records are "guilty pleasures" (sic) - I've got them on iTunes, I enjoy it when they pop up on a 70s mix between Drive In Saturday and Take Me To The Mardi Gras, say. But Dr Volume is right - the songs, the performances, even the sets and the lighting - suggest on TOTP 76 that we really were all doomed. (Which, of course, we were - 1976 was when Healey had to go the IMF.) Everything was kitsch - kitsch angst (Carmen, Miles) or kitsch fun (Sailor, Stylistics) but everything was bad. And Dave Lee Travis loved it all.
I give Blackburn a pass,
I give Blackburn a pass, he's been extraordinarily consistent over the years, and knows he just spins records.
He also used to have a tremendous soul show in the Eighties on Radio London every morning, before Robbie Vincent's phone-in.
awful miming
Watching TOTP from 1976 just shows how dire the music scene was in those days or rather what the BBC wanted to show us. ELO were miming so badly they couldn't take it seriously and that Dave Lee Travis record - please no more.
Can not the BBC do a compilation of the best bits. Advancing effectively 1 week at a time gets us nowhere as the same groups keep cropping up and I really do not want to see Brotherhood of Man again. The joke has worn thin.
The BBC had a programme in the late 70's called Something Else - that had real bands on. Did the BBC keep the tapes ?
I presume so
There was a clip show a few years ago which included clips of The Banshees, The Jam and the infamous Joy Division footage (one of only two tv appearances by them). Didn't SE also include current affairs segments and studio debates on yoof issues? Indeed was it not the inspiration for 'Nosin' Aroun'?
SE was, allegedly, made "by ver kidz, for ver kidz"
and covered such compelling subjects as "There's nuffin for 16 year olds to do" :-)
That would be...
...TOTP2 then, produced by my good self for 12 years or so. During that tenure I must have watched pretty much all of the TOTP archive, & the vast majority of episodes are fairly dire although these mid70s ones are easily the worst.
It's quite fun for a bit, and then the novelty wears off. I have also watched most of the OGWT archive, & the same is true for that as well - once you get past the nostalgia factor & the rose tinted memories you realise that quite a lot of it doesn't stand the test of time.
It's inevitable of course- if you're making a weekly programme you're at the mercy of what's selling (TOTP) or who's available (OGWT). If it's 10, 5 or even 2 live acts a week, how many of those will have the staying power to be interesting /entertaining in 35 years time?
Oh, and Something Else is in the vault, yes. Guess what though?
What, Mark, what?!
Copyright issues? Sound problems? Dave Lee Travis??
or, just that, like TOTP, OGWT and the Tube*
most of what was broadcast was pretty undistinguished.
(* and Later, 6-5 Special, Revolver, RSG and, even Gastank)
Documentary on TOTP 1976
When they broadcast the first of these episodes, it was followed by a documentary about TOTP in 1976, and it basically said that the show had little to do with music at the time - it was more an extension of the BBC's Light Entertainment programming (dancing girls, novelty hits etc). Backed this up with clips of Tony Blackburn and David Hamilton doing their "wacky" schtick on Seaside Special (Saturday night TV show with massive audiences). Punk was happening around this time, but such was the power of Radio 1 back then that it would not get played as most of the DJs hated it. This meant that it did not find a mass audience and so didn't get into the charts and therefore wouldn't feature on TOTP. Effectively a form of censorship.
Had been quite excited about the re-broadcasting of TOTP, and have taped them all but watched most of them on Fast Forward as it has been so dire. Just how long were Brotherhood of Man No 1 for?!
What about the music press?
Although the full horror of the 1976 TOTP's is all too familiar, I simply can't recall what the music press made of it all. I'm assuming that the NME hadn't yet had it's full makeover and I suspect that Melody Maker was firmly in the prog camp at the time. Maybe they all ignored TOTP.
Anyone remember?
NME
NME in 1976 - well, there's a full set in my garage...
NME was on the cusp between continuing to write about ZEP/FLOYD/EAGLES and becoming the Voice of Youth. Mick Farren wrote a brilliant piece in 1975 called The Titanic Sails At Dawn, wherein he ripped into all the stars who had gone LA, sold their souls to the man, stuffed their noses with coke and forgotten how to be street fighting men.
NME loved early Feelgoods, Patti Smith, Ramones, and although the juxtaposition with articles about Bad Company or Jackson Browne was odd, they left MM and Spunos in the dust behind them.
an up for spunos
- i'd forgotten that (ie what the 'sounds' masthead looked like upside down.)
Sounds
It wasn't the NME for me. Sounds lit the torch with their list of Boring Old Farts and non BOFS.
It would be nice to see that list again.
Don't look over your shoulder
At the point that the headline 'Don't look over your shoulder but the Sex Pistols are coming' appeared in the NME in early 1976, the weekly inkies were still reflecting the prevailing musical interests of their readers, which was straight rock (Zeppelin, Bad Co) reggae (Marley, Spear etc) and American artists like Dylan, Little Feat and Joni Mitchell.
So in terms of the musical climate in 76, there was still a clear separation between the singles charts, represented by TOTP, and the album charts, represented by the NME, MM and Sounds.
It's also worth pointing out that 1975 had been a vintage year for album artists, and we definitely seemed to go over the hump at that point. The NME writers' top 10 albums of 75 were:
Blood On The Tracks (Dylan), Natty Dread (Marley), Live at the Lyceum (Marley), The Last record Album (Feat), Nils Lofgren, The Basement Tapes (Dylan/The Band), Young Americans (Bowie), Pieces of the Sky (Emmylou), The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Joni) and The Who by Numbers.
As far as which papers were covering what, the prevailing view is that NME was at the cutting edge of punk. The MM had covered the New York scene fairly well, with early coverage of The Ramones, Johnny Thunders and CGBGs in 1975, but they tended to take the view that these guys couldn't play and would therefore never be taken seriously.
Sounds gave NME a good run for its money in the punk stakes, belying the historical view that it was just a heavy metal rag. Sure, they had Geoff Barton writing about Kiss and Rush, but that was only part of the story.
Certainly they all ignored TOTP.
NME, Sounds and the 'cutting edge of punk'
As a Sounds staff writer in 1975 and 1976 I am really sick of how the NME is regarded as the champion of Punk. The NME guys hated Punk for the first year - 1976 - and privately admitted that they had missed the boat entirely.
I did the very first interview with The Pistols, which ran in early April 76. We had the first coverage of The Damned, The Clash (the Rehearsals Rehearsals "show" at which I don't remember any NME person being there), Subway Sect, Eater, Penetration and so on. We covered the Free trade Hall show when The Pistols sang Anarchy for the first time, went to Paris with them, covered the Night Of Treason at the RCA, the 100 Club Punk Festival... I would say we were the press champions on that movement.
Equally at the forefront was Caroline Coon at Melody Maker, who had to (literally) fight to get her pieces published.
It's 1977
I'm 15 and am having my tea. Probably crispy pancakes. DLT is on the radio - it's a repeat of the new chart released that lunchtime. It's the first time I've heard Complete Control and it's life-changingly ace. As it finishes, he says 'When I first heard that song I didn't like it much. Now I've changed my mind...I absolutely hate it!"
My dad clipped me round the ear for muttering 'Hairy Arsehole' under my breath. Happy days.
A week with Radio One
Fast forward to 1978. For the only time in my life, I spent a whole week listening to Radio One, from 9:00 to 5:00 - I was operating a shredding machine in a factory, locked in a room by myself. (Probably breathing in more paper dust than was good for me, but I was young.)
Anyway, DLT, David Hamilton etc filled my day. By the summer of 78, there were consistently good and interesting records in the charts - Buzzcocks, Jam, Clash, Siouxsie, can't remember exactly, but much to cheer.
Throughout the week, NOT ONE of these records was played. The crap that David Hamilton was spouting on the documentary about "we played the music the public bought" rankles with me as much now as it did 33 years ago. MOR schlock that belonged on R2 and charted - that got played on Wonderful Radio One. "New wave" largely didn't, unless it was really very poppy - Boomtown Rats etc.
Weirdly, TOTP was actually a better mirror of popular taste than daytime R1 - the Clash were silly about TOTP, but the punky folk got better coverage on TOTP than they did through the Hairy Cornflake and Diddy Dave.
I'm still angry. I'll go and weed the lawn.
I've got one of them leaf blowers
I wear it slung real low - Simonon style.
Ace - is there a Bill Wyman
Ace - is there a Bill Wyman option?
Bit puzzled, Angelpoised
I remember plenty of plays on daytime Radio 1 for the Buzzcocks, the Jam and Siouxsie.
But I think you're right about the Clash who, if memory serves, faced fierce resistance pretty much until Bank Robber.
Wasn't the resistance due to the Clash not playing the game
and refusing to do R1 sessions, TOTP etc? You're too cool to scratch my back, I won't scratch yours.
Well, there's been a lot of water under the bridge...
...But my recollection of the late 70s on Radio 1 was distinctly light on punk - whereas Buzzcocks et al were on TOTP.
Here's another hopefully not false memory: Hamilton, having just played something foul by Boney M or similar, says: "Of course, that's not what some people want to listen to these days. They say [alters voice to sound as knuckle-draggingly cretinous as possible] "Give us some punk junk."
Cues up "No More Heroes"...
Is showing all episodes sequentially a good idea?
Not really, as the fact that watching Brotherhood Of Man (again) really isn't nostalgic/amusing/worthwhile.
How about - picking 4/5 random episodes from each year, and playing them in full.
We then get:
a) a timeline of changing fashions/tastes, but not delivered in real time
b) complete episodes, possibly containing some legendary performances*, an expected amount of dross, and some forgotten performances/tunes which may not be classics but good to see
c) not having to listen to Save Your sodding Kisses for Me by the Brotherhood of pissing Man for the sixth effing week in a row
* were there really that many legendary performances, or has the continual showing of the clips enhanced the legend in our minds?
I'll wager there was more forgettable kack than classics.
Doesn't seem to be scheduled for this week
according to the Guardian Guide. Has it been scrapped already?
Some episodes are missing.
Some episodes from 1976 are missing from the BBC's archives, so there will be some gaps in the schedule.
A lot of the tapes
were re-used weren't they to save money? Perhaps they should show whatever was recorded over the original tape in it's place! Or a 1970s test card for 30 mins.
It's like a lot of old shows...
Once you get used to seeing the highlights in assorted compilation programmes, you're liable to get a somewhat distorted view of the general quality of the shows.
I found this when picking up 'The Two Ronnies' and 'The Morecambe and Wise Show' on DVD - fine shows, both, but it's quite obvious when you're watching the original 'as transmitted' programmes that there's a lot of patchy stuff amidst the gold. Especially when your main exposure to them has been programmes and videos / DVDs collecting the best sketches. In the case of these two shows, you've also got to put up with musical interludes from Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen, Elaine Page etc.
That said, I'm finding it quite enjoyable trawling through these old editions of TOTP. It's interesting following the way the charts change, week in, week out - and strange for someone of my age to think of a time when singles worked their way up the charts, rather than simply entering at their highest position then fading away. I could live without Laurie Lingo and the Dipsticks, though!
Keeping this important discussion alive
Well, Ruby Flipper has replaced Pan's People, and the Pops is marching onward. Some horrors this week - Wurzels, Paul Nicholas, Travis - but Melba Moore, Archie Bell and the Bellamy Brothers all made for good listening and a quick trip to iTunes.
I do like GOOD 70s pop, but some of the artistes (think Sutherland Brothers and Quiver) were chronically ungoodlooking, weren't they? (*no oil-painting himself*) (*first time I've done that asterisk thing*)
Ruddy Paul Nicholas - again!
Some of it is really hard work, and the show has zero atmosphere - bring on the forced party Eighties! But I'm loving it, never miss it and hope it never ends.
Actually it was fun to see the Wurzels. No one who looked like that would ever have a hit today.
The Wurzels
Two weeks at number one to look forward to - the novelty might wear off! (Oo-ar, oo-ar...)
They're still there
But there's always something of interest amongst the dross. Anyone else notice the bassist from Flintlock was playing a Shergold? Just me then.
He was *playing* a Shergold?
:-)
Also stunned
to see the lead singer/guitarist strumming a quite beautiful Les Paul Gold Top.
All that expense for a 3 note riff played a few times at the very end.
If it was genuine that thing should be worth thousands now.
Producers' Choice again
This lot and the awful girl group (!) at that start shows how much influence the producers had in the choice of acts.
It's been really bad so far. Better days a'comin'.
This week's 1976 TOTP
Blimey - it's Marc Bolan!
I Love To Boogie gets posthumous classic status thanks to Billy Elliot. Bolan has short hair and ludicrous flares, his head's ready for punk, but he's still got his glam legs on. (And only about 15 months to live.)
Bolan was wearing an indecipherable badge, later on the same badge was worn by Murray Head's pianist. I'm hoping it says something obscene about DLT.
Brotherhood of Man - they took some risks with the follow-up, didn't they? I fast-forwarded through this one, so I'll never know how old sweet Rosalie was - not sure I want to.
And Murray Head - what was it about that whole "Honey Pie" 30s flim-flam in the mid-70s? Manhattan Transfer, Robin Sarstedt, Maureen McGovern - embarrassing.
But not as embarrassing as Ruby Flipper's coal black mammy thing for Young Hearts Run Free - that really was truly atrocious. (And to such a great song.)
I'm looking forward to never seeing the Wurzels again, but I do relish their sheer delight at what they inadvertently achieved.