Three weeks ago I posted a clip of Echo And The Bunnymen promoting their then new single Bring On The Dancing Horses on early evening entertainment and chat show The Wogan Show. Ian, Will, Les and Pete got away with it with their customary cool and casual indifference to their surroundings. I said it might make a good idea for an irregular series, Bands Performing In Places They Shouldn't Be (or rather Bands Being Booked Onto Inappropriate TV Programmes By Their Record Companies To Sell Their Wares). There were quite a few suggestions on the comments and I've got a few of my own so we'll work our way through them over the summer.
Firstly, and I've posted this before but it definitely stands up to repeat posting, before we leave Terry Wogan and his shiny studio environment we should recall that in 1986 Pete Wylie appeared on The Wogan Show to lip sync Sinful.
It's magnificent stuff, Wylie in black leather, Josie Jones (also in black leather) on Paul Weller's pop art guitar and three dancers dressed as nuns/ three hot nuns dancing. Sinful is a superb record and one of this blog's theme tunes and signature songs. Miming on Wogan does not diminish it at all.
In July 1987 Spear Of Destiny's press officer had the brilliant idea of booking them on a kids show called Get Fresh, live from Fistral Beach, Newquay, Cornwall. The single they were promoting was Never Take Me Alive, epic guitar rock from their Outlands album. The appearance on the beach at Newquay is bizarre and hilarious, something the band have cottoned on to. Kirk Brandon smirks and laughs his way through the brief interview and the performance. At one point they are surrounded and then joined by a group of Medieval knights, some of whom mime guitar with their swords.
Trying to mime the words 'Mother I killed someone/ It wasn't that I hated him/ You see he was trying to stop me/ But he found out/ I've gone the whole way... They'll never take me alive' with any kind of post- punk menace under these circumstances is all but impossible.
Pebble Mill At One was a long running BBC TV programme, early afternoon light entertainment broadcast from the foyer of the BBC's studios in Birmingham. In 1983 Aztec Camera had the privilege of performing Oblivious to the studio audience. Oblivious is wonderful obviously. Roddy is resplendent in fringed buckskin, Western shirt and 60s mop. They make the best of it.
Three weeks ago The Swede left a comment saying that Ian Dury made several appearances on Pebble Mill. Really Glad You Came was a 1983 single, sans Blockheads. Ian manages to style it out, making lunch time TV in the early 80s look like a good place to be.
8 comments:
I think this now may well be my favourite series on the blogosphere.
The Spear Of Destiny clip was particularly glorious. I also find it wonderfully nostalgic hearing Kirk Brandon sing, "Mother, I'm running out of change, but I had to phone to let you know..." Simpler times.
What Rol said.
Not sure it quite fits, but there's an excellent bizarre video of New Order performing on the Baywatch beach.
There's a New Order post on its own Jake- Baywatch and a couple of others
Oh, this is brilliant. Yes, more please! I remember being pretty surprised at some of the bands booked for children's Saturday morning TV shows too - Specimen were one (can't remember the show now but they did seem very incongruous).
I remember Madness on Pebble Mill - Suggs wasn't there because his wife was about to give birth or just had the baby. The band mimed to Driving In My Car with a ventriloquist dummy singing the lead. Very surreal and very funny.
Doubling back on this post as I missed it at the time. It'll be interesting to see, as the series develops, the ratio of surly bands, irritated to find themselves in inappropriate surroundings, versus those who got into the spirit and made the best of it.
Sinful really is a magnificent thing.
That's the balance they had to strike isn't it Swede- do we try to keep our cool or go with what's going on around us
Post a Comment