They absolutely did play out with the Sex Pistols version of "Rock Around the Clock" sung by Edward Tudor-Pole from the film soundtrack "The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle" (the title track of which was on th b-side). I remember it well from 1979 as my mother (a big fan of Bill Haley) asked me indignantly "what the hell is this?" as the credits rolled....
Thanks for your (and others') responses. So that really did go out then - if it had been broadcast now, I bet there would have been complaints. Maybe in these cynical times we are more tuned in to listening for obscenities?
It would have been interesting to see what BBC Four had done, had this particular episode been suitable for broadcast.
Also, search for "Angelo Gravity" (the same person who owns the Facebook page mentioned above). There you can more easily find the links as they are clearly under each Yewtreed episode.
Thanks to them, I believe we have been able to see every single episode of 1979 so far (or at least most of each episode, barring some missing rundown tracks, playout tracks, number 1s and some missing links from UK Gold rebroadcasts). So regardless of what BBC Four decide to do with the repeats in years to come, hopefully now every single episode from where we are in 1979 onwards is "out there" somewhere.
Cheers for the heads up on that Darren. That's a better place for searching the episodes.
Just watched the 8th November episode. Not a lot to get excited about other than the 2-Tone tracks. Don't know whether I remember "Monkey Chop" from the time or not. Strange to hear Sham 69 doing a ballad - Jimmy Pursey didn't have the ideal voice for that song. Don't remember Matchbox looking that old...
In my tv mag, it lists Badfinger as being on, hope it's right. ;-)
Was it the colour version of the clip, as one compilation had the usual black & white film recording but another compilation, someone actually found the original colour version!
Was it the colour version of the clip, as one compilation had the usual black & white film recording but another compilation, someone actually found the original colour version!
It was colour. I thought they were quite cringey to watch, all grinning and gurning at the camera.
The real treat for me was the Associates doing Party Fears Two. What a song. Billy Mackenzie was mesmerising
Just watched the 8th November episode. Not a lot to get excited about other than the 2-Tone tracks. Don't know whether I remember "Monkey Chop" from the time or not. Strange to hear Sham 69 doing a ballad - Jimmy Pursey didn't have the ideal voice for that song. Don't remember Matchbox looking that old...
Is the Sham 69 ballad Better Man Than I, AIRC a more melodic and quieter song? It was released shortly before they split up due to violence and National Front supporters at their gigs.
As the seventies draw to a close, the biggest surprise is the return of Pink Floyd to the charts with the most un festive Christmas no 1 ever and proof that the old guard of rock bands had survived punk.
It's a Yardbirds song, written by Mike Hugg of Manfred Mann and his brother.
Unusual, but maybe Jimmy Pursey was tired of the band's skinhead following and wanted to try something new.
Sham 69 were always interesting, they sounded like cockneys, but actually came from Surrey. Maybe they felt alienated in a county where working class people were marginalised and often looked down on.
Is the Sham 69 ballad Better Man Than I, AIRC a more melodic and quieter song? It was released shortly before they split up due to violence and National Front supporters at their gigs.
As the seventies draw to a close, the biggest surprise is the return of Pink Floyd to the charts with the most un festive Christmas no 1 ever and proof that the old guard of rock bands had survived punk.
Yes, i don't think there was any real doubt, and especially in retrospect, that the old guard were going to survive punk. The punk bands really did need to, by the end of 1979, find a new form of expression, or at the very least broaden their horizons somewhat. Such an extreme form, whether in musical style, or what the groups had to say, could only have very limited appeal to begin with, anyway, and it wouldn't take long before they themselves would begin to seem like a cheap parody of what punk originally represented etc. if they played on appearing angry over an extended period of time etc. In the 1978/79 period, Sham 69 were the biggest profile punk band, in terms of their appearances on Top Of The Pops, but i always felt there was a tongue in cheek element to their appearances, which suggested they perhaps didn't take themselves quite so seriously as some of those other punk groups, despite their raucous sound. I think those National Front followers turning up for their shows wouldn't be at all what they were aiming for.
In the 1978/79 period, Sham 69 were the biggest profile punk band, in terms of their appearances on Top Of The Pops, but i always felt there was a tongue in cheek element to their appearances, which suggested they perhaps didn't take themselves quite so seriously as some of those other punk groups, despite their raucous sound. I think those National Front followers turning up for their shows wouldn't be at all what they were aiming for.
The band always was 'a bunch of mates' for the first couple of years, and the fun element more than balanced Jimmy's fiery politics well for a long while. He was a good laugh too though, and a genuine nice geezer - it wasn't all polemic.
However, the NF/skinhead problem drove him to despair from very early on. He couldn't quite balance finding another way to express himself which would remove them from the scene with being true to himself; and the NFs continued following the band even though they made it perfectly clear time and again they hated everything the NF stood for just didn't make sense to him. Nothing he did or said made a difference. Sham probably should have just quit playing live until the scum moved on, but there was far too much pressure and need for a living to allow that.
Always felt sorry for Jimmy and the band that it never worked out. They were a great bunch caught up in something far too out of their control, and although he had the commitment, he just didn't have the solid reasoning Strummer or Lydon could summon up to battle through it.
Johnny Pearson wrote 'Sleepy Shores' as the theme tune to the BBC series 'Owen MD' (about a rural GP) which preceded TOTP on Thursday nights in the early seventies when 'Tomorrows World' was having a rest.
I remember at one point in the early 70s 'Owen MD' was followed by 'Star Trek'. I found it funny that the theme tunes to both shows were extremely similar!
Noel Edmonds has made some interesting comments in a Sunday supplement magazine this past weekend, worth sharing here.
Speaking about Jimmy Savile he says,"I never liked him. I found it insulting the way the rest of us would turn up to functions at the BBC on time, dressed in suits and he'd turn up late in a gold lame tracksuit. He was a shit broadcaster. He had no command of the English language. He couldn't speak properly. He'd come out with those awful expressions like 'Howzabout that then?' and I used to wonder why he even had a job"
Noel ends his Savile comment by saying "There's a whole establishment that let him into its heart, not just the BBC".
More surprising was what he said about DLT and even Mike Read.
On DLT he said, "Dear Dave, if it hadn't been for pirate radio he'd have ended up digging roads in Manchester. He was never the brightest spark, but he's not a nasty guy. There was no bad vibe about him. I was never aware of anything remotely sleazy about Dave. OK, he was possibly misguided".
On Mike Read, commenting about his recent UKIP Calypso Noel says, " Jesus. Mike Read. I could say a lot more about him, but it's all there really" before adding "UKOP, you keep your own opinions private". Before Noel goes on to add many more private opinions himself on other matters!
Talking of TOTP back in the early 1970's he says "The director was handing around all these **** and I remember thinking 'Can't they afford to buy their own ****?'. I was incredibly straight, even in my 20's, never did drugs or ever got drunk. It was only about a year later when I finally realised what was going on".
The band always was 'a bunch of mates' for the first couple of years, and the fun element more than balanced Jimmy's fiery politics well for a long while. He was a good laugh too though, and a genuine nice geezer - it wasn't all polemic.
However, the NF/skinhead problem drove him to despair from very early on. He couldn't quite balance finding another way to express himself which would remove them from the scene with being true to himself; and the NFs continued following the band even though they made it perfectly clear time and again they hated everything the NF stood for just didn't make sense to him. Nothing he did or said made a difference. Sham probably should have just quit playing live until the scum moved on, but there was far too much pressure and need for a living to allow that.
Always felt sorry for Jimmy and the band that it never worked out. They were a great bunch caught up in something far too out of their control, and although he had the commitment, he just didn't have the solid reasoning Strummer or Lydon could summon up to battle through it.
Unfortunately for them, Sham 69 didn't display the musical development that other groups who came up either through or in the aftermath of punk did: by the end of 1979, Blondie and The Clash had diversified their sound, The Jam had matured and PiL and Siouxsie & The Banshees were pushing boundaries. So doing a Yardbirds cover wasn't exactly going to set the world on fire: there was intense musical change going on around them and they already looked and sounded dated well before that.
Sham 69's other problem - and one that was kind of their own making - was their willingness to associate themselves with groups like the Angelic Upstarts and the Cockney Rejects, and the whole Oi movement. While those groups may not have been sympathetic themselves with the National Front or the British Movement, unfortunately for them, their audiences were infiltrated by a racist element. Pursey did indeed rail in vain against the right-wing skinheads turning his concerts into aggro pits - but if he'd been less keen to get caught up in Garry Bushell's idea of a new musical bandwagon and distanced himself from the wannabes, he might've dodged a bullet.
Comments
Thanks for your (and others') responses. So that really did go out then - if it had been broadcast now, I bet there would have been complaints. Maybe in these cynical times we are more tuned in to listening for obscenities?
It would have been interesting to see what BBC Four had done, had this particular episode been suitable for broadcast.
Cheers for the heads up on that Darren. That's a better place for searching the episodes.
I remember that! The thing that stuck in my memory was that one of the child actor's names was James Bond III.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi0WsOBwRBI&feature=youtu.be
Be warned. It has a bit of NSFW language.
Great clip.
totp 2 saturday 11.15 pm bbc two every saturday night
In my tv mag, it lists Badfinger as being on, hope it's right. ;-)
Was it the colour version of the clip, as one compilation had the usual black & white film recording but another compilation, someone actually found the original colour version!
It was colour. I thought they were quite cringey to watch, all grinning and gurning at the camera.
The real treat for me was the Associates doing Party Fears Two. What a song. Billy Mackenzie was mesmerising
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5LrRlR2Epo
That is hilarious - but it's still not as jaw-droppingly shocking as this Crackerjack song massacre:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ZtpYfNq74
(I know I've posted this before, but in case anyone missed its epic horror …)
Is the Sham 69 ballad Better Man Than I, AIRC a more melodic and quieter song? It was released shortly before they split up due to violence and National Front supporters at their gigs.
As the seventies draw to a close, the biggest surprise is the return of Pink Floyd to the charts with the most un festive Christmas no 1 ever and proof that the old guard of rock bands had survived punk.
Unusual, but maybe Jimmy Pursey was tired of the band's skinhead following and wanted to try something new.
Sham 69 were always interesting, they sounded like cockneys, but actually came from Surrey. Maybe they felt alienated in a county where working class people were marginalised and often looked down on.
Yes, i don't think there was any real doubt, and especially in retrospect, that the old guard were going to survive punk. The punk bands really did need to, by the end of 1979, find a new form of expression, or at the very least broaden their horizons somewhat. Such an extreme form, whether in musical style, or what the groups had to say, could only have very limited appeal to begin with, anyway, and it wouldn't take long before they themselves would begin to seem like a cheap parody of what punk originally represented etc. if they played on appearing angry over an extended period of time etc. In the 1978/79 period, Sham 69 were the biggest profile punk band, in terms of their appearances on Top Of The Pops, but i always felt there was a tongue in cheek element to their appearances, which suggested they perhaps didn't take themselves quite so seriously as some of those other punk groups, despite their raucous sound. I think those National Front followers turning up for their shows wouldn't be at all what they were aiming for.
However, the NF/skinhead problem drove him to despair from very early on. He couldn't quite balance finding another way to express himself which would remove them from the scene with being true to himself; and the NFs continued following the band even though they made it perfectly clear time and again they hated everything the NF stood for just didn't make sense to him. Nothing he did or said made a difference. Sham probably should have just quit playing live until the scum moved on, but there was far too much pressure and need for a living to allow that.
Always felt sorry for Jimmy and the band that it never worked out. They were a great bunch caught up in something far too out of their control, and although he had the commitment, he just didn't have the solid reasoning Strummer or Lydon could summon up to battle through it.
I remember at one point in the early 70s 'Owen MD' was followed by 'Star Trek'. I found it funny that the theme tunes to both shows were extremely similar!
Aaaaargghhhh!!!
How to ruin a classic!!! >:(
With all the good music around in the late 70s/early 80s - you forget about all the equally bad entertainment shows at the time!!
Speaking about Jimmy Savile he says,"I never liked him. I found it insulting the way the rest of us would turn up to functions at the BBC on time, dressed in suits and he'd turn up late in a gold lame tracksuit. He was a shit broadcaster. He had no command of the English language. He couldn't speak properly. He'd come out with those awful expressions like 'Howzabout that then?' and I used to wonder why he even had a job"
Noel ends his Savile comment by saying "There's a whole establishment that let him into its heart, not just the BBC".
More surprising was what he said about DLT and even Mike Read.
On DLT he said, "Dear Dave, if it hadn't been for pirate radio he'd have ended up digging roads in Manchester. He was never the brightest spark, but he's not a nasty guy. There was no bad vibe about him. I was never aware of anything remotely sleazy about Dave. OK, he was possibly misguided".
On Mike Read, commenting about his recent UKIP Calypso Noel says, " Jesus. Mike Read. I could say a lot more about him, but it's all there really" before adding "UKOP, you keep your own opinions private". Before Noel goes on to add many more private opinions himself on other matters!
Talking of TOTP back in the early 1970's he says "The director was handing around all these **** and I remember thinking 'Can't they afford to buy their own ****?'. I was incredibly straight, even in my 20's, never did drugs or ever got drunk. It was only about a year later when I finally realised what was going on".
Lets hope it doesnt involve losing more shows whatever it is!
Unfortunately for them, Sham 69 didn't display the musical development that other groups who came up either through or in the aftermath of punk did: by the end of 1979, Blondie and The Clash had diversified their sound, The Jam had matured and PiL and Siouxsie & The Banshees were pushing boundaries. So doing a Yardbirds cover wasn't exactly going to set the world on fire: there was intense musical change going on around them and they already looked and sounded dated well before that.
Sham 69's other problem - and one that was kind of their own making - was their willingness to associate themselves with groups like the Angelic Upstarts and the Cockney Rejects, and the whole Oi movement. While those groups may not have been sympathetic themselves with the National Front or the British Movement, unfortunately for them, their audiences were infiltrated by a racist element. Pursey did indeed rail in vain against the right-wing skinheads turning his concerts into aggro pits - but if he'd been less keen to get caught up in Garry Bushell's idea of a new musical bandwagon and distanced himself from the wannabes, he might've dodged a bullet.
Jimmy Ruffin has passed away aged 78.
He will have his last major hit and comeback single in the top ten in May 1980, so coming up on TOTP.