1966: Zoom out a bit! Recently discovered and grandiose, The Walker Brothers. Neat shape throwing into the climactic chorus.
1977: Bay City Rollers saw their own way out and there's not a stitch of tartan around the place, though Eric's knee high hooped socks suggest he hasn't grown up per se. There's more of a reaction to The Jam than on their first appearance, if not necessarily from the director who mixes Foxton's interjections in the middle to a tight close-up of Weller. Given their brotherhood there's something dubious about the little looks Bobby Alessi is giving Billy. Attracting even less attention is the pimped up Danny Williams reinterpreting the Martini jingle to an audience more concerned with the camera.
1983: There's a duo from the gods, Jimmy Savile (who'd been wearing that T-shirt on the show since the mid-70s) and Pat Sharp. Roman Holliday prove there was once such a vacancy as 'new Haircut 100'. Unfortunately everyone decided their drummer was trying far too hard for comfort. Meanwhile, Jimmy The Hoover were being upstaged for the second time, this time by a man threatening to throw fire right across the studio. His bravery and skill is admired by... nobody, they're all watching the band. Nice drumkit set-up. Amid this jumble of link-free clips from that week comes Gary Byrd & The GB Experience (via Zoo), The Cure and Paul Young in full. As usual Robert Smith considers miming guitar a mug's game.
1994: Another full show, this one fronted by Julian Clary in typically restrained form and demonstrating his common touch with a crowd. Highlights include Clubhouse bringing an uncomfortable summer setting to the show in the form of parasols and the first visit of Mr Punch since Joy Sarney took his name in vain, The Grid nodding to A Clockwork Orange while demonstrating the least necessary hypeman perhaps in the show's history, PJ & Duncan's hi-vis dancers and Skin diplomatically ignoring Clary.
2000: Via satellite, Aaliyah and some dancers drilled to within an inch of their lives.
1 comment:
I love that Roman Holliday performance, it's one of my favourites because there are so many great thing about it - Jim and Pat waiting for their cue, Jim's unintelligible patter ("Hey hey hey, my friend will now introduce the finer points of the show!"), Pat's earnest link, the fact they're all crammed on a tiny stage and getting pelted with balloons and glitter, the fantastically over-choreographed peformance, some people from Zoo tunring up as if the band aren't animated enough, and the opportunity to work out which one out of the two guitarists and drummer looks the most like Nick Knowles.
Chris Evans played this at five past eight the other week, surely Roman Holliday's greatest exposure for some thirty years. As you say, they're the band for those who find Haircut 100 a bit too edgy, and you can see why the follow-up Motor Mania stiffed as they started wearing leather jackets and earrings. And, er, also they forgot to put a tune in it.
Jim always says he hated this era of Pops but it's clearly brilliant, you've got a fire eater in the studio and nobody cares!
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