21st October

1976: So Ruby Flipper were history, but what next? Back to the women-only policy, hence the introduction of a new troupe, though of course only three of them are actually new and Lulu has gone through the full BBC training scheme on oversized postcard holding. You do actually have to buy a stamp and affix it to the card, by the way, not just draw on an approximation. Their debut routine, to Average White Band, requires them to keep hold of material throughout. Still, teething process. Elsewhere after Stewpot has introduced two people who don't deserve names Paul Nicholas gives his captain a Jamaican accent - reggae like it used to be, indeed - and Climax Blues Band are really aided neither by the green flare solarisation or by Colin Cooper holding a saxophone like a pacifier.

1982: The Piranhas have gone all out this time, borrowing Paul Young's infamous Fabulously Wealthy Tarts, giving their drummer an unrelated costume and dressing Boring Bob Grover as Dennis The Menace, perhaps deliberately. No reason for that either. Toyah is as Toyah does, wearing something that isn't so much a lightweight coat as a flag with sleeves. Finding matching outfits for all of Kool & The Gang must have used up most of their advance.