Singer-songwriter Brian Alexander 'B A' Robertson had recorded unsuccessful albums
for the famed Ardent Records in Memphis and Arista in London before finally making
it as a pop star at Warner's Asylum label in the late seventies. His cheeky, chirpy
hits made him look like a novelty-song nightmare, but this belied a talent that would
take him from writing hits for Cliff like Carrie and Wired For Sound to worldwide
number ones like Silent Running and The Living Years with Mike Rutherford, even working
on a musical with Burt Bacharach in the early nineties.
He proved a multi-media talent appearing on many other shows, even co-hosting Top
of the Pops in 1980, and in 1982 he was given the chance to host a weekly, late-night
show, looking at different aspects of the music business.
The first show focused on songwriting with guests Roger Cook, who together with Roger
Greenaway had written many hits from the mid-sixties for nearly a decade and Andy
Hill, who had been responsible for many of Bucks Fizz's recent hits. Classical music,
blues, soul, producers and women in rock were looked at. It would be this final show
that would give anyone a reason to remember the show at all. Starting with a close-up
of Bow Wow Wow's Annabella Lewin's lips, the host's sexist introduction angered the
participant, responding that she thought the show was "pretty shit" before walking
off to applause. The show had been pre-recorded, so both the offensive introduction
and her response to it could have been cut. Robertson had already made a nuisance
of himself the previous year when taunting Pebble Mill interviewer Jenny Hanley with
"your turn" after every answer.
B A In Music never made it to a second series.
