TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

John Archer the then producer of BBC1's irregular arts strand Omnibus suggested that a show be set aside to review the story and progression of music's relationship with visuals, be it on film, television or promotional video, the production of which by the mid-eighties was quickly out-pacing Britain's ailing film industry. This was something that could probably have easily been slotted into the show's scheduled hour-long allotment on a Friday night without much bother. Somehow he persuaded the boss of BBC1 to give him a remarkable four and a half hours, from 9.30 pm - 2.00 am, to tell the story.

Choosing a host/hosts to take us through the history, and throughout the night, should not have been that difficult. Whistle Test regulars of Mark Ellen and David Hepworth would have been ideal, having hosted Rock Around The Clock for over twelve hours at a time, perhaps Janice Long and Dave Jensen would have done it easily, as could comedy actors like Ade Edmonson and Jennifer Saunders. However, John Peel and John Waters were chosen, neither of whom showed any insider knowledge (having none), or interest in the story (they're both borne of radio), generally disparaging the work on screen, the people making it and the reason they made it.

Starting the show with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody promo clip, probably the genre's most famous, the story begins with soundies from the thirties and forties, the rock and roll movies of the fifties and into The Beatles and Monkees era. The promo clips of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones played in the show had not been seen on British television since their original transmission, with We Love You not having been shown on BBC1 before, due to its contemporary ban for its nudity and sexual innuendo. While many promotional clips from the mid to late sixties were made, not all clips were made necessarily to promote a record, it was just as likely to promote the act who were about to tour or visit abroad.

We are then taken into the show's freak-out section with a selection of Midnight Movie looking film clips from BBC2's early seventies shows Disco Two and The Old Grey Whistle Test, leading up the the full take on the Queen clip from 1975 which was made specifically to promote the record. The rest of the show looks at the evolution of the video/promo clip in terms of its script and/or technological advances.

Many film-makers and video directors were interviewed for the show. Peter Whitehead talked about his work with The Stones, Richard Lester for The Beatles, Russell Mulchay on his work with, among others, Duran Duran and Ultravox and Cucumber Studios' Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton whose unique visual style, while not being around for very long, made some of the best videos of their day. While recording acts like David Bowie, Madness and David Byrne gave us their take on what they wanted and why they chose certain directors.

The (near) complete show was repeated the following year on BBC2 as an alternative to the General Election coverage on BBC1, but with a few changes. The Beatles had not allowed a repeat of their promo clips as they were due to be shown in the summer of 1987 on Granada's It Was Twenty Years Ago documentary about Sgt Pepper. They were replaced by a few extended clips of The Supremes, Connie Francis and Clifford T Ward, a clip of Pacific Gas & Electric, and Filmfinders clips from The Old Grey Whistle Test accompanying songs by Led Zeppelin and Tom Petty.

At 9.30 that night of the original broadcast the whole of the UK could hear the sound of VHS's clicking into action to record the whole thing, and thankfully it has survived.

John Archer later went on to start Hopscotch Films, a well-respected documentary company.

VIDEO JUKEBOX

BBC1

9th May 1986