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Ahead of its time
In 1978 UK television had two major shows devoted to popular music, both produced by the BBC: Top of the Pops, which was the televisual equivalent of girls dancing round their handbags at the local dancehall (while being groped by the DJ, as we now know), and; The Old Grey Whistle Test, for those who took music *really seriously*, (superbly parodied by Eric Idle on Rutland Weekend Television as featuring Stan Fitch, "the first all dead singer", literally a corpse propped up in a chair with a guitar).
Then the commercial broadcaster came up with 'Revolver'. It had a deliberately unprofessional, ramshackle look (a tatty nightclub), and a deliberately provocative presenter who didn't give a stuff about the music, despised the kids who turned up to listen, and was openly in it for the money. The presenter was no less than Peter Cook, the Cambridge-educated darling of sophisticated satire.
No wonder people didn't 'get' the concept or appreciate the programme - TV was supposed to be slick and professional, not a bit of a mess with presenter and audience trading insults ("I fought two world wars for you to be alive!"). Looking back, the mistake was to have Cook separate from the audience. If they had been together, and Cook's improvisation skills had been engaged, the results could have been even more memorable.
By the early 80's we had 'The Tube' on Channel 4 which had something of the same look as Revolver, and the same slightly shambolic air, but not afraid of putting out really new and different music. Revolver just missed its target and was just a few years ahead of its time.
Then the commercial broadcaster came up with 'Revolver'. It had a deliberately unprofessional, ramshackle look (a tatty nightclub), and a deliberately provocative presenter who didn't give a stuff about the music, despised the kids who turned up to listen, and was openly in it for the money. The presenter was no less than Peter Cook, the Cambridge-educated darling of sophisticated satire.
No wonder people didn't 'get' the concept or appreciate the programme - TV was supposed to be slick and professional, not a bit of a mess with presenter and audience trading insults ("I fought two world wars for you to be alive!"). Looking back, the mistake was to have Cook separate from the audience. If they had been together, and Cook's improvisation skills had been engaged, the results could have been even more memorable.
By the early 80's we had 'The Tube' on Channel 4 which had something of the same look as Revolver, and the same slightly shambolic air, but not afraid of putting out really new and different music. Revolver just missed its target and was just a few years ahead of its time.
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- veebee2
- May 4, 2022
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