Stap me vitals, folks, what a Who-tastic week. I’m feeling all ready to swing a mike stand around my head and shout “WWWWAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” even if you’re not. And what’s more, I think I’ve got an old one in the shed.
I thought that this clip ties this week’s ‘Oo discussions and LadyMissK’s venture into the world of obscure British music telly together quite neatly, clearly demonstrating why many (Britons mainly) argue that British telly is the best in the world, or at least unlike that found in most other countries.
Oh yes, it’s Roger Daltrey and Kenney Jones on Tiswas!
For the uninitiated, Tiswas was a live British children’s TV programme which ran for 8 years from the end of the ’70s and most of the ’80s on Saturday mornings, for about 3 hours a week. In common with most classic British telly almost all of the original tapes have been wiped, but this home-taped clip captures the essence of the show pretty well.
The first bit is a regular spot parodying a very long-running and rather staid kids programme, a nature programme of the time which featured the naturalist David Bellamy and the long-running agricultural radio soap opera The Archers. That’s followed about 3 minutes in by a live bit and an interview, and a sing-song at the end.
Can any Townsperson think of anything you’d rather do on a Saturday morning than stay in and watch this? And do you have anything in your shed which you would like to swing around your head to unleash the Power and the Glory?
The original run of Pee Wee’s Playhouse aired in the days before I had a VCR, and I used to wake up at an ungodly hour, especially since I worked the evening shift then, to watch it. The music (by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh) wasn’t really P&G, but there was something rock&roll about it. And one of the characters in the first season was Tito, aka Tito Larriva of the Plugz/Cruzados.
Have you looked at Saturday morning tv lately? There are all these 3D animation shows that make me feel 100 years old.
Love the contrasting hand placement between Jones and Daltrey at the start of this clip. Would anyone doubt Roger would have stood proudly in such a get-up?
It’s a good thing this clip is post-Keith Moon. He would have been nude within 3 minutes regardless of the fact it’s a kids show.
Well, you get rhymes with multisyllabic words, Rock Stars wearing leotards (and cap sleeves!), animation that highlights tits, unattractive regional types and a Gilbert/Sullivan parody – nope can’t imagine anything like that on American Saturday morning tv.
Shorn Roger made me think that he had morphed into Terry Hall.
Pee Wee’s Playhouse was terrific. Definitely a show the kids and I could agree on. The stuff that’s on now, I’m not so impressed with.
I wish I had something to swing around my head to celebrate the Power and Glory, but the garage is all cleaned out and there’s nothing fun left in it!
There’s a tiny clip of Terry Hall on the show on Youtube, he didn’t look as if he was enjoying it very much. This one is far more entertaining http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elkCXVp_BqU