Wednesday 19 October 2011

On this day: 19/10/78

Where does the influence of Showaddywaddy lie? Not in the teddy boy revivalism, which they were never really cut out for, but in the doo-wop mini-revival of the late 70s that brought us Darts, Rocky Sharpe & the Replays and, oh, all the others. Here's the perennial TOTP standbys with Pretty Little Angel Eyes. With superb timing, after 38 years (he was 26 here!) Dave Bartram retired as singer just yesterday. Not unreasonable, given my experience of seeing them over the summer. They've just got a second drummer back as well but Bartram's voice is absolutely shot. By Hey Rock'n'Roll he was positively Norman Collier.



ALSO ON THIS DAY:
- 1978: Legs & Co, the tree years. Well, how would you interpret Macarthur Park?

- 1989: Debbie Harry's solo career was imbued with the blocky production values of the day, but otherwise she still very much had it, even in khaki. The bear came with the crew.

- 1995: and you thought the recently mentioned Steve Lamacq was an unlikely Top Of The Pops host? Some men suit receding hairlines.

- 2001: an hour long, Savile co-hosted special to mark the show's return to TV Centre. Really, who cares?

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