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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2013 12:03:19 GMT
I clearly remember seeing this in 1973 and it was included in the 500th edition at that time.
Now was this ever repeated.What happened to this video?
As we all know many people claim to have this 500th edition but there is no mention of laughing Gnome video in it.
Can anyone clarify this mystery please?
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Post by ajsmith on Jan 27, 2013 12:04:36 GMT
Was it a clip featuring Bowie from 1967 or a 1973 clip without Bowie? (I'm assuming Bowie wouldn't have promoted it in '73)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2013 12:13:58 GMT
Well thats the point you see, i remember a young Bowie with orange hair and the gnome siiting on the bed and Bowie walking down a road at the beginning. many of my friends recalled that too.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2013 12:26:42 GMT
I 'm convinced all our fuzzy memories about this video are playing tricks with us over time. I would be surprised if it was anything else other than one of those TOTP films regularly shown in the early 70's and most likely featured a young actor playing the Bowie role.
Bowie would not have had orange hair in 1967 when any footage surely would have been recorded and he never promoted the song in 1973 nor made a video.
But the surviving list of TOTP films does not include 'The Laughing Gnome'...
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Post by Peter Stirling on Jan 27, 2013 12:36:36 GMT
Yes I certainly remember the walking down the high St scene and the bedroom scene "with his brother Fred". The only thing is can't remember if the guy was Bowie or not?
Presumably he would have been up for it in 1967 but not 1973?
Certainly Bowie was not happy about nurturing this ellusive space being and suddenly the gnome in pedestrian London comes back to spoil the effect LOL
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2013 12:41:47 GMT
This really is a mystery. I have asked john henshall if knows anything about this.
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Post by markandresen on Jan 27, 2013 16:57:51 GMT
I'm glad this has been brought up again. No dodgy memory - I too defintely saw a b/w circa-1967 promo for 'Laughing Gnome' when the track was reissued in '73. Will claim no more about its contents here 'til Rob can get back.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2013 18:47:52 GMT
I remember the clip, but I'm sure it wasn't Bowie.
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Post by Peter Stirling on Jan 28, 2013 10:52:07 GMT
I'll just throw another spanner in the works and say...
I am sure it was in colour as I remember a red toadstool
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Post by Ray Langstone (was saintsray) on Jan 28, 2013 11:46:45 GMT
Ok. 73 TOTPs were shown in colour, as you know. Bowie only got orange hair in the 70's.
From a website - ""Deram had never bothered to make a promo film for The Laughing Gnome, and Bowie himself certainly wasn’t going to show up on TV to promote it (despite the fact he would have probably looked slightly less ridiculous than he normally did), so when the time came to feature this unexpected hit single on Top Of The Pops, the producers did what they always did when there were no official visuals available and Pan’s People‘s arses were otherwise engaged – they made their own film to accompany it.
No, really – Top Of The Pops used to do this all the time in those days (as, it should be noted, The Old Grey Whistle Test did for camera-shy prog-rockers by stringing together loads of old footage of cartoon mice driving cars or something), and they made a surprisingly widely-remembered comedy short about a vague Bowie-lookalike pursuing a small man in green down the street. Unconfirmed reports suggest that this film still exists in the BBC archives, though sadly it has yet to turn up on Top Of The Pops 2. Or, less surprisingly, any offiicially released Bowie DVD.""
So, if reports are correct - it was a Bowie lookalike, it was in colour and it was a TOTP film.
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Post by Paul Watkins on Jan 28, 2013 12:10:04 GMT
This all leads back to the 500th TOTP show which has gone walkies from the BBC.
So at the moment it doesn't exists at the BBC
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Post by markjhaley on Jan 28, 2013 12:23:13 GMT
My Dad was always a gadget freak and bought a colour tv back in 69.
I recall the Laughing Gnome clip on TOTP as being in colour with someone looking a lot like Bowie walking around in it with a garden gnome popping up at various points.
While it was a fairly predictable take, it was certainly one of the better pieces of film the Beeb put together to promote a song where the artist wasn't available to appear in person.
Which brings me to was it actually Bowie ? Well, I also recall Bowie wasn't at all happy that Deram had re-issued the song so I'd 100% go with Ray's post that it was an actor hired in.
Personally I always liked the record and hope the clip re-surfaces.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2013 12:47:25 GMT
I'm too young to have seen this film, but can put things into context.
The 500th TOTP was October 73, so this was after Bowie had killed off Ziggy and was going through that transitional "Pin Ups" era all the while searching for the next direction to head in, so the very last thing he would had wanted was this relic from the past to get in the way. Many Bowie fans from the time that I've spoken to have mostly stated it was really embarrassing to have this Gnome song resurface at this time.
It was the usual ex-record company tactic... the former act becomes a big star so they try and cash in - remember how Decca pulled out the absurd "Young Parisians" when Adam and The Ants were all the rage? An Antfan myself, it sounded ridiculous and sounded embarrassing against the likes of "Prince Charming" and "Stand And Deliver" and then Polydor and EG made it worse digging out "Deutscher Girls"... those 2 singles filled a void between new releases. I don't recall Adam himself promoting either of them. So, for Bowie to be reminded in late 1973 of his quirky earlier novelty single... he couldn't had been too happy. Had he actually promoted it, it would had been going against his current contracts with RCA and Mainman creating further clashes of interest. All he could do was quietly sit it out. TOTP with it's rulings simply went and made their own film so it could be played on the show... I sometimes wonder if that might had influenced why Bowie wouldn't appear in person on the show again until 1977.
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Post by Ray Langstone (was saintsray) on Jan 28, 2013 12:55:14 GMT
I think there was a number of reasons Bowie didn't appear on TOTP during this period....tax exile status (the less than 60 days in the UK rule....); the fact he didn't HAVE TO (his records were selling very well); his pre-occupation in late 74 and 75 with the States ('soul' period); his relocation to Berlin in 76; his fear of flying.
The Laughing Gnome video would have, I believe, been small beer.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2013 16:46:18 GMT
I thought it was a rubbish song and a rubbish piece of film ... I was exhilarated by the Starman performance on its first airing (and when it got repeated a week or 2 later: it also figured in a short lived TOTP titles sequence montage, don't know if anyone remembers that) and by The Jean Genie. The Laughing Gnome??? Nope.
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