Anarchy in Manchester / So it goes - Granada TV

[markdixon]

Reading this thread made me think of various punk and New Wave performances broadcast on ‘Granada Reports’ during 1977 (bands usually appeared on the weekly ‘What’s On’ segment of the programme). As far as I know none of these performances still exist apart from the 3 poor-quality off-air clips of Wreckless Eric, Blondie and Elvis Costello which were used in ‘The Way We Were’ compilation in 1986. I always assumed the non-existence of this material was down to the fact that ‘Granada Reports’ was a live programme which was rarely recorded. However I realised I was wrong after watching the ‘So It Goes’ sequences repeated on ‘Anarchy in Manchester.’

I was surprised to find out that a short broadcast quality clip of Elvis Costello performing ‘Alison’ on ‘What’s On’ (21 July 1977) was repeated on ‘So It Goes’ on 16 October 1977. It turns out that this clip has already been discussed on an earlier thread on this forum.

However, I don’t think anyone has commented on the edition of ‘So It Goes’ from 30 October 1977. I’ve just watched the sequence where Tony Wilson introduces a filmed interview with Iggy Pop. I noticed that one of the TV screens behind Wilson is showing a ‘Granada Reports’ studio interview with Iggy from March 1977 (he was promoting ‘The Idiot’ album at the time.) A photograph of Iggy taken during this interview was later used on the front cover of the ‘Lust for Life’ album.

It is possible that other now-missing clips were shown on the screens behind Wilson on other editions of ‘So It Goes.’

It seems strange that all the early ‘Granada Reports’ punk material was junked after 1977. It is clear that Wilson understood the significance of the clips at the time. ‘What’s On’ became a series in its own right in January 1978 and according to ITN Source all its episodes have survived.

[Neil Megson]

Oct 29, 2014 10:38:37 GMT @sheldi said:

Okies, I'm no techy but neither am I a technophobe. I'm a reasonably intelligent woman and I've figured out some of what it might mean ... but let's pretend I haven't.

Can someone decipher the Format ID details and the Format type details. I really want to learn.

Format ID: C89/171/3 C78/236 C78/236 C78/236 A + B ROLL C78/236
Format type: 16MMCOLMPT 16MMMAGTRACK 16MMOPTNEG 16MMCOLNEG 16MMCOLPT

On "Format ID", A + B roll refers to a negative which has been edited and prepared for making multiple copies as positive prints.
The "Format type" line lists (in order) - a 16mm colour mute print, a 16mm magnetic film (soundtrack only), a 16mm optical sound negative (sound only, no picture), a 16mm colour negative, and a 16mm colour print.

The usual 16mm workflow would involve the original camera negative film being transferred to a positive print for editing, with the soundtrack edited separately on a magnetic film (like a magnetic tape, but 16mm wide and with sprocket holes matching the film). The negative would then be cut into "A / B rolls", matching the cuts made on the positive copy. The edited magnetic film would then be used to make a negative film with the optical soundtrack only. Finally, the A/ B negative rolls and the optical soundtrack would all be printed together onto a positive print with an optical soundtrack, which could be used for transmission or projection.

A / B rolls mean that odd numbered shots are all on one roll, with the even numbered shots on another. This is done to make splices between shots invisible when printed, as adjacent shots are not actually physically joined to each other on the rolls - opaque black film fills in the gaps. Printing is done in 3 stages - 'A' roll, then the 'B' roll, then the soundtrack.

[Deleted]

Thanks so much, Neil, that clears up a whole lot. Very muchly appreciated :-)

[markdixon]

In my previous post I mentioned that I was surprised to see a broadcast-quality version of Elvis Costello’s ‘Granada Reports’ appearance repeated on ‘So It Goes’. I had previously assumed that this performance had gone out live without being recorded by Granada. It turns out that the weekly ‘What’s On’ segment of ‘Granada Reports’ was always pre-recorded on the day of transmission. I found this information in Lindsay Reade’s book ‘Mr Manchester and the Factory Girl’. Therefore when ‘So It Goes’ Series 2 began in October 1977 there were probably quite a few ‘What’s On’ clips from the previous few months still in existence (such as studio performances by the Buzzcocks and Slaughter and the Dogs).

I wasn’t correct in saying that those 3 poor-quality off-air recordings are the only ‘Granada Reports’ punk clips from 1977 still in existence. Apparently the film footage showing John Cooper Clarke performing in Manchester venues (from ‘So It Goes’, 9 October 1977) was originally shown on ‘Granada Reports’, probably in February 1977.

The ‘What’s On’ performance of ‘Ain’t Bin to No Music School’ by Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds still exists, but not in broadcast quality. John Crumpton filmed it in black and white directly from a TV screen. He included the footage in a documentary called ‘The Rise and Fall of the Nosebleeds’. This documentary was made as part of a community project in 1977, but it was not screened in public until 2005. The entire film can now be viewed on the Vimeo website. The documentary also contains a segment of the ‘What’s On’ opening titles and some behind-the-scenes footage of the Nosebleeds and Tony Wilson at the Granada studios.