Ray Langstone's 100 Most Wanted Lost TOTP Appearances.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

A few people had asked me over the years about which TOTP performance I'd like to see. Or sometimes 3. Or 10.
To a few of these brave souls, I'd reply that I could probably write a list of my Top 100 Most Wanted performances, never thinking I'd actually write one.

That day arrived.

I made a few rules (which I would bend like crazy), and these were that only one broadcast appearance per artist was allowed (to stop me filling it up with lost T Rex and Who performances, for example).
I addition, I would only allow myself a few Dance Troupe appearances and a lower number of 'films'.
An artist is allowed to have two selections if one is a promo film or a dance troupe performance; the same is true if an artist had made a recording that was not broadcast or if a technical problem affected the performance.

I am not interested enough in chart rundown, titles sequences, end title sequences or 'crowd dances' to include any of them.
The list is in transmission order, pretty much....

Although this list is very personal in choice, I do think that if a public vote were done (under the same criteria as I used) at least a dozen of these would be chosen. That many!

So here we go....
01/01/1964 SWINGING BLUE JEANS – Hippy Hippy Shake
03/06/1964 LULU & THE LUVVERS – Shout
26/06/1964 JOHN LEE HOOKER – Dimples
26/08/1964 THE ZOMBIES – She’s Not There
05/11/1964 THE PRETTY THINGS – Don’t Bring Me Down
07/01/1965 THEM – Baby Please Don’t Go
19/08/1965 THE ROLLING STONES – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
09/09/1965 DONOVAN – Universal Soldier (video)
11/11/1965 THE WHO – My Generation
02/12/1965 FONTELLA BASS – Rescue Me
16/12/1965 SPENCER DAVIS GROUP – Keep On Running

14/04/1966 THE SEARCHERS – Take It Or Leave It
16/06/1966 THE BEATLES – Rain/Paperback Writer
14/07/1966 SIMON & GARFUNKEL – I Am A Rock
21/07/1966 THE TROGGS – With A Girl Like You
11/08/1966 THE SMALL FACES – All Or Nothing
26/12/1966 MANFRED MANN (With Paul Jones) – Pretty Flamingo
29/12/1966 THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE – Hey Joe
29/12/1966 CREAM – I Feel Free

23/03/1967 OTIS REDDING – Day Tripper
04/05/1967 THE MOVE – I Can Hear The Grass Grow
04/05/1967 THE KINKS – Waterloo Sunset
11/05/1967 THE BEE GEES – New York Mining Disaster 1941
24/08/1967 JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE (with the ALAN PRICE SET) – The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp
14/09/1967 TRAFFIC – Hole In My Shoe
21/09/1967 THE HOLLIES – King Midas In Reverse

09/05/1968 LOVE AFFAIR– Rainbow Valley
15/08/1968 ** THE WHO - Dogs
05/09/1968 SANDIE SHAW – Those Were The Days
05/09/1968 THE DOORS – Hello I Love You
17/10/1968 JOE COCKER – With A Little Help From My Friends
05/12/1968 DUSTY SPRINGFIELD – Son Of A Preacher Man
12/12/1968 LOVE SCULPTURE – Sabre Dance
12/12/1968 NINA SIMONE – Ain’t Got No – I Got Life
19/12/1968 BONZO DOG DOO-DAH BAND – I’m The Urban Spaceman

03/04/1969 MARY HOPKIN – Goodbye
01/05/1969 MARSHA HUNT – Walk On Gilded Splinters
10/07/1969 DONOVAN with THE JEFF BECK GROUP – Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)
09/10/1969 DAVID BOWIE – Space Oddity
13/11/1969 **GENE VINCENT – Be Bop-a-Lula
25/12/1969 THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN – Something In The Air
26/12/1969 DESMOND DEKKER & THE ACES – Israelites

19/02/1970 JACKIE LOMAX – How The Web Was Woven
12/03/1970 THE FOUR TOPS – I Can’t Help Myself
19/03/1970 DORIS TROY GROUP – Ain’t That Cute
19/03/1970 RADHA KRISHNA TEMPLE – Govinda
02/04/1970 SLADE – Shape Of Things To Come
30/07/1970 ARETHA FRANKLIN – Don’t Play That Song
30/07/1970 HOTLEGS – Neanderthal Man
13/08/1970 HANK MARVIN with TRASH – Break Another Dawn
20/08/1970 HOT CHOCOLATE – Love Is Life
03/09/1970 HUMBLE PIE - Big Black Dog (and interview)
10/09/1970 BOBBY BLOOM - Montego Bay
29/10/1970 CAT STEVENS – Father And Son
12/11/1970 T-REX – Ride A White Swan
26/11/1970 CCS – Whole Lotta Love

28/01/1971 STEVIE WONDER – We Can Work It Out/Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours/Heaven Help Us All
04/03/1971 FRANKIE HOWERD – Up Pompeii (and interview)
27/05/1971 PETER NOONE – Oh You Pretty Thing
27/05/1971 JOHN KONGOS – He’s Gonna Step On You Again
27/05/1971 OSIBISA – Music For Gong Gong
22/07/1971 THE MOODY BLUES – The Story In Your Eyes/One More Time To Live/After You Came
23/09/1971 THE CARPENTERS – Help/Superstar
14/10/1971 RICHIE HAVENS – Here Comes The Sun

06/01/1972 AMERICA – Horse With No Name
06/01/1972 THE COASTERS – Love Potion Number Nine
20/01/1972 BADFINGER – Day After Day
18/05/1972 HURRICANE SMITH – Oh Babe, What Would You Say?
25/05/1972 THE MOVE – California Man
08/06/1972 THE BEACH BOYS – You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone
27/07/1972 HOT BUTTER – Popcorn (danced to by Pan's People)
03/08/1972 TERRY DACTYL & THE DINOSAURS – Seaside Shuffle
03/08/1972 MOTT THE HOOPLE – All The Young Dudes
09/11/1972 THE JACKSON 5 – Lookin’ Through The Windows
14/09/1972 DANDY LIVINGSTONE – Suzanne Beware Of The Devil
14/12/1972 JOHN & YOKO & THE PLASTIC ONO BAND with THE HARLEM COMMUNITY CHOIR – Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (video)

08/02/1973 STEVIE WONDER – Superstition (danced to by Pan’s People)
15/02/1973 THE NEW SEEKERS – Pinball Wizard – See Me, Feel Me (Medley)
29/03/1973 SUPREMES - Bad Weather
19/04/1973 DAVID BOWIE - Drive-In Saturday (video)
25/05/1973 LOU REED – Walk On The Wild Side (danced to by Pan’s People)
29/06/1973 ELTON JOHN – Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting
24/08/1973 LIMMIE & THE FAMILY COOKIN’ – You Can Do Magic
20/09/1973 WIZZARD – Angel Fingers
29/11/1973 LEO SAYER – The Show Must Go On

07/03/1974 BAY CITY ROLLERS – Remember (Sha-La-La)
25/04/1974 GENESIS – I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (danced to by Pan’s People)
16/05/1974 THE ARROWS – A Touch Too Much
23/05/1974 COCKNEY REBEL - Judy Teen
19/12/1974 DAVID ESSEX – Stardust

09/01/1975 SPARKS – Something For The Girl With Everything
13/02/1975 RUPIE EDWARDS – Lego Skanga
22/05/1975 JACKIE WILSON – I Get The Sweetest Feeling
12/06/1975 THE GOODIES – Black Pudding Bertha (The Queen Of Northern Soul)
18/09/1975 CLIFF RICHARD – Honky Tonk Angel
02/10/1975 ABBA – S.O.S.
23/10/1975 NATALIE COLE – This Will Be

29/01/1976 TOTP ORCHESTRA – Moonlight Serenade
29/01/1976 THE SWEET – The Lies In Your Eyes
01/07/1976 BILL ODDIE & THE SUPERSPIKE SQUAD with JOHN CLEESE – Superspike (video)
11/11/1976 EDDIE & THE HOTRODS – Teenage Depression

Explanations will follow shortly, as I expect a few of my choices are strange....

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

Explanations to my choices will follow.
I think there will need to be brief reasons for the selections as some of them look very odd indeed!

The list took me 24 hours to do, straight....

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

Explanations....
01/01/1964 SWINGING BLUE JEANS – Hippy Hippy Shake
I think one would have to be from the first show and this is their best song. A lot of the other acts feature later.

03/06/1964 LULU & THE LUVVERS – Shout
Lulu's debut appearance on TOTP. RSG and TVLS had already had her one, but... still.

26/06/1964 JOHN LEE HOOKER – Dimples
John Lee Hooker? On TOTP? That was an easy choice!

26/08/1964 THE ZOMBIES – She’s Not There
The Zombies debut appearance and I'd select this; a great record.

05/11/1964 THE PRETTY THINGS – Don’t Bring Me Down
There's a lot of TOTP debuts in the first few years, as one would expect!

07/01/1965 THEM – Baby Please Don’t Go
The same goes for this, the growling angry Van, years before the soft-shoe shuffle with Cliff!

19/08/1965 THE ROLLING STONES – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
I suppose it's the quintessential Stones record. It was a toss-up between several.

09/09/1965 DONOVAN – Universal Soldier (video)
This is quite a notable one. Don went to Normandy Beach and was filmed there amongst the wrecks of WW2 equipment. This was shot on 35mm film and I'm amazed it hasn't survived.

11/11/1965 THE WHO – My Generation
I could have picked all of the Who's missing performances, but I tried to obey to my own rules here. This wasn't their first appearance, but it just got the vote from me. We may be returning to Shepherd's Bush later....

02/12/1965 FONTELLA BASS – Rescue Me
Well for starters, it's a great record. Also, there's not much early footage of Fontella. The story is that after taping this, she got homesick and returned to the U.S for Christmas. I don't know how true that is, but I'd dearly love to see this.

16/12/1965 SPENCER DAVIS GROUP – Keep On Running
Early Steve Winwood? Yes! This just edged it over Gimme Some Lovin as it's the debut appearance.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

14/04/1966 THE SEARCHERS – Take It Or Leave It
Aha, this is the famous clip where the Searchers were actually in Australia and when the song had finished, the picture was temporarily upside down! That clinched it here.

16/06/1966 THE BEATLES – Rain/Paperback Writer
Yes, yes, a bit of a cheat as the Paperback Writer exists with the 8mm footage, but.... hang on, Rain doesn't! A friend of mine insists a telerecording exists in a private collection. I'd also heard about another one that got destroyed. Also, I could have included a number of 'films' shown to Beatles footage, and I haven't - partly because noone is absolutely sure about what was shown on occasions and also because some films don't even feature the Fabs.

14/07/1966 SIMON & GARFUNKEL – I Am A Rock
We're post-miming ban now and there are more performances from this and the forthcoming colour period in late '69 and thereafter, Anyway, this is S & G's only TOTP appearance, so a no-brainer.

21/07/1966 THE TROGGS – With A Girl Like You
I picked this over Wild Thing as it would have had a live vocal.

11/08/1966 THE SMALL FACES – All Or Nothing
The lack of Small Faces surviving TOTP appearances is one of the worst shames of the wiped era. They are the group with the most junked performances that no performance exists for. So one selection was inevitable. I went for this one as it wouldn't have been mimed and shows the band at the height of their popularity.

26/12/1966 MANFRED MANN (With Paul Jones) – Pretty Flamingo
Why this and not earlier of later records? A few later performances exist; this stood out like a sore thumb. Lead singer joins old band for one song on a TV show. Just that alone makes it more interesting.

29/12/1966 THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE – Hey Joe
Jimi's first TOTP outing. I mean, NOT difficult - apart from choosing it over any others....there is a cheat coming later....

29/12/1966 CREAM – I Feel Free
And on the same show Cream debuted.... is this where Jimi and Eric met? I don't believe it was, actually, but, that said, it's got to go in.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

23/03/1967 OTIS REDDING – Day Tripper
Otis only played TOTP once, not many months before he died. A pretty straightforward choice, this.

04/05/1967 THE MOVE – I Can Hear The Grass Grow
I could have picked quite a number of Move performances. I went for this.

04/05/1967 THE KINKS – Waterloo Sunset
A Kinks tune has got to go in as well. I was part tempted to choose one of their earliest hits, but I got swayed by the post-miming situation with this. A potentially different backing track or live vocal meant this made the list. It was very very close.

11/05/1967 THE BEE GEES – New York Mining Disaster 1941
The Bee Gees debut appearance. There was a lot of competition here, especially Maurice's solo appearance.

24/08/1967 JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE (with the ALAN PRICE SET) – The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp
I'm cheating. We already have Hendrix. What we don't have is Alan Price's backing track coming out of the speaker to a baffled Jimi who exclaims he 'doesn't know the words to that one!'. This was actually aired. I can qualify this because part of an Alan Price record got played, right? Who wrote the rules?

14/09/1967 TRAFFIC – Hole In My Shoe
Apparently, during the silly talking bit they focus in on a back projection of a small child, which sounds very predictable. I actually preferred this to the 'Mulberry Bush' as it's that much weirder. I mean it's 1967, let go properly psychedelic, ok?

21/09/1967 THE HOLLIES – King Midas In Reverse
....which leads me to this. Again the old miming ban precluded the earlier stuff, and I went for this as I'd love to see how they performed it.

I was a bit surprised with how few selections I'd made from 1967. I'm blaming big ballads and the first appearance of existing shows.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

09/05/1968 LOVE AFFAIR– Rainbow Valley
Love Affair apparently did this live - always a bonus - and the orchestra were a bit out for the first few bars. It was not a happy visit of Steve and the boys to TOTP, but nevertheless it would make fascinating - if not painful viewing.

15/08/1968 ** THE WHO - Dogs
I can bend my rules 360 degrees here. It's the Who again - and this performance was not broadcast because this dog was left standing in his trap at Wembley and did not chart. You see the rule about 'one broadcast appearance'. Yeah, this wasn't shown. This was also in the days before the Who started asking for tapes of their shows.

05/09/1968 SANDIE SHAW – Those Were The Days
HERESY! As a follower of all things Apple, some people will question my brand loyalty at me selecting this over Mary Hopkin's definitive reading. Let me explain why. This caused a lot of trouble in 1968, issued at the same time as Mary's. The Welsh songstress won the battle and was Number One for 6 weeks while the Dagenham Diva failed to chart. Thing is, it's not a bad version at all. In addition, if I chose Mary I couldn't select he for later and at least there's the '68 rehearsal and a load of other performances, so we shall wait until later for Ms Hopkin.

05/09/1968 THE DOORS – Hello I Love You
The Doors played TOTP? I would love to see how the Shepherd's Bush Massive responded to the Lizard King. I most certainly hope he kept it zipped.

17/10/1968 JOE COCKER – With A Little Help From My Friends
I was pleased to select this - but also I was happy to read that the original backing singers sang their original parts on the TV. Live, apparently.

05/12/1968 DUSTY SPRINGFIELD – Son Of A Preacher Man
It's Dusty. You may only select one. Live vocal. Easy choice.

12/12/1968 LOVE SCULPTURE – Sabre Dance
My main interest in this would be if Dave re-recorded the part, was cheating, or playing live. Either way, it's got to be worth watching.

12/12/1968 NINA SIMONE – Ain’t Got No – I Got Life
Up until this week, I'd overlooked the fact that Ms Simone played TOTP. While she was over here she recorded a set for LWT too, early LWT in monochrome. Her only TOTP performance in the studio, and I'll tell you even if it was a silent scream it would be better than that later video aberration for My Baby Just Cares, after it had been on an advert.

19/12/1968 BONZO DOG DOO-DAH BAND – I’m The Urban Spaceman
Obviously. This was the edition that they wore half-male/half-female costumes.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

03/04/1969 MARY HOPKIN – Goodbye
This is why TWTD wasn't included. I'd like to see how much it differed from the studio version, too, as it would have likely been live.

01/05/1969 MARSHA HUNT – Walk On Gilded Splinters
This was possibly live too. Rumours are that the musicians from Trash (an Apple band, Scottish to boot) were playing on it, but I'm guessing if they did, it was off-camera. Some people remember this performance for Masrha's outfit, but that isn't why I'm selecting it, it's a great song.

10/07/1969 DONOVAN with THE JEFF BECK GROUP – Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)
Donovan again? Yep, but that was a promo - read the rules again - and this is with the recently-departed Jeff Beck too. Don came back to TOTP after this, but there were no more hits.

09/10/1969 DAVID BOWIE – Space Oddity
Quite memorable. Bowie got hauled off to a studio with no audience to perform this to give it an isolated quality, and the broadcast did help the sales. Also it's Bowie's only lost TOTP where he's actually on-screen! So, a gimme, this one. Rumours a reel exists seem to be unfounded. A still from the chart rundown with Bowie's photo exist.

13/11/1969 **GENE VINCENT – Be Bop-a-Lula
Gene Vincent had long left the charts, but came back at the end of the decade and starting making records again. They sold a little, but he didn't make the Top 30 and this was never broadcast.

25/12/1969 THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN – Something In The Air
We're in colour now - and that is exactly why I've selected this Thunderclap performance. No footage of them exists in colour during the original incarnation of the band.

26/12/1969 DESMOND DEKKER & THE ACES – Israelites
The record had been Number One in 1969, and Desmond made earlier performance, but those were in monochrome.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

19/02/1970 JACKIE LOMAX – How The Web Was Woven
The year with the most selections. There is precious little footage of Jackie Lomax at Apple - all I can think off from the top of my head is the German Sour Milk Sea appearance and some promotional shots.

12/03/1970 THE FOUR TOPS – I Can’t Help Myself
The Four Tops would have performed live and it was a fairly easy choice to select one of theirs.

19/03/1970 DORIS TROY GROUP – Ain’t That Cute
Doris appeared twice on TOTP and I picked this one. Yes, Apple again, but there's very little Doris Troy footage either. I can't think of any from her time at Apple.

19/03/1970 RADHA KRISHNA TEMPLE – Govinda
I will stop the Apple Records eventually, but, hey, this is my all-time Most Wanted clip. Why? Well it's two worlds colliding inside TVC. The tune's very good actually and George was apparently in the audience. There were rumours at the time you could see him lurking near a camera, but I doubt that's true. It was live too, and I wonder if there was a TOTP Orchestra accompaniment? It's a very delicious thought, though, these devotees playing a holy chant on a pop show in front of all these (mainly) West London teenagers.

02/04/1970 SLADE – Shape Of Things To Come
Yes, yes, of course, Slade HAVE to be on there. But why this and not one of their glamtastic singles. Well, that's it, you see, this is skinhead Slade, not your glitter-and-checks Slade. There's precious little footage of them from 1970 or before apart from the Monster Music Mash, pretty much. Any Slade missing TOTP songs would be welcome - I was very close to selecting Gypsy Roadhog.

30/07/1970 ARETHA FRANKLIN – Don’t Play That Song
It's Aretha. Her only 'in studio' performance. Easiest decision of my life.

30/07/1970 HOTLEGS – Neanderthal Man
I don't think there's any Hotlegs performances of this, just the promo film. Would Kevin Godley have been singing into a bass drum live on TOTP? The mind boggles. 10CC's first appearance was nearly selected, but, just for weirdness, this.

13/08/1970 HANK MARVIN with TRASH – Break Another Dawn
Do you remember me mention the Apple band Trash earlier? Well, they did appear in the flesh on TOTP backing gold old Starvin' Marvin. So the king of the trem bar is being accompanied by some gig-hardened Glaswegian longhairs who have only just changed their name from White Trash... this sounds wonderful!

20/08/1970 HOT CHOCOLATE – Love Is Life
Fact: Hot Chocolate were the only chart act to make the charts in every year in the 1970s. I am aware they used to be an Apple band. This gets selected because it was their first appearance.

03/09/1970 HUMBLE PIE - Big Black Dog (and interview)
Up with controversy.... Humble Pie appeared on this edition - while erroneously missed out on the PasBs - my own farciful theory for this is that the Beeb wished it was erased.
Let me explain. Humble Pie hated nice Mr Tony. That's just how it was. So they came on and did their record and also had an interview with our genial host. Needless to say, they either took the piss rotten or were unpleasant (depending on who you believe) and finished the interview by presenting Saint* Tony with a cabbage. This would have been worth watching.
(* he supports Southampton FC, NO, REALLY.)

10/09/1970 BOBBY BLOOM - Montego Bay
Fabulous record and although the Pan's People routine exists, this doesn't. I'll be mentioning them again.

29/10/1970 CAT STEVENS – Father And Son
I came to the conclusion very early on that if I was going to select a Cat performance it was going to be from that 1970-1972 period, the singer-songwriter stripped back period, which left me with this or Moonshadow or Lady D'Urbanville. It could have been any. I plumped for this being the most durable and popular song.

12/11/1970 T-REX – Ride A White Swan
Anyone who know me would recognize had I not made my own semi-strict rules I would have picked every missing T Rex performance. But I can't. So why this? Well, debut performance, re-recorded backing track and live vocal. Plus one of Marc's finest and he got told off after this performance for displaying a nipple. THE OUTRAGE! Mary Whitehouse must have passed a brick. The next time he appeared he wore a cod-centurion's breast plate....

26/11/1970 CCS – Whole Lotta Love
This is the real deal. It's not the TOTP Orchestra (with Cozy Powell) playing this on the 500th, this is Alexis Korner and a bunch of London's finest sessioneers giving it full on with the TOTP theme. Although it had been the theme for a few months, this was the first time CCS had appeared to perform it - and as it turned out with their busy schedules - the only time!

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

28/01/1971 STEVIE WONDER – We Can Work It Out/Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours/Heaven Help Us All
The album slot makes its' visit in 1971 and this session by Stevie Wonder would have most likely been all live (as some album slots were - but by no means all of them) and that is a wonderful thought. If it was only half as good as the 1974 Living for the City it would still be amazing.

04/03/1971 FRANKIE HOWERD – Up Pompeii (and interview)
Some might say an odd choice, but, hear me out. Francis titters through an interview before unleashing this song all about his BBC Series. This was apparently accompanied by young Mr Howerd V-signing the audience every time the 'Up' of the chorus was sang. Two years later, of course, the Who would be told off for many things (including V-signing the audience), but I suppose if you're promoting a BBC show, then that's alright. Also, whatever anyone thinks of this record (or comedy and novelty records generally), it's a yes from me.

27/05/1971 PETER NOONE – Oh You Pretty Thing
So the 60's have ended, the Hermits are doing their own thing and Nooney is into something good.... with Bowie. Our David was actually tinkling the ivories for young Peter and for that alone it would get on my list. The Earth is a beast indeed. The audio exists off a wobbly old cassette tape, so you'd never know it was David.

27/05/1971 JOHN KONGOS – He’s Gonna Step On You Again
There's not a lot of footage of John Kongos either, some French TV footage comes to mind, that's it. Any would be welcomed. I picked his debut.

27/05/1971 OSIBISA – Music For Gong Gong
Apparently, they were 'so good they were immediately invited back next week'. Except they couldn't make it, and sadly this was the only TOTP appearance for the original line-up of Osibisa from the first two albums. They were also completely live.

22/07/1971 THE MOODY BLUES – The Story In Your Eyes/One More Time To Live/After You Came
Love them or loathe them, the Moodies made quite a few TOTP appearances. So going with the 'classic'(al) line-up of the band leaves the choice of this, Question (we already have the It's Lulu footage) or Isn't Life Strange, which is just a bit dull. There are rumours they did tape an appearance for 'I'm Just a Singer in a Rock'n'Roll Band' with dear old Ray Thomas miming soprano saxophone. I've never seen it an never seen any pictures either. On this album slot Mike Pinder is seen playing guitar, which was also rare.

23/09/1971 THE CARPENTERS – Help/Superstar
The Carpenters only in-person appearance on TOTP.

14/10/1971 RICHIE HAVENS – Here Comes The Sun
Richie Havens was a busy man before and around the turn of the decade, and he was always great. I've never seen him mime so this should be fun.

You will also note the absence of Yes.
It's MY list. Yes = No.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

06/01/1972 AMERICA – Horse With No Name
Their debut performance. Meant to be at least semi-live.

06/01/1972 THE COASTERS – Love Potion Number Nine
Hang on, the COASTERS? The 50s act? The same. Reissues, eh? This intrigues me too, acts from yesteryear getting another taste of chart success or interest. Will they look out of place in 1972?

20/01/1972 BADFINGER – Day After Day
On Apple.... they only had three hits and there is footage of at least one performance of the other two and another song (the B-side) from the album slot. So the song choice is easy. The odd thing is that Mike Gibbins wore a long blonde wig for the whole performance...

18/05/1972 HURRICANE SMITH – Oh Babe, What Would You Say?
It's not the Beatles connection. Oh no, this is because I think the clip EXISTS. (There are three case of this from this one year of 1972. Wow.) Ok German TV station ZDF have a tape with two TOTP performances on them and for whatever reason they can't transfer it. Whether this is physical tape damage, obsolescent equipment of a copyright thing I have little clue, but the ZDF tape has the existing Wings 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' on it and THIS. My efforts to recover this performance failed and I don't see any way forward at the moment.

25/05/1972 THE MOVE – California Man
Hang on, there's an existing California Man performance, right? Yes. So why THIS? This performance - their penultimate one on TOTP - was filmed on 8mm camera by the T Rex entourage. Which ones actually were in the audience with 8mm is unknown, but Tony Visconti was there and Mickey Finn wasn't. How do I know all this - well, there's 8mm projections cut into Born to Boogie (which came out 24/12/1972) and they are from this performance. The next day Tony took 8mm shots of T Rex doing Metal Guru on TV and he's uploaded those to his youtube channel. I have as much clue as you about the Move 8mm shots being still out there.

08/06/1972 THE BEACH BOYS – You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone
There is a disagreement between a couple of music collectors/historians who aren't certain if the Beach Boys performed or a film was shown (which came from a recent concert). Both of my friends are adamant that they are right. So that is the main reason for choosing this - it's either a lost performance or a lost promo.

27/07/1972 HOT BUTTER – Popcorn (danced to by Pan's People)
The dance troupe make a delayed entrance.... I decided to pick a handful of Pan's People performances. Now I know a lot of Pan's People fans and some would pick almost an entire list of missing routines. And then you'll get some music fans who would not even entertain one routine being included in such a list.
The truth lies somewhere in between. I think a representation is needed. I picked four; somewhat controversially I've only included Pan's People; there were a few Go-Jo's routines and this would have been interesting but I decided against them. There's almost no Legs and Co missing now, and as for Ruby Flipper. Well, one performance nearly made the shortlist, but.... I tossed a coin.
The other thing is that until 1969, noone really watched TOTP for the dancers. They only seemed to get a following when colour came in.
So the first of the PP routines is this one, which people remember as 'jerky' and 'slightly disturbing'. Scores for me. Plus that song follows me around I swear...

03/08/1972 TERRY DACTYL & THE DINOSAURS – Seaside Shuffle
I must confess part of the reason for this one's inclusion is the fact I promoised Jona I'd try and find it. I did keep my promise, I just haven't found it.... I have tried.
Scholars may note that this is the THIRD performance.
Reason is, that I think TD was the first act to get (in fact originate) Brian and Michael syndrome.
This is when the BBC spend X on the studio for your first TOTP performance, then X + 1 on your second, and X x 2 for your third.
I think this is the one on the 'beach' set.

03/08/1972 MOTT THE HOOPLE – All The Young Dudes
No TOTP performance of Hoople's biggest hit exists in the archive. Yes, I know, written by Bowie, but that was not the reason why.

09/11/1972 THE JACKSON 5 – Lookin’ Through The Windows
Hang on - doesn't a minute or so of this exist?
Yes it does. So why am I cheating again. There are two reasons.
Obviously seeing the whole thing would be great - the J5 live is a glorious sight to see - but also - whisper it - there were rumours that Jermaine recorded a solo song at this taping (which was also where Rockin' Robin was recorded). Believe it or not, that means I'm breaking my own rules again. Who'd have thought it?

14/09/1972 DANDY LIVINGSTONE – Suzanne Beware Of The Devil
A personal favourite of mine.

14/12/1972 JOHN & YOKO & THE PLASTIC ONO BAND with THE HARLEM COMMUNITY CHOIR – Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (video)
This exists. Probably. I mean, noone has actually seen it since 1972.
So the BBC have this film. The Lenonos aren't performing or moving about in it - it's still shots. Plus also seasonal things like churches, stock shots presumably.
Now with the song a year old, you'd thing this was a BBC-made film or a Caravel one (rather than an Apple Film per se).
But strangely, it's never got out.
The reason for this is unknown. I know someone who even tried to obtain a copy from the Beeb by claiming they worked on the film (which I sincerely doubt as they were about 6 at the time) and the Beeb said no, not because of the massive lie to get Contributor Access, but because OF the film.
It doesn't make sense. But that's where we are.
I had a couple of people contact me claiming it existed and showing me 'video evidence'.
I then pointed out, that while the video was very nice, the Tiannamen Square protests did not happen for many years after 1972....

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

08/02/1973 STEVIE WONDER – Superstition (danced to by Pan’s People)
Pan's People routine numero deux.
It's a great record and I couldn't have anymore Stevie Wonder with him actually performing. Plus PP always said they most enjoyed dancing to Motown.

15/02/1973 THE NEW SEEKERS – Pinball Wizard – See Me, Feel Me (Medley)
There's a tiny chance the Who's performance of the former part of this medley exists, but I'm already chock-a-block with Who. So, the New Seekers. Most, but not all, of their TOTP songs have at least one existing performance. This is one of the ones that doesn't. It's also fast paced, and they would have performed live with the TOTP Orchestra.

29/03/1973 SUPREMES - Bad Weather
Staying on the subject of the TOTP Orchestra, I'm not slagging them off particularly, but it's quite coincidental to find that this performance led to complaint letters being written about the backing given to the Supremes for this song. It's going to be interesting....

19/04/1973 DAVID BOWIE - Drive-In Saturday (video)
A Caravel? YES. This has got to be the most wanted Caravel film from the period 1970-74. It's now confirmed over half of the Caravels exist. This non-artist promo was quite well-recalled by some who saw it, as it has a car in the film with a video recorder in it - the irony being that the film was wiped.
Two things. Bowie ISN'T in it, got that.
Secondly, the Laughing Gnome Caravel exists. It's about six feet to my left on DVD. Bowie's not in that either.

25/05/1973 LOU REED – Walk On The Wild Side (danced to by Pan’s People)
Third PP. Apparently the girls look a bit confused in this.
Perhaps to what the line 'giving head' means?
How did they dance to that???

29/06/1973 ELTON JOHN – Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting
Yes, there are quite a few missing Elton performances (although I don't believe he taped Step Into Christmas, sorry). This is Elton rocking out, not seated at a piano being wistful. He wasn't just a ballad guy, some people forget!

24/08/1973 LIMMIE & THE FAMILY COOKIN’ – You Can Do Magic
It's my favourite song.

20/09/1973 WIZZARD – Angel Fingers
Well this is interesting, as a performance of this exists, from the PVL. So why have I selected this? The actual reason is Ayshea Brough (who made two on-stage appearances with Wizzard, the other being a wiped 'See My Baby Jive'. For this one she was in fancy dress, and in typically 70s politically incorrect fashion she was dressed in a college uniform and during one of the instrumental breaks was grabbed and put over the knee and spanked by one of the members of Wizzard (not Roy Wood). I just know it would be great television!

29/11/1973 LEO SAYER – The Show Must Go On
Not Leo's debut, but having chatted with the man himself online I know he was keen to see if one of his appearances performing this very song existed.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

07/03/1974 BAY CITY ROLLERS – Remember (Sha-La-La)
Why only 5 performances from 1974?
Well, there was a big strike that took out most of the summer, for starters. Also, more editions exist than in 1973 (sometimes due to PVL finds) and a few other recoveries too
Anyway, a very very very low-quality performance of this exists, ex-PVL.
That one was John Devine's last Rollers performance (and the camera hardly shows him....
This was Woody's first!

25/04/1974 GENESIS – I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (danced to by Pan’s People)
The thought of PP dancing to 70s Genesis blows my mind a bit.
I'm blaming Judd Lander.
Apparently, Peter, Phil and the boys refused to play TOTP.
Of course, individually, they changed their minds years later....

16/05/1974 THE ARROWS – A Touch Too Much
I spoke to Alan a fair bit online and he was watching DVDs of his Arrows shows I sent him when just before he died.
This was the Arrows first TOTP performance and I'd love to see it.
A video was shown on Saturday Scene (which was quite new), but I'd rather see a performance.

23/05/1974 COCKNEY REBEL - Judy Teen
When the artist is looking for a copy, you know it normally means it's worth watching.
There was a scene-shifters strike at the studio and this means no equipment got moved.
So Cockney Rebel all stood in a circle and mimed guitars. And you thought there was a ban on that sort of thing?
Steve Harley has been quoted in interview asking for a 'VHS' of Judy Teen from this very performance.
Around twelve years ago some stills were discovered; it's not clear that a video survives.

19/12/1974 DAVID ESSEX – Stardust
There's no TOTP performance of this number existing, whereas there are for his other hits.
Probably a live vocal (he only mimed once, which was to a different song) and I'd love to hear the backing track, it would have to be different.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

09/01/1975 SPARKS – Something For The Girl With Everything
It's SPARKS! Got to choose one!!!!

13/02/1975 RUPIE EDWARDS – Lego Skanga
After seeing the recovered PVL footage - with a totally live performance of Irie Feelings (Skanga) - I would very much welcome seeing a performance of his second TOTP hit. It's not as good, but....

22/05/1975 JACKIE WILSON – I Get The Sweetest Feeling
This is so annoying. One of the recovered Pan's People tapes has Tony comment after PP have finished dancing to the Stylistics and he says he's a massive fan of Jackie Wilson.... the camera pans.... and the recording finishes. I do believe this was the only time he appeared live too.

12/06/1975 THE GOODIES – Black Pudding Bertha (The Queen Of Northern Soul)
What most people don't know - apart from a friend of mine in Wales - is that this was actually recorded on or about 12/03/1975 the same day they were recording the Funky Gibbon. That in itself intrigues me.... Also, a tape DID exist, but it was pretty much the only one of the PVL tapes that did not survive.

18/09/1975 CLIFF RICHARD – Honky Tonk Angel
Cliff's deleted single! A nice little number about, I'm told a simple country girl in the US and not a working girl, lady of the night or anything like that, oh, no siree, no.
Quite the rarity as Cliffy never performed it on TV again.

02/10/1975 ABBA – S.O.S.
ABBA's only lost TOTP performance. Audio exists.

23/10/1975 NATALIE COLE – This Will Be
People sometimes forget Natalie Cole had a career in the 70s long before Pink Cadillac or any of that.
And she'd have no doubt sung it live too.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

29/01/1976 TOTP ORCHESTRA – Moonlight Serenade
I know what you're thinking. I've finally gone mad.
Nope, stay with me here.
You know how Danny Baker goes on about the TOTP audience? Well, for this record it's the interest.
Apparently, the nadir of 70s TOTP performances was this.
A number of people remember how utterly bored and mortified many audience members were for this.
There's nothing wrong with Glenn Miller, but.... the teenyboppers were expecting something with a little more that encompassed the zeitgeist.... although by 1976 I think the zeitgeist was a bit confused where it was....

29/01/1976 THE SWEET – The Lies In Your Eyes
Some may have noticed the glaring omission of Sweet. Fear not, for hear they are with this minor hit from their later period
I would have gone with Hell Raiser, but a film of that has been found, so....

01/07/1976 BILL ODDIE & THE SUPERSPIKE SQUAD with JOHN CLEESE – Superspike (video)
Noone remembers this.
That old funker Oddie, made this record with a guest spot by his old University chum Cleesey to aid the British Olympic Association, which like most people in 1976 didn't have a lot of money.
So there was a record. Was there a promo film, per se?
It's very hard to tell.
The Beeb had been making less films without artists - Caravel's contract had ended in 1974 and artists making their own promo films had become more commonplace over the years.
The two comedians never made it to the TOTP studio, so what film promoted it?
A great mystery.

11/11/1976 EDDIE & THE HOTRODS – Teenage Depression
And we finish.
There's no punk per se on the list - by 1977 most editions were kept plus some punk acts wouldn't appear anyway, but I expect this was an energetic performance. Probably a re-recorded mime, though.

So that's it. What a journey that was, eh?

[mattchurchett]

Thanks for all you reasons Ray, I’ve really enjoyed reading them. Let’s hope some of the performances turn up!