Ronnie Lane missing TOTP footage

[Gary Robinson]

A clip of Ronnie Lane performing How Come on TOTP JAN 74 introduced by DLT was shown in BBC4s Life and Times of Ronnie Lane tonight,it looked like a poor quality VHS colour copy.

[Laurence Piper]

Funnily enough, someone just mentioned this on Mausoleum Club too! The clip is missing from the BBC, as far as I know (at least in broadcast standard). I recall Ronnie appearing with this song on the show at the time.

[Neil Barker]

Damn! I missed it. Saw some of the Whistle Test footage though.

Does anyone know if there will be a repeat?

[Laurence Piper]

Yes, hopefully repeated on BBC-2, as I don't have BBC-4!

[Brian Evans]

It is repeated at 12:55 Monday morning on BBC4.

[Neil Barker]

Thanks Brian.

I've seen the TOTP performance but not with the DLT intro.

[Pete Seaton]

this is precisely why we still need TOTP2 to unearth these lost and unshown gems that have been returned in the last 15 years

[Laurence Piper]

...and ones that have been languishing in the vaults unseen for years that kept getting overlooked by things like TOTP2! There are loads of 'em.

[Gary Robinson]

Just wondering if the clip came from Ronnie Lanes private collection as it looked like someone hit the record button to tape his performance as wobbly lines moved up and down DLT as he introduced it.
Also they showed a longer than normal Maggie May on TOTP intro by Jimmy Saville which didnt seem to fit and The Faces doing back to back songs on TOTP intro by Tony Blackburn.

[Brian Evans]

Why did TOTP's 2 stop? Was it Andy Peters idea?
If so I think it was a very bad move as it was the only way that we got to see the old footage still in the BBC archives.
Maybe I'm wrong but it seems to me that the modern way of thinking by the new TOTP's team is they don't like to remember the early days of the show only here and now? TOTP's 2 was the best show to hit our screens and it should not have been removed!!

[Blockbuster]

I disagree. TOTP2 ruined so much of what they showed with on-screen info boxes to Steve Wright talking over the intro and outro. BBC4 did it with Ronnie Lane last night exactly how it should be done. Perfect performances from start to finish with no interruptions. Let's hope BBC4 screen more of these type of shows. I'd love to see the Small Faces Colour Me Pop in full aswell as Ronnie Lane's BBC In Concert from 1974.

[Gary Robinson]

What does Steve Wright know about music?

[Brian Evans]

I agree with you that the format of the show could have been better, but do you think it should have been taken off air because I don't!

[Laurence Piper]

Quite! It was better early on with Johnnie Walker as narrator. But even he was prone to occasional dumb remarks not worthy of him; I recall he made a stupid comment while introducing stidio footage of the TOTP audience dancing cut to The Archies' Sugar Sugar. He made apologies for the "dodgy camerawork" coming up. Although what he was really referring to was the cameramen's penchant for getting close-ups of girls' cleavage and legs, the way it was said implied that all shows of that time had poor technical standards! As I say, a dumb remark that perpetuates myths about archive TV being cheap, nasty and kitsch. Steve Wright was dumber than dumb though - pity they couldn't just present the music with no apologies, snide remarks or on-screen captions plastered over the vision. What a strange notion!

[Keith Brockway]

Hear! Hear!, the most sensible thing said about how TOTP2 should have been. Like has been mentioned, the loads of old TOTP archive performances pre-1977 that still haven`t been shown to this date is unbelieveable.