Am I right in thinking then that the only Johnny Kidd footage in existence is the mute footage of the mid 60s line up? Or did I miss something?
There are two clips in total. One is approximately 45 seconds featuring mute b/w footage of the "Mark 7" Pirates - Kidd, Johnny Spence, Frank Farley, Vic Cooper, John Moreshead in concert. No group shot, just the individual members are seen.
The other clip is longer and features Kidd walking around Belfast near the docks. The other band members can be seen for a split second on a boat in the background.
Both complete clips will be seen in full later this year, incomplete clips were featured in Julien Temple's Wilko Johnson doc.
I have been chasing Kidd footage for around 7 years. Every possible lead has been followed up and is re-pursued on a regular basis. Unless someone has something in a private collection (such as an episode of Ready Steady Go or Wham!!) or an archive is yet to find some film awaiting digitisation, I have to admit that I'm not feeling optimistic that more footage will emerge. Not impossible but highly unlikely.
I believe I "re-discovered" the live b/w footage in May 2013 and Julien Temple's research team for "The Ecstasy Of Wilko Johnson" located the second piece of film at the same archive. At the time, the latter piece of film was not catalogued.
Having been in touch with various members of The Pirates and Kidd's family and friends, it doesn't appear that anyone took any 8mm, super 8, 16mm home movies of Kidd either or certainly not that anyone can remember. Even the crowd scenes at the various Variety Club Galas at Battersea Park (which Kidd attended and were filmed by Pathe) have been analysed for a glimpse of Kidd.
Every possible (and several impossible) foreign broadcasters have also been contacted.
The only TV appearance I've not been able to rule out 100% to date, is Kidd and The Pirates appearance on Beat In The Border circa late 1962 / early 1963. I have yet to receive any kind of communication from Border TV archive on that one. A reel to reel audio tape of that performance was said to exist (it was a live performance of several songs apparently) but was lost by Mick Green who had borrowed it ! His family had a look for me but were unable to find it.
It is a tremendous shame that in particular, no footage exists of the two classic line-ups - the "Mark 2 Pirates" - Kidd, Alan Caddy, Brian Gregg and Clem Cattini and the "Mark 4" Pirates, Kidd, Mick Green, Johnny Spence and Frank Farley. Sadly, opportunities for pop TV were pretty limited from 1959 to 63 in particular, Kidd didn't do all that many TV shows and we all know what happened to the the tapes if there were any.
I'm kind of surprised that a news clip hasn't survived relating to Kidd's death. Several people remember seeing one and the news feature apparently included a clip of him singing, possibly I'll Never Get Over You.
Having said all that, the search continues for lost treasure....
BTW. I am also seeking any photographs of the first 1959 line-up and the mentioned Mark 7 line-up. After looking all this time, I have yet to see a photo of those two line-ups. It would appear that only Kidd was photographed in 1959 and following the last full band portrait circa mid 1965.
