Southern TV shows 'New Release/Time For Blackburn'

[John Green]

God.For a second I thought a 'Moreby' was another form of inf-technology with which I was unfamiliar!

Thank him for the information,from us.

That "23/7: music guest not known" is like a fly in the sights of an elephant-gun!

William-I was going to ask if you'd found this old thread using Google,but now realise that you started it a year ago.Wow.

[williammcgregor]

Apr 14, 2014 15:05:48 GMT @laurencepiper said:

Simon has kindly Moreby supplied me with the following listings for this show, which I'm happy to reproduce here:

Friday 5/1/68 7-7.30pm Host Tony Blackburn ,The Tremeloes, Andy Ellison. This first edition was shown on Six ITV
stations.
12/1 The Spencer Davis Group, Grapefruit, The Small Faces.
19/1 Tony Blackburn plus panel members Penny Valentine, Mike Lennox
NB Glen Campbell was due to appear then cancelled. Tony Blackburn - So Much Love and one other. Gordon Waller,
Tom Rush (No Regrets), Denny Laine.
26/1 Eric Burdon, Sandie Shaw, TobyTwirl.
2/2 The Frugal Sound, Sundragon The Move.
9/2 The Nerve, Dave Berry
16/2 The Troggs
23/2 Musical Guests not known.
1/3 Musical Release! replaced by first edition of Time For Blackburn! 7-7.30pm

also on the 09/02/68 show were James and Bobby Purify, and Esther and Abi Ofarim

also on the 16/02/68 show were Long John Baldry Francoise Hardy and Tim Rose

[robchapman]

Thanks Lawrence, William, everyone. Hmmm.........certainly no TYLS throwbacks there. I've possibly morphed more than one memory into one single event there - it does happen increasingly these days -  but I could have sworn I saw a band called the Zephyrs or The Zodiacs or something car related, still doing Shadows style choreographed steps on the programme as late as 1968. Come to think of it, it might have even been from the last days of TYLS when the show was beginning to creak a bit. Are there complete listings for Thank Your Lucky Stars out there anywhere? Anybody? Help an old man make use of his last remaining grey matter, before he starts looking at photos of the Beatles and asking "which ones beaky?"

[John Green]

Apr 14, 2014 17:26:08 GMT robchapman said:

Thanks Lawrence, William, everyone. Hmmm.........certainly no TYLS throwbacks there. I've possibly morphed more than one memory into one single event there - it does happen increasingly these days -  but I could have sworn I saw a band called the Zephyrs or The Zodiacs or something car related, still doing Shadows style choreographed steps on the programme as late as 1968. Come to think of it, it might have even been from the last days of TYLS when the show was beginning to creak a bit. Are there complete listings for Thank Your Lucky Stars out there anywhere? Anybody? Help an old man make use of his last remaining grey matter, before he starts looking at photos of the Beatles and asking "which ones beaky?"

Ringo.

[williammcgregor]

Apr 14, 2014 17:26:08 GMT robchapman said:

Thanks Lawrence, William, everyone. Hmmm.........certainly no TYLS throwbacks there. I've possibly morphed more than one memory into one single event there - it does happen increasingly these days -  but I could have sworn I saw a band called the Zephyrs or The Zodiacs or something car related, still doing Shadows style choreographed steps on the programme as late as 1968. Come to think of it, it might have even been from the last days of TYLS when the show was beginning to creak a bit. Are there complete listings for Thank Your Lucky Stars out there anywhere? Anybody? Help an old man make use of his last remaining grey matter, before he starts looking at photos of the Beatles and asking "which ones beaky?"

Hi Rob,

I'm working my way through Thank Your Lucky Stars on my other thread "Offer to research Old NME's Disc etc" but I'm still only on 1961 so it could take a long time!

cheers
William

[Deleted]

There will probably be a listing of the TYLS acts alongside each edition in the appropriate Kal research guide.

[williammcgregor]

Apr 14, 2014 15:05:48 GMT @laurencepiper said:

Simon Moreby has kindly supplied me with the following listings for this show, which I'm happy to reproduce here:

Friday 5/1/68 7-7.30pm Host Tony Blackburn ,The Tremeloes, Andy Ellison. This first edition was shown on Six ITV
stations.
12/1 The Spencer Davis Group, Grapefruit, The Small Faces.
19/1 Tony Blackburn plus panel members Penny Valentine, Mike Lennox
NB Glen Campbell was due to appear then cancelled. Tony Blackburn - So Much Love and one other. Gordon Waller,
Tom Rush (No Regrets), Denny Laine.
26/1 Eric Burdon, Sandie Shaw, TobyTwirl.
2/2 The Frugal Sound, Sundragon The Move.
9/2 The Nerve, Dave Berry
16/2 The Troggs
23/2 Musical Guests not known.
1/3 Musical Release! replaced by first edition of Time For Blackburn! 7-7.30pm

The 05/1/68 show also included Manfred Mann,Herman's Hermits,Kenny Lynch and guest critic Anne Nightingale

The 12/1/68 show also included Anita Harris,Glen Weston,Jackie Trent and P.P. Arnold plus Tony Blackburn singing his new single

The 19/1/68 show also included The Loot

The 26/1/68 show also included P.J.Proby,Graham Bonney and disc jockey Stuart Henry

already mentioned the changes for the 9/2/68 and 16/2/68 shows in a previous post

The 23/2/68 show included Frankie Vaughan

[williammcgregor]

extract from A Day In The Life...Tony Blackburn

Disc and Music Echo 14th December 1968

By Caroline Boucher

The article explains Tony's day starts at 4:55am and how he gets ready etc and his morning Radio Show etc...he starts getting ready for his "Time For Blackburn" TV show about 11am.

3:30pm Outskirts of Southampton approach,and Tony slows abruptly,as he was caught for speeding last week. We arrive at the studios,and bump straight into Roger McGough of The Scaffold, and Manfred, Mike D'Abo who are both on the show. Mike has only just arrived, as he and Manfred went to sleep on the train down and missed Southampton. along to the dressing room, which Tony is sharing with Paul Jones who is nowhere in sight. The studios are small and the atmosphere friendly. Tony begins his round of "hellos" to all and sundry. We go up to the recording room, where show producer, Mike Mansfield is watching run-through rehearsals of Manfred Mann.

4:00pm Canteen

4:30pm Back to the dressing room to prepare notes on each artist appearing on the show, and compose some jokes. Mournful strains from a flute filter through the wall from the Manfreds next door.

5:30pm Run-through of the show,with lots of waits and stops and starts for camera angles to be charted. The general mood is still fairly relaxed, although some of the groups who have been there all day are getting a bit fed up. From the control room Mike Mansfield contemplates arming The Scaffold with "Crazy Foam" with which to spray Tony, but regretfully decides against it.

6:50pm Run-Through is over (Tony has been up for 14 hours)

7:20pm The show starts. Tony welcomes his audience and trys out a few jokes. Mike D'Abo from the control room remarks "There he goes indoctrinating them with his jokes." The Flirtations make a mistake during their number,"Nothing But A Heartache." As the show is not going out live it does'nt matter too much, and nobody seems to mind. Tony immediately consoles them.

8:05pm The show is over. Everyone troops up for drinks and eats. Tony plays an untiring host, talking to everyone, fetching them drinks, rescuing anyone who looks lost. After a while everyone goes back to see the video-recording of the show.

11:30pm day over

[williammcgregor]

Time For Blackburn

Disc and Music Echo article dated 2nd March 1968

Is this new information that pop writer David Wigg, Dave Clark and the Ryan Twins were on the show

and as it was on a Saturday then that would surely make it the 24/02/68 show? as the D&ME was dated the Saturday afterwards



I also liked the information regarding how the programme started by Tony Blackburn emerging from a Helicopter and then shooting off in a sports car with "Time for Blackburn" replacing the nameplate on the back

[williammcgregor]

Here's a picture of The Bees Gees in rehearsal for the TV show "Time for Blackburn" possibly for the 29/06/68 show?

The picture is from the TV Times dated 29/06/68 to 05/07/68

[Alan Turrell]

Nice one William.

[williammcgregor]

Various information from the NME...

The Bee Gees sang several songs from their "Horizontal" LP on the 11th May 1968 show.

18th May 1968 show "Time for Blackburn" screened 15 mins of the Rolling Stones performance at the 1968 NME Poll Winners Concert it also showed all the award presentations to the Poll winners and backstage interviews with Mick Jagger,Dusty Springfield,Cliff Richard,Lulu,Dave Dee,Scott Walker and Don Partridge.

25th May 1968 show Bobby Goldsboro,Paul Jones,The Troggs,Unit Four Plus Two,Anita Harris and The Episode.

1st June 1968 show Marmalade,The Satin Bells,DJ Chris Denning and Tony Blackburn sang a song from his new LP.

8th June 1968 show Scott Walker,Des O'Connor,Julie Driscoll and the Brian Auger Trinity,Simon Dupree and the Big Sound,Mike Batt and guest critic Diana Dors

[marjorysmith]

On last week's BBC Radio 2 Sounds of the 60s, Blackburn repeated the story of Arthur Brown's headdress catching fire on Time for Blackburn. It's also on the trivia page on IMdB:
www.imdb.com/title/tt0198252/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv
"It's one of the tales of rock mythology that Arthur Brown accidentally set fire to himself while performing "Fire" on Top Of The Pops. Not so, as the incident actually happened when he performed the song on "Time for Blackburn". He was performing with a colander on his head in which was placed a large candle when the burning wax began to drip all over him. Fraught staff at Southern Television's studios in Southampton rushed to assist him and to stop any flames spreading. Sadly, the master tape of the show is presumed lost."

Blackburn's memory is pretty unreliable these days. Is he right?

[Thomas Walsh]

I never thought it happened on TOTP.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

Feb 2, 2020 7:55:56 GMT Thomas Walsh said:

I never thought it happened on TOTP.

That's two of us!