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Post by Ray Langstone (was saintsray) on Feb 2, 2020 10:28:53 GMT
I never thought it happened on TOTP. That's two of us! In fact, Tony Blackburn never actually presented TOTP when Arthur Brown was performing - Arthur only appeared once (the clip was repeated three times, it's the existing one) and the presenter was Pete Murray. Tony's only appearance in 1968 was as a performer not as a presenter - he didn't actually reappear until May 1969 having presented two shows in 1967. Whether this was down to the fact he was having hit records or because he was appearing on a rival channel is not certain; it's possible both could have been reasons! |
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Post by Peter Stirling on Feb 2, 2020 11:24:50 GMT
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? I heard that Arthur used an adapted colander on his head topped up with methylated spirit, but on occasions, this either leaked onto his hair or got very hot, this was something that producer of Time for Blackburn producer Mike Mansfield would have probably been enthusiastic to film, but maybe TV studio safety regulations told him to tone it down a bit and use a candle?..which appears to have turned out more troublesome than the use of spirits LOL. Apparently the Southern filmed ident at the beginning was replaced with a smoking 'Southern TV' caption board. The reason why the Top of the Pops version probably survives is that it was a pre-recorded insert under controlled conditions, as BBC safety may not have allowed it to be performed in front of a live audience? Be interesting to see how they got around it for his colour performance on the Tom Jones show..but this may not survive? . |
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Post by petercheck on Feb 2, 2020 11:32:07 GMT
Be interesting to see how they got around it for his colour performance on the Tom Jones show..but this may not survive?
Enjoy! 
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Post by Peter Stirling on Feb 2, 2020 13:38:36 GMT
Be interesting to see how they got around it for his colour performance on the Tom Jones show..but this may not survive?
Enjoy!
Haha thanks Peter..assumed it was still lost...Looking at it I thought they had cheated at first, but halfway ATV props seemed to have come up with something that perhaps got too hot LOL. ..the things artists use to do to entertain us eh |
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Post by petercheck on Feb 2, 2020 13:47:52 GMT
I'm pretty sure that ALL of the US versions of 'This is Tom Jones' survive, it's just the alternate UK versions that are more hit and miss.
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Post by Richard Marple on Feb 2, 2020 15:29:22 GMT
As Tony Blackburn was presenting the Radio 1 breakfast shows 6 times a week around this time he might have been too busy to present much else.
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Post by Simon Mclean on Feb 2, 2020 17:04:23 GMT
In fact, Tony Blackburn never actually presented TOTP when Arthur Brown was performing - Arthur only appeared once (the clip was repeated three times, it's the existing one) and the presenter was Pete Murray. The audio from the 25th of July 1968 show with Stuart Henry appears to indicate a different performance - Arthur B's vocal is live and noticeably different from the record, and the brass is provided live by the TOTP Orchestra. The surviving clip we know and love sounds like it's mimed to the record (unless it's been overdubbed?) |
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Post by paul carney on Feb 2, 2020 17:10:57 GMT
Carl Palmer in fine form on the drums.
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Post by Paul Watkins on Feb 3, 2020 12:30:17 GMT
In fact, Tony Blackburn never actually presented TOTP when Arthur Brown was performing - Arthur only appeared once (the clip was repeated three times, it's the existing one) and the presenter was Pete Murray. The audio from the 25th of July 1968 show with Stuart Henry appears to indicate a different performance - Arthur B's vocal is live and noticeably different from the record, and the brass is provided live by the TOTP Orchestra. The surviving clip we know and love sounds like it's mimed to the record (unless it's been overdubbed?) The surviving clip has always seemed out of sync so perhaps it was dubbed. Is the 25th July 68 available anywhere?, as it would be interesting to re-dub it to see if that matches better. |
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Post by Peter Stirling on Feb 8, 2020 20:10:58 GMT
The audio from the 25th of July 1968 show with Stuart Henry appears to indicate a different performance - Arthur B's vocal is live and noticeably different from the record, and the brass is provided live by the TOTP Orchestra. The surviving clip we know and love sounds like it's mimed to the record (unless it's been overdubbed?) The surviving clip has always seemed out of sync so perhaps it was dubbed. Is the 25th July 68 available anywhere?, as it would be interesting to re-dub it to see if that matches better. Could have been a retake perhaps as poor old Arthur's head got too hot? ...maybe they yhen mixed between the two takes for effect? |
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