Friday Night Nostalgia
BBC Entertainment (Astro 26)
10:50 p.m. Walk on By: The Story of Popular Music
11:40 p.m. Sounds of the Sixties
I’d discovered the second programme first, a wonderful trip down memory lane every Friday night for me, in all its black and white psychelic glory. Those around my age will understand what I mean.
Some Friday nights, I would tune in earlier and notice a similar programme, also in black and white, but featuring musical eras earlier than what I grew up in. Then, this evening, it all changed.
As usual, I’d tuned into Astro 26 earlier than 11:40 p.m. The programme was in colour this time, and taking centrestage was a familiar long-haired singer with guitar and harmonica … Neil Young! Singing what is probably his biggest hit, “Heart of Gold” . Gotta watch, gotta watch …
As if Neil Young was not enough, other singers featured on the programme included America ( “A Horse with No Name” , “Ventura Highway” ), Bill Withers ( “Ain’t No Sunshine” , “Lean on Me” ), Joni Mitchell ( “California” ), The Flying Burrito Brothers ( “Sin City” ), The Eagles ( “Take It Easy” ), and The Band ( “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” ). Wheeeeeeeeee … looks like this story of popular music has entered the 60s, which makes it a must-watch from now on.
Onto the next programme, Sounds of the Sixties. The first singer to appear tonight, Sandie Shaw, gave me an inkling of who else to expect in the rest of the show. And I wasn’t wrong – the artistes included the late Dusty Springfield, Long John Baldry, Tom Jones, Cilla Black, and a very bouncy Cliff Richard (before he was “Sir” ) singing Britain’s entry to the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest, “Congratulations”. But it was the last singer and his song that really floored me and had me in tears even after all these years.
After the show, I came online to search for the song on YouTube, and found a version from a German show, Beat Club. Now that’s another stop along my memory lane. During the May 13 curfews in 1969, RTM had put on an interesting line-up of shows to keep everyone happy in the safety of their homes. One such show was Beat Club, featuring a popular UK radio deejay, Dave Lee Travis, and a German girl, Valerie. This was where we saw a lot of our favourite British pop stars – even the likes of Crazy World of Arthur Brown (I am the god of hellfire and I bring you … ), and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich (”Legenf of Xanadu”, complete with whip – anyone remember them?). This was where my sister first saw Cliff Richard, and screamed when she did, which prompted a scolding from my uncle (”Do you want the soldiers in here?” ), but I digress.
So here is Peter Sarstedt singing “Where Do You Go To, My Lovely” , and introduced by the German host of Beat Club, Valerie. The last couple of verses was what brought the tears.
(Video courtesy of OzDrDj on YouTube)
