Following on from my earlier post enthusing about the YouTubing of The Tube, here's another in an occasional series plucking gems from the back catalogue.
Today it's from the last ever Tube, episode 24 of series 5, broadcast 24th April 1987; they closed in some style, Paula bookending a three-song set from The Cure: Catch, Why Can't I Be You and Hot Hot Hot. It would be almost nine years until The Tube's spiritual successor, TFI Friday, debuted. A big hole, largely unfilled.
Following on from my earlier post enthusing about the YouTubing of The Tube, here's another in an occasional series plucking gems from the back catalogue.
Today it's back to episode 2 of series 2, broadcast 4th November 1983, and a performance from Elvis Costello that ran significantly past the end of the show. Here he is with Shipbuilding, Everyday I Write The Book, Clubland, Clowntime Is Over. After the show had finished, he carried on and played TKO too, but that's missing from this video I'm afraid.
Following on from my earlier post enthusing about the YouTubing of The Tube, here's another in an occasional series plucking gems from the back catalogue.
Today it's from episode 3 of series 4, broadcast 25th October 1985, and a second live performance on The Tube for R.E.M. ... Michael's in his dyed-blonde phase, and Peter and Bill have matching outfits (remember unbuttoned shirt sleeves like that?). Fables of the Reconstruction had only been out for four months, so it's no surprise to see Can't Get There From Here get an airing. I will go to Philomath one day...
Following on from my earlier post enthusing about the YouTubing of The Tube, here's another in an occasional series plucking gems from the back catalogue.
Today it's something very special from episode 22 of series 4, broadcast 7th March 1986, Forget the intro from Paula, in which she looks like Princess Di's dirty sister, and concentrate instead on this beautiful performance of I Miss You and Brilliant Mind by Furniture, yet to release their excellent debut album The Wrong People. This is really a cut above your standard Friday teatime fare, then as now... despite two duff piano chords in the first song. Collect them both!
Following on from my earlier post enthusing about the YouTubing of The Tube, here's another in an occasional series plucking gems from the back catalogue.
Today it's from episode 16 of series 4, broadcast 24th January 1986, and a filmed performance from The Housemartins, notable for its Big Match premise and an intro from none other than Saint and Greavsie. This is such a time capsule, and I don't just mean the Commer van they drive around in, or the football stadium and dressing room. "Housemartins AFC" get to spoof The Beatles' "Which top? The very top!" schtick, run through an a capella version of We Shall Not Be Moved, before a mimed performance of an early recording of We're Not Deep, notably different from the version that later appeared on deut album London 0 Hull 4 - all in all, solid bronze music television.
Following on from my earlier post enthusing about the YouTubing of The Tube, here's another in an occasional series plucking gems from the back catalogue.
Today it's from episode 20 of series 3, broadcast 15th February 1985, and a live performance from The Bangles. Or just Bangles, as they were then. And yes, this is because I still have a bit of a thing for Susanna Hoffs, all these years later - no-one, no-one does microphone side-eye better than Susanna. But I digress. Here's the band before they got really famous, showing that they could rock a bit with three songs from their (excellent, since you ask) debut album All Over The Place: Hero Takes A Fall, Going Down To Liverpool and Tell Me.
I had big plans for Tube Tuesday, and had roughed out a number of possible posts, but it seems that Lol-Z, having taken the tremendous time and trouble to YouTube every episode of The Tube, has now set all the videos to "private". Bugger. I mean, I've managed to find another copy of today's content, below, but the quality is poor by comparison. Oh well. It's still worth a few minutes of your time..
This is from episode 12 of series 3, broadcast 21st December 1984, in which Muriel Gray interviews Steve Marriott and Professor Stanley Unwin. Muriel adopts an interesting line of questioning to Steve, the main thrust of which seems to be "what happened to your career?" but, to his credit, Steve doesn't seem bothered. And Stanley gets asked about his role on landmark Small Faces album Ogden's Nut Gone Flake; unusual to hear him talk normally too, rather than in Unwinese.
Following on from my earlier post enthusing about the YouTubing of The Tube, here's the first in an occasional series plucking gems from Jools and Paula's back catalogue.
It's Muriel introducing today's spot though: from episode 1 of series 2, broadcast 28th October 1983, and featuring "Britain's most sought-after support act": an impossibly youthful Billy Bragg (25 at the time). You all know the song, of course, but it's nice to see it was still new enough at the time for Bill to fluff a chord change part-way through.
With massive thanks to Khayem at Dubhed for bringing all this to my attention.
[09-Feb-21 EDIT: sadly the YouTuber that digitised the whole of The Tube has since taken it all down, presumably because The Man™ got on his case. I've updated the videos here with clips from other sources, where I've been able to.]
A YouTuber by the name of Lol-Z has digitised every episode of seminal 80s music show The Tube. And oh, what a rabbit hole it is - a time tunnel back to the music of the day, the comedy, and just how we used to live. It is utterly brilliant. I cannot imagine being short of something to watch for weeks, months probably.
I've written before about how The Jam gave their last ever live TV performance on the very first episode of The Tube, so I won't revisit that. But there are plenty of other highlights, uncovered already from just this evening's cursory scan through. How about the first televised sight of The Smiths, from series 2 episode 2, first broadcast on 4th November 1983, as part of an interview with Geoff Travis:
Or for later in the same series, playing live on episode 21 broadcast 16th March 1984, a programme in which they shared the bill with Howard Jones, Escape Club and Madness, no less. Here they are with Hand In Glove, Still Ill and a frankly exceptional Barbarism Begins At Home:
And if The Smiths are dead to you now, how about REM's first live UK TV performance, from series 2 episode 4 broadcast 18th November 1983, in which they rattle through Radio Free Europe, So. Central Rain and Talk About The Passion. Jools introduces them as being from Atlanta - between songs, Michael says, "We're not from Atlanta, we're from Athens." As if anyone watching in the UK in 1983 knew there was an Athens in Georgia...
Or how about The Style Council, a week later, demonstrating how far Paul had moved on from that Jam swansong the previous series? Performing My Ever Changing Moods, Headstart For Happiness and closing the show with a cover of Chairmen of the Board's Hanging On To A Memory, this was a very clear statement of intent that the audience seem ever so slightly confused by:
And here they are again, eleven months later on series 3 episode 3 broadcast 19th October 1984, showing just how much further they'd gone, with Shout To The Top, A Man Of Great Promise, Strength Of Your Nature and a cover of Defunkt's Razor's Edge:
And especially for Rol, here's the late Meatloaf from the tail end of series 3, in an episode broadcast 8th February 1985. Hard to imagine Meat shared the bill with Amazulu and The Durutti Column at any other point in his career:
Strikes me watching some of this back how TFI Friday that followed in the 90s wasn't actually as groundbreaking as many remember it - they were just updating The Tube, weren't they?
Another thing that strikes me is the sudden recollection that teen me had a little bit of a thing for how Paula Yates looked in the first half of the 80s. So shallow. I was not her type though...
Anyway, you can and really should go and peruse the whole Tube catalogue on Lol-Z's YouTube channel. IMDB can help with episode broadcast dates, should you need them. But hurry - as Khayem said this morning, this lot might not be around for very long. Now excuse me, I may be gone for some time...