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This is Monday, Watch And Smile
Jul. 23rd, 2007 10:34 amI watched the DVD of Tiswas Reunited yesterday. Most entertaining to see this recollection of more than a quarter of a century ago.
I was a bit too old and poker-centric during the time that Tiswas invaded the UK TV screens from 1974 to 1982, but some of my friends made sure to go down to the TV room to watch it most Saturday mornings. Well, everyone wanted to sleep with Sally James.
Some of the interesting parts of the highlights were the shot of a "wall" with pop posters on them. In a prominent position were "The Photos", which specifically dated that shot to 1980/81. The Photos were a Birmingham Band and Tiswas was shot in the ATV studios, which might explain their prominence. Their lead singer as Wendy Wu and I saw them perform at the Marquee in Wardour Street in late 1980 or thereabouts, all of which would be consigned to a file in my memory marked "not really worth remembering" had it not been for the fact that the support band was U2.
In synchronistic terms, I was hunting my old compilation cassettes and CDs for the first instance of Blur and the track "There's No Other Way", which I am sure I heard before Blur hit the national consciousness. One Cassette that I found was the NME Dancin' Master (1981), which featured as the last track a song by "U.2." - a band so insignificant that the typesetters didn't even bother to ask how their name should be spelt.
But, back to Tiswas. Apart from the obligatory appearance of Dank and Wet (on the grounds that they were fans when young) there was also a startling performance by Michael Palin in a role which was surely the inspiration for Al Murray the pub landlord.
As Tarrant and James observed, many of the sketches that it was fine to perform in front of kids in those days (and which were jolly fun) wouldn't be allowed today because the Misery Police have taken over. Watching the sheer anarchic impertinence and irreverence of the whole thing, and comparing that with the anodyne crap shovelled out to adults and kids today, you realize that it isn't just a matter of grwing old; society today and the rules which we have to live by genuinely do suck. It all started going wrong when they brought in seat belt laws. I think that this was the first example of a law being brought in forcing you to protect yourself at the expense of other people's safety, rather than the other way round.
I was a bit too old and poker-centric during the time that Tiswas invaded the UK TV screens from 1974 to 1982, but some of my friends made sure to go down to the TV room to watch it most Saturday mornings. Well, everyone wanted to sleep with Sally James.
Some of the interesting parts of the highlights were the shot of a "wall" with pop posters on them. In a prominent position were "The Photos", which specifically dated that shot to 1980/81. The Photos were a Birmingham Band and Tiswas was shot in the ATV studios, which might explain their prominence. Their lead singer as Wendy Wu and I saw them perform at the Marquee in Wardour Street in late 1980 or thereabouts, all of which would be consigned to a file in my memory marked "not really worth remembering" had it not been for the fact that the support band was U2.
In synchronistic terms, I was hunting my old compilation cassettes and CDs for the first instance of Blur and the track "There's No Other Way", which I am sure I heard before Blur hit the national consciousness. One Cassette that I found was the NME Dancin' Master (1981), which featured as the last track a song by "U.2." - a band so insignificant that the typesetters didn't even bother to ask how their name should be spelt.
But, back to Tiswas. Apart from the obligatory appearance of Dank and Wet (on the grounds that they were fans when young) there was also a startling performance by Michael Palin in a role which was surely the inspiration for Al Murray the pub landlord.
As Tarrant and James observed, many of the sketches that it was fine to perform in front of kids in those days (and which were jolly fun) wouldn't be allowed today because the Misery Police have taken over. Watching the sheer anarchic impertinence and irreverence of the whole thing, and comparing that with the anodyne crap shovelled out to adults and kids today, you realize that it isn't just a matter of grwing old; society today and the rules which we have to live by genuinely do suck. It all started going wrong when they brought in seat belt laws. I think that this was the first example of a law being brought in forcing you to protect yourself at the expense of other people's safety, rather than the other way round.
