TV Rock Shows

It’s ironic that we’ve got a tremendous archive of performances over the years but no program to consistently present the archive. Yet in the 70s, when in the UK we only had three TV channels, we had at least one, in the Old Grey Whistle Test. It’s impossible to overstate how important it was to us. It’s where ‘we’ gathered each week to commune with our spirit guides and learn about new music from Bob Harris. I still recall seeing Man on there, Deke Leonard with his black and white telecaster, singing Day and Night from Slow Motion.
So many memories. It felt like playing an older relation’s record collection. And of course there were the old black and white cartoons and films played while they featured music. I bet you remember them playing one to Zeppelin’s Trampled Underfoot and the claymation video (semi-obscene) to City Of Tiny Lights by Zappa. Unforgettable. Then there was Skynyrd playing Freebird and Johnny Winter and Captain Beefheart. Literally everyone was on the show. Another favourite was SAHB who turned in a performance of hypnotic quality considering they were in a bare studio.
Culturally it was a unique place in the mid 70s. Rock, as now, was left field and in some quarters not taken seriously. The feeling of specialness was profound as I’m sure anyone religiously glued to it can recall.
In America it was even better with Burt Sugarman’s Midnight Special. Originally broadcast on NBC from 1972 to 1981, created and produced by Burt Sugarman. It premiered as a TV special on August 19, 1972, and then began its run as a regular series from February 3, 1973, to March 27, 1981. "Our aim was to reach for the 18-33 age bracket, the young married and daters who attend concerts and movies but don't watch much television," Sugarman said. And did they ever? I looked at a list of performers and its pretty comprehensive, missing only Zeppelin. ELO were on most - seven times and it featured Bowie’s last Ziggy performance too. They tried to go disco but it didn’t really work.
Don Kirshner's Rock Concert was a similar show that ran from 1973 to 1981. It premiered on September 27, 1973, with a performance by The Rolling Stones and The Doobie Brothers; its last episode was in 1981. I’m sure a whole swathe of American kids were getting stoned to these late night shows. They had a specific cultural appeal and we can watch the shows on YouTube all over again. Music on TV has never been so good.

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