Hughie Green to Simon Cowell….the death of music on television
It all started harmlessly enough when A&R man turned producer Simon (Mr. One Shirt) Cowell started Pop Idol on British Television back in 2001. Nine years later we’ve suffered silently through Pop Idol, American Idol and in the UK at least X-Factor. When did music become so unimportant to us and how can it regain the join a band, work your arse off playing live, just perhaps get spotted treadmill that had worked quite nicely thank you from the dawn of Rock and Roll?
Pan's People rehearse for a Clash song
The old formula worked for Elvis and The Who, Oasis and The Clash, REM and The Stone Roses but now we’re told that the best musical talent (sub category vocalist) can be found via a national televised talent show and voted for by way of letting the public register their opinion. Isn’t that what record shops and concerts were for?
I’d love to say that the news this week that Simon Cowell quitting American Idol was the end of the phenomenon but alas in 2011 American audiences will be exposed (courtesy of the Fox Network) to the US premiere of X Factor. X Factor is the same thing only worse. It lowers the gate to allow anyone to jump on TV, so you’ll have dance troupes, broadway divas and baby boomers showcased for your enjoyment. Did you notice the word ‘band’ doesn’t apply to either of these shows?
Where did all go so wrong? British Television had provided some of the music programming that helped make punk, post punk, new wave and indie music not only accessible but interesting too. From the Old Grey Whistle Test through to Later With Jools Holland, the Tube and The Word, each production wasn’t a talent show but a testament to great new music. The Clash famously wouldn’t appear on Top of The Pops – that BBC vanguard of all that was safe about the charts. As a result Pan’s People (the BBC dancers) danced to Bankrobber in place of our boys. Show up at the BBC studios, have a glass of sherry and a sausage roll and lip sync along to your latest hit. It wasn’t challenging nor interesting and it appealed to the masses, but still – to it’s credit – it wasn’t just a talent show. Top of The Pops outlasted them all and ultimately has been replaced by the lowest form of music marketing, namely Pop Idol. Music deserves better but the game now means that if you appear on the soundtrack to an Xbox release you will make more headway than playing on the smaller stage at Reading.
Hughie Green
Incidentally, when I was kid we had our very own X Factor as that little right wing cretin Hughie Green hosted Opportunity Knocks. It was at least not masquerading as anything other than a very weak talent show and was free of glitz and glamour. The biggest difference in the show that ran from the mid 60′s to the late 70′s and X Factor it was seen as something for the oldies – no self respecting kid or young adult paid it any attention at all. Suddenly everything old is new once again and Simon Cowell laughs all the way to the bank. Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?
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I read your comments on Opportunity Knocks and recalled that ITV began to see the show as stale and even though it attracted X Factor size audiences, ITV decidedly out of the blue to axe it even if it was still a ratings topper. Naturally Hughie Green went into a massive sulk, but he knew the game was up and after 18 years, Op Knocks was axed with little protest( Green did, however, try to raise a petition to the House of Commons but this was a damp squib.) In his place, of course, came the anarchic anti Green humour of Kenny Everett which was so right for the time and managed to attract a different audience to ITV that like me sat through Op Knocks because there was nothing else on or openly hated the show.
However, the only worrying thing is Op Knocks lasted 18 years with very high ratings and its likely the vastly more insidious X Factor- at least Green’s proteges were mostly cabaret singers and club comedians and not totally manufactured Cowellite puppets aimed at chart domination- could last the same time. ITV nowadays seems to rely on Cowell’s shows as they are the only programmes to guarantee them at least 10 million viewers, whereas Hughie Green was a very small cog in a very successful wheel and could be replaced. No doubt we could unfortunately see the X Factor running for another 10 years. However, the backlash is starting as proved last Christmas.
Also, finally, you mention Pans People dancing to Bankrobber. Actually it would have been Legs and Co as Pans People left TOTP the previous year.
Glenn,
Thanks so much for your reply. Your knowledge of Op Knocks far exceeds mine. Good and valid comments throughout….surely there must be a way to revive real bands making real music and selling records again? Or are we doomed to it all being reduced down to ready made disposable junk? As with everything 2010 Cowell’s creation is bigger and more orchestrated, truly the Nike/Apple/McDonalds of music….
Good call on Legs and Co…..wasn’t sure on when that particular strange tradition was handed over on TOTP. Thanks for visiting the blog.
Tim
My parents and grandparents were very big fans of Opportunity Knocks and as only well off families had two televisions in the 70s, you had to watch it as it was dark outside and you weren’t allowed out. Also the use of child singers like Lena Zavaroni must have been used to make it a family show that all ages could watch. I would say it was a show you’d put up with due to the lack of options and oddly enough The Jam auditioned for Op Knocks, as it was so big.
However, compared with the sick making X Factor, Opportunity Knocks and the slightly trendier New Faces were relatively harmless as the rock industry continued on its own and punk would probably have cited Yes as something far worse than an ageing man with a mock American accent introducing a singing goat.