The Bee Gees, The Pretty Things, The Herd, Long John Baldry, Paul Jones – Top Of The Pops 1968 – Past Daily Nights At The Round Table

The Bee Gees, The Herd, The Pretty Things, Paul Jones, Long John Baldry – Top Of The Pops -January 12, 1968 – BBC Transcription Service –

Staying with our Top Of The Pops marathon this week with live performances by The Bee Gees, The Herd, The Pretty Things, Paul Jones and Long John Baldry. Recorded by the BBC and broadcast on January 12, 1968 and made available worldwide by the BBC Transcription Service.

Another fascinating show. For those of you who either weren’t around at the time, or never became familiar with The Bee Gees until Saturday Night Fever and their decided direction change to Disco, this is the earlier incarnation of the band which was just as popular and a bit ore adventuresome than their later material would suggest. This is the Brothers Gibb as a successful writing team, whose work was covered by a number of artists and who had a string of memorable hits long before Stayin’ Alive was even a blip on the radar. They perform tracks from their Horizontal period, their second album which also included Massachusetts and subsequently became an enormous hit for them.

Also on the bill were The Herd, a band which featured a young Peter Frampton, as well as Andy Bown, who would gain prominence as a member of Judas Jump, a short-lived supergroup from the early 1970s. They perform their then-current hit, Paradise Lost which was a follow-up to their debut hit, From The Underworld (both tracks reached the top 20 in the UK). Frampton split later on in 1968 to co-found Humble Pie with Steve Marriot.

The Pretty Things during their Psychedelic period, produced by Norman Smith, who gave us Pink Floyd’s Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, as well as a one-hit wonder in his own right as “Hurricane” Smith. Live version of Defecting Grey and Turn My Head are standouts.

Paul Jones, post-Manfred Mann and Long John Baldry, getting very far away from Steampacket and into some smooth and hip vocals along the lines of King Pleasure (my take on it) with a big band backup.

Another prime example of just how varied music was in the 1960s. I’m not sure we will ever have that wide a variety in Popular Music to jump into again. But in 1967, a lot of us took it for granted. If we just spent more time digging out imports . . . . .

Have at it. And thanks as always to Gray Newell for the outa sight discs.

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