Donovan – The Move -The Alan Price Set – The Bee Gees – Status Quo -Top Of The Pops – March 29, 1968 – BBC Radio 1 –
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Another installment of the legendary Top Of The Pops radio series. Tonight it’s Donovan, The Move, The Alan Price Set, The Bee Gees and Status Quo – originally broadcast on March 29, 1968 over BBC Radio 1.
Listening to this episode, 1968 was a particularly good year for music. Donovan is in his quasi-Jazz phase. The Move play what became classics; Fire Brigade, Walk Upon The Water and Useless Information. The Bee Gees perform Words and Status Quo perform Pictures Of Matchstick Men. Sadly, Alan Price is the only artist in the bunch who hasn’t gotten heavy recognition in the U.S. – he’s practically an institution overseas but here, aside from Shame and O Lucky Man, he isn’t that well known, which makes no sense (Shouts Across The Street is STILL one of the great albums of the 70s). However, those who know Alan Price love his work and that’s all that counts.
This is another example of music that stretches grooves and mixes genres – it’s what Popular Culture was about, certainly in the 60s. I can’t stress enough how strange it is that genres are kept at a distance from each other these days, which runs contrary to the whole nature of Rock, stirring up this enormous pot of sounds and making discoveries in the process. It’s how things grow and evolve. I think that’s part of the current problem with the mainstream; all these styles and genres on their own are kept away from each other and don’t mix – if they did (and maybe they will), music would become exciting again – IMHO.
The Bee Gees and Status Quo went in whole different directions from where they were musically in 1968. The Bee Gees found fame and fortune in Disco in the 70s – Status Quo became a cornerstone for Heavy Metal and influenced countless artists and bands in the process.
But for now it’s 1968 and this was what people were listening to and discovering in March of that year. Crank it up for a reminder or crank it up and make a few discoveries.
