David Cassidy Daydreamer 500th Top of the Pops Clip Discovered

A CLIP of David Cassidy performing hit single Daydreamer on the missing 500th edition of Top of the Pops has come to light in Australia.

The specially-filmed promo was spotted on YouTube by missing episode hunter Ray Langstone, who arranged for its return to the UK.

Classic TV organisation Kaleidoscope and Andrew Martin of BBC Archives both now have copies of the clip, which is in non-broadcast quality.

Former teen idol and The Partridge Family star Cassidy flew in to the UK especially for TotP‘s 500th edition (tx 04/10/73). He performed the song live on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport.

The clip only survives because 16mm B&W telerecording was made and featured on Australian show GTK (Get To Know) in 1974.

The GTK programme was itself retained in the ABC (Australian Broadcast Corporation) archives as a B&W 16mm kinescope, hence the less-than-perfect quality of the clip.

This “copy of a copy” was aired in January this year as part of a retro season on popular all-night Australian music video program Rage, broadcast on ABC1, and subsequently uploaded to YouTube.

Daydreamer went on to top the UK charts, holding the number one spot for three weeks from October 27, 1973. It was also a top 20 hit in Australia the following year.

Though a full recording of the 500th TotP is claimed to exist as part of the Private Video Library – yours for £20k – officially little remains.

Aside from the newly-recovered David Cassidy promo (2’47”), there is a colour clip of The Who performing 5:15 (4’40”) introduced by Noel Edmunds and a 31-second B&W clip from the show’s opening.

Wiped News has restored the David Cassidy clip, which you can find below. To view the original YouTube upload, click here. It is poor quality, but retains the original audio track.

Advertisement

Raymond of the Lost Archive

WIPED NEWS is delighted to welcome on board missing episode hunter Ray Langstone as a columnist.

As regular readers may know, Ray has made a number of exciting recoveries this year – all by using the internet.

His committment to tracking down lost footage is to be commended and I hope you enjoy following his ongoing pursuit of material and thoughts about the subject of missing episodes in general.

You can find a link to his column – Raymond of the Lost Archive – over on the menu to the right (entitled “Also On Wiped”).

New Feature: Hunting The Lost Episodes of ABC TV’s Countdown

AUSTRALIAN TV programme Countdown remains the most popular music show in the nation’s history, but the majority of early episodes from the 1970s are missing from the ABC archives.

Chart-topping acts such as AC/DC, INXS, Skyhooks and Split Enz got their big breaks on the show, which ran from 1974 – 87, while world-famous bands and artists including Wings and Elton John also made appearances.

It was repeats of surviving episodes of this legendary show that got Troy Walters involved in the hunt for missing editions.

In new Wiped News feature Turning Back Time: The Hunt For ABC’s Countdown, Troy speaks about why the show can be compared with the UK’s Top of the Pops in terms of musical and social importance, and how his search for lost material is going.

You can also read about the hunt for missing Countdowns and other Australian music shows over at Troy’s website, here.

Look At The Sun – New Release from Top Sounds Record Label

LOOK AT THE SUN -Precious Seconds Thought Gone From The British Underground 1967 – 1970 is the new release from UK-based vintage British psychedelia and pop label Top Sounds.

Top Sounds specialises in tracking down and sharing unreleased and previously missing recordings by the cream of underground bands from the 1960s to early ’70s.

Among the rare acetates and BBC sessions present on the officially licensed album are tracks by KALEIDOSCOPE, COCONUT MUSHROOM, THE ELASTIC BAND, THE GLASS OPENING, THE FLEUR DE LYS and ELMER GANTRY’S VELVET OPERA.

LOOK AT THE SUN is available now on vinyl and CD, priced £14.49 and £12.99 respectively. Read more in the Out Now section or visit the Top Sounds website: www.topsoundsrecords.co.uk

Showaddy Waddy Top of the Pops Clips Recovered

MISSING Top of the Pops performances by pop group Showaddy Waddy are heading back to the BBC after being spotted on YouTube.

The clips feature the colorful band playing 1970s singles “Heartbeat”, “Under the Moon of Love” and “When” on the iconic pop show.

They were found, along with an as-yet unidentified performance on children’s weekend show Swap Shop, by missing episodes enthusiast Ray Langstone among the collection of poster Chris Dabbs.

DVD copies of the clips – recorded at time of broadcast by a member of the band using a N1500 VCR – are now being forwarded to Classic TV organisation Kaleidoscope and then returned to Andrew Martin at BBC Archives.

The Top of the Pops clips in question are:

Heartbeat (tx 25/09/1975; show presented by Tony Blackburn)

Under the Moon of Love (tx 18/11/76; show presented by Kid Jenson)

Under the Moon of Love (tx 02/12/76; show presented by Ed Stewart)

Under the Moon of Love (tx 16/12/76; show presented by Dave Lee Travis)

When (tx 3/3/77; show presented by Jimmy Savile)

Speaking about the finds, Ray said: “The poster of the clips on YouTube is a member of the Missing Episodes Forum, and was very keen to see this return happen.”

British band Showaddy Waddy made their name with a string of hit rock and roll covers between 1974 and 1982.

Under the Moon of Love, originally a U.S. hit for Curtis Lee in 1961, reached number one in the UK charts in December 1975 while When, originally by the Kalin Twins, got to number three.

The group, once described as an “explosion in a paint factory” owing to their bright suits, had their last hit in 1982 but still perform today. You can find out more, including what survives of their numerous TV appearances, over at the band’s official site: www.showaddywaddy.net

Newsnight on new cut of sci-fi epic Metropolis

IN advance of the UK-wide cinema re-release of restored silent sci-fi epic Metropolis later this month, BBC’s Newsnight has reported on how Fritz Lang’s masterpiece came to be reunited with 30 minutes’ of long-lost footage found in an Argentinian film archive:

BBC News – Newsnight – What makes sci-fi epic Metropolis so influential?.