Alright, we end our Winter Olympics special with this rough, but brilliant highlighting music video of recent Winter Olympics bar 2006 and 2010, of course. Some really good footage of the earlier Olympics which are hard to find on Youtube. The Sports genre will take a break, but we'll be back to good ol' football and more.
List of Winter Games shown:
1972 -Sapporo, Japan
1976 - Innsbruck, Austria
1980 - Lake Placid, USA
1984 - Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)
1988 - Calgary, Canada
1992 - Albertville, France
1994 - Lillehammer, Norway
1998 - Nagano, Japan
2002 - Salt Lake City, USA
It's a very good highlights video with small clips of each Games opening ceremonies, and the features the most awe-inspiring and most excelled athletes of the games, so we see the likes on Torvill and Dean for '84, Alberto Tomba for '88 and so on. Also, period music of the time from each Olympics, If you want to know what the songs are, well, I'm horribly bad at naming these earlier ones. I've heard the 1972 one loads of times, I just can't put a name to it?
Highlights and the first part of an early "Parkinson" interview with one of the most famed Hollywood child actresses Shirley Temple. By 1972, Temple had quit the movie business with only sparse appearances on TV chat show after her 1958 TV vehicle flop "Shirley Temple's Storybook".
This clip features host Michael Parkinson questioning Temple on more serious issues like depression and about being married at the age of 17 to American actor John Agar and divorced at such a young age. Interlaced between that are more -jokey-trivial matters, like were the sets made deliberately bigger to make Shirley the child look even smaller, and how did she prepare to "cry" as child actor. Annoyingly, it's part one of interview on Youtube, the second part is nowhere to be seen in the related videos! I will check later and bring the second part here, if I can find it.
"Parkinson" was a popular BBC chat show from the 70s. Michael Parkinson's non-attention seeking, laid-back and working class heritaged manner went down well with many viewers. Parkinson was born in 1935, in the coal mining village of Cudworth, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire. Although a son of a miner, Parkinson performed well at school, and became an active cricketer (played in the same club as legendary cricket household names like Dickie Bird and Geoffrey Boycott) and news reporter, establishing himself in the journalist market, and impressing enough to get into Tv presenting and his own chat show. That's how they did it back then! The first run of the show was from 1971-1982. He left the show for his unsuccessful short stint on "TV-AM" on Channel 3, the other side. For a while his broadcasting career was a little in the doldrums, far from the heights of "Parkinson".
In 1995, people started to remember how memorable the chat show was, including some of his funniest interview with legendary Boxer Muhammad Ali, Entertainer Rod Hull with his puppet Emu, and numerous ones with Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. A "Best of.." retrospective was shown, and "Parkinson" was soon revived in 1998 on the BBC. Things were going well until forced schedule changes of the show, thanks to the return of "Match of the Day" on Saturday nights in 2004, and the show limped on, on ITV of all places, now with adverts (BBC don't have commercial advertising as they get their money from the "TV licence" bill and Government funded.). Michael Parkinson retired from the role and so was the show, in 2007.
This is the first ever episode from the classic Thames Television Children's TV series "Rainbow", from 1972. There's quite some difference you will see, from the iconic image and cast that stayed long in the memory of pre-school children and older, in the 70's, throughout the 80's, and into the 90's. First of all, no Geoffrey! This is brown-haired David Cook, who presented the first and second series of "Rainbow", but left to concentrate on his script and play writing. Geoffrey Hayes began presenting the show in 1973, and he came across as more fun, and had a great relationship with the camera, and the children at home. Not forgetting the rapport between the cast, just excellent.
Another major, major change is no George, the pink, camp-voiced pink hippo puppets only puppet Zippy(just what is he?) and Bungle(man dressed in bear costume), who look rather quite different, and their voices are different too.Both bungle and Zippy look rather distorted andskinnier to their later counterparts. Zippy, so named, as his mouth is really one big zip, a mouthy so-and-so, so Bungle or the presenter will shut him up by closing the zip. We see a more relaxed or the still-a-work-in-progress, as regards to Zippy's personality voiced and operated here, by Peter Hawkins. The famous voice that enscapulated the later ruder and cheekier version, was Roy Skelton, who is most famous elsewhere for voicing the Daleks in "Doctor Who". Skelton also voiced George, who would enter (skip and prance?) into the show by the second series in 1973.
Bungle looks completely sozzled in this early version. His eyes as wide as saucers, with a skinner body and face, he was still the more mature of the "children" to David Cook's father figure in the Rainbow house. His appearance was changed as it scared children in the first series. I mean, obviously, just look at him! Bungle was mainly voiced and played by Stanley Bates, but it is not him in this first episode. No Rod, Jane and Freddy, but a band by the name of "Telltale". In the first episode, we also have 2 much smaller puppets a purple and yellow duo by the name of Sunshine and Moody, but were dropped by 1973. The show ran from 1972-1992.
The reason I say, it's one of the best nostalgia programme ever, or best show of the 50s/60s/70s/80s/90s, is because, in UK nostalgia circle online, since the early days, "Rainbow" has been one of the more talked about and best remembered. Not only the fact, that it harboured a traditional family-element, but the much mirth that was brought by the characters themselves, and the bizarreness and triviality of, Bungle walking about naked all the time, but coming out the shower, he is wearing a towel around his unsuggestables! Not forgetting the adults-only "Twangers" episode. "Rainbow" has been a beacon for many adults who grew up in the 70's/80's and early 90's.
Leeds United 7 - 0 Southampton - 1971/72 - First Division
Leeds United thrash Southampton 7-0 at Elland Road in a chilly February Division One match. Featuring a feast of goals from the likes of Jack Charlton, a couple of goals from Scottish striker Peter Lorimer, English forward Mick Jones and features one of the club's most famous players, Billy Bremner, giving us a talking-head round-up of his view of the match. Commentary from Barry Davies. Clip seems to be taken from either "Match of the Day", but seems most likely a documentary.
1972 was part of great era of the early-60's to mid-70's, Leeds United enjoyed under the management of Don Revie, who turned the team around from a struggling relegation Division Two, to a team that never failed to finish below 4th place in the top division, the First Division. The enjoyed league wins in 1968–69 and 1973–74 seasons, as well as cup win under their belt, coming close to European success, falling to A.C MIlan in 1973 in the final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and also to Bayern Munich in 1975. After Revie resigned as manager, the club's fortunes spiralled, despite having the like of Brian Clough in charge, with a disasterous start to the new season, both on and off the pitch, and Cloughie only lasted 44 days in 1974.
Southampton had been in the First Division since 1966, and had been moderately successful, finishing high enough to play in Europe. 1972 isn't a well-remembered year for the Saints, as it was the tipping point for their relegation from the First Division in 1974.
Note: Telethon events like "Children In Need" and "Comic Relief" are also included in this section, for future reference.
Susan Boyle's 1995 audition for My Kind of People - and kiss with Michael Barrymore
This clip came to light after Susan Boyle's phonomenal rise to fame, as an auditionee for ITV's "Britain's Got Talent". Hang on a minute, what's "Britain's Got Talent". We don't do 2000s TV unless it's from a nostalgic viewpoint! Anyway, Boyle's been at it for years with the tonsil-tickling, but what interests me most is Barrymore's vacuous actions here. I mean, i like the guy, but rather went too far here, looking up Subo's skirt, and a good eyeful...lucky git.
The show, "My Kind of People" ran from 1998 to 2002. It feels a lot longer than that. This was a sort of a love/hate show, on whether you liked Barrymore or not. Yes, it was about fresh-faced members of the public too for the ones on that love/hate boundary, but with the countless times, the camera going back to Barrymore, and his constant stealing of the limelight, must've turned viewers off even more. The show was a good laugh, but was an almost pioneer to shows like "Pop Idol", "X-Factor" and so forth, giving us a look at the bad and good auditionees.
The Jackson 5 on the 1972 Royal Variety Performance
Pretty much self-explanatory here. The Jackson 5 sing a great medley of "I Want You Back", "ABC", "Rockin' Robin" and then a brief acapella of "Thank You" to the audience, and then "The Love You Save". Classic really.
Other stars that featured in this Royal Variety Performance of the same year:
LOS DIABLOS DEL BOMBO DICKIE HENDERSON MIKE YARWOOD ELTON JOHN DANNY LA RUE LIBERACE TRIO HOGANAS ROD HULL & EMU JACKSON 5 JACK JONES KEN DODD TILL DEATH DO US PART - WARREN MITCHELL, ANTHONY BOOTH, UNA STUBBS, DANDY NICHOLS CAROL CHANNING
Noel's House Party: Phillip Schofield v Gordon The Gopher
This show will be featured aplenty in the Light Entertainment section. Featuring here is one of my favourite shows within another favourite show of mine's. "Noel's House Party" presenter Noel Edmonds introduces the famed duo off Saturday morning's kids 3 hour-ish marathon of a magazine-type show "Going Live!", presenter Phillip Schofield and his ever-haunting(where's Gordon, Phillip?) puppet sidekick Gordon the Gopher. "Noel's House Party" was a Saturday evening high-rating juggernaut (especially in the early 90's, as shown in the clip) that aimed to out-step or embarrass ordinary people and the celebrities of the time. Some pretty original concepts, but not this one.
Absolutely obsessed with gunge, usually to be shown on kid's Saturday morning "Tiswas" or "Crackerjack", this was gunging gone mainstream, and somewhat neatly packed away at the top of the most wonderfully decorated glass cases. "Noel's House Party" had this format marketed to a tee, giving the celebrity maximum "but all in the name of harmless fun" humiliation possible. And if that's not all, Noel takes it to a phone vote against you and another celebrity, and you'll also get to know the public kind of..hate you, if you're polling the lowest vote.
Well, what's the point of the phone vote really, when in the end, Schofield and Gopher get gunged. Genuine sorrow is felt from Noel towards a custard-creamed Gordon, which is really just a hand in a fur glove. These magazines for those type of things, you know. I'm afraid to say Gordon the Gopher probably died that night, i hate to tell you that, it was covered up from all the newspapers at the time. There's no way that would come out in the wash. So Gordon was replaced with a Gordon look-a-like.
