|
Pan's People were a 1970s British TV dance troupe who are best associated with the BBC TV music chart show Top of the Pops. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ...
Top of the Pops was a long-running British music chart television programme, and indeed the longest-running music show in the world, shown each week on BBC and now licensed for national versions around the world. ...
In an era before pop videos, they danced to songs whose original artist was not available to perform them live. They were not the first dance troupe to appear regularly on TOTP - they were preceded by The Go-Jo's in the programme's early days, before Pan's People replaced them in May 1968. They did not start off with weekly appearances, but they had become an almost-weekly feature of the programme by early 1970. A music video (also video clip, promo) is a short film meant to present a visual representation of a popular music song. ...
1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...
Members
The original Pan's People line-up consisted of: - Louise Clarke
- Felicity "Flick" Colby
- Barbara "Babs" Lord
- Ruth Pearson
- Andrea "Andi" Rutherford
- Patricia "Dee Dee" Wilde
Flick gradually stood down from her dancing duties in Pan's People towards the end of 1971 to concentrate full-time on choreographing the group's routines.
At the end of 1972, Andi Rutherford left Pan's People to raise a family, and was replaced by Cherry Gillespie. Cherry was selected at open auditions, and made her TOTP debut on 28 December 1972. She appeared after being "unwrapped" as a Christmas present by the other members of Pan's People, before joining them for a routine to Nilsson's "Without You". Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994) was an American songwriter, singer, pianist and guitarist, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s. ...
Without You is a song originally recorded by Badfinger for their album No Dice (1970), and written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans and produced by Geoff Emerick. ...
During 1974, Louise Clarke also decided to leave Pan's People to start a family. Her replacement was Susan "Sue" Menhenick, again chosen through an open audition. It is currently uncertain on which date Sue made her TOTP debut as a Pan's People member.
A final personnel change within the troupe occurred during 1975, when Babs Lord and Dee Dee Wilde also left the group. It is believed that both Babs and Dee Dee left Pan's People at the same time. Their replacements were Mary Copse and Lee Ward. It is currently uncertain on which date Mary and Lee made their debuts as Pan's People members.
The final Pan's People line-up by the time of their final routines for TOTP in April 1976 were:
- Mary Copse
- Cherry Gillespie
- Sue Menhenick
- Ruth Pearson (the only remaining original member of Pan's People)
- Lee Ward
Work outside TOTP As well as TOTP, Pan's People appeared in the 1974 "In Concert" series on BBC television. With more time for rehearsal and higher production values, the show featured various dance routines, as well as musical numbers performed by the girls themselves. The programme also featured a dance routine where Dee Dee and Louise gyrated on cushions wearing see-through costumes with sequined nipple covers.
Quality of the dance At the time, and later, they were criticized for an over-literal interpretation of song lyrics into movement. This was chiefly due to very short lead times in preparation before recording of the show - if a song that was due to be featured took a move down the charts then it would have to be replaced by one that was moving up, giving the dancers only a day to prepare (the charts were issued on a Tuesday with TOTP being recorded on Wednesday).
Notable performances Among the hundreds of Pan's People routines for Top of the Pops, the most fondly remembered include: King Kong battles a pterosaur in the original 1933 version. ...
(The) Monster Mash is a 1962 novelty song and the best known song by Bobby Boris Pickett. ...
Bobby Boris Pickett (born Robert George Pickett on February 11, 1938) is a musician and actor best known for singing and co-writing the 1962 hit novelty song Monster Mash. Pickett performed the tune in an impersonation of veteran horror film star Boris Karloff. ...
Gilbert OSullivan (born Raymond Edward OSullivan, on 1 December 1946, in Waterford, Ireland) is a singer-songwriter, best known for his early-1970s hits Alone Again (Naturally), Clair and Get Down. // Early in his life, his family moved to Swindon, England, where he attended St. ...
References in popular culture In a 1974 episode of Porridge, Fletcher (Ronnie Barker) fantasises in his prison cell about having a night out: "I could call up a couple of birds - those darlings who dance on Top of the Pops, what are they called? Pan's People. There's one special one - beautiful Babs... I don't know what her name is." 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...
Porridge is a British BBC television sitcom (1974–1977), written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and starring Ronnie Barker. ...
Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker OBE (September 25, 1929 – October 3, 2005), popularly known as Ronnie Barker and (as a writer) Gerald Wiley , was an English comic actor and writer. ...
Life after TOTP Even after their demise on Top of the Pops, Pan's People were much in demand for personal appearances. Flick Colby and Ruth Pearson kept the group going through until the late 70s as a club act. One new member during this period was Sarah Brightman, who went on to form the more raunchy Hot Gossip, before marrying Andrew Lloyd Webber. The best known of the original members is Babs Lord, as a result of her marriage to the actor Robert Powell and her subsequent career as an amateur yachtswoman, and world explorer, having made several trips to the Himalayas, the Sahara, both Poles and the jungle in Guyana. She holds the remarkable record of being the oldest housewife to visit both the North and South Poles. Babs was the subject of BBC's 'This Is Your Life' in November 2001. Babs appeared on the final regular weekly edition of Top of the Pops on 30 July 2006, the only member of any of the show's dance troupes to appear in person at the recording. Top of the Pops continued to use professional dancers until 1981. Pan's People were followed by a group called Ruby Flipper, which featured male and female dancers. However, there was pressure to return to the all-girl format, and after six months, 'Legs and Co' were created, and named after a viewer competition. They performed every week on the show until 1980, when they were replaced by 'Zoo' - a large troupe of dancers where individual members could be selected to perform each week, depending on the song. By the early 80s, however, 'Zoo's role shifted towards leading the audience, and eventually the group was disbanded, with some members remaining in the crowd as strategically-placed 'cheerleaders'. Robert Powell (born June 1, 1944), is a highly successful British actor with many film and television roles to his credit. ...
Perspective view of the Himalayas and Mount Everest as seen from space looking south-south-east from over the Tibetan Plateau. ...
North Pole Scenery When not otherwise qualified, the term North Pole usually refers to the Geographic North Pole – the northernmost point on the surface of the Earth, where the Earths axis of rotation intersects the Earths surface. ...
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. ...
External links - BBC Pan's People page
- The Unofficial Pan's People homepage
- The Pan's People Online Fan Club
|
Feeds |
Contact