Thursday, September 04, 2008

Pete Burns will be delighted: Boy George follows his lead

In these times, news of the formerly rich in serious financial difficulties isn't published first in the London Gazette. Oh, no: the first sign of financial stress of the famous is signing up for a fly on the wall series on Living TV. Like what Boy George has done.

Also tucked into the winter schedule for the channel which has come far - oh, so far - since it used a nice cup of tea as its logo - is this:
Living is also airing Pop Goes the Band, in which bands including Bucks Fizz, Dollar, Cleopatra, 911, Shakatak and Visage, will be "restored to their former glory through strenuous fitness regimes, painful cosmetic and in some cases, major plastic surgery".

Those last three words turn a bit of harmless fun into something a bit sinister. And we'd have thought for a couple of those bands - notably Bucks Fizz and Dollar - it'd be less about teeth whitening and more about relationship counselling wouldn't it.

Still, it'll be interesting to watch 911 trying to reclaim their glory days - although how Living will recreate that Thursday and Friday back in 1997 isn't clear. And making Cleopatra look like they did when they were successful - and about twelve years old - is going to be a challenge, too.

3 comments:

  1. Olive4/9/08 8:30 am

    It may be a weird dream bought on by too much cough syrup, but didn't David Van Day play with a hybrid version of Dollar and Bucks Fizz? Or is that what you're referring to with the relationship counseling remark? I seem to recall a documentary where the band are shipped out to the Falklands to play to a roomful of bemused marines and assorted sea birds.

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  2. Anonymous4/9/08 9:26 am

    You remember correctly, I believe. I have a horrible lingering memory of an old 'Jim Davidson's Generation Game' episode in which this DollarBucksFizz hybrid were 'special guests' (in my defence, this was in the days before I had more than four channels to choose from, so I'd watch any old guff). The band performed something or other, before a quick interview with Davidson in which he enthusiastically puffed their tour with the words "So they're getting two bands for the price of one!". Presumably in the same way that a glass of red wine and Bovril is two drinks for the price of one.

    In other news; Didn't VH1 do this a couple of years ago?

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  3. Simon Hayes Budgen4/9/08 11:57 am

    @olive
    The original Bucks Fizz fell apart, then the Dollar-Bucks Fizz hybrid fell apart, both with a surprising degree of venom involved. I'm surprised they're agreeing to be in the same room.

    @james
    And Justin Lee Collins, I fear.

    VH1 didn't actually force the poor sods to try and drop down to their teenage weight.

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