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Ah, god bless the Pebble Mill At One team for allowing Toyah to perform an over-literal version of America For Beginners. You could almost use exactly the same approach for Kids In America, you know.
[Part of Sunday at the Mill]
A slightly late start with the 'record' button for Thinking Of You, perhaps; and then daytime pulling out all its stylistic tricks for Castles In The Air. You can see why Terry Hall almost smiled:
[Part of Sunday At The Mill]
It's the point during days off ill of highest risk: by the time Pebble Mill At One came round, your mother would be alert to signs of not feeling so ill any more and a fitness to attend the afternoon session at school.
Like most long-running, high-episode shows, the need to fill the music guest slot day-in, day-out meant the researchers would be forced to move outside the usual comfort zone of their audience and so you'd sometimes see unexpected guest appearances. Not Scraping Foetus Off A Wheel unexpected, but unexpected nevertheless. Aztec Camera rather than Des O'Connor.
It was less true by the time of the later 1990s Pebble Mill (not "at One") revival, though, when the series was more self-consciously trying to hip itself up to reflect its return to a daytime schedule which now traveled on the back of Neighbours.
Sadly, it's "embedding disabled by request" for the Janice Long show session favourites Westworld doing Silver Mac. It's a real pity, as all the elements are here: pointless shots of the band performing, long-lens stylee, from outside the asbestos-riddled Birmingham HQ of the BBC; and a bored-looking audience sat in seats whose handrails give the impression of something between veal heading for slaughter and the world's worst rollercoaster.
Even more sad is that Ted Chippington's appearance on the show - uncomfortable might be the kindest description - has been purged from everywhere it appears.
So, let's start with Morrissey's trip to Brum, sitting through Paul Coia's polite but forensic music book review segement ("some captions have been mislabelled, but the good thing is it shows the new, sophisticated Lionel Richie"):
A couple more visits to Pebble Mill coming up today
The Colourfield
Toyah
Up to a point, you could understand 10CC feeling a little peeved at being oft-forgotten when lists of the Most Bestest British Bands get drawn up. Not, though, as peeved as Graham Gouldman, mind:
"I'm not happy with our place in pop hierarchy. I think it should be more recognised.
"I was reading an old music magazine's article, Important Records From the Seventies, and we never seem to get mentioned in those things.
"It's always Bowie and Queen and that gets on my nerves a bit."
Pretty much what YouTube was invented for, we suspect, as Scotland's bright young things travel to the BBC in Birmingham to play sweet indie guitar pop for pensioners in the studio and truants around the nation. Aztec Camera, doing Walk Out To Winter, on Pebble Mill At One:
[Via I'm Not Always So Stupid, where there's also Oblivious]
