The Rocky Folly Show

The English don't like to brag but we used to think that we had the best television in the world, and while I don't think it's true anymore there was a time when it really was — honestly, trust me on that. Back in the 1970s (you knew I was going to say that, didn't you?) British TV was a jewel in the nation's cultural crown, attracting the best writers and directors who created programs that were better and more original than almost anything you could see on stage or at the movies. I could fill several web pages just listing the classic shows back then, but a quick, back-of-the-envelope version would include "Pennies From Heaven", "Play For Today", "Till Death Do Us Part", "The Family", "Survivors", "I, Claudius", "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" and "The Sweeney". Back then we might not have been able to make a car that anyone wanted to buy but we did know how to produce a great television program.

One of the most original programs from that era — and a must-watch 'round our house — was the flashy musical drama "Rock Follies" shown on ITV between 1976-77 about a fictitious all-girl singing group called The Little Ladies (played by Julie Covington, Rula Lenska and Charlotte Cornwell) struggling to make it in the music business. The most memorable thing about the show was that, like a musical, the story was punctuated by original songs performed by the group which were co-written by Andy Mackay of Roxy Music. It was the first television series to use music like this — two years before "Pennies From Heaven" did the same thing with old records.



(The other thing I remember most was the crush I had on Charlotte Cornwell, the pre-Raphaelite charms of Rula Lenska passed me by somehow.)

Beneath the Biba-esque glamour of its production design (albeit in a low-budget, community theatre sort of style) the show cast a very cynical eye on the political, cultural and economic landscape of 1970s England which was pretty much par for the course back then. It was broadcast just as punk was erupting and a lot of it's attitudes were the same: rock stars have to sell their souls to make it, rock and roll itself was just an expression of capitalism, and the music business was run by sexist, manipulative creeps chasing after the next gimmick to make money out of — as displayed in this brilliant little scene.



Ironically the "real" music business was kinder to The Little Ladies, in the show they release a single called "OK?" which flops despite a lot of hype, but in a case of life not imitating art the record made the actual, non-fictional Top Ten and two albums of music from the show sold by the bucket which made Andy Mackay more money than he ever had in Roxy Music.

The phrase "rock musical" usually fills me with horror but I think this one pulled it off better than most, if nothing else it's a great time capsule of the looks, style and hipster attitudes of England right on the cusp of punk.

Download: OK? - The Little Ladies (mp3)
Download: Rock Follies - The Little Ladies (mp3)
Buy: "Rock Follies"/"Rock Follies of '77" (albums)
Buy: "Rock Follies"/"Rock Follies of '77" (DVDs)

Trivia: A review of the show in Time Out was headlined "It's The Buzz, Cocks!" which inspired the name of a certain Manchester punk band.