First viewed : 8 May 1995
This was the first - by some distance- of Channel Four's Top Ten nostalgia shows that I enjoyed greatly. It was presented in deliberately over-the-top Smashie and Nicey style by Tony Blackburn and Alan Freeman. The ranking was based on success in the UK singles chart by acts the producers considered to be glam. There were a couple of contentious issues there. One was the inclusion of the Bay City Rollers, a bubblegum pop act that were contemporaneous with glam rock but not usually considered to be part of it. The second was the exclusion of David Bowie and Roxy Music, mentioned as being influences on glam but regarded as too significant to be lumped in with the likes of Mud and Alvin Stardust.
Each act was awarded a short film, narrated by Dani Behr and combining archive and contemporary footage with interviews with the survivors. The most memorable of these was the feature on The Sweet. For casual viewers, the appearance of the decrepit Brian Connolly, shaking and slurring his words, came as a considerable shock , especially when compared to the likes of Alice Cooper or Noddy Holder who'd looked after themselves. The latter made me laugh when he said he'd left Slade to do something different followed by footage of him spinning glam rock singles for a local radio show. That's not exactly a leap in the dark, Nod !
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