612 A Midsummer Night's Tube

First  viewed  : 24  June  1983

Taking  their  cue  from  BBC  Two's  Rock  Night  the  year  before  Channel  4  gave  Jools, Paula  et  al  a  five  hour  show  to  play  with  ( Switch  was  on  earlier  in  the  evening  too ).  I only  dipped  into  it , partly  because  of  Wimbledon  highlights  on  BBC Two  and  partly  because  the  line-up  wasn't  that  great   including  King  Sunny  Ade, Culture  Club, Shalamar . Marillion  and  Robert  Plant, none  of  whom  held  much  interest  for  me. The  main  draw  on  the  schedule  was  Jools  Holland  interviewing  Duran  Duran  at  a  French  chateau. It  was  notable  for  the  ironic  questioning  by   Holland, clearly  no  great  fan  of  the  band, and  Simon  Le  Bon  in  particular  failing  to  pick  up  on  this  and  making  an  arse  of  himself. The  feature  did  the  band  no  favours  at  all  and  sharpened  critics'  knives  against  them  which  was  perhaps  Holland's  intention.

There  was  another  in  June  1984 but  I  don't  recall  seeing  any  of  that.