"The Way They Were"

August 25, 2014 1:59 AM

"The Way They Were" [Vimeo] Punk and New Wave 1976 - 1978. Channel 4 UK programme first broadcast circa 1984 / 1985-ish. Hosted by the late Tony Wilson, it's a compilation of performances by bands taken from his previous TV shows in the late 70's, such as So It Goes.

Line-up

Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK (1st television appearance)
Elvis Costello - Allison (1st television appearance)
Buzzcocks - What Do I Get? (1st television appearance)
John Cooper Clarke feature
Iggy Pop - Interview & The Passenger (This brought on the cancellation of the program)
Wreckless Eric - (I’d Go) The Whole Wide World (1st television appearance)
Ian Drury - Short interview and a couple of poems
Penetration - Don’t Dictate (Presumptive 1st television appearance)
Blondie - Rip Her to Shreds (1st television appearance)
The Fall - Psychomafia, Interview, Industrial Estate (1st television appearance)
The Jam - In the City, Bricks and Mortar (Presumptive 1st television appearance)
Frustrating interview with some trying-too-hard punk girl when a perfectly functioning Devo is standing right behind her.
The Tom Robinson Band - Glad to be Gay (1st television appearance)
Johnny Thunders succinctly stating what I took eight paragraphs to write about Malcolm McLaren on Tuesday.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Watching the Detectives
XTC - Neon Shuffle (Presumptive 1st television appearance)
Quick word from Jonathan Richman about William Blake
Nick Lowe - Endless Sleep (abbreviated) (Presumptive 1st television appearance)
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Make Up to Break Up (1st television appearance)
Cherry Vanilla soundbite
Magazine - Motorcade (1st television appearance)
Devo one liner. That’s more like it, Video
The Clash - What’s My Name, Garageland (Presumptive 1st television appearance)
Polystyrene interview
Sham 69 - Angels With Dirty Faces (1st television appearance)
Tony Wilson says “Good night”
Joy Division - Shadowplay (1st television appearance)

posted by maupuia (18 comments total)

Ian Dury, not Drury.
posted by pracowity at 2:22 AM on August 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

Oh god, my youth, my long-dead youth. Where did it go? It looks so ancient, yet it felt so fresh and startling at the time.
posted by Decani at 2:36 AM on August 25, 2014 [6 favorites]

The original pistols showing they could actually play - and with harmony vocals from the one with the talent! This looks ace, but the sound is very quiet. The shot of Jonny Lydon at the end of the pistols performance is perfect. Will watch more now.
posted by marienbad at 2:39 AM on August 25, 2014

Everyone was so smooth and young and pretty. Even Iggy, relatively speaking, and Iggy had been stage diving since before the audience knew to catch you.
posted by pracowity at 3:21 AM on August 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

If I could go back in time and be an Iggy Pop groupie for a couple of years, I think I would. So amazing.
posted by miss tea at 3:22 AM on August 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Happy 60th, Elvis...
posted by Devonian at 3:26 AM on August 25, 2014

(40) years on /and they're all gone/ Now it's all gone sour / where are they now?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:32 AM on August 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

@Potomac Avenue, the Bard Of Salford himself, John Cooper Clarke, is still going strong.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 3:32 AM on August 25, 2014

And I saw Lydon on his latest PiL tour a few months back. Going. Strong.
posted by Devonian at 3:36 AM on August 25, 2014

And I went to a Jonathan Richman concert in June. But it does feel like a lot of them are gone. I actually have the opposite reaction to Potomac Avenue: I've been so conscious of losing members of that musical generation that I'm sort of surprised to realize how many of them are still at it.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:17 AM on August 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Kinda impossible to pick favourites out of this lineup, but I loved Wreckless Eric, 'Whole Wide World' is such a great song and this was a blistering performance, and also, surprisingly, Blondie. They sounded punk as fuck!
posted by maupuia at 4:46 AM on August 25, 2014

where are they now?
Presenting shows on BBC 6 Music, mostly. Here is Iggy's - which should be consumed with "I want to talk like Iggy Pop" from the Ulholstered Eldorados.
posted by rongorongo at 5:00 AM on August 25, 2014

This music and these people are all "forever young" to me - the tunes sound fresh no matter what. Looking forward to watching these clips tonight.
posted by Sheydem-tants at 5:28 AM on August 25, 2014

I'm sort of surprised to realize how many of them are still at it.

This is music that was not new when I discovered it as a teenager, meaning that the musicians were at least a generation older and some more than that. It's great how many of them are still at it (probably out of necessity, since I doubt many ended up with well funded retirements out of the deal), but also a little surprising to see the then/now comparisons.

I'm looking forward to watching this tonight.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:30 AM on August 25, 2014

It was a great time to be an 18 year-old, believe you me.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:37 AM on August 25, 2014

There's no way that 1978 could be that long ago. Fuck, I'm old.
posted by octothorpe at 5:50 AM on August 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

Actually it turns out the answer to Where Are They Now is "On Archive.org"
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:54 AM on August 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

And how!
posted by Pudhoho at 7:54 AM on August 25, 2014