The Prince Of Post-Pub
August 11, 2010 5:34 AM   Subscribe

 
Forgot the legend, Ollie Reed.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:44 AM on August 11, 2010


I used to know Alan Connor before he presented on The Word, and when he was plain old Alan Hamilton. I'm not sure why they missed him off the list of presenters.

Anyway, in real life he was funny as hell. Hold your ribs, try to stop yourself shaking funny. On The Word, which by then was on its last legs, not so much. He played - or I suspect, was made to play - a much stupider, less funny, cartoonish version of himself and, from what I could see, sorta lost his mojo for a while because of it.

So, at a personal level I like The Word much less than I did before then.
posted by MuffinMan at 6:03 AM on August 11, 2010 [1 favorite]


This - Huggy Bear, "Her Jazz" - is my number one favourite The Word moment.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 6:23 AM on August 11, 2010


Oh man, I am so old...
posted by Artw at 6:29 AM on August 11, 2010 [1 favorite]


It was awful but the Huggy Bear performance was brilliant. And that's Amelia from Tallulah Gosh on backing vocals too.
posted by ciderwoman at 6:29 AM on August 11, 2010


I remember watching the L7 performance live, and thinking 'hang on...' at the end
posted by DanCall at 6:30 AM on August 11, 2010


Drunk or sober, I could never bear to watch the show all the way through, but some of the music was good. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion did an enjoyable turn on it, too. And here's another '91 UK TV apperance by Nirvana.
posted by misteraitch at 6:31 AM on August 11, 2010


"The Hopefuls" is pretty tame compared to the shit you get on TV these days.
posted by afx237vi at 6:40 AM on August 11, 2010


That Oliver Reed video was painful and wonderful to watch.
posted by ColdChef at 6:48 AM on August 11, 2010


I remember watching the L7 performance live, and thinking 'hang on...' at the end

Oh. Oh, my.
posted by ColdChef at 7:00 AM on August 11, 2010 [1 favorite]


First time you've seen that, eh?
posted by Artw at 7:03 AM on August 11, 2010


Well, first time I've seen hers.
posted by ColdChef at 7:08 AM on August 11, 2010 [3 favorites]


Some favourites of mine: Supergrass's TV debut and Mark Lamarr's Shabba Ranks interview.
posted by ninebelow at 7:15 AM on August 11, 2010 [1 favorite]


A segment taped in Seattle but shown on The Word allegedly generated 600 viewer complaints. It features my "Tube" act and Eddie Vedder.
posted by Tube at 7:15 AM on August 11, 2010 [4 favorites]


Blimey, that was you? That incident was sort of famous amongst the youth of Englandshire, you know.
posted by Artw at 7:27 AM on August 11, 2010


yeah, you are basically a hero.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:29 AM on August 11, 2010


Not to forget the classic takedown of Shabba Ranks's support for the crucifixion of homosexuals by Mark Lamarr. The clip seems to have been yanked by CH4/YT but is partly included as part of this clip (from 1'39" although the whole thing is worth watching. It also includes a young Mark Wahlberg rubbing frantically at his nose for some reason...)
posted by i_cola at 7:30 AM on August 11, 2010


"The Hopefuls" is pretty tame compared to the shit you get on TV these days.

I put up one of the milder examples... do a search if you want to see how far they went
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:31 AM on August 11, 2010


Blimey, that was you? That incident was sort of famous amongst the youth of Englandshire, you know.

Well, credit where credit is due; Lifto was also on the segment, and undoubtedly contributed to the moral outrage. It was taped at the Crocodile in downtown Seattle, years before their present remodel. The other long haired gent on stage is Jeff Gilbert, who now runs the Feedback Lounge in West Seattle.
posted by Tube at 7:41 AM on August 11, 2010


They had open auditions to become a presenter. A younger, prettier version of myself was involved. I've spent the intervening years coping with the stigma of being judged less telegenic than huffty.
posted by tigrefacile at 7:48 AM on August 11, 2010


Tube, in looking at your profile, I can't help but note that this comment was your 1337th. VERY APPROPRIATE, SIR.
posted by norm at 7:52 AM on August 11, 2010


I put up one of the milder examples... do a search if you want to see how far they went

Yeah, I know, but I recently had the extreme misfortune of watching an episode of "The Dudesons in America", where a quartet of jolly Scandivanian chaps did normal everyday stuff like nailing their earlobes to a plank of wood and branding themselves with cattle irons.

The Word caused tabloid outrage when it first aired. Nowadays it would barely warrant a raised eyebrow.
posted by afx237vi at 7:52 AM on August 11, 2010


I was allowed to stay up late to watch when I was seven and thought I was ACE.

I have a lot of time for Terry Christian. He was a former casual who worked his way through the media just by being a working-class kid with stuff to say.
posted by mippy at 7:54 AM on August 11, 2010




Twenty four comments about late night UK television and no smartass American has mentioned Ghostbusters 2? Color me impressed.
posted by m@f at 10:45 AM on August 11, 2010


I don't get it. Ghostbusters 2?!
posted by mippy at 3:07 PM on August 11, 2010


Someday, over at Ask Me, someone is going to ask which film it was where Bill Murray got sprayed with happy slime.
posted by Artw at 3:21 PM on August 11, 2010


Sadly no clips seem to exist of Bruiser de Cadenet.
posted by DanCall at 2:38 AM on August 12, 2010


Sadly no clips seem to exist of Bruiser de Cadenet.

He lives now, only in our memories.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:17 AM on August 12, 2010


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