Saturday night!
June 3, 2010 2:00 PM Subscribe
Ann-Margret joins the Bay City Rollers to entertain possibly one of the greatest audiences in the history of show business. (SLYahooV)
I can practically smell the Vicks vapor inhaler sticks through my screen.
posted by hermitosis at 2:05 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by hermitosis at 2:05 PM on June 3, 2010
I think whoever organized and directed this clip must have somehow understood that there would someday be something called "lulz".
posted by anazgnos at 2:06 PM on June 3, 2010 [9 favorites]
posted by anazgnos at 2:06 PM on June 3, 2010 [9 favorites]
And who is that audience?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 2:07 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 2:07 PM on June 3, 2010
She had no qualms against performing on The Flintstones, so she must have a sense of humor, right?
posted by Smart Dalek at 2:10 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by Smart Dalek at 2:10 PM on June 3, 2010
Gone to see the Rollers
Got a ticket for the Bay City Rollers
And everything will be outta sight
When everyone's distracted at the Rollers show tonight
- Nick Lowe
posted by davebush at 2:11 PM on June 3, 2010
Got a ticket for the Bay City Rollers
And everything will be outta sight
When everyone's distracted at the Rollers show tonight
- Nick Lowe
posted by davebush at 2:11 PM on June 3, 2010
Ann-Margret looks good for her age. She's in fourth row, third seat in I think.
posted by hal9k at 2:14 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by hal9k at 2:14 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
Funny thing, I bet a Bay City Rollers concert today would look very similar.
posted by sexymofo at 2:16 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by sexymofo at 2:16 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
You just know that, between songs, some churlish 90-year-old prankster in pressed pants kept shouting out:
"MILL STREEEAAMM!!"
"PLAY 'DOWN BY THE OLD MILL STREEEAAMM'!!"
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:21 PM on June 3, 2010 [6 favorites]
"MILL STREEEAAMM!!"
"PLAY 'DOWN BY THE OLD MILL STREEEAAMM'!!"
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:21 PM on June 3, 2010 [6 favorites]
The best bit was the ear trumpet. And the lady knitting. And the false teeth.
posted by afx237vi at 2:22 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by afx237vi at 2:22 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
Holy. Shit. Not what I was expecting.
The best bit was the ear trumpet.
She's steampunk.
posted by GuyZero at 2:23 PM on June 3, 2010 [5 favorites]
The best bit was the ear trumpet.
She's steampunk.
posted by GuyZero at 2:23 PM on June 3, 2010 [5 favorites]
Sweet, Ann-Margret. Is there anything she wouldn't do to entertain us? Apparently not.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:35 PM on June 3, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 2:35 PM on June 3, 2010 [4 favorites]
Old people rock. I miss my grandma.
posted by yeti at 2:43 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by yeti at 2:43 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Not the best quality, but Thorzdad beat me to the beans.
posted by stinkycheese at 2:43 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by stinkycheese at 2:43 PM on June 3, 2010
I want to party with the knitting woman. She looked wild!
posted by gfrobe at 2:44 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by gfrobe at 2:44 PM on June 3, 2010
I can't decide who in the audience I like best.
Three way tie between Ear Trumpet, Knitting Lady, and Sexy-Grandma-Dancing-in-the-Aisle.
posted by artlung at 2:48 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Three way tie between Ear Trumpet, Knitting Lady, and Sexy-Grandma-Dancing-in-the-Aisle.
posted by artlung at 2:48 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Are they German?
posted by chillmost at 2:49 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by chillmost at 2:49 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
I was going to say it sounded recorded, but then Ann Margret was absolutely terrible.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:50 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by mrgrimm at 2:50 PM on June 3, 2010
I can't tell if the knitting lady usually knits that fast or if she was going with the beat.
posted by spec80 at 2:52 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by spec80 at 2:52 PM on June 3, 2010
I was going to say it sounded recorded, but then Ann Margret was absolutely terrible.
Probably a live vocal to a backing track. She may actually be the only one with a live mic onstage, but she also clearly has never heard the song before.
This is just one of those things that, from our (non-mythical) post-ironic standpoint, we simply cannot process as something that was once presented as mere straightforward, sincere entertainment; it seems too perfectly constructed to hit every wtf button we have.
posted by anazgnos at 2:57 PM on June 3, 2010 [5 favorites]
Probably a live vocal to a backing track. She may actually be the only one with a live mic onstage, but she also clearly has never heard the song before.
This is just one of those things that, from our (non-mythical) post-ironic standpoint, we simply cannot process as something that was once presented as mere straightforward, sincere entertainment; it seems too perfectly constructed to hit every wtf button we have.
posted by anazgnos at 2:57 PM on June 3, 2010 [5 favorites]
I favorited this so hard I broke my hip.
posted by davejay at 3:01 PM on June 3, 2010 [5 favorites]
posted by davejay at 3:01 PM on June 3, 2010 [5 favorites]
Also, never has a wall of ORANGE® amps been more thoroughly wasted.
posted by anazgnos at 3:06 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by anazgnos at 3:06 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
WHAT AM I DOING TONIGHT OH U KNO JUST GONNA GO C BAY CITY ROLLER$, DO SUM POWER KNITTING PROBS.
I hope my brain remembers to include a bit of this in my life-flashing-before-me as I die.
posted by NolanRyanHatesMatches at 3:08 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
I hope my brain remembers to include a bit of this in my life-flashing-before-me as I die.
posted by NolanRyanHatesMatches at 3:08 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
So brings up a question that's been troubling me lately, since I just had another birthday -- at what age will I be considered hilarious if I dance to pop music?
posted by JanetLand at 3:10 PM on June 3, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 3:10 PM on June 3, 2010 [4 favorites]
JanetLand, if you're old enough to start thinking about things like that, you're probably already past the point of no return.
posted by afx237vi at 3:14 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by afx237vi at 3:14 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
Are they German?
English or Irish I would have said.
Nor I expect was this the only gig they did together. Indeed, I wonder, did Ann-Margret introduce the boys to America?
One wonders what Michel Legrand made of them
posted by IndigoJones at 3:17 PM on June 3, 2010
English or Irish I would have said.
Nor I expect was this the only gig they did together. Indeed, I wonder, did Ann-Margret introduce the boys to America?
One wonders what Michel Legrand made of them
posted by IndigoJones at 3:17 PM on June 3, 2010
at what age will I be considered hilarious if I dance to pop music?
People of all ages can be considered hilarious when they dance to pop music. It is the dancers' gift to the world at large.
posted by IndigoJones at 3:19 PM on June 3, 2010
People of all ages can be considered hilarious when they dance to pop music. It is the dancers' gift to the world at large.
posted by IndigoJones at 3:19 PM on June 3, 2010
How many people in that audience are still alive?
posted by Hoosier Prospector at 3:24 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by Hoosier Prospector at 3:24 PM on June 3, 2010
Just wanting to record this on the Internets for posterity...when I was 10, I used to play my Bay City Roller 45's so often and so loud that I flat out wrecked 'em! TARTAN FOREVAH!!!
posted by jeanmari at 3:24 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by jeanmari at 3:24 PM on June 3, 2010
Kids, quit trying to defend Ann Margret's singing voice. Behold the travesty that is Bye Bye Birdie. (NSFEars)
posted by IAmBroom at 3:26 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by IAmBroom at 3:26 PM on June 3, 2010
How many people in that audience are still alive?
I think there is a very good chance that answer is zero.
posted by COD at 3:27 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
I think there is a very good chance that answer is zero.
posted by COD at 3:27 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
Those were the '70s.
posted by jsavimbi at 3:28 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jsavimbi at 3:28 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh man - I'd totally forgotten I actually saw a Rollers gig about 20 years ago. It was one those "two original members with the legal right to use the name" deals. Lulu's nightclub in Kitchener, Ontario. I was there for the beer.
posted by davebush at 3:41 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by davebush at 3:41 PM on June 3, 2010
Kitten with a whip!
OMG I love Bay City Rollers and Ann-Margret and Nick Lowe and ohhhhhhh David, everything's so creamy... I seriously woke up super early on a bunch of Saturday mornings so my five-year old ass could watch this. MetaFilter is so shiny good today.
posted by mintcake! at 3:47 PM on June 3, 2010
OMG I love Bay City Rollers and Ann-Margret and Nick Lowe and ohhhhhhh David, everything's so creamy... I seriously woke up super early on a bunch of Saturday mornings so my five-year old ass could watch this. MetaFilter is so shiny good today.
posted by mintcake! at 3:47 PM on June 3, 2010
This is apparently from Ann-Margret Smith, a 1975 TV special made in the UK. More here (the intro to this number starts about 4 minutes in).
posted by gubo at 4:29 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by gubo at 4:29 PM on June 3, 2010
This post is having a cosmic convergence with the post above.
posted by The Whelk at 4:31 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by The Whelk at 4:31 PM on June 3, 2010
Also, Grandma in ski hat. Rock on. Don't let the bastards grind you down, Grandma In Ski Hat.
posted by The Whelk at 4:31 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 4:31 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh hey, shut about Ann Margret - She was like the punk rock version of standards singing, it wasn't about the quality, it was about the enthusiasm and attitude, singing like people sing in the shower at 11 full bore without any regard to how insane you looked and or sounded. It's wonderful. You get the impression she'd literally explode if it would entertain you.
posted by The Whelk at 4:36 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 4:36 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Actually it just hit me, Ann Marget is the female William Shatner
posted by The Whelk at 4:41 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 4:41 PM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
"Saturday Night" was my favorite song when I was 5. And I still love it now. It's great, screw you.
posted by jonmc at 5:04 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by jonmc at 5:04 PM on June 3, 2010
chillmost: "Are they German?"
True Fact: German's make the best granny porn!
posted by symbioid at 5:24 PM on June 3, 2010
True Fact: German's make the best granny porn!
posted by symbioid at 5:24 PM on June 3, 2010
If we're doing an Ann-Margret love fest then I'm throwing in this bit of ace dancing with Elv!
He should have totally ditched Priscilla and married her... ask my mum... she has strong feelings on the matter.
posted by merocet at 5:27 PM on June 3, 2010
He should have totally ditched Priscilla and married her... ask my mum... she has strong feelings on the matter.
posted by merocet at 5:27 PM on June 3, 2010
This song reminds me of being in high school and going to bars on weeknights and sneaking in past curfew and my friend being so wasted and singing "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y!" way too loud for whole sneaking part.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:51 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:51 PM on June 3, 2010
I like The Bay City Rollers because the platforms under their shoes had all different heights, so in group pictures every Roller had about the same length.
posted by ouke at 6:04 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by ouke at 6:04 PM on June 3, 2010
Please tell me why that made me feel so sad.
posted by punchtothehead at 6:05 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by punchtothehead at 6:05 PM on June 3, 2010
Well, I don't know you, so maybe I'm wrong, but I think it made you feel sad because we have this hip cool idea that it's fun to laugh at old people, even though we all know old age is all we have to look forward to.
posted by JanetLand at 6:29 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by JanetLand at 6:29 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Theory about why it might make you feel sad: current artists (by which Imean any artist since, oh, let's say 1985) might have old people in their audience, but it would be so that you would HAHA OLD PEOPLE FUNNY, not because they were the actually the audience. We lost the ability to unironically include old people in our rock audiences sometime in the last 25 years.
posted by artlung at 6:31 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by artlung at 6:31 PM on June 3, 2010
This is the best birthday present I got today. Which takes nothing away from the kid-crafted ceramic roses or the salad spinner.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 6:37 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by Sweetie Darling at 6:37 PM on June 3, 2010
Regardless of her vocal talents, the fact that the Bay City Rollers got to hang out with Ann-Margret gives me new respect for them. In fact, tomorrow I will get my ponytail trimmed into a mullet and head to my tailor to get a plaid(tartan?)-trimmed leisure suit. And you thought Lady GaGa was edgy!!
posted by TedW at 7:00 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by TedW at 7:00 PM on June 3, 2010
I worked with Ann-Margret's grand-daughter for a brief time, and the day this information came out, she put down the pot of coffee, looked downcast and said, "Yeah, my grandmother is way sexier than me."
posted by missmary6 at 7:20 PM on June 3, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by missmary6 at 7:20 PM on June 3, 2010 [3 favorites]
Please tell me Grandma in Ski Hat was Mike "Wool Hat" Nesmith's Grandma.
posted by squasha at 7:58 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by squasha at 7:58 PM on June 3, 2010
Oh! so you like the Rolllers eh? Well, see if you can get all the way through Burning Rubber.
posted by unliteral at 8:38 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by unliteral at 8:38 PM on June 3, 2010
This is the generation that valued action in unison, together, in a big way. What's better than one lady kicking her leg up on stage? 30 of them, in unison. What's better than one water-skier? 10 of them stacked in a pyramid. etc.. they loved those big showy unison masses of people doing the same thing. Sort of like the Chinese or North Korean stadium card flipping extravaganzas.
posted by stbalbach at 9:33 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by stbalbach at 9:33 PM on June 3, 2010
For all 70s retro fans, I present you with Exhibit A of why they sucked ass.
posted by Kskomsvold at 10:23 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by Kskomsvold at 10:23 PM on June 3, 2010
I love Ann-Margret because she played a sex symbol for twelve to sixteen year olds in my favorite movie of my childhood, Newsies.
posted by ocherdraco at 10:53 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by ocherdraco at 10:53 PM on June 3, 2010
Just think....when the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney or even Aerosmith or David Bowie perform onstage today they're about the same age as the majority of the folks in that BCR audience.
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:13 AM on June 4, 2010
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:13 AM on June 4, 2010
-I had the album as a kid.
-I also grew up watching them on Saturday mornings.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 12:56 AM on June 4, 2010
-I also grew up watching them on Saturday mornings.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 12:56 AM on June 4, 2010
For a half a second it looked like that rocking old lady in the pink shirt and green wool hat was going to flash the Bay City Rollers, and I thought: "No, Granny! No!"
posted by bwg at 3:33 AM on June 4, 2010
posted by bwg at 3:33 AM on June 4, 2010
Essentially, Bonnaroo in a few years.
posted by kidelo at 4:00 AM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by kidelo at 4:00 AM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
jonmc: "Saturday Night" was my favorite song when I was 5. And I still love it now. It's great, screw you.
DeeDee Ramone loved it too. That's good enough for me.
That audience was awesome. Seriously. I hope I'm still enjoying live music that much, at that age.
posted by Infinite Jest at 5:09 AM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
DeeDee Ramone loved it too. That's good enough for me.
That audience was awesome. Seriously. I hope I'm still enjoying live music that much, at that age.
posted by Infinite Jest at 5:09 AM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
That was awesome. Do we know anything else about it - when it was filmed, where, how they came to be together, why they were performing for an elderly audience?
posted by davidmsc at 7:24 AM on June 4, 2010
posted by davidmsc at 7:24 AM on June 4, 2010
This audience is too full of old-people tropes to be real. Ear horn? Knitting during the song? Nope. But it's not video fakery either. The only thing I can figure is that this was arranged to be an audience of ironic grannies and gramps. I don't know how they did it but I reckon they even scooped DEVO by about five years here.
Seeing all these old people having a load of fun and knowing they know they're in on the joke makes me smile.
posted by scrowdid at 8:35 AM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Seeing all these old people having a load of fun and knowing they know they're in on the joke makes me smile.
posted by scrowdid at 8:35 AM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
I lived in Bay City, Michigan, in the '70s. (When the rocking lads in plaid threw a dart at a map to decide on their name, ours was the town it hit--or so all us second and third graders believed.) There was actually a mural of the Rollers near a busy bridge downtown--heads 20 feet tall (sorry, can't find a pic). Later, when the group tried to drop the "Bay City" from its name (perhaps this was part of a naming-rights dispute among the members?), someone vandalized the mural, with mustaches, IIRC. The fact that someone actually felt sufficiently affronted to do this tells you a lot about Bay City.
posted by dust of the stars at 9:11 AM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by dust of the stars at 9:11 AM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
naming-rights dispute among the members?
I think there's been like umpteen versions of the band touring in recent years...
When I was very very small the playground chant was:
B! A! Y! B ! A! Y!
B! A! Y! C! I! T! Y!
With an R O double L E R S!
Bay City Rollers are a mess!
(the girls sang 'are the best!')
Which is now forever burned into my brain.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:23 AM on June 4, 2010
I think there's been like umpteen versions of the band touring in recent years...
When I was very very small the playground chant was:
B! A! Y! B ! A! Y!
B! A! Y! C! I! T! Y!
With an R O double L E R S!
Bay City Rollers are a mess!
(the girls sang 'are the best!')
Which is now forever burned into my brain.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:23 AM on June 4, 2010
This audience is too full of old-people tropes to be real. Ear horn? Knitting during the song? Nope. But it's not video fakery either. The only thing I can figure is that this was arranged to be an audience of ironic grannies and gramps. I don't know how they did it but I reckon they even scooped DEVO by about five years here.
Yeah, I came to the same realization this morning of what should have been (and probably was) obvious...that this was a comedy sketch, and that the old people were there to be objects of lighthearted fun, first and foremost. Not really much different that what Tim and Eric do with Richard Dunn (who, incidentally, just passed away).
posted by anazgnos at 11:35 AM on June 4, 2010
Yeah, I came to the same realization this morning of what should have been (and probably was) obvious...that this was a comedy sketch, and that the old people were there to be objects of lighthearted fun, first and foremost. Not really much different that what Tim and Eric do with Richard Dunn (who, incidentally, just passed away).
posted by anazgnos at 11:35 AM on June 4, 2010
dust of the stars: I suppose I should be too humiliated to admit this, but here I go: I somehow managed to wheedle my Dad into driving our family up to Bay City (we lived in metro Detroit at the time) on August 24, 1977, the official Bay City Roller Day in Bay City. I remember seeing that mural as we crossed the bridge heading into town. I stood in a crowd of teeny-boppers for hours in front of City Hall waiting for the official presentation of the key to the city, as well as the Rollers placing their hands in cement Graumann's style. The rest of my family, being more sensible, went and had a leisurely lunch at a nearby restaurant and then eventually found seats across the street from City Hall, away from the squealing crowd. There were speakers set up outside which blasted the same handful of BCR tunes until the ceremony began. To this day, my Dad (who is now in his 80s) will gripe (while rolling his eyes and shaking his head) "Jeezus Chee-rist, 'I don't wanna be yesterday's heeero*'" any time that trip to Bay City is mentioned.
*"Yesterday's Hero" was one of the half-dozen songs blasted continuously that day.
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:53 PM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
*"Yesterday's Hero" was one of the half-dozen songs blasted continuously that day.
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:53 PM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oriole Adams: Lovely! I am pretty sure I was there, but I remember it only dimly. Did the band actually play at any point?
posted by dust of the stars at 2:01 PM on June 4, 2010
posted by dust of the stars at 2:01 PM on June 4, 2010
Every single one of us has a hit single inside us, waiting to get out. And most of us wish it was as good as Saturday Night. That is all.
posted by davejay at 10:17 PM on June 4, 2010
posted by davejay at 10:17 PM on June 4, 2010
DeeDee Ramone loved it too. That's good enough for me.
It was an inspiration for "Blitzkrieg Bop." They thought if they wrote a song with a chant in it like the Rollers, they'd have a hit, too. (I love telling that story to some of the more doctrinaire 'punks' I encounter.)
posted by jonmc at 9:10 AM on June 5, 2010
It was an inspiration for "Blitzkrieg Bop." They thought if they wrote a song with a chant in it like the Rollers, they'd have a hit, too. (I love telling that story to some of the more doctrinaire 'punks' I encounter.)
posted by jonmc at 9:10 AM on June 5, 2010
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posted by davebush at 2:04 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]