Spotlight On Dai/Spotlight On The Girls/Comedy Characters/Your Requests/Spotlight On John/Spotlight On Tony/Spotlight On Music Hall
By the time Spotlight On was released the appeal of the Minstrels was beginning to wane a little since their earlier albums had topped the chart. Nevertheless, the TV programme was still enormously popular, due to the slick routines, sheer professionalism and impeccable vocal arrangements. At the time, this kind of old style music, enjoyed by the middle aged, was regarded by adults as timeless and permanent. On the other hand, the beat music of the Beatles, Stones and others, bought principally by teenagers, was dismissed as ephemeral rubbish, just kids' stuff. Today the music of the Minstrels has been largely forgotten, and the TV programme is vilified (albeit for non musical reasons). In contrast, the pop and rock music of the sixties has never been so highly regarded except, predictably, by today's youth. (UK:6)
"In addition to solo and group minstrel numbers folk, foreign, and country/western songs were featured as well. The show was an instant hit and became a Saturday night tradition in England."
"The Black and White Minstrel Show may well have been hated and considered racist by the 'liberal thinking elite' but there were 55 million people in this country during its near 30 years run and the vast majority of those that had TVs enjoyed it immensely. It was always entertaining. It neither set out to be, nor was, racist. It simply copied that which started in America where black singers entertained the customers. Don't forget, Al Jolson was white and loved equally by both blacks and whites - not because he 'blacked up' but because he had a wonderful voice. Similarly, the BBC's Black and White Minstrel Show had singers with good voices."
"Telly took itself much more seriously in those days, and more professionally too. And there is no doubting the very meticulous standards of production, choreography and singing."
"For those of us who came after the war, this formula was already out-of-date. For those weaned on The Animals and Yardbirds and a host of other bands from the 1960s, who had something to say with which we could identify, The Minstrels, were the most turgid, oleaginous fifty minutes of our young lives."
No comments:
Post a Comment