Rock Follies - Series 1 [1976] [DVD]

TV rarely does musicals well and the rock musical is particularly dodgy, but Rock Follies breaks all the rules. Great songs, great performers and, above all, a great script.

Howard Schuman managed to put on mainstream telly in the 70s a succession of dykes, poufs, and druggies yet make it acceptable by creating a story so compelling the nation was gripped. For once, these people are not seen as freaks but as part of the rich tapestry of life. Above all, he wrote roles for women that any actress these days would kill for.

Back in the 70s I was just caught by the story and the music. Looking back, the series is far more feminist than I remember, with the men mostly dreadful - but believably so. The politics comes out of the characters rather than being imposed on the plot.

If you've been playing the cast album for the last 25 years it comes as a pleasant surprise to find the songs in the programme are recorded live rather than mimed to the studio versions you know so well.

Though the series is a fantasy, with a budget so low even Dr Who would sneer, there is a truth here that anyone who remembers the era would recognise. This is how the 70s were and it's essential viewing for anyone wanting to know about the era.

it is presented exactly as it was first shown even down to the THAMES signature tune and expanding tower bridge
a real gem !!!!
the interview at the end is amazing giving some of the history and behind it
sit back remember and jump straight back to 1976..

At the heart: the lyrics and script of Howard Shuman, a witty American playwright. The story arcs of the two Rock Follies series have predictable doses of cynicism about the music business, but Shuman sweetened these with humour and sympathetic characters. Shuman was later sued, along with Thames Television and the series producer Andrew Brown for developing Rock Follies without the participation of the girl group "Rock Bottom" and their manager, who'd originated the idea intending that they would star in the show. Of course, if they had, we'd have missed out on Charlotte Cornwell, Rula Lenska and Julie Covington as the Little Ladies. Since the two series of Rock Follies are really the only permanent reminders that Covington's uniquely nuanced vocal talent was coupled with fine acting and a rare stage charisma, it's a blessing the series was made as it was (and Rock Bottom, eventually, compensated). Covington's Dee dominates her scenes and the show. Lenska and Cornwell are required by the plot to be poorer singers - and they are. Lenska's character, Q, is facile and uninteresting in this series (but much better in the second), whereas Cornwell's Anna could (should) be the dramatic focus, but somehow doesn't gain our sympathies as a complex, developing, character, in the way that the relatively uncomplicated Dee does. The supporting characters -- noteably a Michael Palin lookalike journalist and a few funny commune-ists -- are stereotypes. Most speak awfully posh.

Andy MacKay of Roxy Music wrote the tunes, having fun with pastiches of Broadway Musicals, The Andrews Sisters and other genres. The best songs are those that combine Shuman's wry observations on the business with slow rock settings -- Rock Follies, On The Road.

Controversies: Sex, drugs and rock and roll. The second series had more unusual controversies, but always handled with a light touch.

Dated bits: the clothes, the haircuts, the slang, the RP speech of so many characters, the choreography. Some of the acting too: the theatrical background of the main actors betrayed by over-gesture - a lack of subtlety that you wouldn't see in more recent TV drama. The tail-end of sixties counter-culture features heavily but the drama is based on personalities so still plays well.

A very good buy. And the second series was even better.