0:00:02 > 0:00:08This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:08 > 0:00:09SCREAMING
0:00:11 > 0:00:12SCREAMING
0:00:14 > 0:00:17SCREAMING
0:00:24 > 0:00:27When I was a teenager, I lost seven years of my life to Queen.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32My bedroom became a shrine to the defunct band.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37The fact that Freddie Mercury was no longer with us
0:00:37 > 0:00:39somehow made my love even more intense.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42I forced my family to go on holiday near the drummer
0:00:42 > 0:00:44Roger Taylor's house so I could stalk him.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48It was the best of times and it was the worst of times.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50At some point, every single one of us
0:00:50 > 0:00:52has fallen in love with a pop star.
0:00:52 > 0:00:53But why do we do it?
0:00:53 > 0:00:56What rituals does it involve us in?
0:00:56 > 0:00:58And why do some of us never get over it?
0:01:00 > 0:01:02Fans have always been a footnote in the great
0:01:02 > 0:01:06rock and roll narrative, portrayed as a motley crew of obsessives
0:01:06 > 0:01:10who seem to come from another, less stable, planet than the rest of us.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12But I think it's time to take a closer look,
0:01:12 > 0:01:14because we've all been fans.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19I want to explore how the relationship between artist
0:01:19 > 0:01:22and fan has evolved over the past 50 years,
0:01:22 > 0:01:27while uncovering some of the psychological constants of fandom.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Because the true story of fans is the secret history of popular music.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Falling in love with your first band, that moment of gut recognition
0:01:42 > 0:01:45and excitement, is something we have all experienced
0:01:45 > 0:01:48and the magical thing is, you don't know when it's going to hit.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51For me it happened here, in the isolation of the North Norfolk
0:01:51 > 0:01:53countryside, where I grew up.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02It was a Thursday night in late November, 1991.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04I had just turned 11.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07I was sitting in front of the TV, trying to do my homework,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11pretending not to be watching Top Of The Pops.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Suddenly, I became aware of a sound
0:02:13 > 0:02:15that ran through me like electricity.
0:02:17 > 0:02:18I looked up.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23# Those were the days of our lives... #
0:02:23 > 0:02:25A painfully thin man in white cake make-up
0:02:25 > 0:02:27was singing the saddest song.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32# The bad things in life were so few... #
0:02:32 > 0:02:35He kept throwing these amazing, flashy grins at the camera,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37like he was making fun of it all.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42# Are all gone now but one thing's still true... #
0:02:42 > 0:02:45I felt my skin prickle and that was it.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Out of nowhere, I had become a fan.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50# I still love you... #
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Looking back now, it's hard to make sense of it all.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59So, why do we become fans? What is a fan?
0:03:00 > 0:03:04The fan is somebody who has this intense personal attachment
0:03:04 > 0:03:05to a person.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07They feel they know him,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10and they feel, as well, that in some weird sense,
0:03:10 > 0:03:11he should know them.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16My definition of fan, I suppose, is somebody who is
0:03:16 > 0:03:19completely uncritical in their devotion.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21They are blinded by affection.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Fandom is forged in the white heat of adolescence.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32It's almost as if you've been plugged into the mains.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35It completely catalyses you and you see the world
0:03:35 > 0:03:37in an entirely different way.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40It changes the way you walk, the way you cut your hair,
0:03:40 > 0:03:41the way you think and talk - everything.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47From, say, 14 to 19 is when your mind is the most open
0:03:47 > 0:03:50in your life, because once they are in there,
0:03:50 > 0:03:52they resonate for ever, even if,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56at times, they disappear. You always come back to them.
0:03:56 > 0:03:57It just sticks in your head for ever.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Never mind Sinatra and Elvis,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05the first truly global pop fan phenomenon erupted
0:04:05 > 0:04:10out of 1960s Liverpool and it turned nice young women from this...
0:04:10 > 0:04:12into this.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16SCREAMING
0:04:17 > 0:04:20# Well, shake it up, baby, now
0:04:20 > 0:04:23# Shake it up, baby
0:04:23 > 0:04:25# Twist and shout
0:04:25 > 0:04:26# Twist and shout
0:04:26 > 0:04:29# Come on, come on, come on Come on, baby, now... #
0:04:29 > 0:04:33The year was 1963 and the times, they were a-changing.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Welcome to Beatlemania.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38# Aah
0:04:38 > 0:04:40# Aah
0:04:40 > 0:04:43# Aah, aah
0:04:43 > 0:04:47# Whoa, whoa, whoa
0:04:47 > 0:04:49# Shake it up, baby, now... #
0:04:49 > 0:04:52It was absolutely glorious.
0:04:52 > 0:04:53Because there were so many of you
0:04:53 > 0:04:55and nobody had ever done this before,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59and clearly, nobody had ever felt like this before and, you know,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01we were the clever ones, because we liked the Beatles.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04A first-hand witness to this communal hysteria
0:05:04 > 0:05:07was Beatlemaniac, Lillian Adams.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10There were the four different options, you know.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13There was the small and cuddly Ringo,
0:05:13 > 0:05:15the intellectual John Lennon,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18the terribly sweet and nice Paul,
0:05:18 > 0:05:22and George, who was quite young and seemingly innocent.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24- Which one caught your attention? - Paul, definitely.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27You know, I was in love with Paul McCartney for ever.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30- # Let me know that you're mine - Know you're mine... #
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Why did you have to scream at Beatles gig?
0:05:32 > 0:05:34I've got absolutely no idea. You just did.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Everybody did, and that was it.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42I don't think I ever heard a word that was sung
0:05:42 > 0:05:46or spoken at a live gig, because you just didn't.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Say goodbye to modesty...
0:05:50 > 0:05:54..say hello to an impending sexual revolution.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56It was the first time that any of us
0:05:56 > 0:05:59had experienced that kind of emotion.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03Came out of all the concerts totally overcome and fainting,
0:06:03 > 0:06:08having to be lifted out and taken off to the St John Ambulance people.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10People were quite worried, you know,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13the flower of British womanhood going to the dogs!
0:06:13 > 0:06:16# I wanna hold your hand
0:06:17 > 0:06:19# I wanna hold your hand
0:06:20 > 0:06:23# And when I touch you I feel happy inside... #
0:06:23 > 0:06:26There's a, kind of, combination of things that go with
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Beatlemania, which is screaming and involuntary urination.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34I was always puzzled with this -
0:06:34 > 0:06:37did people really pee themselves in Beatles concerts? And they did.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40I've interviewed Red Cross people and people who cleaned up
0:06:40 > 0:06:43after them and they say, yes, that's what happened.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46There was just something in the culture that needed
0:06:46 > 0:06:49that at the time and nobody understood it.
0:06:51 > 0:06:52There was a little girl.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54She was standing, shaking,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57she could hardly stand up and there were tears streaming down her face.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00We asked her why she was crying
0:07:00 > 0:07:02and she didn't know.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Paul, Ringo, George and John were providing a generation
0:07:06 > 0:07:09of teenage girls with a target for their burgeoning sexuality.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13# I wanna hold your hand... #
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Unlike going to a dance or a club or what have you,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20where there were real teenage boys
0:07:20 > 0:07:23who might have had real expectations,
0:07:23 > 0:07:25it was perfectly safe. You could pour out
0:07:25 > 0:07:29all of your love and affection to this wonderful idol.
0:07:30 > 0:07:35This person that you are in love with is utterly perfect, so, it is
0:07:35 > 0:07:38a good start, because later,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41you meet real blokes, who are not like that!
0:07:43 > 0:07:45# I wanna hold your hand... #
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Former Beatles fan club secretary Freda Kelly found herself
0:07:48 > 0:07:51in the eye of a growing Beatlemania storm.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54I didn't realise how big it was going to get.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56I don't think anybody would have done.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59I mean, I gave my home address out,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02because they wanted somewhere to write to, the Beatle fans.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04So, I innocently gave that out
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and the first few days was just a few letters,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12and then, very quickly, it went to a few hundred, then a bundle,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16then a sack, and my father was having a heart attack!
0:08:18 > 0:08:24There was no escaping it. By 1965, Beatlemania had spread to the USA
0:08:24 > 0:08:27and when the band played New York's Shea Stadium,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30not a note was heard above the screams.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34SCREAMING
0:08:34 > 0:08:36I mean, it was just madness.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38They were going on stage, people couldn't hear what
0:08:38 > 0:08:41they were saying, they could have been singing about anything,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45because the girls weren't interested in what they were singing.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Something had to give and you knew it was going to be
0:08:51 > 0:08:53the touring that was going to give.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55It's gone downhill, performance.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Because we can't develop when no-one can hear us, you know what I mean?
0:08:58 > 0:09:01So, for us to perform, it gets difficult each time. More difficult.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04You mean they don't listen to you. Therefore you don't want to do that?
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Oh, yeah, we want to do it, but if we're not listened to
0:09:07 > 0:09:09and we can't even hear ourselves,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12then we can't improve in that, we can't get any better.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16So, we're trying to get better with things like recording.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20# Love, love, love
0:09:20 > 0:09:23# Love, love, love... #
0:09:23 > 0:09:25When the Beatles stopped touring in 1966
0:09:25 > 0:09:29and cocooned themselves in the studio, they stopped
0:09:29 > 0:09:33being pop stars and started to think of themselves as artists.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35# All you need is love
0:09:37 > 0:09:40# All you need is love
0:09:42 > 0:09:46# All you need is love, love
0:09:47 > 0:09:49# Love is all you need... #
0:09:49 > 0:09:52As a result, their audience began to change.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55I could tell that from the fan mail.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58There were certain questions there was no way I could answer,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02you know, like, "How do they get this sound?" or "How do they do that?"
0:10:02 > 0:10:04and I had a list of questions that I would ask them
0:10:04 > 0:10:07that had got through the fan mail and they were from boys.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09# All you need is love... #
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Boys were... It was much more technical -
0:10:12 > 0:10:16"I like his guitar style," you know, "I like their lyrics,"
0:10:16 > 0:10:20I'm sure a lot of blokes were put off by the hysterical
0:10:20 > 0:10:24girl business, but once they had got into Sgt Pepper,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26it was an art thing and a music thing,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30rather than four blokes standing on a stage being howled at.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35The boys pretended they were immune to the look, but weren't really.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39They'd quite like to be George or John and Paul and, sometimes,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41the strange ones wanted to look like Ringo.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44That Paul McCartney look, I spent ages trying to get that
0:10:44 > 0:10:48when I was 13, 14, trying to get the hair right and all of that.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50But if you talk like that,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52you, kind of, get beaten up in the school playground.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01Meanwhile, in the mid-60s, a new breed of fan was emerging, that was
0:11:01 > 0:11:06less about screaming at pop stars and more about image and tribalism.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09# I want you to know that I love you, baby
0:11:09 > 0:11:12# Want you to know that I care
0:11:12 > 0:11:15# I'm so happy when you're around me
0:11:15 > 0:11:18# But I'm sad when you're not there Sing the song, now... #
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Being a mod was all about a way of life.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Pop music, as such, was considered more of a girlie thing.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32It was all about American R&B, tracking the original down,
0:11:32 > 0:11:34you know, the American original was always the best.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38I don't necessarily listen to the Top 20, because it's the Top 20.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41- You know, most of it is a load of rubbish, anyway.- Yeah.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Well, it is, innit?
0:11:43 > 0:11:46# I want you to give me your sweet, sweet kisses... #
0:11:46 > 0:11:49The key mod band was actually the Small Faces.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51I mean, musically, all they ever wanted to be was
0:11:51 > 0:11:55the East End of London's version of Booker T and the MGs.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57# Whatcha gonna do about it?
0:11:57 > 0:12:00- # Yeah - Whatcha gonna do about it?
0:12:00 > 0:12:03- # Oh, baby - Whatcha gonna do about it?
0:12:03 > 0:12:06- # You do - Whatcha gonna do about it? #
0:12:18 > 0:12:22The Small Faces, for me, were the best of the mod bands,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25basically, because they looked so good.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28# Yeah, yeah! #
0:12:29 > 0:12:31This was working-class kids.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34The mods really wanted this not being judged on where
0:12:34 > 0:12:36they came from and wanted to look as good as anybody else.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40# People try to put us d-down
0:12:40 > 0:12:42# Talking 'bout my generation... #
0:12:42 > 0:12:45It was clean living in difficult circumstances.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47You may be poor, but don't look poor.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50So, I was immediately caught by that in a way,
0:12:50 > 0:12:52probably like a religious zeal.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00I was very young then, 13, 14, and it was like a secret society.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04To be part of this secret club,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07mods had to follow strict codes and conventions.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11To me, the look was always as important as the music.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15A mod would not stick cuff links through a single cuff shirt.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17It had to be double cuff shirts.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20The trouser was always, if you like, an inch above the shoe.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23You certainly didn't put Brylcreem in your hair.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26You would always have the top button of your jacket done up,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28perhaps the second button, but never the third.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32You certainly didn't go anywhere near an oily, nasty motorbike.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34It had to be a Lambretta or a Vespa.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36If you were going to go casual,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38you were looking at, sort of, Fred Perry type shirts.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Fred Perry would be, the top button would be done up,
0:13:40 > 0:13:42you wouldn't leave it undone.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45I can honestly say that there were times
0:13:45 > 0:13:47when I would get into an empty railway carriage
0:13:47 > 0:13:51and refuse to sit down, so as not to spoil the crease in the trouser.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54# Things they do look awful c-c-cold... #
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Having clothes like that made you feel, you know, a million dollars,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59you felt quite superior.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01You could wear the clothes,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04but there was a bit more to it than just wearing the clothes.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06There was a mentality to it, as well,
0:14:06 > 0:14:08that you were as good as anybody else.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Mod tribalism was providing a way for young,
0:14:15 > 0:14:17working-class fans to express themselves.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21It was more about being a face than hormonal meltdown.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24But by the dawn of the 1970s,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28the stage had been left empty for something new.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31CLASSICAL-STYLE PIANO MUSIC
0:14:35 > 0:14:38We were just coming out of the screaming era, you know,
0:14:38 > 0:14:40with the Beatles and other pop bands,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44where basically, girls went along to scream.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Bit embarrassing for a guy to scream,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49unless he's been hit by a car or something like that.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53And so, what it needed was something, really, for them,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55that they could go,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58"Ah! Now we can relate to that and we don't have to scream."
0:14:58 > 0:15:05PROG ROCK PLAYS
0:15:27 > 0:15:31Progressive rock bypassed the pop singles charts altogether.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33And its sophisticated instrumentation
0:15:33 > 0:15:36and complex time signatures seemed to attract
0:15:36 > 0:15:38a very particular audience.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43Yes's first audiences, when I first joined the band in '71, '72,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46would have been 90-95% male.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50We did not attract women - at all.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55And the women that did tend to come, at that particular time,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57were those dragged along by boyfriends or husbands.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Post Sgt Pepper, the rise of progressive rock
0:16:03 > 0:16:07helped establish the LP as pop's primary medium.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10Elaborate artwork and intricate sleeve notes
0:16:10 > 0:16:14released the inner collector in every greatcoated young disciple.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17It was the big age of the album, you know, the LP.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Men would go round each other's houses and discuss it.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23It's collecting a little bit of that person
0:16:23 > 0:16:28and that music to take home with you, to enjoy even more.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31It seemed that, by the early '70s,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34collecting had become the new screaming.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38So how do these historical differences in male
0:16:38 > 0:16:43and female fan behaviour relate to my own Queen fixation?
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Rather than cataloguing and collecting,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49I seemed to create a private fantasyland.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52My first creative Queen project, aged 12 - collage.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Custom-made silhouette of the band in the middle.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57Cut up a load of magazines, took me an entire weekend.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02We have the circa-1992 papier-mache head of Freddie Mercury.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05I've got no idea why I made this, but I know it took a long time.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09It's quite accurate. Special attention to the widow's peak here.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13My teenage fanhood became a deeply-emotional experience.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17And my passion soon focused in on Roger Taylor.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19He was still good-looking, he had a social conscience,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22he was suddenly everything I wanted in a man.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26This is one of my Roger Taylor diaries. I wrote this when I was 15.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29"If this is not love, will you please tell me what it is?
0:17:29 > 0:17:31"I've avoided the word for years,
0:17:31 > 0:17:35"since it cannot be wittered away upon a figure that is remote."
0:17:35 > 0:17:37"23rd of January, 1996.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38"The news from hell -
0:17:38 > 0:17:40"he's shaved off his beard!
0:17:40 > 0:17:42"Oh, no, why has he'd done that?
0:17:42 > 0:17:45"Anyway, I'm still looking forward to him appearing at the Brits
0:17:45 > 0:17:48- and looking really cool." - SHE LAUGHS
0:17:48 > 0:17:53'So how do male Queen fans express their fanhood?
0:17:53 > 0:17:57'I've come to meet fellow Queen fanatic Rhys Thomas to find out.'
0:17:57 > 0:17:58If I look back
0:17:58 > 0:18:01to my 14-year-old self and how the Queen obsession
0:18:01 > 0:18:05manifested itself, I was actually writing diaries about Roger Taylor.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07I was writing letters to him. What were you doing at that point?
0:18:07 > 0:18:09How was your obsession manifesting itself?
0:18:09 > 0:18:13I think what boys tend to do, because we don't love them,
0:18:13 > 0:18:15we don't fancy them, but we still find them attractive.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17We, kind of, want to be them, slightly.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20I wanted to be Roger Taylor, slightly. Or you want to do...
0:18:20 > 0:18:23You want to play the drums or be that person slightly.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25But, because we don't have that, we don't fancy them,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28we just want to collect things or know everything about them.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32And so I, kind of, would read all the books and collect everything.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35I wanted to have everything they ever recorded, know all the lyrics.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40I was obsessed with buying up the albums. I'd go to record fairs and buy all the solo albums and,
0:18:40 > 0:18:44you know, even the John Deacon solo album, solo tracks from Biggles.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47- Yeah!- It was an obsession, cos you wanted to get everything
0:18:47 > 0:18:49you could get your hands on. Did you used to write lists,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52make up what your greatest hits albums would be if you could...?
0:18:52 > 0:18:55No, no. You see, I think a boy would do that.
0:18:55 > 0:18:56As a boy, you'd do all that stuff.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58So you'd do idealised track listings,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02- as though you were the A&R man? - Yeah, that's right. Yes, I would.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09By 1974, the Beatlemaniacs were all grown-up.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13but a new generation of pop acts was emerging, targeted at teenyboppers.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16GIRLS SCREAM
0:19:18 > 0:19:20SCREAMING
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Pop mania has come back to Britain, and most
0:19:26 > 0:19:29of the screaming has been for a British group, the Bay City Rollers.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33There hasn't been a mania like this since the days of the Beatles.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Like the Beatles, the Rollers attract a screaming audience
0:19:36 > 0:19:40and an audience which seems to get younger every year.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43The average age of the kids who turned out for the Rollers,
0:19:43 > 0:19:44was only 11.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47# We were rippin' up We were rockin' up
0:19:47 > 0:19:51# Roll it over and lay it down
0:19:51 > 0:19:52# We were shakin' up
0:19:52 > 0:19:54# We were breakin' it... #
0:19:54 > 0:19:57I was totally possessed with the Bay City Rollers.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00I've been, literally, all round the world.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04I've been to Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Belgium,
0:20:04 > 0:20:08Holland, Australia, USA, Japan -
0:20:08 > 0:20:12all to see Les McKeown and the Bay City Rollers.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Those were the days. They were brilliant days.
0:20:15 > 0:20:16I used to come out of my house.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19My mum... "You going to school?" "Yes."
0:20:19 > 0:20:22There's my school books, roll the gear underneath,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26go in the park toilets, change over, on a bus and wherever they were,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29I used to go down and catch them.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30# And we ran with the gang
0:20:30 > 0:20:33# Doin' doo-wop, be dooby do-ay... #
0:20:33 > 0:20:35The Rollermaniacs were a child army,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38that would risk life and limb to get a piece of their favourite
0:20:38 > 0:20:40Bay City Roller.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51Roller mania was, literally, pandemonium everywhere.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55We didn't fear nothing. We just went for it, because we loved them.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00It could get scary. Hammersmith Odeon, we were frightened
0:21:00 > 0:21:02we were going to get crushed.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Some of the chairs got broke. People were jumping over the chairs
0:21:06 > 0:21:09to get to the front of the stage, to get Les, and they was grabbing him
0:21:09 > 0:21:11and all that and we thought, "We're going to be dead."
0:21:11 > 0:21:14# Hey, hey! Rockin' to the music... #
0:21:14 > 0:21:18They'd get hysterical. They got no heed of traffic,
0:21:18 > 0:21:22they would just run straight out into the road, willy-nilly.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24These kids just do not know what they're doing.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29The hysteria was similar to The Beatles.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31The manager would set out
0:21:31 > 0:21:34to trap us in a situation with the fans.
0:21:34 > 0:21:40He would want to make press. He'd actually go out to plan chaos.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43There was one pretty horrifying time, where we kind of got trapped.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47There was so many people and teenagers on the street,
0:21:47 > 0:21:49they caused the whole traffic to stop.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53They'd finished their gig and out they came in their car.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56The fans were, literally, everywhere.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Hanging on the door handles and on the bonnet.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04They were banging, banging, banging and the limousine went like that.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07The roof... Then, we started to get scared.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12It's in slow motion and you see faces pressed up against glass
0:22:12 > 0:22:14and people going, "Eeh!"
0:22:16 > 0:22:19I was on the back and I was holding on to the aerial,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22so I didn't slide off, but I could feel myself sliding off
0:22:22 > 0:22:24and I thought, "I'm going to come off in a minute."
0:22:24 > 0:22:26There's Les at the back and he's going like this
0:22:26 > 0:22:28and he's waving to me and I'm going...
0:22:30 > 0:22:33All of a sudden, the car sped off and, as it did, I come off!
0:22:33 > 0:22:36You do feel, kind of, special on one regard.
0:22:36 > 0:22:42I know it sounds, well, weird, but you, kind of, get used to it.
0:22:42 > 0:22:43We just went for it.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48It was scary, but at the same time, we just didn't fear it.
0:22:48 > 0:22:49We just did it.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54It was because we love Les so much.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59We were the fans and we were given them what they wanted.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02And the Rollers were giving us what we wanted.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12It seemed that normal service had resumed on Planet Pop -
0:23:12 > 0:23:15girls were screaming and fainting at boys in bands again.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25But what about boys obsessing over female performers?
0:23:25 > 0:23:27At the end of the '70s,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30as punk was redefining the fan/artist relationship in a hail
0:23:30 > 0:23:34of gob, a group of front women arrived who were fearlessly spiky.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Punk had swept away all that had gone before
0:23:40 > 0:23:43and it was a time of reinvention,
0:23:43 > 0:23:44really, for women.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48There's a very, very famous photograph that has myself,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde, Viv Albertine, Siouxsie Sioux
0:23:52 > 0:23:56and Poly Styrene, all collected together for the front cover
0:23:56 > 0:24:01of an NME and those were the woman who did change the pop landscape.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05SHE SINGS
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Male punters had always looked down on girl singers,
0:24:29 > 0:24:33but not any more. Not unless they wanted a kick in the crotch.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43Everybody knew at that time, that within pop music, sex sells.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46I decided that that really was not for me.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51If you wanted to put out a reasonably serious message, the worst thing,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55really, you could be doing would be hanging around in a miniskirt.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03This was a way of beginning to say something about the female condition,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06that was a little bit more than just, "I'm in love with that boy."
0:25:13 > 0:25:17Females within pop always had some, kind of, subservient, you know,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20the puppet, a male Svengali.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24You know, somebody working the strings in the background.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28# This is the happy house... #
0:25:28 > 0:25:30That's for boys and that's for girls and, you know,
0:25:30 > 0:25:32girls have to be very demure.
0:25:32 > 0:25:33# Oh, it's such fun
0:25:34 > 0:25:35# Fun
0:25:36 > 0:25:38# Fun
0:25:38 > 0:25:41# Whoa-oh!
0:25:41 > 0:25:46# We've come to play in the happy house... #
0:25:46 > 0:25:49I think the first time I would have seen Siouxsie and the Banshees
0:25:49 > 0:25:51would have been Top Of The Pops, 1980,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53when they were on there doing Happy House,
0:25:53 > 0:25:57but it stayed with me and I could tell that, you know,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00there was a lot of depth to what Siouxsie was doing.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07She, as an icon, was never a sex symbol.
0:26:07 > 0:26:12Her entire career was about refusing the male gaze, refusing to be
0:26:12 > 0:26:18sexualised in that way, refusing to be submissive to the male leer.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21In rock and roll terms, that was a real first.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24She's quite a forbidding presence, really.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26There was a real toughness to Siouxsie -
0:26:26 > 0:26:29this refusal to compromise. And, I think,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32fans, whether male or female, respected that.
0:26:32 > 0:26:33I got it completely.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39It was much more aggressive.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43It was almost like, if you keep people a bit frightened,
0:26:43 > 0:26:47then, you know, that's a good place to be.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49# Following the footsteps of a rag doll dance
0:26:49 > 0:26:51# We are entranced
0:26:51 > 0:26:53# Spellbound... #
0:26:53 > 0:26:57I think it had to be, you know, an onslaught, an attack,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01rather than waiting for them to accept this.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04# Spellbound, oh-oh-ho
0:27:04 > 0:27:05# Spellbound... #
0:27:05 > 0:27:08I was really shy, cripplingly shy, at the time.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11I loved the idea that I could walk down the street looking quite
0:27:11 > 0:27:14alien and quite freakish and people would look at me,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17they'd stare, but they'd keep their distance. And I think Siouxsie
0:27:17 > 0:27:21inspired that, in a way, because you cannot take your eyes off her.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25But you don't want to get too close, because she is, frankly, terrifying.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29# Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa Whoa, whoa, whoa, who-oh-ho... #
0:27:30 > 0:27:33With the ladies of punk, two-tone and new wave
0:27:33 > 0:27:36redefining gender stereotypes in the early '80s,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40traditional male rock fan identity could have been thrown into crisis.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48But heavy metal bands, like Iron Maiden, were picking up
0:27:48 > 0:27:50where '70s rock had left off.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55I started getting into rock bands. I was at boarding school
0:27:55 > 0:28:00and you've got loads and loads of adolescent boys -
0:28:00 > 0:28:03no women, girls of any description, whatsoever -
0:28:03 > 0:28:06so you're just locked in with a load of bloody hormones
0:28:06 > 0:28:08and music that makes you want to go...
0:28:08 > 0:28:10# Yeah!
0:28:14 > 0:28:17It was the Purples, it was the Sabbaths,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19but there was a prog thing going on in the background.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23Four times 50 living men,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26and I heard nor sigh nor groan,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29with heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32they dropped down one by one.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36And that is what Maiden fans recognised
0:28:36 > 0:28:39and it came at a time when people wanted something new.
0:28:39 > 0:28:45They wanted a big, big, big, grand internal vision and Maiden,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49as we've gone through the years, we've got 35 years of stories
0:28:49 > 0:28:52and monsters and things to be discovered.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Like male '70s prog rock fans before them,
0:28:56 > 0:29:00some Iron Maiden fans have dedicated a lifetime to collecting
0:29:00 > 0:29:03and cataloguing everything their favourite band has ever done.
0:29:05 > 0:29:06'This is my man shed.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09'Everything I've got is pretty much here, really.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14'I spent three quarters of my life out here. It's escapism, isn't it?
0:29:14 > 0:29:17'Iron Maiden and my refuge. Rock music is my refuge.'
0:29:18 > 0:29:19Last time I counted,
0:29:19 > 0:29:22I had something like 8,000 vinyl albums,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26half as many CDs. I've still got some stuff on cassette.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31In the '70s, I was a massive fan of rock music but I was a little bit
0:29:31 > 0:29:34too young to have Zeppelin and Deep Purple at their peak,
0:29:34 > 0:29:37but Iron Maiden played the Marquee Club in 1979.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39Went along to see them there.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43The night really just changed my life.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45I became a fan overnight.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50I'd never throw anything away. I keep everything.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52As you can see, I'm a terrible hoarder.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54Once you start going down this route,
0:29:54 > 0:29:56it's really, really tough to stop.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00I collect things like backstage passes. I've got tickets.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05I collect T-shirts, all with the famous mascot, Eddie, on the front.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09This is myself and my son, who, funnily enough, is called Eddie,
0:30:09 > 0:30:11in front of Eddie the Head.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13I am an absolute vinyl junkie.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16To me, you cannot beat the smell of vinyl, the look of vinyl.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19A real statement of intent. An absolute classic.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23Number Of The Beast, the one that made them worldwide stars.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25My favourite Iron Maiden album.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Just an absolute classic. Every single song on this.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32If you haven't got this, you haven't got a record collection.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36This rack of cassettes here, is just something I have accumulated
0:30:36 > 0:30:37down the years.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40These ones are from 1978, on the first tour, right through to,
0:30:40 > 0:30:44basically, when cassettes started going out of vogue, really.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46There's nothing like having something
0:30:46 > 0:30:49like that, if you're as excessive as I am.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53It really has taken over my life, supporting Iron Maiden. You know,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56my kids don't really understand.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00My ex-wife certainly doesn't understand!
0:31:00 > 0:31:05Once it gets its hooks in you, you know, there's no escape.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11For all its joys, being a fan can feel like a frustrating,
0:31:11 > 0:31:13one-way relationship -
0:31:13 > 0:31:17an unrequited love. As a result, some fans attempt to cross the line
0:31:17 > 0:31:19between fantasy and reality.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21By the time I was 16,
0:31:21 > 0:31:22I was agonising over how
0:31:22 > 0:31:25it would be if I actually met Roger Taylor.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28I produced a flow chart, to explore the possibilities.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32If I don't meet him, there's no meaning to my life and fate.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36If I do meet him and he's a bastard, my life will be crushed.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39If I meet him and he's courteous, I'll feel an unfulfilled aching.
0:31:39 > 0:31:43If I meet him and he's really nice, I'll be doomed to lunacy.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49Then, one day, I crossed the line between fantasy and reality
0:31:49 > 0:31:52and actually stalked Roger Taylor.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57I had forced my family to go on holiday near Roger Taylor's house
0:31:57 > 0:32:00in Cornwall. We were driving along one day, when suddenly,
0:32:00 > 0:32:03I spotted him walking into the local cinema.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08I ran in, scanned the room and there he was.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15I sat in that cinema, staring at the back of Roger Taylor's head,
0:32:15 > 0:32:17for two hours.
0:32:19 > 0:32:20The film finished.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22I rushed outside and I pounced on him.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25When he realised he wasn't being mugged,
0:32:25 > 0:32:27he signed my cinema ticket. And that was it -
0:32:27 > 0:32:30Roger Taylor knew I existed.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34And it's this desire to turn fantasy into reality,
0:32:34 > 0:32:38that can lead some fans into even more extreme behaviour.
0:32:38 > 0:32:44I got sent somebody's pubic hair in the post, one time,
0:32:44 > 0:32:46which was fairly awful!
0:32:46 > 0:32:47They were grey!
0:32:49 > 0:32:52A lovely man, I won't mention his name,
0:32:52 > 0:32:56had his leg amputated to my music
0:32:56 > 0:33:02and had had an album cover printed on one of his false legs.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05People followed me around. I mean, Toyah Wilcox told me
0:33:05 > 0:33:07she followed me around
0:33:07 > 0:33:08in a store in Birmingham.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10I once had a fan send me
0:33:10 > 0:33:14a map of America, with lots of pictures and things
0:33:14 > 0:33:19and pictures of bombs and stuff like that, with...
0:33:19 > 0:33:24annotated with, "President will be here and I will kill him."
0:33:24 > 0:33:27This gun, this bridge, etc, with lots of conspiracy theories.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30I was just like, "What the fuck is this?!"
0:33:32 > 0:33:35In the 1980s, the media, through which fans engaged
0:33:35 > 0:33:38with their favourite artists, was changing rapidly.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41I've come to see former colleague and Smash Hits editor,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Mark Ellen, who witnessed this change.
0:33:44 > 0:33:45How was being a fan in the '80s
0:33:45 > 0:33:48different from being a fan in the '70s, do you think?
0:33:48 > 0:33:52Well, the first major difference, I think, was video, actually,
0:33:52 > 0:33:58because in the '70s, broadly, people tended to find tracks
0:33:58 > 0:34:01and then apply them to the soundtrack of their own lives.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05In the '80s, people tended to watch miniature movies on television sets.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09Image was absolutely crucial.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12# There's a lovin' in your eyes all the way... #
0:34:12 > 0:34:16In this new age, where music video and image were king,
0:34:16 > 0:34:20one man quickly established himself as a quintessential '80s icon.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25# I'm a man without conviction
0:34:25 > 0:34:27# I'm a man... #
0:34:27 > 0:34:30Boy George was the absolute turning point,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33in terms of '80s pop music and the way people looked.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37The look was so precise, it was so extravagant.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41You could imitate it. You could go out and buy the hats,
0:34:41 > 0:34:43you could wear a dress, wear make-up.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46As a bloke, it was guaranteed to annoy your parents.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50Teenagers really, really fell in love with it and were devoted to him
0:34:50 > 0:34:52and thought he was representing some deity!
0:34:52 > 0:34:56A number of fans turned up for the Boy George lookalike contest,
0:34:56 > 0:34:57including this young fan.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59How long does it take you?
0:34:59 > 0:35:02- She does all the plaits herself. - Yeah, half an hour to do my plaits.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05Boy George inspired an army of lookalikes,
0:35:05 > 0:35:10but one fan would take his desire to look like his idol a step further.
0:35:11 > 0:35:16# Give me time
0:35:16 > 0:35:21# To realise my crime
0:35:23 > 0:35:28# Let me love and steal... #
0:35:28 > 0:35:31I've always been a huge fan of Boy George.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35He was, sort of, out there and he has such a strong image.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37And such an amazing image.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41I was in a cabaret group
0:35:41 > 0:35:43and we would impersonate these people on stage.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45And then, sort of, Boy George came along
0:35:45 > 0:35:48and I, sort of, dressed up one day and then everyone said,
0:35:48 > 0:35:51"Oh, God, you really look like him. You really look like him."
0:35:51 > 0:35:53So I just, sort of, took that on.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00# Do you really want to hurt me... #
0:36:00 > 0:36:04'I was 15 years old and I went to France with the group.'
0:36:04 > 0:36:07I took my Boy George stuff with me -
0:36:07 > 0:36:11my Boy George hat and my Boy George wig and everything like that.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16We went to St Tropez and then they said, "Oh, we want you to...
0:36:18 > 0:36:21"..play here. We'll give you £1,000."
0:36:21 > 0:36:23We did this one-off show.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27And it was like, you know, madness. You know, it was, like, packed out.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30All these people were clapping and having a laugh and thinking,
0:36:30 > 0:36:32"Oh, he's amazing." Blah blah blah.
0:36:32 > 0:36:37And in one paper, it said "Yes, Boy George was amazing."
0:36:37 > 0:36:39But it wasn't him, it was me.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42# I'm a man... #
0:36:42 > 0:36:45And it was, like, "This is too risky.
0:36:45 > 0:36:46"Is this fraud?"
0:36:46 > 0:36:50# I'm a man who doesn't know... #
0:36:50 > 0:36:54And I came back to England and it just, literally... It went mad.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56It hit the headlines, you know.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59It was on the cover of every single national newspaper.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02And it was just...
0:37:02 > 0:37:05I was just going off and I was just doing children's television
0:37:05 > 0:37:09and local television and TV:AM.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12But Darren's complete metamorphosis, from fan to pop icon,
0:37:12 > 0:37:14began to take its toll.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18HE MIMES ALONG: # There's a loving in your eyes all the way... #
0:37:18 > 0:37:22'I suppose, in a way, you know, I wanted to be that sort of person.'
0:37:22 > 0:37:30It was amazing, but people didn't love me or respect me for Darren.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33But, you know, they just thought I was George.
0:37:33 > 0:37:34# Who doesn't know... #
0:37:34 > 0:37:39I was being two people. I was George and Darren.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42So, I was, you know... It was like Jekyll & Hyde.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45# You come and go... #
0:37:45 > 0:37:48It's, sort of, very difficult, sometimes.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52We are very different, as people. but it's just that image.
0:37:52 > 0:37:57He has such a strong image and such an amazing image.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05With music videos now beaming iconic images of pop gods
0:38:05 > 0:38:06into every home,
0:38:06 > 0:38:09pop stars began to feel more untouchable
0:38:09 > 0:38:12and mythical than ever before.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14If you were a pop fan in the mid-'80s,
0:38:14 > 0:38:17fandom becomes a, kind of, religion, doesn't it?
0:38:17 > 0:38:19Prince and Michael Jackson - best examples, actually -
0:38:19 > 0:38:23they built these great fortresses. You know, Neverland
0:38:23 > 0:38:25and Paisley Park, and you just had
0:38:25 > 0:38:28a mental image of these Disney-like chateaus,
0:38:28 > 0:38:32with a portcullis and moat round them that you're never going to get into.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35And that really just intensified your interest in them
0:38:35 > 0:38:38and intensified this idea of mystery.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44SONG STARTS: The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson
0:38:48 > 0:38:51# Hey, pretty baby with the high heels on
0:38:51 > 0:38:56# You give me fever like I've never, ever known
0:38:56 > 0:39:00# You're just a product of loveliness
0:39:00 > 0:39:03# I like the groove of your walk Your talk, your dress
0:39:04 > 0:39:07# I feel your fever for miles around... #
0:39:07 > 0:39:10'I don't think I could imagine my life without Michael Jackson.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14'Not a day goes past where I am not humming, singing or listening'
0:39:14 > 0:39:16'to his music.'
0:39:16 > 0:39:18# But you're the one for me...
0:39:18 > 0:39:22- # The way you're making me feel - The way you make me feel
0:39:22 > 0:39:24# You really turn me on... #
0:39:24 > 0:39:28'The first time I remember seeing Michael Jackson,
0:39:28 > 0:39:32'I just remember being absolutely mesmerised.'
0:39:32 > 0:39:36The music that he was producing was completely something else.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38And then when he started dancing...
0:39:43 > 0:39:45I just can't... I can't even describe it.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47My mouth was on the floor!
0:39:48 > 0:39:53When you are watching a man who is singing, dancing,
0:39:53 > 0:39:55dressing the way he does...
0:39:58 > 0:40:01..but then lives in a palace,
0:40:01 > 0:40:04and having a zoo and a fairground
0:40:04 > 0:40:10and doing and having everything you at that age would love to have.
0:40:10 > 0:40:15And I think that was the magic that he brought.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19Michael Jackson seemed such an unobtainable figure.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24- # So just leave me alone - # Leave me alone, leave me alone
0:40:24 > 0:40:28# Leave me alo-o-one... #
0:40:28 > 0:40:31People in need of an imposition of order on their lives,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35a way of avoiding chaos, tend to believe in some higher being
0:40:35 > 0:40:36that's going to take care of them.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39And I think a lot of people channelled a lot of that energy
0:40:39 > 0:40:40into Michael Jackson.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44And somehow, he presented something fabulous and extreme and exotic.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52Michael Jackson was mass-worshipped like no other '80s pop star.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54And even in death, he still holds a powerful grip
0:40:54 > 0:40:56on his fans' imagination.
0:40:56 > 0:41:02# I'm going to make a change for once in my life... #
0:41:02 > 0:41:06Songs that had so much meaning at the time, now,
0:41:06 > 0:41:11because of his passing, just pull a little bit tighter.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15And I remember listening to songs with my friends
0:41:15 > 0:41:18and we were all in tears.
0:41:21 > 0:41:22It's getting to me now.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24It really choked me up.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29# I'm starting with the man in the mirror
0:41:29 > 0:41:32# I'm asking him to change his ways... #
0:41:32 > 0:41:35And he was always the boy that didn't want to grow up
0:41:35 > 0:41:38and you didn't want him to grow up.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41You feel sorry for him. You really do.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47Despite their idols being ultimately unknowable,
0:41:47 > 0:41:51some fans still feel a deep emotional connection with them,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54but others take this profound desire to connect with their idols
0:41:54 > 0:41:55to the next level.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08It was like being drawn into the circus.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10It was like, "I want to join the circus."
0:42:10 > 0:42:16I want to go where he's going and go backstage and, you know, party.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21I came from Iran at the age of ten, from a war zone,
0:42:21 > 0:42:24and straight to Manchester's Moss Side.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27It seemed like, in this world of rock and roll,
0:42:27 > 0:42:31you would be accepted for whatever, whoever you are.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33It was like a utopian playground,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36where anyone could be anything and no-one would care.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39Rock and roll is the soundtrack to my sexual awakening and, specifically,
0:42:39 > 0:42:40probably, Guns N' Roses.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52I was listening to that music and the fantasies that it evoked in me
0:42:52 > 0:42:55was, kind of, being out on the road with these guys
0:42:55 > 0:42:58and everyone just being themselves
0:42:58 > 0:43:03and the guys being quite wild, like bad boys.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05So, it was like a fantasy, definitely.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10I would just turn up backstage and just say to the security,
0:43:10 > 0:43:12"I'm here to see the band"
0:43:12 > 0:43:15and they'd be like, "Who the fuck are you?!"
0:43:15 > 0:43:16"I'm the band's entertainment."
0:43:19 > 0:43:20Something possessed me.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23I was like, I want the whole band here now and I want to
0:43:23 > 0:43:28"see you and you and I want to have a threesome with you two."
0:43:28 > 0:43:32There were times when I would be with a band and then they would say,
0:43:32 > 0:43:34"Oh, I'm tired." And I'd be like,
0:43:34 > 0:43:38"Can you go and knock on people's hotel room doors
0:43:38 > 0:43:42"and find me someone hot, with tattoos and long hair and eyeliner,
0:43:42 > 0:43:46"and bring them for me, now?!" And they'd be like, "All right."
0:43:47 > 0:43:51I guess I am a fan of not one specific band,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54but a fan of the whole mentality -
0:43:54 > 0:43:57the rebellion and the anarchy - of rock and roll.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59I did live out a lot of my fantasies!
0:44:06 > 0:44:08But there comes a time in most of our lives
0:44:08 > 0:44:12when the fantasy of fandom inevitably begins to fade.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16After I met Roger Taylor, something changed.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19A certain urgency about my fanhood had been taken away.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21He felt more normal.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25Going to university and aware of my dwindling affections,
0:44:25 > 0:44:29I wrote an entry in my diary addressed directly to Roger Taylor.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32"I'm scared of losing you when I go away.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35"I'm worried that my lack of privacy and time will change this somehow
0:44:35 > 0:44:37"and that things will never be the same again."
0:44:37 > 0:44:41And that was it, the last-ever entry in the Roger Taylor Diary.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45Coming out of the teenage bubble,
0:44:45 > 0:44:47I felt sad to know I was leaving something behind.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50That intense devotion you only get from being a teenager
0:44:50 > 0:44:52living at home,
0:44:52 > 0:44:54projecting fantasies on to someone you will never truly know.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59I think that, for a while, it's quite easy to drift out of being a fan,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01when you have got kids, mortgages,
0:45:01 > 0:45:02all sorts of other stuff to worry about.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04Time just runs out
0:45:04 > 0:45:09and you can't dedicate yourself to the cause as much as you could.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12You're doing different things as you grow up
0:45:12 > 0:45:15and real life just impinges.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18I think there's almost a window of opportunity in your life,
0:45:18 > 0:45:20between about the ages of about 12 and 19,
0:45:20 > 0:45:23that you can ever really fall in love with an artist.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26And after that, you can appreciate music,
0:45:26 > 0:45:28you can find stuff that you really enjoy
0:45:28 > 0:45:31but you will never again feel that frisson
0:45:31 > 0:45:34of something that almost brings you to life.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37What happens is that you relate to them intensely
0:45:37 > 0:45:39when you are a teenager, on a personal level.
0:45:39 > 0:45:41It's about who they are and how they dress
0:45:41 > 0:45:44and the life they lead and how I can be like them.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47I think those relationships just change.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53Back in the late '80s, change was in the air once more for fans,
0:45:53 > 0:45:56as the rise of underground club culture
0:45:56 > 0:45:59rejected the worship of individual pop icons,
0:45:59 > 0:46:02in favour of a more inclusive musical experience.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05# The hands of time... #
0:46:05 > 0:46:06In the heart of London,
0:46:06 > 0:46:10a young DJ wanted to harness the power of this new youth movement.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17What Soul II Soul were doing was integrating everybody,
0:46:17 > 0:46:22bringing everybody together. Empowering ourselves.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26It's about a happy face, a thumping bass for a loving race.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28We're all feeling this vibe.
0:46:30 > 0:46:31It was the first time
0:46:31 > 0:46:35that there had been a voice which represented
0:46:35 > 0:46:38the whole of our generation.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41The energy was like you were on the cusp of something.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43Like something's about to break out.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46# Back to life
0:46:46 > 0:46:48# Back to reality
0:46:48 > 0:46:52# Back to the here and now, yeah... #
0:46:52 > 0:46:54The majority of music that we were hearing
0:46:54 > 0:46:57was either heavily influenced by American music
0:46:57 > 0:46:58or was American music.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01So, when Soul II Soul came onto the scene,
0:47:01 > 0:47:03it was like, "Boo, boo, what was that?!"
0:47:03 > 0:47:05It was like completely different.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12It was about our black, British identity.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15When that translated around the rest of the world
0:47:15 > 0:47:17and that reverberated, it was just pretty incredible.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22Soul II Soul's global hit, Back To Life,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26was the moment black British youth and fan culture found its voice
0:47:26 > 0:47:30and broke through into the pop mainstream for the very first time.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33Well, it was important for us to show our identity,
0:47:33 > 0:47:37because for many years, black Britain was a...
0:47:38 > 0:47:42..sloppy second to what was happening in black America.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45So, we were fighting for our identity.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49"Oh, there's black English? What is that all about?
0:47:49 > 0:47:51"Where did you guys come from?"
0:47:51 > 0:47:55It gave us an interest in, "Where are my roots?
0:47:55 > 0:47:57"What's my family's journey been?"
0:47:57 > 0:48:00And it gave us permission to then present it
0:48:00 > 0:48:03and show it off and be like, "This is who we are."
0:48:03 > 0:48:05At the dawn of the '90s,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08as club culture was creating new expressions of fanhood,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11what was happening back on Planet Rock?
0:48:11 > 0:48:17MUSIC: Lithium by Nirvana
0:48:17 > 0:48:19While grunge music announced itself
0:48:19 > 0:48:22as the sound of disaffected American youth...
0:48:24 > 0:48:26..a band of misfits from Blackwood in Wales
0:48:26 > 0:48:30were becoming a beacon for lost British adolescence.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34I think the Manics spoke to and spoke for
0:48:34 > 0:48:37maybe slightly damaged, troubled outsiders,
0:48:37 > 0:48:40but bookish, intellectual ones, as well.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43And the sort of people who maybe
0:48:43 > 0:48:45would rather drink a bottle of vodka
0:48:45 > 0:48:48and read a Penguin paperback on the war memorial,
0:48:48 > 0:48:50rather than go to a party.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52It was me, yeah, I was that person.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01To anyone who came from a similar place to us,
0:49:01 > 0:49:03and that could be anywhere, it could be Manchester,
0:49:03 > 0:49:06it could be Glasgow, it could be Dundee, wherever,
0:49:06 > 0:49:11they definitely felt that there was a kind of otherness to us
0:49:11 > 0:49:14that just wasn't being fulfilled by anyone else.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18There's something about solitude
0:49:18 > 0:49:21which is not something to be afraid of.
0:49:22 > 0:49:27Slash 'N' Burn by Manic Street Preachers
0:49:46 > 0:49:49# You need your stars Even killers have prestige
0:49:49 > 0:49:52# Access to a living you will not see
0:49:52 > 0:49:55# 24-hour boredom I'm convicted instantly
0:49:55 > 0:49:59# Gorgeous poverty of created needs
0:49:59 > 0:50:03# Slash and burn
0:50:03 > 0:50:04# Kill to live
0:50:04 > 0:50:07# Kill for kicks... #
0:50:07 > 0:50:10If you met a fellow Manics fan anywhere in Britain,
0:50:10 > 0:50:11you instantly had a connection.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13You could spot them a mile off.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16You'd see them on trains in their leopard-print coats
0:50:16 > 0:50:18and their eyeliner and their glitter on the way to a gig.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21And you'd think straight away, "Well, I know where you're going."
0:50:21 > 0:50:24There was a feeling of community. It was a community of outsiders.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27And I think the best, kind of, youth culture tribes
0:50:27 > 0:50:28do have that about them,
0:50:28 > 0:50:32that it is a community of people who don't fit into any other bracket.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34You could tell straight away, you know,
0:50:34 > 0:50:36when people start turning up, kind of, looking like you,
0:50:36 > 0:50:40I think that's the sign that you've tapped into something.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43Androgyny definitely appealed to a lot of kids -
0:50:43 > 0:50:45wearing the make-up, spray-painting our shirts,
0:50:45 > 0:50:49they could really look different and be different.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52You looked out into the crowd and it was a sea
0:50:52 > 0:50:57of just people with the same kind of intensity as yourself.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01It just felt like we were an army.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08The figurehead for this army of outsiders
0:51:08 > 0:51:11was band guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards.
0:51:11 > 0:51:12When a rock journalist
0:51:12 > 0:51:16questioned the authenticity of the Manics' music in 1991,
0:51:16 > 0:51:20Richey carved the answer, "4 real", into his arm.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24The Manics were sick of being laughed at.
0:51:24 > 0:51:25Laughed at for being Welsh,
0:51:25 > 0:51:28laughed at for being "fake punk revivalists" and all of that.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30And it just all got too much
0:51:30 > 0:51:32and Richey wanted to show Steve Lamacq from NME
0:51:32 > 0:51:34that they did mean it,
0:51:34 > 0:51:36in the most graphic, bloody and dramatic way that he could.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38Did you do that for publicity?
0:51:38 > 0:51:40No, just talking to a journalist afterwards,
0:51:40 > 0:51:42I was talking to him for about an hour,
0:51:42 > 0:51:43and at the end of that, you know,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46he just basically didn't believe what we were saying
0:51:46 > 0:51:48and I just cut my arm just to show him that, you know, we mean it.
0:51:48 > 0:51:52Well, he definitely appealed to someone to...
0:51:52 > 0:51:56to the slightly more damaged sections of society.
0:51:56 > 0:51:57How did the fans react to it?
0:52:00 > 0:52:04A kind of mixture of sympathy and...
0:52:07 > 0:52:08..despair.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15In February 1995, Richey Edwards went missing
0:52:15 > 0:52:17and has never been found.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22Richey Edwards is fixed now in pop culture,
0:52:22 > 0:52:26in the same way that Ian Curtis and Kurt Cobain are there for ever,
0:52:26 > 0:52:31to be discovered by successive generations of troubled young people.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41Today, music fans fuel a £33 billion a year global industry.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49But almost 50 years since The Beatles disappeared
0:52:49 > 0:52:51beneath the screams of Shea Stadium,
0:52:51 > 0:52:53how much has fanhood really changed?
0:52:55 > 0:52:59Today, the biggest pop band in the world are One Direction.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02They sell out every stadium on the planet.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06But seeing them live is only the tip of the iceberg.
0:53:08 > 0:53:101D's audience can share their passion
0:53:10 > 0:53:13more than any other fans in history.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17How important is the internet for One Direction fans?
0:53:17 > 0:53:19I think the internet is very important for One Direction fans,
0:53:19 > 0:53:21and for the band, as well.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24Just to be able to connect with their fans all around the world.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27I talk to people every day that are in Israel and London
0:53:27 > 0:53:30and Argentina and all over the world.
0:53:30 > 0:53:31It's a community thing.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34There's just always something going on, always people to talk to.
0:53:34 > 0:53:36It's like a large group of friends.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39Anna and Molly are both fan-fiction writers,
0:53:39 > 0:53:41an internet phenomenon
0:53:41 > 0:53:44where fans create stories about their favourite pop stars,
0:53:44 > 0:53:46based on their wildest imagination.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49Reality has left the building.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52Everything I've written and most of the stuff that I read,
0:53:52 > 0:53:54it's AU, like alternate universe.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57So it's not really inspired by the band.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00Like, none of my characters have the same personalities
0:54:00 > 0:54:02as actual members of One Direction.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05You can have fan-fiction, where a fan almost writes themselves
0:54:05 > 0:54:07as being part of the band.
0:54:07 > 0:54:08But they can also be writing
0:54:08 > 0:54:10the kind of fiction that's getting the most publicity,
0:54:10 > 0:54:12which is slash fiction,
0:54:12 > 0:54:16whereby you pair together two or more people of your choice
0:54:16 > 0:54:17in a relationship.
0:54:17 > 0:54:19And, of course, with One Direction,
0:54:19 > 0:54:23the most famous example of that is the fandom around Larry Stylinson,
0:54:23 > 0:54:25which is the name of the pairing
0:54:25 > 0:54:27for Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles in the band.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30And fans write fiction where these two are in a romantic
0:54:30 > 0:54:32or sexual relationship.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35There's a sense of wanting that romantic storyline,
0:54:35 > 0:54:39and wanting to play out the romance with your boy band member,
0:54:39 > 0:54:42seeing them in a situation where they're vulnerable
0:54:42 > 0:54:45or in a situation where they're taking charge,
0:54:45 > 0:54:47or in a situation where they're being tender.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49It's just a way to connect with other fans
0:54:49 > 0:54:52and be creative and have an outlet.
0:54:52 > 0:54:53And have fun with it.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55How many people read your stories?
0:54:55 > 0:54:59Well, I have over a billion clicks, a billion chapter reads,
0:54:59 > 0:55:00- which is a lot.- Wow!
0:55:00 > 0:55:04I have like 88.8 million at the moment, I think.
0:55:04 > 0:55:05Wow!
0:55:08 > 0:55:09From One Direction...
0:55:09 > 0:55:14CHEERING AND SCREAMING
0:55:14 > 0:55:16..right back to Beatlemania,
0:55:16 > 0:55:19pop fandom has always been forged in the furnace of youth.
0:55:21 > 0:55:22But for many,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25being a fan is something that they never truly let go of.
0:55:25 > 0:55:30And so, half a lifetime later, they gather at reunion gigs,
0:55:30 > 0:55:32where band and fan commune
0:55:32 > 0:55:35and relive the magic of that first rush of blood to the head.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38You want to go back to a place and time.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41You want them to be the 25-year-old that you saw on stage.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45And you want to be the 12-year-old who was in the audience.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47It's easy to think you might have been happier then,
0:55:47 > 0:55:49and that life was less complicated.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55I've been doing this for 50 odd years, right,
0:55:55 > 0:56:00and you find yourself with people just feeling young again.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05There's nothing nicer than coming to a gig
0:56:05 > 0:56:07and then afterwards you come out and you can go,
0:56:07 > 0:56:10"Hello, Lol!" "Oh, crikey, how are you?"
0:56:10 > 0:56:11You know, and you know the people
0:56:11 > 0:56:14and you realise that you've got a bit of responsibility,
0:56:14 > 0:56:16because they really do care about the music
0:56:16 > 0:56:18and they care about everything that you do.
0:56:19 > 0:56:20# Bye bye, baby
0:56:20 > 0:56:25- # Baby, goodbye - # Bye, baby... #
0:56:25 > 0:56:27We're really grateful that the fans have stayed the course.
0:56:27 > 0:56:33They all have this cherished memory of when I was their idol
0:56:33 > 0:56:35and all the things that happened in their life,
0:56:35 > 0:56:37during those important years.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39And so, we can all have fun together and go back,
0:56:39 > 0:56:42Doctor Who-style, and do that.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45I'm happy doing it. That's the good thing about it.
0:56:45 > 0:56:46I mean, not doing it because,
0:56:46 > 0:56:49"Oh, my God, I've got to go and sing Bye Baby again."
0:56:49 > 0:56:52I'm really pleased to go out there and be singing Bye Bye Baby.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57I've been a part of something that's meant so much
0:56:57 > 0:56:59to quite a lot of people. So, it's worth
0:56:59 > 0:57:02fighting for, it's worth sticking at it, Les, you know?
0:57:02 > 0:57:04You can do good in this world.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08The irony of pop music is that it's often dismissed
0:57:08 > 0:57:12as being the most ephemeral, trivial and temporary of art forms.
0:57:12 > 0:57:14It turns out that it's not. It's the most enduring.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17It turns out that cheap music
0:57:17 > 0:57:20is actually the thing that stays with you for life.
0:57:23 > 0:57:24Because being a fan involves
0:57:24 > 0:57:28some of the most intense human emotions and rituals,
0:57:28 > 0:57:30it's a love that can never truly die.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34This is a special place for Queen fans -
0:57:34 > 0:57:37the house Freddie Mercury spent his last days.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39Like thousands of fans before and since,
0:57:39 > 0:57:42I myself made a pilgrimage here as a young girl.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48From Jim Morrison's tombstone mourners,
0:57:48 > 0:57:53to the ever-growing cult of Elvis, fans' devotion has a power to far
0:57:53 > 0:57:58outlast the bands they love. The ability to become truly obsessed
0:57:58 > 0:58:00with a musician has never truly left me, either.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03And in a way, I always feel like it's a return
0:58:03 > 0:58:04to the best part of yourself -
0:58:04 > 0:58:09the pure, intense, unadulterated devotion of being a fan.
0:58:09 > 0:58:17# Somebody to lo-o-ove...
0:58:19 > 0:58:22# Find me
0:58:22 > 0:58:27# Somebody to love
0:58:27 > 0:58:29# Find me
0:58:29 > 0:58:33- # Some... - # Somebody to love
0:58:33 > 0:58:41- # Some... - # Find me
0:58:42 > 0:58:45# Somebody to love
0:58:45 > 0:58:47# Can you love me?
0:58:47 > 0:58:48# Can you love me?
0:58:48 > 0:58:50# O-o-o-o-o-oh # CHEERING AND APPLAUSE