Idols Oh You Pretty Things: The Story of Music and Fashion


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This programme contains some strong language

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It may seem excessive

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but once I get on stage it will all make sense.

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You see, this routine you have to do it every single time.

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Come rain or shine.

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# Now I'm here... #

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Luke Spiller is lead singer of The Struts.

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He is about to show off a new stage look to the crowds

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at the Isle Of Wight Festival.

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Sweet.

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We make music which is designed for big crowds,

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with people ready to have a good time.

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Life is a pantomime, why not dress for the occasion?

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# Yes, you made me live again... #

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It's a look deeply influenced by a spectacular moment in British

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music and British style, the heyday of the dramatic rock gods, Queen.

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It was larger than life. It's theatre, as well.

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Killer music, great frontman, even better outfits,

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Queen were in the vanguard in an age when our rock and pop stars

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were an other-worldly pageant of outrageous outfits.

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This is a later creation. Getting a bit more fancy in a way,

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a bit more frilly.

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The 1970s was the age of artistic collaboration between great

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musicians and brilliant designers.

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I think anyone going out on the stage wants to really

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project their own magical, original image.

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The stage costumes they created could be inspired by mythology.

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The Arthur Cape was velvet.

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And it had a huge embossed sword on the back,

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which was absolutely beautiful.

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And they could inspire fantasy.

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Of course you're naked under leather,

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there's no room for anything, you just wear like a little

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G-string, that's all you have the room for.

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They could also be acts of provocation.

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I mean, Malcolm always quipped that

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he'd formed a band to sell trousers

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and unless in a band that have the right trousers on it doesn't work.

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This zip goes right round the back up the arse.

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I don't know, I really don't know!

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The sheer theatricality of this collision of music

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and style would help us to express just what we wanted to say

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and just who we wanted be.

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# The light pours out of me... #

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MUSIC: I'm Free by The Who

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By the early '70s, British music stars were tearing open

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the dressing-up box and going a bit wild.

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Top Of The Pops was full of blokes

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wearing more make up than your mum.

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And then there was Bowie,

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the prettiest thing of all -

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a shining pioneer in a decade of anything-goes liberation.

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# I'm free... #

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He turned the everyday rock star into fantastical characters,

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androgynous aliens in cross-dressed finery.

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# And freedom tastes of reality... #

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ARCHIVE: He'd be the first superstar of pop

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to wear shorty dresses on stage.

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But if the boys could dress up like the girls,

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maybe the girls could dress up like boys.

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# Well, you call your mamma Tiger

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# And we all know you ain't lying

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# And your boyfriend's name is Eagle

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# And he lives up in the sky - high high

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# Watch out the tiger don't go claw the eagle's eye

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# But let the eagle take the tiger by surprise

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# Scratch out her eyes

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# So make a stand for your man, honey

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# Try to can the can

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# Put your man in the can... #

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That's memories.

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# ..Get 'em while you can

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# Can the can... #

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I do like the leather jumpsuit, catsuit.

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It's foot-stomping, biker-gang,

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you know, she's like one of the boys.

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# So make a stand for your man, honey

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# Try to can the can... #

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Remember the platform boots.

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That was my concession to glam rock

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and that was the only concession to glam rock.

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# Catch him while you can... #

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Christmas Day 1973, and viewers of the Top Of The Pops special

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were shaken out of their mince pie stupor by a stomping Suzi Quatro.

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# Well can the can... #

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It was an unlikely, but monumental, moment for women's sound and style.

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My look was surprising because it was, er, female, you know,

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a rock'n'roll female, this just wasn't done, I mean,

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look at that, you know, that shocked people,

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with the bass and the guys and the rock'n'roll.

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Suzi's tough girl style heralded something we now call "rock chick".

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The stuff of life as a rock'n'roll mould-breaker is now

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stored in a tiny room at the top of her house.

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This is... It's funny, it's my ego room, it's everything I've

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ever done, and you kind of get lost up here.

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When I first arrived, that's how I looked. Oh, my God, look at that.

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# A one, a two, a one, two three... #

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Suzi brought her rootsy edge with her

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when she came to Britain on her own in 1971 to make her name in music.

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She had in hand a contract with Mickie Most

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renowned star maker and producer.

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It was in Britain that Suzi would

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combine her boogie-based rock'n'roll with her full-on leather look.

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I played this for years and years, I mean, you can hardly lift it.

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It's a professional Les Paul recording bass.

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Anyway, here's my clothes.

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Let's see, first of all the original, which is here.

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That's an old, one of the old suits. I like that detail,

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the zips are good.

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I was a big, big Elvis Presley fan from the age of six, seriously.

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# Everybody let's rock

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# Everybody in the whole cell block.. #

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Then in '68, I saw his come-back special.

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He had leather on.

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And I thought, "Ah, bang, bang, bang, that's what I want to wear."

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That 1968 American TV show

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had brought a raunchy, leather-clad Elvis

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back from the rock'n'roll wilderness.

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And then when Can The Can was ready to come out,

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I had the big meeting with Mickie Most

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and he asked me what I wanted to wear and I said,

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"I'm wearing leather," and he was against it

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and I just wouldn't give in.

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I said, "I'm wearing leather." And then he said, "OK, OK, OK,

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"what about a jump suit?"

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And he came up with the idea of the jump suit but the leather is mine.

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Suzi's leather look was a tribute to her American rock'n'roll roots

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but Mickie Most might have been inspired by '60s It girl

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Marianne Faithful, sleek in leather

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in the cult movie Girl On A Motorcycle.

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But Suzi didn't just go to a greasy biker shop for one of her jumpsuits.

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They were made by a true master of leather.

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Far from the infectious stomp of Can The Can, in a bucolic chateau

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in Normandy, Brenda Knight carries on the work of her husband

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and business partner, the man who crafted Suzi's look - Nigel Preston.

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This is very, very similar to Suzi Quatro's leather jumpsuits.

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It's a skinny, dark brown gloving leather, um, kind of biker

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and fabulous pants, really, really great.

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I think it was a marvellous combination.

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Suzi and Nigel worked really well together

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because her music is very raunchy, very strong.

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MUSIC: 48 Crash by Suzi Quatro

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Nigel manipulated leather, making it a lavish, luxuriant material.

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The way that we stand out as designers is by using

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the very softest gloving leather,

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meaning it moulds and moves to the body.

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People go, "Ah, is it leather?

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"It feels like silk."

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# Well, you got the hands of a man

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# And the face of a little boy blue, ooh

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# And when you stand, you're so grand

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# There's a case just for looking at you... #

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She loves to move on the stage

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and these clothes were very strong, very sexy, very overt, and they

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clung to her body as she moved, so it probably felt and looked amazing.

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I thought the jumpsuit was great, cos you could just leap all over

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the stage, which is what I do, and everything stays in one place.

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Suzi was, literally, completely comfortable in her look.

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She owned it.

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# You got the kind of a mind of a juvenile Romeo, oh... #

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'When I zip up the suit, that's me.

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'I become her, I mean, like I say, I have an ego room,'

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you know, because I like to go out and shut the door.

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It's the same kind of thing, you zip up the suit,

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you start to change into the public side of me, which is Suzi Quatro.

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# You're so young

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# But like a teenage tearaway

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# Soon you'll be torn... #

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The leather jumpsuit was the garb of a stage persona, Suzi Quatro,

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electrifying rock'n'roll heroine.

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For her, the whole look was empowering.

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But, as she discovered, it was also the provocative stuff of fantasy.

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This picture here, I actually nearly didn't go on stage

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that night because it's an artistic drawing of me with big boobs and

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I got very, very upset and I went to the promoter and I said,

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"How dare you do that, I'm not going on stage."

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And when I walked out I'm sure

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I heard the audience go, "Oh," because it's like, I'm not like that.

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Anyway...

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Suzi was treading the fine line encountered by many women

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on stage and in life - am I dressing for me or for them?

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Girls, will you please turn...

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And lovely, there you are, all round.

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And we must preserve...

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RATTLING

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The proceedings have been temporarily suspended.

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In 1970, the many millions watching Bob Hope's classy

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presentation of Miss World had their enjoyment disrupted

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by flour chucking protestors.

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Their message?

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Women aren't sex objects.

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And although Suzi Quatro was a pin up in a leather catsuit,

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she still believes she was making a fundamentally feminist statement.

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I gave women a place in rock'n'roll, an acceptable place in rock'n'roll.

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All my life I wanted to be somebody and here I am!

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MUSIC: The Wild One by Suzi Quatro

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I know what I've got, and there ain't nobody going to take it away from me.

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So let me tell you what I am!

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# I'm a red-hot fox, I can take the knocks

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# I'm a hammer from hell, honey, can't you tell

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# I'm the wild one... #

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'It gave women real balls.'

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That's what it was all about, you know - stand up there and be counted.

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That, that was my message. It's still the same message now.

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# You can't hold me down, I'm the wild one

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# Yes, I'm the wild one

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# Well, it ain't no use

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# Turn me loose

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# More, more, I can't keep score. #

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But it was in an altogether more innocent setting

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that a leather-clad Suzi strode into the life of one young woman.

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In the mid-'70s there was a programme called Happy Days

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and my favourite was the Fonz

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and I absolutely loved it

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and then this girl came on all dressed in leather,

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and it was Suzi Quatro.

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Hubba-hubba-hubba!

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Happy Days was every British kid's window on a romantic

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vision of American teenage life.

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He's so glad to see me.

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And biker-jacketed Suzi appeared as the aptly named Leather Truscadero.

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-What's this music con you're into?

-It ain't no con.

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When I first discovered Suzi Quatro, I started growing my hair long.

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I have what I call the Suzi Quatro shake

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and I literally just wash it, shake it and it's more or less done,

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there's no fussing.

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The feeling of empowerment

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when you didn't have to wear thick make-up, long eyelashes,

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short miniskirts, you could wear

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something comfortable and still look good in it, and it was so wonderful.

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Rocker girls, by dressing the same as the men,

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continue the struggle for equality that the middle-aged

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and middle class have apparently given up.

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MUSIC: Motorbikin' by Chris Spedding

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But it was all very well wanting to look like Suzi Q -

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affording it was another matter.

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# Moving on the Queen's highway

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# Looking like a streak of lightning... #

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My first pair of leathers I found in C&A's

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but they weren't real leathers, they were satin, black satin.

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Real leather is a very expensive thing to buy.

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I think it's because of what it is,

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it's very hard to find in ordinary places.

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# It takes your breath away, but I like it... #

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Frances eventually got the leather look.

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And that rock chick style

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has entered the bloodstream of women's fashion.

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MUSIC: Satellite by The Kills

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# Lost her behind the station

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# Lost her behind the moon

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# Operator, operator, dial her back

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# Operator, put me through... #

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And of course it's still just right for musicians with a bit of edge.

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I suppose when I was a kid

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I liked the look of bands that looked like gangs.

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There's a feel about gangs where it's quite a sort of masculine...

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You feel like tough or invincible or something.

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I don't know, it's kind of like a shield.

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-None of this is conscious, none of this is like...

-Just attractive.

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"No, I won't wear that because it's woollen, it's not tough."

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It's not really that,

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trying to trace back why you're wearing motorcycle boots.

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I don't think that's conscious either.

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I just think you like certain things and they all come together,

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the sound and look. I have no desire to look like a roadie.

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When I'm on stage, I'm on stage, you know,

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you're supposed to look incredible.

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That's supposed to be inspiring,

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it's not supposed to be anything else but that.

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The Kills are following in a venerable tradition

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of draping rock'n'roll in leather,

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and since Suzi Quatro, it's a style women have aspired to

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and sometimes perfected.

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Whilst many young women in the 1970s

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were fighting to shake off the restrictions of the past,

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for some young men, life was altogether better.

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MUSIC: Dreamer by Supertramp

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# Dreamer, you know you are a dreamer

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# Can you put your hands on your head? Oh, no! #

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For the bright young fellows of middle-class Britain,

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this was a golden era.

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They were the boys of peacetime and educational opportunity

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and could look forward to a life of prosperity.

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But many sought escape from the benign boredom

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of their indulged lives in the mind-expanding musical

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and stylistic fantasies of progressive rock.

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CHEERING

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This is King Arthur and the Myths and Legends of the Knights of the Round Table.

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It brings back wonderful memories. It was absolutely fantastic.

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Three nights we did at the Wembley Empire Pool.

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In May 1975, 30,000 people came to see prog rock maestro Rick Wakeman

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unveil the latest concept to emerge from his fertile imagination -

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a musical version of the Arthurian legend on ice.

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The BBC beamed this extravaganza into our homes.

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I put the orchestra on it, I put the two choirs on it and the band,

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and the skaters skated round us

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so wherever you were, people could see something.

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I shipped everybody in from Eastern Europe.

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Ice skating was not popular at all

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so everybody thought I was barking on every front, really.

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For the stage look to go with his spectacular journey

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into a misty, mythic British past...

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..Rick channelled his inner Merlin.

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There was a review in America

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that said that I looked like a demented spider

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with the legs and arms going everywhere

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because I had pedals up here and arms out,

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so I became very aware of this, I was getting in really weird positions

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to try and reach stuff and touch stuff.

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Then, one day, Rick saw a DJ perform wearing a cape.

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And then it hit me -

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that's the way to stop looking like a demented spider

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because any movements, the cape just moves and everything's great.

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So it became a natural thing.

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I basically had a cape made from 1972 onwards

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for every tour that was done.

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The Arthur Cape was velvet.

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It had a huge embossed sword on the back,

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which was absolutely beautiful.

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I think that was filmed just before the cape fell off.

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It took about three months to make,

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cost a lot of money, they all cost a lot of money,

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but at that time, it didn't really matter

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because it was such an important part of what you were doing.

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I'd been working a lot with the likes of Marc Bolan and David Bowie

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and in their glam rock era, I just thought, "Hold on a minute,

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"they look really good and it makes them into different characters."

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MUSIC: Hang On To Yourself by David Bowie

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Rick longed for the sheer visual impact of Bowie,

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and the look that would carry his audience with him

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on his wondrous musical journeys.

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It was an urge that took Rick and his prog rock peers

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like Emerson, Lake and Palmer,

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and Genesis, into some seriously fantastical stage looks.

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To achieve his on-stage transformations, Rick has for years

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gone to a very special costume shop.

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You're now looking at a little old man,

0:21:210:21:23

but 40-odd years ago,

0:21:230:21:25

that's what I used to look like.

0:21:250:21:27

That's the band I was in when I was a teenager.

0:21:270:21:31

Probably nearly 50 years ago, thinking about it.

0:21:310:21:34

But quite a few celebrities for you to look at.

0:21:340:21:37

From his headquarters in a shed in Rotherham,

0:21:390:21:42

Neil Crossland creates not fashion garments but showbiz costumes.

0:21:420:21:47

I don't serve public, I'm purely and simply showbiz.

0:21:470:21:52

Rick Wakeman is in the company of some illustrious names.

0:21:520:21:55

You've Freddie Starr, Simon Cowell.

0:21:570:21:59

Steps, JLS, Girls Aloud...

0:21:590:22:02

And there's Rick.

0:22:020:22:04

I think that was one of the first jackets I made him,

0:22:040:22:06

the snakeskin one.

0:22:060:22:07

That one was full-length, down to his ankles.

0:22:070:22:10

And he looked fabulous in it.

0:22:100:22:12

This is Rick's file - I've just dug it out. But...

0:22:160:22:19

All I do, I am not an artist, but I just scribble drawings up,

0:22:210:22:27

put the pieces of cloth that it's going to be,

0:22:270:22:29

like a snakeskin one or a polka dot one.

0:22:290:22:31

That's the last cape I did him in the gold glitter.

0:22:330:22:36

It looks good under the spotlights.

0:22:360:22:38

Despite their style partnership, Neil wasn't a '70s prog devotee

0:22:440:22:50

I am the wrong age.

0:22:500:22:51

My music was back in the '50s and '60s.

0:22:510:22:53

And I stopped virtually listening to music in 1967

0:22:530:22:57

when the Beatles went weird, it put me off a bit.

0:22:570:22:59

But for a lot of people,

0:23:030:23:04

the Beatles weren't quite weird enough.

0:23:040:23:07

They wanted prog rock to deliver musically complex epic fantasy.

0:23:080:23:13

And Rick plunged into the past for his inspiration -

0:23:190:23:23

musically and sartorially.

0:23:230:23:25

Most of the time, it's historical

0:23:300:23:32

because most of the great stories and myths and legends are historical

0:23:320:23:37

and it's tailor made, you know, to paint pictures to it.

0:23:370:23:41

Prog rock is painting pictures.

0:23:410:23:43

I'm a great history buff, myths and legends buff,

0:23:430:23:47

always have been.

0:23:470:23:48

I'm in a livery company, Worshipful Company of Glovers,

0:23:490:23:52

I'm a freemason,

0:23:520:23:54

I'm a knight templar, which is fantastic.

0:23:540:23:56

Prog's arcane intellectual leanings and musical dexterity

0:24:000:24:04

won it a loyal, if geeky, following -

0:24:040:24:07

the clever boys of middle-class Britain.

0:24:070:24:09

You'd be walking around school with an album cover under your arm

0:24:110:24:14

and that would be saying a lot about who you were,

0:24:140:24:17

what music you liked - a kind of social identity, really.

0:24:170:24:21

# Once I had a dream Nothing else to do

0:24:210:24:25

# Sat and played my mind in time with all of you... #

0:24:250:24:29

Prog identified us as a particular group or tribe in itself.

0:24:290:24:34

The other sort of music that people liked,

0:24:340:24:38

the sort of tinkly two-minute 45-second singles,

0:24:380:24:43

it was a lot of froth, as far as we were concerned.

0:24:430:24:46

So when you had King Crimson coming on

0:24:460:24:49

and doing 21st Century Schizoid Man -

0:24:490:24:52

"Cat's foot, iron claw, neurosurgeon, scream for more..."

0:24:520:24:56

# Neurosurgeon, scream for more

0:24:560:24:59

# At paranoia's poison door... #

0:24:590:25:02

"21st Century Schizoid man."

0:25:020:25:04

# 21st Century Schizoid man... #

0:25:040:25:08

It's not exactly "Obladi Oblada", is it?

0:25:090:25:12

Indeed not.

0:25:160:25:17

Jonathan Smart spent his youth

0:25:170:25:18

gallivanting about the Sussex countryside with his pals,

0:25:180:25:22

nicknamed the Blossom Crew.

0:25:220:25:24

We were really enjoying ourselves,

0:25:260:25:29

being incredibly silly, skipping around,

0:25:290:25:32

very pretentious as well,

0:25:320:25:33

waving Tolstoy in front of the camera.

0:25:330:25:35

The spirit of prog may have been a bit pretentious,

0:25:370:25:40

but style-wise, a prog rock crowd was pretty predictable.

0:25:400:25:45

Every time you go to a gig,

0:25:510:25:53

you have a cursory look at the audience,

0:25:530:25:55

but you know what it's going to be like

0:25:550:25:57

and they're almost, to a man,

0:25:570:26:00

going to be between 16 and 20

0:26:000:26:04

and the young, white, affluent kids of the particular town you're in.

0:26:040:26:09

They're all going to have long hair,

0:26:100:26:12

they're all going to be wearing slightly tattier clothes

0:26:120:26:15

than they need to wear.

0:26:150:26:16

We would be wearing these outrageous loons,

0:26:180:26:21

flares, for example.

0:26:210:26:23

Army surplus was absolutely de rigueur,

0:26:240:26:27

so everyone had to have a army surplus great coat.

0:26:270:26:30

I had an ex-Polish airman's flying jacket.

0:26:310:26:36

In the school playgrounds and university campuses of Britain,

0:26:390:26:42

platoons of prog rock fans shuffled their scruffy way to lectures -

0:26:420:26:47

a vision in flared denim, cheesecloth shirts

0:26:470:26:51

and coats made for old soldiers.

0:26:510:26:54

It wasn't a look destined to last.

0:26:540:26:56

We've been picked to go on University Challenge tonight.

0:26:590:27:03

To the station!

0:27:050:27:06

The sound and style of prog faded away

0:27:080:27:13

and rock music followers found a different kind of remedy

0:27:130:27:16

to the tyranny of the ordinary.

0:27:160:27:18

A dizzy brew of showmanship, theatrical pomp

0:27:190:27:23

and personal liberation.

0:27:230:27:25

It was November 1974

0:27:300:27:32

and Queen were at the height of their Sheer Heart Attack Tour.

0:27:320:27:35

# Yes, you made me live again... #

0:27:380:27:40

You could be very big in a theatre like that.

0:27:450:27:47

You're very close to your audience.

0:27:470:27:50

The sound and the lights and the smoke and the bombs

0:27:500:27:52

and whatever and the costumes and the music

0:27:520:27:56

was quite an onslaught.

0:27:560:27:57

This was the tour that would launch Freddie Mercury and Brian May

0:27:590:28:03

as rock gods.

0:28:030:28:05

They had the big vocal, the big guitar

0:28:050:28:08

and the big hair.

0:28:080:28:09

And on this tour, they treated thousands

0:28:090:28:12

to a big new look to match.

0:28:120:28:14

# Don't worry, baby I'm safe and sound

0:28:140:28:17

# Down in the dungeon Just peaches and me... #

0:28:180:28:21

I was quite stiff in the early days, you know,

0:28:210:28:23

but the costumes helped me to feel

0:28:230:28:24

that I had a, sort of, physical part to play in the show

0:28:240:28:28

as well as the musical part.

0:28:280:28:29

Freddie Mercury called this fabulous stage costume "the eagle suit"

0:28:300:28:35

and it had flown from the imagination

0:28:350:28:37

of a brilliant British designer.

0:28:370:28:39

Though she wasn't the most obvious choice.

0:28:400:28:43

They phoned me up one day

0:28:440:28:45

and said that they would like for me to design some things for them.

0:28:450:28:49

I had done some jersey tops for Mark Bolan

0:28:490:28:53

but apart from that, I hadn't done anything for men.

0:28:530:28:56

SHE LAUGHS

0:28:560:28:57

I hadn't seen anything of what they did,

0:28:570:28:59

I didn't know anything about what they played.

0:28:590:29:02

Young Zandra Rhodes was at the forefront

0:29:030:29:05

of the London fashion scene in the '70s,

0:29:050:29:08

but she was actually a womenswear designer.

0:29:080:29:11

When Freddy and Brian came I gave them free rein.

0:29:120:29:16

In the beginning, Zandra would just kind of dress us.

0:29:160:29:19

We went in and talked and said "We want to be dramatic,

0:29:190:29:21

"we want things which emphasise our movement on stage",

0:29:210:29:23

and she just kind of did it for us.

0:29:230:29:25

So this is the original piece that Freddy tried on.

0:29:260:29:30

It looks very original. It's come out of a packing case.

0:29:300:29:34

This was actually the top of a wedding dress idea

0:29:350:29:39

that then got put on the front of Vogue magazine

0:29:390:29:42

on Princess Anne.

0:29:420:29:44

I was experimenting with pleated satin

0:29:440:29:48

and how the circles would look when they flowed around.

0:29:480:29:51

The final pieces for Freddy and Brian

0:29:550:29:57

were made of flowing white satin.

0:29:570:29:59

It's quite heavy but when you're in a garment,

0:30:020:30:04

and it's balanced on your body, I think...when you're moving,

0:30:040:30:09

you want something that's got a certain amount of weight to it.

0:30:090:30:12

It was the start of a long creative relationship,

0:30:160:30:19

with Zandra giving Queen a visual flamboyance

0:30:190:30:22

to enhance their extravagant rock.

0:30:220:30:25

I think she what she gave us was very important

0:30:250:30:27

because it helped us define a very dramatic style.

0:30:270:30:31

Parallel to us, there were people doing glam rock,

0:30:310:30:34

but glam rock was really something slightly different.

0:30:340:30:37

Glam rock was sticking together lots of gaudy colours

0:30:370:30:40

and it was a lot of fun,

0:30:400:30:42

whereas we're heading much more towards theatre

0:30:420:30:45

than kind of just dressing up to look flash.

0:30:450:30:47

Designer and artists had come together

0:30:500:30:53

to create vividly attired theatrical personas

0:30:530:30:56

the band could inhabit on stage.

0:30:560:30:58

The clothes were so important to Brian

0:31:000:31:02

that he kept as many as he could

0:31:020:31:04

and they are now neatly catalogued in his attic at home.

0:31:040:31:07

A lot of this is either on or off-stage uniform for Queen,

0:31:110:31:15

if you like, costume.

0:31:150:31:16

This one I had a bit of input to.

0:31:160:31:20

I said I'd like a gold one and a different kind of shape,

0:31:200:31:23

a more bird-like shape to this,

0:31:230:31:25

but the fabric is, of course, all Zandra's own.

0:31:250:31:29

I'm glad that we still have this one because it's my favourite, really.

0:31:290:31:32

This is a later Zandra creation -

0:31:330:31:37

getting a bit more fancy, in a way, and a bit more frilly.

0:31:370:31:40

You know, she's such a creative joy to be around, Zandra,

0:31:410:31:45

and she still is.

0:31:450:31:47

# She keeps Moet et Chardon

0:31:470:31:50

# In her pretty cabinet

0:31:500:31:52

# "Let them eat cake", she says

0:31:520:31:54

# Just like Marie Antoinette

0:31:540:31:56

# A built-in remedy

0:31:560:31:58

# For Khrushchev and Kennedy

0:31:580:32:00

# At any time, an invitation

0:32:000:32:03

# You can't decline... #

0:32:030:32:05

In many ways, for Queen to go to a women's designer like Zandra

0:32:050:32:09

for their clothes made perfect sense.

0:32:090:32:12

# She's a killer queen

0:32:120:32:14

# Gunpowder, gelatine

0:32:140:32:17

# Dynamite with a laser beam

0:32:170:32:19

# Guaranteed to blow your mind... #

0:32:190:32:21

Playing fast and loose with gender identity

0:32:220:32:25

was de rigueur for rock stars of the era.

0:32:250:32:27

Freddie Mercury in particular

0:32:300:32:32

embraced the sexual ambiguity of the moment.

0:32:320:32:35

In 1974, he told Melody Maker,

0:32:380:32:41

"I play on the bisexual thing because it's fun -

0:32:410:32:44

"even to talk about being gay used to be unheard of.

0:32:440:32:48

"But gone are those days."

0:32:480:32:50

# I want you to be a woman... #

0:32:500:32:56

In those days, it wasn't clear that Freddie was gay anyway,

0:32:560:32:59

but nobody cared - that was the nice thing.

0:32:590:33:03

Freddie really represents freedom to a lot of people.

0:33:030:33:07

At that time, that was a fairly new concept.

0:33:070:33:10

I'm kind of proud that we represented that to many people.

0:33:100:33:13

Indeed, for those inspired by Queen, gay or not,

0:33:250:33:28

even a small town in Wales

0:33:280:33:30

could be the stage for stylistic adventures.

0:33:300:33:33

The first time I saw them,

0:33:340:33:36

they were singing Seven Seas of Rhye.

0:33:360:33:38

We were singing it in school

0:33:390:33:41

and we thought, "Oh, the album will be coming out now,

0:33:410:33:43

"we'll, er...we'll go to town and we'll buy it."

0:33:430:33:46

And we'd seen photographs of Freddie Mercury

0:33:460:33:48

with his black nail varnish,

0:33:480:33:50

so we thought, "Oh, we'll do that."

0:33:500:33:52

And we had a few funny looks as we went into town on the bus,

0:34:010:34:06

but, erm...it was just, you know,

0:34:060:34:08

had to do it, had to make an event of it.

0:34:080:34:10

Sadly for Andrew, there wasn't much glam gear in the shops of Glamorgan.

0:34:130:34:18

So he had to scour the bottom of the market

0:34:180:34:21

for clothes that added a little sparkle to daily life.

0:34:210:34:24

We'd go to charity shops -

0:34:260:34:28

there weren't so many of them around in those days

0:34:280:34:30

but you managed to pick up something with a bit of glitter on it.

0:34:300:34:33

You'd buy things that were bright yellow

0:34:350:34:38

or bright purple with a flare.

0:34:380:34:40

So it was just a way of, not so much standing out,

0:34:400:34:44

but copying your idol.

0:34:440:34:45

I've got to admit that I went a little bit too far

0:34:480:34:50

and...had a curly perm to look like Brian.

0:34:500:34:54

And I've got a photograph.

0:34:560:34:57

But Andrew wasn't alone. Queen were and are loved.

0:35:000:35:04

Apparently one in three British families own a copy

0:35:040:35:07

of their greatest hits

0:35:070:35:09

Getting together in a concert where

0:35:090:35:12

I would suggest 80% of people were either wearing glitter,

0:35:120:35:18

make up, wigs, made it more of a community spirit.

0:35:180:35:24

SONG: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

0:35:240:35:27

You turn up there and the place is filled to the rafters.

0:35:270:35:31

And you just imagine, "Oh, right, then, there could be people

0:35:350:35:38

"living in a village 20 miles away who you don't know,

0:35:380:35:42

"but they are as unique as you are where they're from."

0:35:420:35:47

Queen were enthralling, and their theatrical, costumed

0:35:500:35:54

stage presence kick-started a style of rock performance that has

0:35:540:35:58

rippled down to today.

0:35:580:36:00

SONG: It Could Have Been Me by The Struts

0:36:040:36:06

# Wanna feel pride and shame

0:36:070:36:10

# I don't wanna take my time

0:36:100:36:13

# Don't wanna waste one line... #

0:36:130:36:16

Luke Spiller, frontman of the Struts, has enlisted the woman

0:36:180:36:22

who made Queen dazzle.

0:36:220:36:23

-I was enjoying that.

-Cool. I like this one.

0:36:260:36:31

For the Isle of Wight festival, he wants a bird-like,

0:36:310:36:34

theatrical costume to shimmer under the stage lights.

0:36:340:36:37

-..and you've got several different looks.

-I mean, satin would look good.

0:36:370:36:42

It's good with the light on it, the satin.

0:36:420:36:45

It's got a wonderful sheen

0:36:450:36:47

that I think would catch the light as you're moving.

0:36:470:36:50

And that's what I want to achieve, really. Something like whoosh!

0:36:500:36:53

I'd hand paint all the gold so it would be just little tiny lights

0:36:530:36:58

of gold and we could always glue more glitter on if you want something.

0:36:580:37:02

Yeah, that'd be good. The more glitter the better, really.

0:37:020:37:05

That's what I thought after I'd been speaking to you.

0:37:050:37:08

It's not all about Queen, but you know, admittedly it's a big part.

0:37:120:37:17

You know, working with Zandra, and that's what I explained,

0:37:170:37:20

I wanted something which was reminiscent from that era,

0:37:200:37:23

to create something which is slightly new and exciting.

0:37:230:37:26

A month later, it's ready,

0:37:330:37:35

and Luke prepares to show the Isle of Wight his Zandra-designed outfit.

0:37:350:37:39

Ta-da!

0:37:410:37:42

Looks good, right?

0:37:440:37:45

I can see by the smile on your face that you like it.

0:37:450:37:48

Yeah, so as you can see, she's hand painted all of these on,

0:37:480:37:51

which are great.

0:37:510:37:53

And it's obviously been pleated as well,

0:37:530:37:55

so it gives it that kind of like winged effect.

0:37:550:38:00

This one kind of finishes like that,

0:38:000:38:02

so it's more of a... More of a Zorro kind of effect, you know.

0:38:020:38:06

I'm a showman at the end of the day, and that's what I love to do.

0:38:170:38:21

It's not in me to just sit there and just sing the songs.

0:38:210:38:24

Who likes my outfit, by the way? Do you like it?

0:38:240:38:27

This was made by Zandra Rhodes,

0:38:280:38:30

I want to dedicate this next song to her.

0:38:300:38:32

It's not like, "Oh, what am I going to wear

0:38:350:38:37

"to make this kind of statement?" I'm choosing things to wear

0:38:370:38:41

to enhance the performance.

0:38:410:38:43

There is just nothing like that feeling of actually

0:38:550:38:58

being in tune with the people you're making music with

0:38:580:39:01

and also in tune with the audience and interacting with an audience.

0:39:010:39:04

I think there's a certain mystique about a group, you know,

0:39:060:39:08

you feel that you're a part of the world that they're creating,

0:39:080:39:11

and that can be comforting in a world which is harsh.

0:39:110:39:15

You know, you identify with someone who is spinning

0:39:150:39:17

some kind of magical web.

0:39:170:39:19

# Nothing really matters

0:39:230:39:26

# Anyone can see... #

0:39:260:39:30

Queen's kind of magic was to capture a sense of joyful

0:39:300:39:34

personal liberation.

0:39:340:39:36

But they were also unwittingly responsible for

0:39:370:39:40

another moment when music and fashion came together

0:39:400:39:43

to shocking, energising effect.

0:39:430:39:45

In December 1976, the producers of a London tea-time chat show

0:39:490:39:53

couldn't get the rights to broadcast a Queen video,

0:39:530:39:56

so they asked the record company to book another band

0:39:560:39:59

for the slot instead.

0:39:590:40:00

I remember that day very, very, very strongly.

0:40:030:40:06

I phoned up Malcolm McLaren and I said, "Malcolm, we've got on TV."

0:40:060:40:09

He said, "Great, Top Of The Pops?" I said, "No." "Supersonic?"

0:40:090:40:13

I said, "No." "Well, what the hell is it, Eric?"

0:40:130:40:15

I said, "It's Bill Grundy's Today Show tonight.

0:40:150:40:18

"They'll be doing it tonight." "I don't bloody want to do that."

0:40:180:40:21

I said, "Do me a favour, we've got to do it.

0:40:210:40:23

"It will be the greatest plug." I was bullshitting, really.

0:40:230:40:27

"It will be the greatest plug the boys are going to have.

0:40:270:40:29

"This is a monster, monster plug, sensational,

0:40:290:40:32

"it's going to be marvellous."

0:40:320:40:34

They are punk rockers. They're a group called the Sex Pistols.

0:40:340:40:38

We didn't dress up for it

0:40:380:40:39

because we didn't know we was going to do the TV show.

0:40:390:40:42

We was actually rehearsing for the Anarchy tour at that time,

0:40:420:40:45

and erm...

0:40:450:40:46

and we just, you know, come as you are.

0:40:460:40:50

Well, suppose they turn other people on.

0:40:500:40:52

That's just their tough shit.

0:40:520:40:54

-It's what?

-Nothing, a rude word.

0:40:540:40:57

What was the rude word?

0:40:570:40:59

-Shit.

-Was it really? Good heavens.

0:40:590:41:01

-You've frightened me to death.

-Oh, all right.

-What a clever boy.

0:41:010:41:04

What a fucking rotter.

0:41:040:41:06

The exploding expletives might made a few people choke

0:41:060:41:09

on their fish fingers, but that wasn't the only shocker.

0:41:090:41:12

A cry went round the country. What are they wearing?

0:41:120:41:16

Steve's got a pair of leather trousers and a tits T-shirt.

0:41:160:41:18

Siouxsie always had her own kind of look.

0:41:180:41:20

I always wanted to meet you.

0:41:200:41:22

-Did you really?

-Yeah.

0:41:220:41:23

John's got his mohair sweater on.

0:41:230:41:27

I've got me red trousers on again.

0:41:270:41:29

We'll meet afterwards, shall we?

0:41:290:41:30

You dirty sod.

0:41:300:41:32

-You dirty old man.

-Go on.

-You dirty fucker.

0:41:320:41:36

Well, that's it for tonight.

0:41:360:41:38

It was like lighting a blue touch paper.

0:41:380:41:40

The shock waves and the ripples started spreading out very quickly

0:41:400:41:43

because it was all in the national press.

0:41:430:41:45

SONG: Pretty Vacant by The Sex Pistols

0:41:450:41:48

# There's no point in asking, you'll get no reply

0:41:560:41:59

# Oh, just remember I don't decide

0:41:590:42:02

# I got no reason, it's all too much

0:42:020:42:06

# You'll always find us... #

0:42:060:42:08

The Pistols were more than just a spiky new music thing.

0:42:090:42:14

# We're so pretty

0:42:140:42:15

# Oh, so pretty... #

0:42:150:42:17

They were also a style statement, an effervescent extension

0:42:170:42:21

of the avant-garde fashion of Vivienne Westwood

0:42:210:42:24

and Malcolm McLaren.

0:42:240:42:25

We were formed in Malcolm McLaren's shop.

0:42:270:42:31

Not by him, but aided and abetted by him.

0:42:310:42:34

And...I got myself a job there,

0:42:340:42:37

you know, working at Malcolm's, which really stuck out

0:42:370:42:39

like a sore thumb. It was a total antithesis of what was going on

0:42:390:42:43

in the tail end of glam rock Britain.

0:42:430:42:47

Afghan coats and great coats and things.

0:42:470:42:49

McLaren and Westwood had a shop on the Kings Road

0:42:520:42:55

they called Seditionaries.

0:42:550:42:57

The shelves had rows of patent stiletto ankle boots, rubber skirts,

0:43:000:43:06

and T-shirts mixing swastikas and sexually explicit images

0:43:060:43:11

with slogans shouting, "Destroy,"

0:43:110:43:14

"Chaos," and even "Cambridge Rapist."

0:43:140:43:17

Vivienne, a fashion and art graduate,

0:43:200:43:22

was influenced by everything from shortbread tin Highland tartan

0:43:220:43:26

to sadomasochistic bondage gear.

0:43:260:43:29

The trousers all come with a little loincloth on the back..

0:43:300:43:33

Everybody wants to know what that's for. It's just a loincloth,

0:43:330:43:36

it's just a gesture.

0:43:360:43:38

You could always point out that maybe it's got some connection

0:43:380:43:41

with the fact that this zip goes right round the back up the arse

0:43:410:43:44

as well. I don't know, I really don't know!

0:43:440:43:47

For anyone tantalised by the magical mix of clothes and music,

0:43:490:43:53

Westwood and McLaren were visionaries.

0:43:530:43:56

Punk was very, very stylish.

0:43:580:44:00

If you think about it, really what Malcolm and Vivienne did with

0:44:000:44:03

the Sex Pistols was pretty extraordinary.

0:44:030:44:05

What Malcolm and Vivienne did was high style,

0:44:100:44:14

way above everything else that's going on.

0:44:140:44:16

The look was what we sort of picked

0:44:200:44:22

and chose from Malcolm's to suit our personality.

0:44:220:44:25

We weren't clothes horses,

0:44:250:44:27

it just happened to be where we started out from.

0:44:270:44:29

# I am an antichrist

0:44:290:44:33

# I am an anarchist..."

0:44:330:44:35

You all look kind of similar in a band, it's a bit like an army

0:44:350:44:38

wearing its colours. You know, it's a declaration of intent.

0:44:380:44:42

# I wanna be anarchy... #

0:44:460:44:52

I got me anarchy shirt.

0:44:520:44:54

I haven't got it any more cos I used it to wash the car.

0:44:540:44:58

Dunno if it's punk to wash it with the car,

0:44:580:44:59

or punk to not have a car in the first place.

0:44:590:45:01

I mean Malcolm always quipped that he'd form a band to sell trousers,

0:45:030:45:07

and unless you're in a band that have got the right trousers on

0:45:070:45:10

it don't work. So it's a joke, but it's true

0:45:100:45:12

People think of it, I think, as being street fashion -

0:45:120:45:17

ripped clothes with safety pins.

0:45:170:45:19

Yes, of course, but nobody had seen a lot of that before.

0:45:190:45:23

# Ever fallen in love with someone?

0:45:230:45:24

# Ever fallen in love?

0:45:240:45:26

# In love with someone? #

0:45:260:45:27

It didn't take long for punk to become a frequent presence

0:45:270:45:30

on telly and on the streets -

0:45:300:45:33

hungrily devoured by young people

0:45:330:45:35

fed up and frustrated by '70s Britain.

0:45:350:45:38

Mid-70s Britain was a dump.

0:45:400:45:43

There was a real air of despondency.

0:45:430:45:45

And a song like God Save The Queen,

0:45:450:45:47

although the song's exactly the same,

0:45:470:45:49

it was actually originally called No Future.

0:45:490:45:52

It just seemed like there was no future.

0:45:520:45:54

# There is no future

0:45:540:45:57

# In England's dreaming... #

0:45:570:46:00

But to crack the punk aesthetic,

0:46:020:46:04

you needed to be more than disillusioned -

0:46:040:46:07

you needed to be daring.

0:46:070:46:09

Kids who didn't live in London,

0:46:120:46:14

who weren't hip to what was going on down here

0:46:140:46:16

because they just weren't here, they saw it

0:46:160:46:18

and it, kind of, fitted in with the fact

0:46:180:46:19

that they was looking for something. All round the country,

0:46:190:46:22

bands were being formed overnight.

0:46:220:46:25

# I belong to the blank generation

0:46:250:46:27

# And I can take it or leave it each time

0:46:270:46:31

# Well, I belong to the generation

0:46:310:46:34

# But I can take it or leave it each time... #

0:46:340:46:38

I used to read the New Musical Express every week

0:46:380:46:41

from when I was about 12, 13.

0:46:410:46:43

They'd have photographs of the earliest punks

0:46:430:46:46

wearing really outrageous clothes and talking about the music.

0:46:460:46:50

So it was just very, very exciting.

0:46:500:46:52

No wonder!

0:46:530:46:55

There wasn't much else going on in Louise's part of the world.

0:46:550:46:59

SONG: Nessun Dorma

0:46:590:47:02

My parents played opera, so you couldn't have a bigger contrast.

0:47:090:47:13

When they put music on, it would be things like Puccini

0:47:130:47:18

and stuff like that.

0:47:180:47:19

I lived in a quite a middle class suburb of Edinburgh

0:47:230:47:27

and I hated it. There was nothing there.

0:47:270:47:30

It was just all detached houses with nice leafy gardens.

0:47:300:47:33

# Identity... #

0:47:330:47:36

For Louise, that punk moment was an escape

0:47:390:47:42

from her suburban incarceration -

0:47:420:47:45

even if King's Road style was out of her reach.

0:47:450:47:48

Only really wealthy middle class punks who had parents with money

0:47:480:47:52

would actually be able to afford anything from Seditionaries.

0:47:520:47:56

There was that whole kind of ethos of do it yourself,

0:47:560:47:58

so I would be going to the charity shops

0:47:580:48:01

and spending my very meagre pocket money

0:48:010:48:03

on things like grandad shirts that I would paint and customise.

0:48:030:48:07

This was a shirt that I bought from Oxfam or somewhere,

0:48:090:48:13

and probably only paid about 50p for it.

0:48:130:48:16

And then I stencilled slogans all over it.

0:48:160:48:18

So it says "Absolute filth."

0:48:180:48:21

Some of it was lyrics.

0:48:210:48:23

It says here "I am a cliche,"

0:48:230:48:24

which is from one of the X-Ray Spex songs.

0:48:240:48:27

And, "God the save Queen, she ain't no human being."

0:48:270:48:29

That was from the Sex Pistols.

0:48:290:48:31

Then we've got, "love comes in spurts," there,

0:48:310:48:34

which was from Richard Hell and the Voidoids.

0:48:340:48:36

So there was a few bits of lyrics on there.

0:48:360:48:39

# When you look in the mirror

0:48:390:48:41

# Do you see yourself?

0:48:410:48:42

# Do you see yourself on the TV screen?

0:48:420:48:45

# Do you see yourself in the magazine?

0:48:450:48:48

# When you see yourself does it make you scream...? #

0:48:480:48:51

For all its street scruff reputation,

0:48:530:48:55

punk shared some of the spirit of Freddie Mercury in a catsuit

0:48:550:48:58

or Rick Wakeman's in a cape.

0:48:580:49:01

The Punk look was also a fabulous performance.

0:49:010:49:04

There was a real theatricality about how we all dressed.

0:49:040:49:07

I would spend hours getting ready.

0:49:070:49:11

If I was going to go to a gig, I would probably spend about

0:49:110:49:13

half and hour just on my hair, making it spiky.

0:49:130:49:16

But it didn't last long.

0:49:190:49:21

The Grundy appearance sent punk stellar,

0:49:210:49:24

but it also spelled the beginning of the end.

0:49:240:49:26

I think by 1978/79, it had definitely become a uniform.

0:49:280:49:34

In the back of the music papers, you'd get all these adverts

0:49:340:49:37

for bondage trousers and punk T-shirts and things like that,

0:49:370:49:41

so then you could just buy the look

0:49:410:49:43

rather than actually making your own look.

0:49:430:49:48

Not a bad cut.

0:49:480:49:49

I got this for free and I quite like it.

0:49:500:49:52

It's a nice lightweight suit.

0:49:520:49:54

I mean, why do you expect me to be walking around

0:49:540:49:56

in bondage trousers at the age of 57?

0:49:560:49:58

Cos it ain't going to happen.

0:49:580:50:00

Well, that's a shame.

0:50:030:50:04

But what's undeniable is that punk has woven its way

0:50:040:50:07

into the fabric of our fashion heritage.

0:50:070:50:10

Victoria Line, platform number five. Two stops.

0:50:100:50:13

I got to admit today, it's...

0:50:130:50:15

I'm not happy with it, it's not the best.

0:50:150:50:18

Matthew, I'll be down in a minute or so, OK?

0:50:180:50:20

Big gate at the end there, love.

0:50:230:50:25

Greg Cousens is London Underground's legendary punk rock

0:50:260:50:30

customer services assistant.

0:50:300:50:31

That one there, you've got an open journey.

0:50:310:50:34

His bosses had no objections when he decided to gel up his hair

0:50:340:50:38

and dye it red a few years ago.

0:50:380:50:40

His Mohican, even on bad hair days,

0:50:420:50:45

brings him a lot of love at Oxford Circus Tube station.

0:50:450:50:48

Passengers disembarking, do so as quick as you can.

0:50:480:50:52

It seems almost as if I have become almost a bit

0:50:520:50:55

of a tourist attraction on the station.

0:50:550:50:58

'It's just become a bit of an ice breaker, you know?

0:50:580:51:00

'People will come up and say, "Love your hair."'

0:51:000:51:03

And when he goes out with his mates,

0:51:060:51:08

Greg ditches the underground uniform for quite another.

0:51:080:51:11

Got the old bondage trousers, band T-shirts, leather jacket,

0:51:110:51:15

big boots, all the rest of it kicking about at home

0:51:150:51:17

if I wanted to sort of dress up to go out.

0:51:170:51:20

I don't want every customer services assistant to look like me,

0:51:200:51:23

because if everybody looked like me,

0:51:230:51:25

I would probably have to change it and do something else

0:51:250:51:29

to be a bit different.

0:51:290:51:31

For Greg, punk has allowed him to be assertively individual

0:51:310:51:34

whilst dressed in a uniform.

0:51:340:51:36

MUSIC: Oh, Bondage, Up Yours! by X-Ray Spex

0:51:360:51:39

For us, his mohican has become a symbol of British culture itself -

0:51:450:51:49

a message to the world that our country

0:51:490:51:51

is more than royals and rubbish weather.

0:51:510:51:54

But that's not the whole story.

0:52:020:52:04

Do what you want, be different -

0:52:050:52:08

the punk ethos flowed into the best of British fashion and design.

0:52:080:52:11

Music, actually, is the thing that drives me more than anything.

0:52:160:52:20

Punk gave you the freedom to do whatever you wanted to do.

0:52:200:52:23

That's where I felt that I started to be able to express myself.

0:52:230:52:27

It was like a light switched on.

0:52:270:52:28

It was like, "Yes, of course you can do this."

0:52:280:52:31

Pam Hogg, inspired by the energy of punk

0:52:320:52:36

launched her first fashion collection in 1981.

0:52:360:52:39

I just found these this morning,

0:52:410:52:44

and I can't believe it, it's just like...

0:52:440:52:48

It's so innocently made, because I didn't know how to make anything,

0:52:480:52:52

so I was just making it up as I went along.

0:52:520:52:54

To fasten things I used these rivets

0:52:540:52:57

and the sleeve is the shape of an arm!

0:52:570:53:00

Look at that.

0:53:000:53:02

SHE LAUGHS

0:53:020:53:03

This is like punk because it's got the riveting

0:53:030:53:05

and it's got an edge to it.

0:53:050:53:07

The biggest gift you've got is your individuality.

0:53:070:53:09

Use it!

0:53:090:53:10

# Personality changes behind our own smile

0:53:120:53:16

Pam found her musical soul mate in a woman

0:53:160:53:18

who had been one of the year zero punk gang -

0:53:180:53:21

A true style original - Siouxsie Sioux.

0:53:210:53:24

I remember the first time I met her,

0:53:260:53:29

she called me over and started chatting to me,

0:53:290:53:31

and I'm standing looking going, "This is Sioxsie Sioux!"

0:53:310:53:34

I think she just thought "Kindred spirit!"

0:53:350:53:38

# Dear Prudence

0:53:380:53:40

# Won't you come out to play...? #

0:53:420:53:45

And she was.

0:53:450:53:47

Their long collaboration started just as Siouxsie

0:53:470:53:50

was leading punk style to more mysterious,

0:53:500:53:53

and altogether darker places.

0:53:530:53:55

# The sun is up

0:53:570:54:00

# The sky is blue

0:54:000:54:02

# It's beautiful

0:54:020:54:04

# And so are you

0:54:040:54:07

# Dear Prudence... #

0:54:070:54:09

You had the survivors, the sort of Goth contingent -

0:54:090:54:12

Siouxsie and The Cure.

0:54:120:54:15

# Look around, round, round Round, round... #

0:54:150:54:19

It was like a black stallion standing up there.

0:54:190:54:22

It wasn't a guy, it was a woman.

0:54:220:54:24

Oh, my God, she looked incredible!

0:54:240:54:26

And she came on with this, when she's singing away.

0:54:260:54:28

It was her. It wasn't anybody else.

0:54:280:54:31

Love at first sight, you know what I mean?

0:54:310:54:33

# When you think your toys have gone berserk

0:54:330:54:37

# It's an illusion... #

0:54:370:54:38

Who wasn't inspired by Siouxsie Sioux?

0:54:380:54:40

The way she did her eyes.

0:54:400:54:43

-She loves her cats!

-SHE LAUGHS

0:54:430:54:45

# You have no choice... #

0:54:450:54:48

Wow, I mean, I remember when I'd see something like the Banshees on TV,

0:54:480:54:52

it would, you know you'd be agog, because you'd see them very rarely.

0:54:520:54:57

There was your nan sat there, obviously horrified

0:54:570:55:01

at what she was seeing.

0:55:010:55:03

"It's the end of the world!"

0:55:030:55:04

# Following the footsteps of a rag doll

0:55:060:55:09

# We are entranced... #

0:55:090:55:10

Captivated by visions of Siouxsie,

0:55:100:55:12

Johnny Melton left his East Anglian village

0:55:120:55:16

and starting hanging out at the Batcave -

0:55:160:55:18

a Soho club full of eyeliner-wearing curiosities.

0:55:180:55:22

On his first night there, he was recruited as the keyboardist

0:55:230:55:27

in a band called Specimen,

0:55:270:55:30

mainly on the basis of his hair.

0:55:300:55:32

I was like, "Well, I can't really play anything."

0:55:320:55:34

They were like, "Oh, it's OK you've got cool hair."

0:55:340:55:37

So, yeah, I was in.

0:55:370:55:39

What am I doing in this picture?

0:55:400:55:42

Well, I'm kind of, I'm kind of hanging over a piece of wood

0:55:420:55:47

with my tail cheekily poking over the top.

0:55:470:55:49

It was just wanting to go somewhere theatrical with a look.

0:55:500:55:56

It's not really a sexual look at all, is it?

0:55:560:55:58

You wouldn't go out and think you're going to get laid

0:55:580:56:01

dressed as a cat or something.

0:56:010:56:03

We were kind of more prone pull a pout than cast a spell.

0:56:030:56:09

For the Batcave brood,

0:56:130:56:15

for Siouxsie and for her design collaborator Pam Hogg,

0:56:150:56:18

it was about startling visual drama -

0:56:180:56:21

about keeping the shock and awe spirit of punk alive.

0:56:210:56:26

I think Siouxsie had fantastic style.

0:56:260:56:28

All that Pam Hogg stuff that she wears -

0:56:300:56:33

I'm a big fan of Pam's. I think she's one of our treasures.

0:56:330:56:36

A really, really unique designer.

0:56:360:56:38

These descents into the dark side of style

0:56:420:56:45

spawned a whole new tribe - legions of the undead,

0:56:450:56:49

who still wander the streets of towns cities across the world -

0:56:490:56:54

Goths.

0:56:540:56:55

She doesn't want to be a Goth.

0:56:570:56:58

She is not a Goth, in her mind, she is not a Goth.

0:56:580:57:01

But these Goth kids, they idolise her.

0:57:010:57:05

But she's individual.

0:57:050:57:07

The '70s saw the pop and rock go theatrical -

0:57:180:57:22

an extravagant, outlandish image move centre stage.

0:57:220:57:26

MUSIC: Public Image by Public Image Limited

0:57:260:57:29

And how we followed them!

0:57:290:57:31

And the designers who crafted these looks of the stars,

0:57:360:57:39

started to become as vital as the musicians who displayed them.

0:57:390:57:43

The embrace between British fashion and British music

0:57:460:57:49

was becoming ever more passionate.

0:57:490:57:51

Next week...

0:57:550:57:56

..the rise of the stylist...

0:57:580:57:59

..the video...

0:58:010:58:03

and the brand...

0:58:030:58:05

give us ever more shocking looks.

0:58:050:58:08

# Behind the image Was ignorance and fear

0:58:080:58:11

# You hide behind his public machine

0:58:110:58:14

# You still follow the same old scheme

0:58:140:58:17

# Public image

0:58:190:58:23

# Public image

0:58:300:58:33

# Goodbye. #

0:58:330:58:34

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