1 9 7 4 – 1 9 7 6 (UK)
This rock and soul music show from Tyne Tees TV featured the talents of established groups and the many up-and-coming bands that hailed from the north-east.
This was a gritty, sweaty show, as was emphasised in the title sequence made up of shots of urban and industrial Newcastle, with local dialect words like ‘Canny’ and ‘Kidda’ splashed on the screen to draw further attention to its regional accent.
Each week, crowds of teenage fans flocked to the City Road studios in Newcastle to watch bands in a studio decorated with colourful pop posters that contrasted sharply with giant blow-ups of a coal miner, a pithead wheel and the Tyne Bridge.
This was music in the round, with the audience viewing from all angles, and, while a number of bands that appeared were local, others were national names. Some mimed but braver guests – The Glitter Band and Dr Feelgood, for instance – performed live.
Ex-Radio 1 DJ Dave Cash was one of the early presenters, along with local DJ Big Phil, Dave Lee Travis and then another former Radio 1 presenter, Dave Eager.
Locally, the show was shown on Saturday mornings but the handful of other regions who took it typically chose other days for broadcast.
