I first came across Beat Club when it was re-shown (in compilations presented by sometime host Dave Dee) on UK TV in the small hours of the morning during the late 1980s. As an impressionable teen I was hugely interested in the plethora of artists and songs who were new to me - The Who, The Kinks, Small Faces, Bonzo Dog Band (I'd never seen anything quite *that* weird), Gene Pitney, Tim Rose, The Easybeats, Zager and Evans, Stealer's Wheel, T-Rex, Joe South, Manfred Mann, the Bee Gees (when young and not steeped in disco!), Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick 'n' Tich, the Moody Blues (when young and not creaky and MOR), Dave Clark Five, Deep Purple (in the 80s on the comeback trail) and many more.
Its early editions (as Beat Club) and its flashy colour later version (Musik Laden) marked this show out for special reverence. It had weirder camera angles than did Ready Steady Go (which was rerunning on UK TV at prime time in the 80s), it had a far wider range of artists, and many, many acts stole my heart and fed my developing musical taste. I'd love to see it re-run again or be more widely available on video than the few compilations that have been out.
Its early editions (as Beat Club) and its flashy colour later version (Musik Laden) marked this show out for special reverence. It had weirder camera angles than did Ready Steady Go (which was rerunning on UK TV at prime time in the 80s), it had a far wider range of artists, and many, many acts stole my heart and fed my developing musical taste. I'd love to see it re-run again or be more widely available on video than the few compilations that have been out.