Remember 'Rock Follies'?

Rula Lenska is on Coronation Street now.

Episode Two.

Rula Lenska from those VO5 commercials?

Indeed. And married to Dennis Waterman.

I fuckin' love you, OP/whomever posted the YouTube links. Do you have more?

Glen Miller is Missing

I had the album!

I had the FOLLIES '77 soundtrack on vinyl.

R5 Yep.

THANK YOU.

Watching these again are really getting me through self-isolation.

Last year I read a great book about how Annabel Leventon’s group Rock Bottom got hijacked by ITV and Howard Schuman and it took many years for her to win a settlement. I do think Schuman’s version was probably better than Leventon’s ever would be.

Steve Allen doing Rula Shiksa with a guest appearance.

R10 Denis Norden, what a witty cunt.

R9 Jessica Christ, sorry about the isolation dude, glad to help.

This show is like a time capsule of so much, actors, music, and England.

R10 Denis Norden, what a witty cunt.

R9 Jessica Christ, sorry about the isolation dude, glad to help.

This show is like a time capsule of so much, actors, music, and England.

So much tension.

Thank you! Is there anyway to find these on YouTube so I can watch them on my TV using the Roku/YouTube option?

R14, you can’t find these on YouTube, they’re unlisted.

VERY GRATEFUL to OP for doing this.

I'm here in NYC. If we are ever unquarantined, you're all invited to a ROCK FOLLIES theme evening out.

It’s a date, R16!

R16 I'll be Julie!

I say this with love, as she is "Q" for the ages....

Rula. Lenska. Cannot. Freaking. Sing.

PS: there is a pilot episode of the American (!) network remake. I only know this because it aired once (that I know of). I have a sketchy memory of seeing it when I was a kid (I would have been around 13, but I was already obsessed with the BBC version when it aired on PBS in NYC).

It's probably lost forever, but it would be fun if that were to ever re-surface. An American network remake is the most deliciously awful idea ever.

Who starred in the American pilot?

[quote] Rula. Lenska. Cannot. Freaking. Sing.

Of course she can't! She's too busy showing off London to American guests!

There's no data on the American pilot on IMDB.com, R21, so I have no idea. My teen memory is that they were nobodies (and dreadful, even by my gayling standards). I kinda recall sitting there thinking, wow--this shit is not working at all.

Are you thinking of 3 Girls 3?

Who's Rula Lenska?

R25 It's "Who the Fuck is Rula Lenska?"

No, I believe it was called ROCK FOLLIES here as well, R24.

But thanks for posting 3 GIRLS 3. Is that Debbie Allen?

R24 Mimi!

[Quote] Is that Debbie Allen?

Yes, with Mimi Kennedy and DL fave Ellen Foley.

Wow! That is a trifecta of.... something really, really gay.

Looking forward to watching.

R20, Rock Follies wasn’t on the BBC, it was on the commercial channel ITV.

R31, it was made by Thames Television. I was but a mere gayling when it was first on and barely aware of the world at all, but I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Saved up all my money and bought the first album. “Glenn Miller Is Missing” was my go-to track.

R31, Thames TV was a subsidiary of ITV.

Okay.... I'm about to watch Ep 6, Season 1. This has become my new drug.

It surpasses my 40+ year memories. It's surprisingly sophisticated the way it handles the 3 women, their sex lives, their love interests--all of them are polyamorous at one point or another. (A couple of passing references to "dykes" and that's about it--it's unsurprisingly not great on LGBT stuff.)

Love Anna's toxic mom. Love the mix of boyfriends and love interests, none of them really a good fit. A bit too much time spent in/on Dee's commune. I love all the leads, but Julie Covington wins my MVP award.

Do I dare dream of Season 2 appearing on YouTube at some point?

I’d love to see S2. Barbara Rosenblat (Rosa in Orange is the New Black) has a mute role in it in a recording studio scene!

R34 Yes it shall

R35 Tomorrow x

Fabulous, OP, thanks!

Rock Follies of 77 - Part One.

Episode Two.

OP, you are the BEST.

OP = Sugar Mountain!

BTW, what is up with Anna's hair in S1? It mysteriously grows itself to different lengths and textures, depending on the scene: sometimes, a short cap of curls, sometimes long and straight with bangs. I realize they wear a lot of wigs while performing onstage (so many wigs, so many bad, bad wigs...) but Anna's hair is schizophrenic, compared to the other two.

I appreciate the relevance of Dee's quasi-punk/pixie look, but she actually looks much prettier with longer/softer hair.

And Q is, well, Q.

Off to dive into Season 2.

Episode Three.

Episode Four.

I always wanted to see this, OP! Thank you!

Episode Five.

I love the show but even as a teen in the 70s I knew the songs were awful, the stage costumes were terrible, and the choreography was embarrassing.

The script is terrific though.

R48 I like the songs.

Completely new to Rock Follies (and 3 Girls 3!) but enjoying the discovery.

This is very Early Kate Bush to my ears.

Episode Six.

That Thames intro reminds me of bedtime.....I think it came on before whatever my parents would watch (Dave Allen or Benny Hill) every night at 11 PM.

Halfway through Season 2.... Anna's hair is remarkably consistent, this time around. The bowl haircut suits her.

Some fun stuff--a gay male couple!--but also a lot of slow drag. Kitty Schrieber (sp?) is loud fun, but a little goes a long way. Ditto Little Nell.

It's gotten very dark: the rock journalists and the punk band are just mean, Tim Curry was largely wasted in Ep 1--they should have played his character for laughs, IMHO. At least one of the women should have a hot new love interest. Instead, we get Spike reappearing from S1, of all people.

Not to bitch. Rock Follies is giving me life during the dark day!

R45 Who is that bitch, and why did she steal my hair?

It works better on Anna's slim face, Bonnie.

I had that hair before both of you lessers!

I'm sorry, did the bad Dusty Springfield knockoff say something at R56?

Kiki Dee.

That bitch playing Kitty has such a bad American accent-“Cray-ZEE about it!”

Beth Porter played Kitty in Season 2. She's actually a native New Yorker--with a rather lengthy IMDB.com bio:

[quote]First professional appearance at age 12 in touring company; studied at Stratford Connecticut Shakespeare Festival; member of original Obie-Award winning NY LaMaMa Troupe under director Tom O'Horgan [Hair] where she starred in play and film of "Futz" and featured in Tom Paine, and Melodrama Play Sam Shepard. Founded London LaMaMa, and became its administrative and artistic director, touring all over Europe. Featured in plays Little Mother, Groupjuice, Hump. US television includes guest spots in Baretta and Kojak. UK television roles include costarring in Rock Follies and Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy; tv films included Blue Money with Tim Curry, and Pleasure, part of the Alan Bleasdale Presents series. Feature films include The Great Gatsby, Reds, Love and Death, and Yentl [in which she worked as Barbra Streisand's understudy and played Sophie, Amy Irving's maid, uncredited]. Beth then trained as a television script editor and producer at the BBC. She produced The Husband, The Wife and The Stranger, starring Adam Faith and Derrick O'Connor, and Unusual Ground Floor Conversion, a short film directed by Mark Herman [Little Voice], before joining BBC Television Drama as a development executive for new drama series. She's written several plays and film scripts, and became a film critic in 1988, serving for 10 years as London Editor for Film Journal International. A new career as a Web Producer led to the publication of Beth's book The Net Effect, to which David Puttnam contributed the foreword. 2006 was her ninth year as a nominating judge for the International Webby Awards and she has served as a contributor to policy advisers on eDemocracy issues.

I wonder if they made her overdo her American accent for the British audience (for comic effect). See also Ruby Wax in "Girls On Top," although I believe her shtick was self-imposed as the premiere Stage Yank of 1980s British entertainment. It seems being brassy and loud was enough to qualify you as an American performer in those days.

OP here Thanks for 3 Girls 3 poster.

Ellen Foley sang the shit out of "New Kid In Town." What a shame her recording career was mostly a non-starter.

I read an amazing book by Annabel Leventon, who first came up with the idea for The Little Ladies. The TV company basically pushed her aside and did Rock Follies without her. Many years later she filed a lawsuit against them and won.

This would have made a great stage musical. I guess maybe because of its legal troubles the writer Howard Schuman (an American) couldn’t make it happen.

Man, Howard Schuman must be gay because this show had on some real male eye candy. Billy Murray (Spike), Christopher Neil (David), Emlyn Price (Derek) and James Warwick (Nigel) were all yummy. I think Warwick was the only one of them who’s gay, though.

Watched first episode of Rock Follies of 1977. I noticed Q’s boyfriend was mentioned in passing (“my anchor went back to America”) but both Dee and Anna’s boyfriends as well as the accompanist/songwriter/producer Derek weren’t mentioned once. It’s as if none of them existed. Weird.

Just watched episode where Kitty is told the Water Board is restricting more than five inches of bath water and she says “I ain’t got much use for five inches.” WHOA. How did that get by the censors? And it was right after we got a quick flash of her titties.

Well, Dee’s boyfriend Spike does reappear but I don’t know about Anna’s. Or Derek.

Finally got around to reading Beth Porter’s imdb bio. She was Babs’ “understudy” on Yentl? Surely she got to go on? Did she get advice from Lainie Kazan on how many 10p coins she’s need for the payphone? Haha. I guess she was her stand-in when Yentl shot interiors in the UK. It finally dawned on me who she physically resembles-Leslie Browne in The Turning Point.

Are we meant to find Rox soulless, charmless, and rather mean? Because I did. She's a good vocal foil for Dee, but otherwise she held no appeal for me.

I couldn't tell if it was just me and we were supposed to find her raw ambition charming and Scottish, or some such.

She was Welsh, R69! I couldn’t stand her “Money on the Wall” song. Good voice, though.

So it appears obvious by watching these that Bubble in AbFab was inspired by Sandra (Little Nell). Goofy hairstyles and goofy wardrobe matched with quirky personality. And both are personal assistants. Clever.

Damn, Julie Covington looks like Marcia Rodd in Season 2. Must be the ‘do.

And the bitch playing Rox looked like a bargain basement Sheena Easton.

The 1978 pilot for the American remake was called The Rock Rainbow.

It starred Ellen Greene and a couple of unknowns, plus John Shea and Robert Alda.

A review of The Rock Rainbow.

Interesting panel discussion held at the British Film Insitute last October. Howard Schuman talks way too much but Rula Lenska still looks great but Charlotte Cornwell looks like Anna with old age make-up. No Julie Covington, unfortunately.

Re: The Rock Rainbow: Susan Bigelow was cute but boring looking-she did a lot of commercials and some episodic work. Louisa Flamingham (the redhead) replaced Leland Palmer as Fastrada in the original production of Pippin. I think she also ended up in productions of A Chorus Line.

Where is Julie?

Still kicking herself for turning down Evita in the West End.

R79 In the documentary on Evita, Hal Prince said she was off doing political theater in Manchester.

R80, on another YT video someone claiming to have been her godchild (Julie backed away after three years, saying it was too big a responsibility) said that it was Julie’s “socialist friends” who told her not to take Evita, saying it was a glorification of fascism for a capitalistic enterprise.

As stated upthread, Julie Covington is the Most Valuable Player of ROCK FOLLIES. She had the best voice, charisma, and she could act.

It's a shame she didn't do more. Actors need to be well advised and managed. Talent is not enough.

I couldn’t agree more, R82. In addition to being a fantastic singer she was also a damned good actress. Dee’s bedroom scenes with Spike in both the first and final episodes are the best examples.

I had a dream that Q became the Disco Queen of Stuttgart post Little Ladies. She ran her own club, bankrolled by a hot bf named Werner.

I love The Five Pennies.

Julie Covington attempted to play Eva Peron on stage but she left the production before opening. Thus, it was a blessing that she didn't attempt to open the West End production. Much easier to recover from such an experience in the provinces.

R85 Proof....

Not true, R85. She did the concept album and that’s it. She turned down the chance to create the role in the original production in the West End.

Valens, I just want to thank you for posting those two seasons. They helped me get through this very difficult summer. I’m sad your account at YT was terminated and extremely grateful for your efforts.

Cheers.