Rock Follies tv series, 1976 and 1977

[Mossleybrow]

Rock Follies

"There had never been anything like Rock Follies,” said singer and actress Julie Covington, praising a groundbreaking feminist television show that ran for 12 episodes and two seasons on British channel ITV from February 1976 to June 1977. It won three BAFTA awards and spawned a No. 1 album that went platinum, and a second album that reached No.13 in the charts.

Rock Follies, which was written by Howard Schuman, starred Charlotte Cornwell (as Anna), Julie Covington (Dee), and Rula Lenska (Nancy “Q” Cunard De Longchamps) as the all-female rock band The Little Ladies.

The show, which was supported by the newly-arrived head of drama at Thames TV, Verity Lambert, was a huge success and was also syndicated in the US by PBS, becoming a cult hit among American audiences. It was praised as “bitingly convincing” by The New York Times."

Series 1 (1976)

episode 1

episodes 2 and 3

episodes 4, 5 and 6

series 2 (1977)

episodes 1, 2 and 3

episodes 4, 5 and 6

I really wanted to watch Rock Follies when it first came out but it was sadly on past my bed time. My next door neighbour bought the records and played them regularly so I used to sit on the garden swing listening to them. I finally watched them about 15 -20 years ago. Don't recall much of the plot now so can't comment on how feminist they were or weren't. They were fiesty women though. Will have to watch them again.

I wasn't quite old enough to watch it either but my Mum was mad about it! Loved listening to records though and knew all the words off by heart. I wonder how well it's aged?

Thanks for posting these links - I've never seen them. And I think I have a tendency to confuse them with Tutti Frutti (which I've also never seen):

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutti_Frutti_(1987_TV_series)

Is that Arthur Dent at the end up in the OP?

Be interested to know what you think when you have watched them

I vaguely remember it being on - my older sisters watched it - so I ‘know’ it secondhand (I was only little when it was on so couldn’t have watched it). I might take a look and see!

My memory was quite a lot of casual racism though. Nothing out of the ordinary for the 1970s.

Julie Covingtons "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is a classic single. Shame we have to remember ALWs involvement.

I absolutely loved Rock Follies, Julie Covington was an amazing singer, I never really understood why she didn’t become a household name.

I remembered Tutti Frutti with great fondness but when I watched it again recently the male entitlement from Robbie Coltrane's character is off the scale and totally off-putting.! It is worth watching just to see what was considered non-problematic in the late 80s.

She made a number of LPs While The Music Lasts (1967)
The Party's Moving On (1969)
The Beautiful Changes (1971)
Julie Covington (1978)
The Beautiful Changes Plus (1999)[1][16]
Julie Covington Plus (2000)

And played Beth on the "War of the Worlds" album. Lovely voice.

Not forgetting "Only Women Bleed" from 1978 which seems more challenging now than it did then....

Ford Prefect, not Arthur Dent. I'll go get my towel now.

Written by Alice Cooper.