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“Did you see me on Top Of The Pops?”

Here’s the Mighty Atom in superb spirits and full-on “Brucie” mode, to wit:
a) terrifying limb-wiggling and prancing;
b) topical gags, in this instance about Gary Glitter (“About as sexy as a Brillo pad…no kids, I’m only kidding, I think he’s marvellous – for what he is”);
c) a bit of BBC in-jokery by way of a namecheck for “Ronnie Hazelnut”; and
d) doing a running commentary on the song *while the song is taking place* (“It’s catchy isn’t it? So’s the measles!”)

You don’t get stars releasing records solely off the back of catchphrases any more, which is a shame as some perfect opportunities have been missed. Barbara Windsor as Peggy Mitchell, for instance (“Leave it out, leave it out, you’re doing me in, so leave it out!”), or Richard Wilson as Victor Meldrew (“You couldn’t conceive it, they wouldn’t perceive it, would you Adam and Eve it – I don’t believe it!”)

Suffice to say this is a classic of its form, using the catchphrase as the tagline for four comical verses telling stories about unlikely scenarios involving, respectively, a bus conductor, Casanova, Nelson and a stripper. And the audience – even though there are only a few dozen present – get really into it, especially one woman who even attempts a bit of Brucie wrist-mincing. “Let’s go, Ron!”

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. John Rivers

    August 24, 2007 at 11:24 am

    That was ruddy marvellous. 🙂

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