BBC Television Centre, Studio 3, Wood Lane, White City, West London
BBC2's The Beat Room — Broadcast unconfirmed
Left to right: Dick Taylor, Viv Prince, Phil May, and Brian Pendleton (bassist John Stax is out of frame)
The Story
This Christmas-time performance by The Pretty Things on the short-lived BBC2 pop show, The Beat Room, is notable for the existence of live studio recordings logged in BBC archives as originating from Thursday, December 24, 1964. In any format, surviving tapes from this era are rare (only one complete episode of The Beat Room survives). What's unusual is the complete absence of The Pretty Things from any future published Beat Room television listing. Were The Pretties cut from the show? It's possible.
The BBC recording of 'Mama, Keep Your Big Mouth Shut' from this episode (captured in our photograph) reveals Phil May playfully swapping the song's gender pronouns while singing, "I'm in love with your little girl, and your little boy's in love with me.", This small act of rebellion from a slurring frontman with shoulder-length hair could have been all the BBC needed to pull the plug on The Pretty Things' final appearance on The Beat Room.
Songs performed: 'Don't Bring Me Down,' 'Mama, Keep Your Big Mouth Shut,' 'Johnny B. Goode'Photograph by Tony Gale
The Process
The images featured on our site are reproduced directly from the original negatives in our collection. Each has been digitally drum scanned at 8000 DPI to ensure the highest quality prints up to the largest sizes.
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