Fact #173680
When:
Short story:
When The Wombles perform their latest hit, SuperWomble, on the UK tv show Top Of The Pops in London, England, UK, Europe, the musicians inside The Wombles' costumes are actually folk-rock band Steeleye Span.Full article:
Mike Batt (producer, songwriter and member of The Wombles) : I was working on All Around My Hat with Steeleye Span, at the time the Superwomble single was released. In those days, to be on Top Of The Pops you had to mime, (it was technically easier for the show if you did, and in any case we Wombles had no option, - we didn’t have mouths!) - but to satisfy the Musicians’ Union you had to remake the entire record the night before your appearance, - in other words you were not allowed to mime to the record itself, but you were allowed to mime to a specially made track for the show. I could spend pages explaining why, but trust me, that’s how it was.
So I’m in Air Studios with Steeleye Span when the message comes through that The Wombles are on Top Of The Pops the following day, with no time to go and make a bloody backing track, - I was busy with Steeleye. So I ask Steeleye if they’d mind playing the TV remake of Superwomble, because the bloke from the Musicians’ Union was about to show up and “witness” that it was indeed being remade, and they sportingly agreed to do it.
I taught them the track and we played it while the infamous Don Smith from the Musicians’ Union (known, as I have said earlier, as “Doctor Death” because of his miserable demeanour and intransigent attitude) watched from the control room. After the session, Don asked for everybody’s name.
“Why do you want them?” I asked. “Because the people who play the track have to be the same people who are on the show tomorrow” says Don. This was a new one on me. But that’s what had to happen. Don left the studio and I sheepishly asked the guys if they’d wear the costumes the next day, and perform Superwomble on the show.
Of course the whole thing would have to be a total secret – it wouldn’t have been cool for a serious band like Steeleye to be caught being The Wombles. They thought it was a fantastic idea, and so we arranged for them to meet the following evening - the night of the show - at the Kensington Hilton Hotel, get into the costumes and be taken by blacked-out limo to the TV Centre in Wood Lane, five minutes away. We managed to get them in, do the show and then get them out again without anyone realising it had been them inside the Womble costumes.
(Source : Facebook entry by Mike Batt, 2018)
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So I’m in Air Studios with Steeleye Span when the message comes through that The Wombles are on Top Of The Pops the following day, with no time to go and make a bloody backing track, - I was busy with Steeleye. So I ask Steeleye if they’d mind playing the TV remake of Superwomble, because the bloke from the Musicians’ Union was about to show up and “witness” that it was indeed being remade, and they sportingly agreed to do it.
I taught them the track and we played it while the infamous Don Smith from the Musicians’ Union (known, as I have said earlier, as “Doctor Death” because of his miserable demeanour and intransigent attitude) watched from the control room. After the session, Don asked for everybody’s name.
“Why do you want them?” I asked. “Because the people who play the track have to be the same people who are on the show tomorrow” says Don. This was a new one on me. But that’s what had to happen. Don left the studio and I sheepishly asked the guys if they’d wear the costumes the next day, and perform Superwomble on the show.
Of course the whole thing would have to be a total secret – it wouldn’t have been cool for a serious band like Steeleye to be caught being The Wombles. They thought it was a fantastic idea, and so we arranged for them to meet the following evening - the night of the show - at the Kensington Hilton Hotel, get into the costumes and be taken by blacked-out limo to the TV Centre in Wood Lane, five minutes away. We managed to get them in, do the show and then get them out again without anyone realising it had been them inside the Womble costumes.
(Source : Facebook entry by Mike Batt, 2018)