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The 1971 BBC special was released on DVD back in 1971 (as “Live In London”), but it was sourced from a Japanese broadcast master so it has Japanese subtitles and a BS-2 logo. I don’t think the original non-Japanese English master exists anymore, as the BBC probably junked it. Richard probably used a copy he had (or maybe the BBC gave him a copy of the Japanese master) for use on the “As Time Goes By” album.
I know that with the BBC they did export their programs, and a lot of there original masters for their taped shows from the 50’s to early 80’s no longer exist. However they have been able to recover some shows that the licensed to other parts of the world, but these are copies of the masters and in some cases SECAM or NTSC conversions. So it’s possible that they’ve recovered a copy from an English speaking country like the US, Canada or Australia. But these copies could also be edited, since different countries have different commercial lengths, so you mentioned the shorter version. If they got that first, that version may’ve been edited for commercials in another country.I'm not sure that's right. The BBC have re-run the show a few times in recent years (one shortened version that cut a couple of group songs like 'I Fell in Love with You' and a longer version). Obviously there was no logo on the picture, so they are presumably still using their own copy of this. The DVD you mention isn't an offical release so they obviously used whichever version of the show they could lay their hands on, hence the Japanese subtitles.
It's hit and miss in terms of which shows survived. The Carpenters and James Taylor shows still exist, but the Bobbie Gentry, Joni Mitchell and Laura Nyro shows have all been lost.
I know that with the BBC they did export their programs, and a lot of there original masters for their taped shows from the 50’s to early 80’s no longer exist. However they have been able to recover some shows that the licensed to other parts of the world, but these are copies of the masters and in some cases SECAM or NTSC conversions. So it’s possible that they’ve recovered a copy from an English speaking country like the US, Canada or Australia. But these copies could also be edited, since different countries have different commercial lengths, so you mentioned the shorter version. If they got that first, that version may’ve been edited for commercials in another country.
Forum member Billy Rees's YouTube site has the video of the complete 1971 BBC broadcast including the Tony Joe White segments and it clocks in at 49 minutes. I think the "Carpenters only" version is about 5 minutes shorter.Hard to say whether the BCC has the original master or not, but in a way it doesn't matter as they've definitely shown the full-length broadcast on occasion - the quality seemed fine to me. The shortened version ran for 30 minutes, which fits better into programming slots (the longer one is 40 minutes I think), so I imagine that's why there are different-length versions.
The BBC has also shown two versions of the 1976 New London Theatre show - a shorter version (which cut songs like the Spike Jones 'Close to You') and a longer version. Again, I suspect this was to fit it into the favoured 30 minute programming slots. BBC4 has shown the full versions of both shows in recent years, but that channel's programming isn't so tied to 30/60 minute slots, so longer shows don't cause that problem.
49 minutes sounds like it was an hour long show originally, as shows (depending on country) from that era generally ran that length without commercials. (The 1960’s Star Trek runs at 51 minutes an episode without commercials for the network masters, or even A Charlie Brown’s Christmas that runs 25:25 without commercials). Compare that to current ad times that take up almost 22 minutes in an hour (since 2016, most 1/2 hour American shows only run 19 minutes and hour shows at 38 minutes without commercials!).Forum member Billy Rees's YouTube site has the video of the complete 1971 BBC broadcast including the Tony Joe White segments and it clocks in at 49 minutes. I think the "Carpenters only" version is about 5 minutes shorter.
"Close To You" was featured on Top of the Pops - remarkably in 1990, 20 years after it was first a hit in the UK!
The song was reissued as a special double A side with "Merry Christmas, Darling" in the UK and Ireland. A nice way to end the year which saw a surprise return by the Carpenters to mainstream popularity (Did they ever truly leave it in the UK?). The single reached it's peak of No.25 the week after this appearance. Not bad for a couple of 20 year old songs in the busy Christmas week.
They went with the MYOKOM video for the show.
As ever, a huge thanks to Billy for uploading this video
Their only appearance on Top of the Pops was 23rd September 1971. They performed Help and Superstar.
| Next Episode | Install |
38 | 23rd September 1971Presenter: Jimmy Savile Playlist: (7) Marmalade – Cousin Norman (crowd dancing) (and charts) (23) Engelbert Humperdinck – Another Time, Another Place (19) Jethro Tull – Life Is A Long Song (video) (27) Cat Stevens – Moon Shadow (NEW) The Elgins – Put Yourself In My Place (4) Middle Of The Road – Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum (ALBUM TRACK) The Carpenters – Help (ALBUM TRACK) The Carpenters – Superstar (21) The Fortunes – Freedom Come, Freedom Go (1) The Tams – Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me (crowd dancing) (25) Mungo Jerry – You Don’t Have To Be In The Army To Fight In The War (crowd dancing) (and credits) |
Thanks for the extra info... There are loads of pictures of them with the same set that have been officially labeled as in the TOTP studio, but I believe these were taken of the rehearsal, not the final broadcast performance.Had to sign up to dispel a few misconceptions here.
The Carpenters performed live in the TOTP studio twice, broadcast on 23rd September 1971, Help & Superstar.
Superstar was repeated on 14th October 1971, hosted by Tony Blackburn, giving you another chance to re-discover th performance.
A lost edition from as early as 1971 would be an incredibly rare find. Your only hope is that the performances are in the hands of a private collector. (They may well be, last year a haul of tapes from TOTP including clips from the 7th October episode were rediscovered after a Welsh man recorded them, we don’t know the entire contents of the tape collection, but as early as 7th October should be a good sign for you)
Karen Carpenter of American vocal duo The Carpenters performs on the...
Karen Carpenter of American vocal duo The Carpenters performs on the set of a music television show in London in November 1971.www.gettyimages.co.uk
supposedly Karen in the TOTP studio in September 1971. If anyone has any reason to doubt that this picture is from TOTP, e.g. it may be from the TV special around that time instead, let me know. I’m no Carpenters expert.