Revolver is a British music TV series on ITV that ran for one series only, of eight episodes, in 1978. It was produced by ATV. The series producer was Mickie Most, who was inspired to make the programme after he saw an interview with Top of the Pops' producer Robin Nash, in which he boasted that TOTP was a music programme that the whole family could enjoy together. Most set out to make a show which was the antithesis of that, and which featured live music performances most closely related to the then emergent Punk rock and New Wave music scenes - though it also included other more mainstream artists such as Kate Bush, Dire Straits and Lindisfarne. The official host of the programme was Chris Hill, but it is remembered more for the contributions of Peter Cook. Cook played the manager of the fictional ballroom where the show was supposedly taking place, and frequently made disparaging remarks about the acts appearing.
DirectorChris Tookey
CreatorMickie Most
Episode 1
May 20, 1978
XTC perform This Is Pop, there's a rare live performance from Kate Bush, singing Them Heavy People, a very funny, (if you're not Dutch), novelty song by John Dowie & The Policemen called British Tourist, reggae from Steel Pulse, performing Ku Klux Klan, plus two songs each from The Rich Kids and headliners The Tom Robinson Band.
Episode 2
Jul 22, 1978
Headliners The Boomtown Rats sing Like Clockwork and She's So Modern. The Stranglers perform Tank and Curfew. Also on the bill are Punk Rock performances from The Autographs, The Lurkers, and The Boyfriends, plus Hi-Tension and Kandidate.
Episode 3
Jul 29, 1978
Headliners Ian Dury & The Blockheads perform What a Waste and, Billericay Dickie. The Vibrators are here with Judy Says (Knock You In The Head). We get two songs from The Buzzcocks, Noise Annoys and Love You More, and Siouxsie & The Banshees do Hong Kong Garden. Bonnie Tyler performs on video plus performances by The Roy Hill Band, and unsigned band Sore Throat.
Episode 4
Aug 5, 1978
Headliners Elvis Costello & The Attractions give us This Year's Girl and Radio Radio. From Nick Lowe, with Rockpile, there's Heart of the City and They Call it Rock. Fay Fife and The Rezillos perform Top of the Pops. There's reggae from Matumbi, singing Empire Road, plus Forget About You by The Motors (with The Dodgers) and two from unsigned Brent Ford & The Nylons, (not the a cappella group).
Episode 5
Aug 12, 1978
The Jam are onboard, with David Watts and 'A' Bomb In Wardour Street. Dire Straits perform Sultans of Swing. The Fabulous Poodles are here, with Morning Star, and The Boomtown Rats are back, with Don't Believe What You Read. On tape, Beat-Club regulars Julie Driscoll, Brian Augur & The Trinity perform This Wheel's On Fire, from a 1968 edition of Top of the Pops, plus reggae from Jab Jab, and two tunes from Kool & The Gang clones Heatwave.
Episode 6
Aug 19, 1978
The Motors, The Shirts, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Steve Gibbons Band, Goldie, Patrick Fitzgerald, Suzi Quatro
Episode 7
Aug 26, 1978
Eddie Kidd, X Ray Spex, Roy Hill Band, Lindisfarne, Merger, Cgas 5, Eddie & The Hotrods
Episode 8
Sep 2, 1978
David Coverdale & Whitesnake, The Tourists, The Rich Kids, The Only Ones, The Showbiz Kids, The Darts
