The Tube Intro, Theme Tune - Channel 4 TV UK - 1982-1987 music series

Описание: The Tube was a UK music television programme, which ran for five series, from 5 November 1982 to 26 April 1987. It was produced by Tyne Tees Television for Channel 4.

The Tube was presented live by hosts including Jools Holland, Paula Yates, Leslie Ash, Muriel Gray, Gary James, Michel Cremona, Nick Laird-Clowes and Mike Everitt.

The Tube was a showcase for many emerging 1980s bands. Artists who played on The Tube included: ABC, The Art of Noise, The Assembly, The Associates, Aztec Camera, B.B. King, Big Country, Bon Jovi, The Boomtown Rats, Cardiacs, Chaka Khan, Cliff Richard, Cocteau Twins, The Cramps, Culture Club, Curiosity Killed the Cat, Cyndi Lauper, The Damned, Dennis Brown with Sly and Robbie, Depeche Mode, Dexys Midnight Runners, Die Ärzte, Dire Straits, Divine, Stephen Duffy, Duran Duran, Dio, Echo & the Bunnymen, Vow Wow, Elvis Costello, The Fall, Fatal Charm, Flock of Seagulls, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Charged G.B.H., Go West, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Gregory Isaacs and Roots Radics, Gun Club, Hanoi Rocks, Heaven 17, Howard Jones, The Human League, Icicle Works, Iggy Pop,Immaculate Fools, INXS, Judas Priest, Kajagoogoo, Killing Joke, King, King Sunny Adé, Level 42, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Madness, Madonna, Magnum, Meat Loaf, Motörhead, Ofra Haza, OMD, Pat Benatar, Paul Young, Pet Shop Boys, Prefab Sprout, The Pretenders, Queen, The Proclaimers, Propaganda, The Psychedelic Furs, Public Image Ltd, The Rainmakers, Robert Palmer, R.E.M., Scraping Foetus off the Wheel, Shalamar, Silent Running, Simple Minds, Simply Red, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soft Cell, Spear of Destiny, SPK, Squeeze, Stump, The Style Council, Sylvester, Talk Talk, Tears for Fears, Terence Trent D'Arby, Terry and Gerry, The Smiths, The Cult, The Cure, The Dream Academy, The Jam, The Mission, The Pogues, The Pretenders, The Stranglers, The Toy Dolls, The Weather Girls, Then Jerico, Thin Lizzy, Thomas Dolby, Thompson Twins, Tina Turner, Tom Waits, Twisted Sister, U2, Ultravox, Voice of the Beehive, Wall of Voodoo, Wham!, Whitney Houston, XTC, Yarbrough and Peoples, Yazoo, ZZ Top, New Model Army.

The Tube was an important outlet for the performers, and provided a turning point in the careers of many of them. For The Proclaimers, performing "Letter from America" on The Tube was instrumental in helping the Scottish duo to their first top ten UK hit; it was also responsible for introducing Frankie Goes to Hollywood to their record label ZTT and its co-owner, and their producer Trevor Horn.

In addition to being the launchpad for new and upcoming performers, The Tube became known for its high profile music performance 'scoops' from established world class bands such as U2 live at Red Rocks, Robert Plant, Bo Diddley and ZZ Top. The show was also fortunate to persuade Ringo Starr to give one of the first post-Beatles interviews in an extended article on his work with Marc Bolan and T. Rex, filmed at his then (and previously John Lennon's) house, Tittenhurst Park.

The Jam performed on the first edition of the show in 1982, it was their last live TV appearance together before they split up at the end of the year.

The cornerstone of the shows was the live performances from three or four bands each week. In an era where most music TV shows featured non-stop miming, the fully live sets by the guest artists were innovative (but the sound mix was often very poor, with a curious quality that made it sound like everything had been 'phased'). The programme would start with a 45-minute magazine section consisting of interviews, fashion items and comedy appearances by a wide range of alternative artistes such as Mark Miwurdz, Frank Sidebottom, Vic Reeves (before his association with Bob Mortimer), Foffo Spearjig and even French & Saunders. During this section Yates would become known for conducting rather flirtatious interviews: in 1985, for example, she prompted Sting to remove his trousers.

The main presenters were supported, for the first two series, by five newcomers who were picked following a nationally advertised competition: these were Muriel Gray, Gary James, Nick Laird-Clowes, Michel Cremona and Mike Everitt. The supporting presenters took turns to co-present. The show usually featured four or five band appearances per week, with one main extended session to close. The format of the show was extended following Series 1 with a number of special events - most notably A Midsummer Night's Tube (1984), a 5-hour version broadcast live from the Tyne Tees studios, the pub across the road from the studios and The Hoppings annual fair in Newcastle. This ground breaking broadcast was, at the time, the longest continuous live music show in television history and received much critical and technical acclaim.

'The Tube' took its name from the plastic-roofed structure that linked Tyne Tees Studio 5 to the street. This has now been demolished.

No. of series 5, No. of episodes: 121, Running time: 90 minutes (inc. adverts)