The Secret Policeman's Other Ball was the fourth of the benefit shows staged by the British Section of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

field. It was the second of many shows to bear the celebrated "Secret Policeman's" title that became the iconic series known informally as The Secret Policeman's Balls. The show took place at the

Drury Lane theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

in London over four nights between Wednesday 9 September and Saturday 12 September 1981. It was a successor to the 1979 show The Secret Policeman's Ball. Not all artists appeared at all performances:

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

, for example, could not commit to all four and was present at the last two shows only. The show was directed by

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over fou ...

alumnus

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

and produced by Martin Lewis and Peter Walker (Amnesty's fundraising officer). It subsequently yielded two separate movies (one version for the UK, directed by

Julien Temple Julien Temple (born 26 November 1953) is a British film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including '' The Great Rock 'n' Rol ...

, and a quite different version for the US) and two record albums (one each of comedy and music performances). The film was distributed by

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a lea ...

. The budget of the 1981 film was £125,000.BRITISH PRODUCTION 1981 Moses, Antoinette. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 51, Iss. 4, (Fall 1982): 258. The show was very influential in galvanizing rock musicians to become involved in the human rights issue and in other political and social causes in subsequent decades. Musicians who performed at the show who subsequently became activists in various fields include

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-earth ...

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part o ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

and

Midge Ure James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980 ...

Track listing of the music album

;Side 1 # " Roxanne" – Sting (3:06) # " Message in a Bottle" – Sting (3:44) # "'Cause We've Ended as Lovers" –

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a fo ...

and Eric Clapton (3:47) # "

Farther Up the Road "Farther Up the Road" or "Further On Up the Road" is a blues song first recorded in 1957 by Bobby "Blue" Bland. It is an early influential Texas shuffle and features guitar playing that represents the transition from the 1940s blues style to the ...

" – Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton (4:46) # "Crossroads" – Jeff Beck and Clapton (4:15) # " I Don't Like Mondays" – Bob Geldof and

Johnny Fingers Johnnie Fingers (born John Peter Moylett, 10 September 1956) is an Irish keyboardist and co-founding member of the new wave band The Boomtown Rats. He was notable for his attire of striped pyjamas on stage and his melodic piano style. Backgroun ...

(4:54) ;Side 2 # "

In The Air Tonight "In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, ''Face Value'', in January 1981. Collins co-produced "In the Air Tonight" w ...

" – Phil Collins (5:10) # "The Roof Is Leaking" – Phil Collins (3:34) # " The Universal Soldier" –

(3:00) # " Catch The Wind" – Donovan (2:32) # "

I Shall Be Released "I Shall Be Released" is a 1967 song written by Bob Dylan. Dylan recorded two primary versions. The first recording was made in collaboration with the Band during the Basement Tapes sessions in 1967, and released on '' The Bootleg Series Volu ...

" – The Secret Police (9:20)

Charts

Track listing of the VHS

# "Roxanne" – Sting # "Message in a Bottle" – Sting # "Farther Up The Road" – Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton # "'Cause We've Ended as Lovers" – Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton # "The Roof Is Leaking" – Phil Collins # "In The Air Tonight" – Phil Collins # " Sunshine Superman" – Donovan # "Catch The Wind" – Donovan # "

Colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...

" – Donovan # "I Don't Like Mondays" – Bob Geldof and Johnny Fingers # " Glad to Be Gay" – Tom Robinson # "

Won't Get Fooled Again "Won't Get Fooled Again" is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by Pete Townshend. It was released as a single in June 1971, reaching the top 10 in the UK, while the full eight-and-a-half-minute version appears as the final track ...

" –

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Towns ...

# "Drowned" – Pete Townshend # "I Shall Be Released" – The Secret Police

Track listing of the comedy album

;Side 1 # ''A Word of Thanks'' (w:Rowan Atkinson/John Cleese/Ronald Eyre) performed by Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese and John Bird. # ''Road Safety'' – Rowan Atkinson. # ''Australian Motor Insurance Claims'' – Jasper Carrott. # ''Card Dance'' (w:Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Marty Feldman for 'At Last the 1948 Show') performed by John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor. They are dressed in evening suits but are pretending to be naked - and each perform with two pieces of cardboard discreetly placed (Tim's pieces of paper get progressively smaller during the routine). # ''Had It Up To Here'' –

Victoria Wood Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over se ...

. # ''Men's Talk'' (w:Alan Bennett) performed by Alan Bennett and John Fortune. # ''What's on in Stoke Newington'' –

Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th gre ...

. ;Side 2 # ''The Royal Australian Prostate Foundation'' (w:Chris Langham) performed by

Dame Edna Everage Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, is a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured ("wisteria hue") hair and cat eye glasses ("face furniture"); her favourite flower, t ...

. # ''Denis on the Menace'' – John Wells. # ''Beekeeping'' (w:Brooke-Taylor/Chapman/Cleese and Feldman for 'At Last the 1948 Show') performed by Rowan Atkinson and John Cleese. # ''Song in a French Accent'' –

Neil Innes Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the M ...

. # ''Divorce Service'' (w:John Cormack) performed by Rowan Atkinson, Griff Rhys Jones, Pamela Stephenson and John Fortune. # ''Reading the Riot Act'' –

Chris Langham Christopher Langham (born 14 April 1949) is an English writer, actor, and comedian. He is known for playing the cabinet minister Hugh Abbot in the BBC sitcom '' The Thick of It'', and as presenter Roy Mallard in '' People Like Us'', first on B ...

. # ''Top of the Form'' (w:John Cleese) performed by John Cleese, Griff Rhys Jones, John Fortune, Rowan Atkinson, Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Bird and Graham Chapman. # ''Drinking'' – Billy Connolly.

Performers

The performers in the stage production were: *

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–20 ...

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...

, John Bird,

Tim Brooke-Taylor Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE (17 July 194012 April 2020) was an English actor and comedian best known as a member of The Goodies. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at the University of Cambridge and became president ...

, Jasper Carrott, Graham Chapman,

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

, John Fortune,

Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (born 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film pr ...

Griff Rhys Jones Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. Rhys Jones came to national attention in the 1980s for h ...

, Pamela Stephenson,

, John Wells and

References

External links

* * ''The Secret Policeman's Other Ball'' VHSat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Policeman's Other Ball, The 1982 films Amnesty International Benefit concerts in the United Kingdom Films directed by Julien Temple British comedy films September 1981 events in the United Kingdom 1981 in London 1980s English-language films 1980s British films