''The Tube'' was a United Kingdom music television programme, which ran for five series, from 5 November 1982 to 24 April 1987. It was filmed in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

and produced for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stud ...

, which had previously produced the similar music show '' Alright Now'' and the music-oriented youth show '' Check it Out'' for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

; production of the latter ended in favour of ''The Tube''. ''The Tube'' was presented live by hosts including Jools Holland,

Paula Yates Paula Elizabeth Yates (24 April 1959 – 17 September 2000) was a British television presenter and writer. Yates is best known for her work on two television programmes, '' The Tube'' and ''The Big Breakfast''. She was the girlfriend of musicia ...

Leslie Ash Leslie Ash (born 19 February 1960) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in ''C.A.T.S. Eyes'' (1985–1987), the BBC sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1997), ITV drama '' Where the Heart Is'' (2000–2003), and BBC me ...

Muriel Gray Muriel Janet Gray FRSE (born 30 August 1958) is a Scottish author, broadcaster and journalist. She came to public notice as an interviewer on Channel 4's alternative pop-show ''The Tube'', and then appeared as a regular presenter on BBC radio ...

, Gary James, Mark Miwurdz (Mark Hurst), Michel Cremona, Felix Howard,

Tony Fletcher Tony Fletcher (born 27 April 1964) is a British music journalist best known for his biographies of drummer Keith Moon and the band R.E.M., and also as a show director for the Rock Academy in Woodstock. ''Jamming!'' Born in Yorkshire, England, ...

Nick Laird-Clowes Nick Laird-Clowes (born 5 February 1957, in London, England) is an English musician and composer, best known as the lead singer and one of the principal songwriters for the Dream Academy. He co-wrote songs including " Life in a Northern Town" ...

and Mike Everitt. The show was directed by

Gavin Taylor Gavin Taylor (c. 1942 – 12 June 2013) was a British film and television director. He was known for directing the broadcasts of major concerts and other televised events. Taylor's credits included '' The Tube'' television series, '' U2 Live a ...

; Geoff Wonfor directed some of the insert videos along with other staff programme director of Tyne Tees Television Martin Cairns. Many other specials were made, including one for the eve of the millennium. The brand name was relaunched by Channel 4 as an online radio station in November 2006.

Showcase for contemporary bands

''The Tube'' was a showcase for many emerging 1980s bands. Sunderland band The Toy Dolls were the first band to play live on The Tube. ''The Tube'' was an important outlet for the performers. For

The Proclaimers ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

, 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 Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (singer), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (FGTH drummer), Peter ...

to their record label

ZTT ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by record producer Trevor Horn, Horn's wife and businesswoman Jill Sinclair, and ''NME, New Musical Express'' (NME) journalist Paul Morley. The label's name was also stylised as ZANG TUMB TUUM ...

and its co-owner, and their producer

Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...

. 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 musicians such as U2 live at Red Rocks,

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

and

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...

. The show was also fortunate to persuade

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

to give one of the first post-Beatles interviews in an extended article on his work with

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

and T. Rex, filmed at his then (and previously

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's) house,

Tittenhurst Park Tittenhurst Park is a Grade II listed early Georgian country house set in off London Road at Beggar's Bush near Ascot and over the parish border into Sunningdale, both in the English county of Berkshire. It was famously the home of musici ...

. It was during the 50th show in November 1984 that

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 Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...

allegedly ran into

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 1980s ...

and suggested the idea of a fund-raising single for the Christmas market to help the Ethiopian famine, the project that would become Band Aid and later

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

The Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...

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. Half Man Half Biscuit famously turned down the chance to appear on the show, as

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

were playing that night, even though Channel Four offered to fly them by

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

to the game.

Format

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

Frank Sidebottom Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

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 gr ...

Vic Reeves James Roderick Moir (born 24 January 1959), better known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian, artist, surrealist, musician, actor and television presenter, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mortimer. ...

(before his association with Bob Mortimer), Foffo Spearjig and

French & Saunders ''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is a ...

. 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

, Gary James,

, Michel Cremona and Mike Everitt. The supporting presenters took turns to co-present. Sheffield-born comedian Mark Hurst was also present during the first two series delivering comic monologues in the guise of performance poet Mark Miwurdz. Yates was absent throughout the second series as she was on maternity leave, and was replaced by

. Ash, however, was hospitalised before the second episode, and was replaced by

. When Ash returned, Fletcher was also retained for the remainder of the second series, but both left on Yates' return. 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 The Hoppings is an annual travelling funfair held on the Town Moor in Newcastle upon Tyne, during the last week in June. It is one of Europe's largest travelling funfairs. In recent years, over the course of the nine days it is held, it regularly ...

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. Studio 5 was also used to produce a spin-off show called ''TX45''. This show ran for two series hosted by Chris Cowey and produced by Jeff Brown and featured local bands such as The

Kane Gang The Kane Gang were an English pop trio formed in Seaham in 1982. The group comprised Martin Brammer, Paul Woods and Dave Brewis. They scored several UK and US hits in the 1980s. Named alluding to the movie '' Citizen Kane'', the trio recorded ...

, Caught in the Act, Secret Sam and President. The programme's theme music, the instrumental "TX45", was by

Sophie and Peter Johnston Sophie and Peter Johnston are a British brother and sister synthpop duo originally from Newcastle upon Tyne. They caught the attention of BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel in the 1980s and performed the theme music for the UK music television ...

, based on the song of theirs, "Some Sunny Day". A video clip of them performing it is available. Many stars drank in the neighbouring pub ''The Egypt Cottage'', using it as a

green room In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre or similar venue that functions as a waiting room and lounge for performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on stage. Green rooms typically have ...

. Jools Holland said "A legendary amount of things happened in the Egypt Cottage, and the Rose and Crown when it was on the other side of the road. Everyone – the likes of

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

– who came up for ''The Tube'' will have sat in that pub." The pub was demolished in 2009. Between 1986 and 1987, the series had a summer replacement named ''Wired'' which lasted two series.

Demise

On 16 January 1987, during the fifth series, Jools Holland used the phrase "be there or be ungroovy

fuck ''Fuck'' is an English-language expletive. It often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to aro ...

ers" during a live trailer for the show.'Quite a lot has happened'
Louise Carpenter, The FT , 13 October 2007 . Accessed October 2014 The incident caused a national scandal, as the trailer was transmitted on ITV at 5:15pm (during peak children's viewing time) and the show was taken off air for three weeks as a result. Holland was reprimanded by Channel 4, as he had also previously sworn on the live show itself. The show's producer,

Malcolm Gerrie Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to: People * Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld Nobility * Máe ...

, and Tyne Tees' Director of Programmes,

Andrea Wonfor Andrea Jean Wonfor also known as Andrea Duncan (31 July 1944 – 10 September 2004) was a British television executive and producer. Her successes included '' The Tube'', ''The Big Breakfast'', ''Byker Grove'' and '' The Word''. Life Wonfor was ...

, announced their resignations in March. They cited as reasons for doing so a mixture of internal bickering, political pressure and "stifling bureaucracy and heavy-handed moralism". A further series was never commissioned. Some people close to the show had said Holland's swearing was seen as a convenient excuse for ending the show. The presenters' live interviews and filmed magazine items were nervously watched by the show's producers and editors as well as Channel 4 executives, especially when certain pop stars and celebrities not known for their shy and retiring nature were being featured. It was this that gave the show the curious feeling of 'anything might happen' that actually made it the success it was. For Holland, Yates and Gray it was the launch pad for successful careers in television. In 1999 ''The Tube'' was brought back for a one-off live special on

Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

entitled "The Apocalypse Tube". Hosted by

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Chris Moyles Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974) is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of ''The Chris Moyles Show'' on Radio X. Previously he has presented ''The Chris Moyles Show'' on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 20 ...

and

Donna Air Donna Marie Theresa Air (born 2 August 1979) is an English actress, television presenter and media personality. Early life and education Donna Marie Theresa Air was born on 2 August 1979, in Wallsend, North Tyneside, to receptionist Marie (née ...

, the show came live again from Studio 5 at Tyne Tees and the bar of the Egypt Cottage next door. Tube, Tyne Tees, City Road

In 2005

moved from its Television Centre studios on

Newcastle Quayside The Quayside is an area along the banks (quay) of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne (the north bank) and Gateshead (south bank) in Tyne and Wear, North East England, United Kingdom. History The area was once an industrial area and busy com ...

. In July 2006 Studio 5 of the TTTV City Road site was leased by an evangelical money church, and the whole complex was demolished in 2010. The famous Tube neon sign was bought at auction by

Tyne and Wear Museums Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) is a regional group of United Kingdom national museums and the county archives service located across the Tyne and Wear area of north-east England. They have been administered by a joint board of local author ...

for a future display at the

Discovery Museum The Discovery Museum is a science museum and local history museum situated in Blandford Square in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It displays many exhibits of local history, including the ship, '' Turbinia''. It is managed by Tyne & Wear Archives ...

in Newcastle's Blandford Square.

Radio revival

In November 2006, the brand was revived as a radio show, also entitled '' The Tube'' for

Channel 4 Radio Channel 4 Radio was a radio brand in the United Kingdom, launched by Channel Four Television Corporation in January 2007. On 11 October 2008 its closure was announced. It incorporated Oneword, in which Channel 4 purchased a 51% share in 2005, alt ...

. Presenters

Konnie Huq Kanak Asha "Konnie" Huq (; born 17 July 1975) is a British television and radio presenter, screenwriter and children's author. She became the longest-serving female presenter of the British children's television programme ''Blue Peter'', prese ...

, Alex James and

Tony Wilson Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager, impresario and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4. As a co-founder o ...

hosted the main show (''The Tube'') and filler show (''Mind The Gap'').

Available on the Internet

In July 2008 ITN (rights holder for ''The Tube'') signed a deal with

MUZU TV MUZU was an independent online music video site with the largest legal catalogue of online music videos. The video catalogue was licensed by all major record labels Universal Music, Warner Music, Sony Music, independent music labels and niche mu ...

to make ''The Tube'' available online.

Discography

* ''Tube'' – Various Artists, K-Tel, 1984 * ''The Very Best of The Tube'' – Various Artists, Universal Records, 4 November 2002

Transmissions

References

External links

*
Interview with Alex James, presenter of the New 2006 TubeTV Cream
''The Tube'' entry
Channel4radio.comITN Video Channel
on

which includes ''The Tube'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Tube, The 1982 British television series debuts 1987 British television series endings 1980s British music television series Channel 4 original programming English-language television shows Pop music television series Rock music television series Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Tyne Tees Television