TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

Britain's first dedicated culture review aimed at the black community. Although some black actors and even fewer black presenters had been seen on TV it had taken an extraordinarily long time for any kind of meaningful black representation on British TV. Coming in the wake of the 1981 riots in Liverpool and south London, it sought to represent all areas of life with the first show featuring an article about a park keeper, while another took on vigilantes.

Coming out of BBC Bristol it featured new British music talent among more established artists. The first series featured Imagination, Aswad, Gregory Isaacs, Shalamar, Grace Jones, while the 1983 series had Misty In Roots, Mikey Dread, a special on Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. A compilation featured in August 1984's Rock Around The Clock marathon on BBC2 ahead of a new series, starting in November which featured Bizmillah, Ruby Turner and a new theme performed by Mikey Dread.

By 1988 it seemed to have dropped the weekly music guests in favour of a news and reports format, while the final series in 1989 saw it split into two new shows, Ebony People, beginning 2nd June 1989 which looked at the lives and careers of individuals and Ebony On The Road, starting 18th July 1989 in which it broke out of its studio confines to tour the country with the first show coming from Toxteth in Liverpool. This new version (made by Pebble Mill in Birmingham) was co-hosted by Brinsley Forde from Aswad, who had also been featured in the second edition of Ebony People.

EBONY / EBONY PEOPLE / EBONY ON THE ROAD

BBC2

3rd November 1982 - 22nd August 1989