TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

From TV Times "A new series, a new sound, a new group - in other words the New Seekers."

Keith Potger's decision to continue with The Seekers' name after their demise probably surprised many, but in the late sixties groups were assembled to order by managers to fulfil what they saw as a gap in the market. The Monkees and Toomorrow were both assembled to cash in on the teen market to greater, or lesser, extent.

Potger relocated to the UK, first to provide jingles for commercial television, but then deciding to assemble a new group based around fellow Australian Marty Kristian and Eve Graham, an experienced singer from Scotland. Potger himself sang with the group for the first few months, making their UK TV debut on Thames' The Frankie Howerd Show in August 1969. Their debut album (without Potger) was released by Philips in 1969 to no success, so Potger joined for the second one which resulted in an American hit, a cover version of Melanie's "What Have They've Done To My Song, Ma", once he had re-tooled the band, with Eve Graham's colleague from The Noctures, Lyn Paul, joining.

More TV work was not forthcoming, despite acres of shows like The Cliff Richard Show, Cilla, Crackerjack, Discotheque and others offering plenty of opportunities to bands like theirs. So it was something of a surprise that Scottish TV not only gave them their own show, but their own series. The line up for this version of the group was Keith Potger, Eve Graham, Sally Graham, Laurie Heath, Marty Kristian and Chris Barrington.

Produced in colour the show was given a prime-time slot, starting on Good Friday and continuing for seven shows. During the run a couple of other TV shows, The Golden Shot and The Young Generation invited them on before their Top Of The Pops debut in July 1970.

According to Lyn Paul on her website each show had a theme, for example one show would be children's songs.

The public did not take to the show at all with several complaints seemingly targeted at the band. But despite the complaints, the series was shown on several ITV channels, sold to Canada, Australia and Sweden with interest from other countries as a result of being shown at the international television market in Cannes. By the summer of 1972 The New Seekers were one of the world's most popular groups with another series of their own, Wow, on ABC TV in America.

FINDERS SEEKERS

Scottish

27th March 1970 - 8th May 1970