TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

From Radio Times "Peter Powell introduces a summer series designed to bring a splash of holiday colour to Saturday evenings."

Someone at the BBC had made the questionable decision to bring Radio One's annual summer roadshow to TV on a Saturday evening. The public would have been familiar with the faces of the DJs from Top Of The Pops, but it didn't necessarily mean that they liked them and wanted to see them again at the weekend. Quite why BBC in Manchester was chosen to make the show is unknown since the shows mostly came from coastal towns.

Each show would pitch up at a different town, just as Seaside Special did the decade before, but this time it would be Norwich instead of Great Yarmouth and Depeche Mode instead of Sacha Distel. For some reason Passengers by Elton John was chosen to open each show.

Each week two musical acts appeared at a local night club, however the travelling Radio One stage would be put to use as each host DJ had to compete a challenge, and introduce a surprise band (usually non-stars on the plugging trail), while the sarcastic and off-putting John Walters had been given his own section Walters' Weekend hoping that the ouffledust that made John Peel a TV personality would land on him.

The Kings of 1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood were the stars of the first show, while Nik Kershaw, The Thompson Twins, Spandau Ballet, Ultravox, Level 42 and others made the show feel like Top Of The Pops had gone on holiday.

"Sun, sea, stars and summer sounds-all part of a fast-moving 30 minutes to put you in a holiday mood" claimed the Radio Times, but after visiting each town the show wasn't invited back.

ONE ON THE ROAD

BBC1

28th July 1984 - 1st September 1984