TV Pop Diaries

Popular Music on British Television

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SHANG-A-LANG

Granada
1st April 1975 - 26th August 1975

Granada signed the Rollers to host a tea-time pop show in the hope of catching the band before they faded into obscurity.

Produced by ex-Southern veteran Mike Mansfield the series showed the band at their best, performing (actually miming) in front of an audience of screaming girls, and at their worst, pretending to be interested in the other acts on the show.

Regular features included interviews with celebrities from television and pop, an archive spot ‘let’s roll back’, and ironically, guitar lessons from a real legend, Big Jim Sullivan (the Rollers were renown for not playing on their own records).

A video compilation of surviving shows was released in 1993.