TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

From the TV Times “News, views and comments from Britain's most popular DJ, plus the cream of the week's new releases.”

Tony Blackburn would claim in a 1979 Southern TV documentary that the public had been given a chance to vote on which TV show they preferred - the choices being As You Like It, New Release and Countdown. The public chose not to like any of them, so a re-vamp of New Release was proposed and this became Time For Blackburn.

It first got an airing on ATV London on 24th February 1968, nearly a week before its actual debut Southern transmission. Local ITV stations would only show programmes if they could find the time in their schedules, leading to transmission date confusion. It's possible that the first show was only shown by ATV London as Southern's first transmission on 1st March appears to be a different edition. The show was replaced on Southern the following week by ATV's sit-com Sam and Janet. ATV London broadcast the show early Saturday evening running it back to back with ABC's Doddy's Music Box until it ran its course, with Time For Blackburn effectively becoming its replacement. To emphasise the mess the ITV network could get itself into Disc announced "Show will now be screened by Southern, Ulster, Grampian and Scottish on Saturday; Tyne Tees and Border on Monday; and London Weekend, Harlech and Anglia the following Friday." Thankfully, it transpires most stations showed it on a Saturday, but some ITV channels like Granada ignored it initially and ABC entirely. Various ITV channels took it and then dropped it in favour of ABC's comedy Just Jimmy. Another scheduling issue, this time with the BBC, saw the show debut on Fridays, but after clashing with BBC1's All Systems Freeman Southern blinked and moved their show to a Saturday evening after a couple of editions.

From Disc 19th October 1968 "SPECTACULARS on the Beach Boys, Kinks and Bee Gees; "Revived 45" spots with groups like Manfred Mann with Paul Jones and Peter and Gordon; request spots; new faces never seen on TV; jam sessions with top men from different groups; and regular spots from London's famous "Revolution" club ... these are just some of producer Mike Mansfield's ambitious plans for the new look "Time For Blackburn" show, which is nationally networked this week." Sadly, most of this never happened. Mike Mansfield told Disc "Tony Blackburn and the production team will be travelling with the Bee Gees on their train through their German tour, and a special show will be built round them, with interviews, off-duty shots and 'live' songs from their concerts. There are several groups who can do so much more than just plug their latest record, and I want to get away from the `plug show' formula, which is so predictable."

"I shall be doing a whole show with the Kinks, possibly using one other top artist to sing a Ray Davies' song-and the Beach Boys will have their own show from the studio, doing both old surfing hits and their new material. This show will be seen in London on December 13. I also want to introduce a 'Revived 45' spot. There are so many fantastic records, which just get forgotten after two months. I'm hoping to bring Paul Jones and the Manfreds together to sing one of their old hits-and Peter and Gordon. Also songs like "Silence Is Golden" by the Tremeloes, and old Dusty Springfield hits are worth hearing again. There will be a regular request spot from viewers on the show and at least one new face every week. There are so many good artists who never get a TV show. 'Time For Blackburn' wants to change that. Joe Cocker's only TV show for `Marjorine' was our programme. I also want to arrange jam sessions with people like Keith Moon, Eric Clapton and Paul Jones-the sort of thing you would only see once in a lifetime."

Produced by Southern TV regular Mike Mansfield, the show would on occasion use inserts filmed at London’s Revolution Club, while Blackburn would introduce the acts and clips from the studio in Southampton. Johnny/Johnnie Pearson was hired to be the the musical director, a job he would also do at Top of the Pops. The opening credits for the first shows had Blackburn emerge from a just-landed helicopter and heading for a waiting sports car with a Time For Blackburn number plate.

Talking to the Daily Mirror in late July 1968 he confessed to envying the position of one of his colleagues, "Something like Simon Dee's I envy him talking and meeting interesting people. Interviewing pop people all the time becomes so limiting."

The show was deemed successful enough to extend its scheduled finale from the end of June until the end of the year, however with the new ITV contracts coming into force in July and August Southern would have to negotiate with each one to ensure a network showing.

In August the show briefly moves to Friday and then back to Saturday, while George Alexander of Grapefruit was asked to record a new theme for the show, so Southern must have thought it had a future. In late August London Weekend and ATV decided not to continue with the show, but it return to London Weekend in late October on Fridays.

The show had weekly guest reviewers to give their opinion on the songs just performed, leading to embarrassment and resentment. It was amazing that any acts turned up at all, given the potential for humiliation. Disc referred to the show as "Time For Embarrassment."

One edition made news headlines when on the 20th July 1968 The Crazy World of Arthur Brown performed Fire on the show and Brown's hair caught fire. The show also caught The Rolling Stones on stage at the NME Pollwinners’ Concert at Wembley, two years' after ABC stopped regularly broadcasting the show.

The one surviving edition from October 1968 features The Who.

Mansfield would leave Southern TV in February 1969 to work for Associated London Scripts, a division of the Robert Stigwood Organisation and Blackburn would find gainful employment at BBC Television Centre on Top Of The Pops.

TIME FOR BLACKBURN!

Southern

24th February 1968 to 4th January 1969