The Rock Follies/Follies of '77
1 9 7 6 - 1 9 7 7 (UK)
12 x 50 minute episodes
The Rock Follies followed the fortunes of
singers Dee (Julie Covington, who later went on to fame as Evita with Don't
Cry For Me Argentina), Anna (Charlotte Cornwell) and Q (Rula
Lenska), through the ruthless world of the music business with all
it's ups and downs. The three girls initially meet up at a West End
audition for a 1930s musical called Broadway Annie. Dee is
working as a magician's assistant, Anna is a "resting" actor
and 'Q' has been starring in skin flicks. Fate brings them together
and they become The Little Ladies, dreaming of gigging at Wembley as
the greatest female rock group in the world.
The Little Ladies tour Britain singing in pubs, bingo
halls, discos and clubs, and when they earn an encore at Cambridge,
they know their plan is working. Meanwhile, Dee picks up a groupie who
becomes their roadie. Following a number of ups and downs, the group
meet Stavros Kuklas, a Greek millionaire who has decided to diversify
from shipping into rock 'n' roll. Stavros doesn't like their style,
their look, their clothes, their songs or their arrangements - but he
does like their raw material. He has big plans, big ideas and an image
change for the girls, which results in them becoming a sensation at
'Idols' nightclub.
 In the second series, Follies of '77, The
Little Ladies are managed by the dynamic and splendidly outrageous
Kitty Schreiber (Beth Porter), whose catchphrase is
"Kray-Zee".
Hitting the recording studio, success becomes a
reality for the girls as the group score on Rock Box, a TV
show, with their single Welcome to the Follies of '77. And at
the Electric Empire they pack in the fans. However, their success
begins to create tensions, and Kitty has her hands full trying to
paper over the cracks. The girls are briefly joined by a Welsh singer,
Rox, making the group a quartet.
The Little Ladies celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's
Silver Jubilee with an electrifying tour and finally make it all the
way to Wembley. But as the show bit the dust, Anna discovers that her
voice had been re-recorded behind her back by Dee.
This show was very hip at the time Drugs, Sex, Gays,
the whole seventies trip . . . and it was as exciting visually as it
often was musically. Dee and Anna were the only two who could actually
sing but Q looked fantastic! The original Rock Follies series
aired between February 24th and March 30th, 1976. The Follies of
'77 series aired between May 4th and June 8th, 1977.
 Two albums of surprisingly good music from the series
were released. The songs on the albums were;
Sugar Mountain/Good Behaviour/Stairway/ Daddy/Lamplight/The Road/Glenn Miller Is
Missing/Biba Nova/Talking Pictures/Hot Neon/Roller Coaster/Rock
Follies
Follies of '77/Struttin' Ground/ Round 1/The Hype/
Dee's
Hype/The Things You Have To Do/The Band That Wouldn't Die/Wolf At The
Door/Loose Change/Jubilee/OK?/Real Life.
A few years after The Rock Follies ended, the
Americans attempted to recreate the success with Three Girls Three. It
was described as "a variety show about the lives of three
cabaret-style singers". It did not translate well and was a flop.
EPISODES
The Show Business
The
Little Ladies
The
Road
The
Talking Pictures
The
Pounds Sterling
The
Blitz |
The Band Who Wouldn't Die
The
Empire
The
Hype
The
Loony Tunes
The
Divorce
The
Real Life |
|
|
