The Old Grey Whistle Test (which in its final years was abbreviated to the Whistle Test) was commissioned by David Attenborough and ran from 1971 to 1988. Broadcast annually on BBC Two between 1984 and 1986, Rock Around the Clock was Whistle Test’s all-night celebration of music, combining concerts, documentaries, interviews, and music videos into a themed overnight schedule. In 1986, the 15-hour marathon included Echo & The Bunnymen, a documentary on Genesis, Stan Ridgway and clips of The Smiths.
At 3 am on the morning of 21st September, a slightly bleary-eyed Billy Bragg, Hank Wangford and the late Brendan Croker appeared clustered around two microphones to perform a raw but engaging version of The Flying Burrito Brothers’ Sin City. Calling themselves “The Crooning Crew Cuts”, their performance brings together Bragg’s folk punk bite, Wangford’s satirical country, and Croker’s rockabilly flair.
The song was written by Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons in 30 minutes one morning in 1969. The original has been said to sound “like a world-weary version of the Everly Brothers”. The song defines the Los Angeles country-rock movement and endures as a sharp, cynical anthem of the music industry. Wangford (otherwise known as Dr Sam Hutt) had a connection to Parsons, having been his doctor when he spent some time in London in the early 1970s.
Bragg had already recorded a studio version of the song with Wangford as part of the sessions for his Talking With the Taxman About Poetry album, which saw the light of day in August 1986 on the B side of the Waiting for the Great Leap Forward single. This song, together with another recording Bragg made with Wangford in 1986, of the Guthrie/Hoffman song Deportees, arguably marks the Barking Bard’s first foray into americana, paving the way for his Mermaid Avenue sessions with Wilco in 1997 and 1998.
Great days, Darren. I can’t believe it was forty years ago.