ABBA on the British Basil Brush Show in 1976?
I have a big confession to make.
I am a Basil Brush fan.
Basil who? some of you may ask. Basil is an adorable glove puppet who I grew up with. Most Brits would know him and a few Aussies too. He is a fox and is famous for his infectious laugh and trademark "boom! boom!".
I had planned to keep this a secret but I purchased the recently released "Best of Basil Brush" on video and I wasn't disappointed. He's a scream. Although aimed at children, Basil still had a way of appealing to adults, slipping in a few adult references which always went over the kids' heads.
Another thing I loved about the video were some guest spots from his show, notably Lulu (one of my faves) and Cilla. I wish they'd release more videos like this.
Anyway, back to the point of this email. I recall a photo of ABBA on a promotional visit to the UK with the fox himself, Basil Brush. I think it must have been 1976 since ABBA were in their white jumpsuits from "Arrival". I have this photo somewhere but wouldn't know where to start looking for it.
I have two questions.
1. Can anyone point me towards a site which has this photo?
2. Does anyone know the circumstances surrounding the picture of Basil and ABBA? Did they appear on his show or was it just one of those photos that stars often pose for?
Any help would be greatly
appreciated.
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Marcus Tustin answers:
I too was a big fan of the Basil Brush Show. His (his? He was a glove puppet for God's sake!) show in the UK was always on BBC1 for half an hour if I recall on a Saturday afternoon at around 5.00pm, and with the News and Weather in-between, was followed by DOCTOR WHO. Therefore, for an hour or more at least, I was hooked to the TV on winter Saturday evenings. Anyway, to answer Grant's question, I distinctly remember ABBA being on the Basil Brush show, performing MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, and I guess that would have been in November/December 1976, whilst they were in the UK to promote ARRIVAL and the single. If I recall correctly, they were in the studio, and I think that Agnetha and Frida wore the posh frocks from the MONEY, MONEY, MONEY video. I don't think that they chatted with Basil Brush though - I think that ABBA, as did other artists appearing on the show, just performed their song and that was that.
It's funny, I hadn't even thought of that appearance in I don't know how long, but Grant just mentions it and the memories (although not that clear) come flooding back...
Marcus Tustin
London, England
Posted on ABBAMAIL,
November 25, 2001
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