‘Extravaganza’ will be celebrating its Golden Anniversary. But how should Ashley and John mark it?
On Saturday morning, 2nd October 1971 schoolboy, Ashley Franklin and BBC tea boy, John Holmes walked into BBC Radio Nottingham’s Studio 1 and launched what was to become the legendary weekly rock show, ‘Extravaganza’. To schedule a progressive music show at such an important weekend timeslot should have been doomed to failure, yet it struck a chord for the youth of Nottingham and became a success that is still talked about today.
Every edition had an Album of The Week. On the first show it was Emerson, Lake, & Palmer’s ‘Tarkus’.
As the show grew in stature it didn’t just feature the national bands, but also showcased local groups such as Gaffa, Plummet Airlines, Cisco, Wheels and Matarka. This led the team to launch live concerts at The Playhouse, Old Market Square and along the Victoria Embankment.
And when the progressive rock machine began to wane, Extravaganza was there featuring local punk bands like Some Chicken and The Drains.
On Saturday 2nd October 2021 ‘On Saturday 2nd October 2021 ‘Extravaganza’ will be celebrating its Golden Anniversary. But how should Ashley and John mark it?
Give us your ideas.’ will be celebrating its Golden Anniversary. But how should Ashley and John mark it? Give us your ideas.
Do you have a list of what records of the week you highlighted?
Can you put together a (?Zoom?) meeting of the two of you pulling out tracks from those albums?
(eg Camel – The Snow Goose)
Or particularly memorable gigs?
Among the prog/rock music lovers in our 6th form, Extravaganza was compulsory listening – at least until I went to Uni in Sept 1975.
I sometimes entered the “competitions; on a postcard, please”, but never won owt 🙁
Two tracks I clearly remember:
You played Family-Buffet Tea for two from “It’s Only a Movie”. Great track, not sure about the rest of the album! Being a schoolboy, I waited for it come in 2nd hand at Selectadisc.
Also you played the B-side to ELP’s Jerusalem – “When the Apple Blossoms Bloom in the Windmills of Your Mind I’ll Be Your Valentine” – which you rightly cited as much better than the A-side, along the lines of “wish they would do more like that”…
Interesting to find out exactly when Extravaganza started, because I was a listener back in those early days and I never knew how long it had been running before I discovered it. Looks like I only missed a few. I continued listening when it expanded to include the Tuesday Long One with Phil Holmes.
My main claim to fame is that for a few years I could be considered your spiritual successor because I took over the Radio Nottm Rock Shows when Trevor Dann and Jayce left for greater things. I was a hanger-on from the late 1970s, and was Producer/Presenter in 1981-82.
Kev Chamberlain (me) and Mark Robson could be considered the later versions of John Holmes and Ashley Franklin.