Sounds on Sunday: 50 years ago – 1976-21

FIFTY YEARS AGO we were humming along to the hits of 1976. Some have magnificently stood the test of time; others have not. Join us on Memory Lane as we review them on their golden anniversaries.

We are, for the second week, marking the loss of one of the greats of the 1970s. We have time, as the number one single from 50 years ago is in the second week of a six-week run.

We are marking the passing of Tim Curry, who made his name playing Frank-N-Furter in the film of The Rocky Horror Show. The film came out in 1975. A cult film, it was played at all serious student union balls for the rest of the 1970s – so we are very close to our aim of playing the music from half a century ago.

Rocky stands alone: a glorious pastiche of several films and genres, a sexually liberated explosion of establishment thinking, and the strong influence of glam rock. It didn’t catch on when it was first released, but was then played as the midnight film in cinemas – and in those student unions. Thus is became a cult. The stage musical has just finished an anniversary tour (with clean-cut Jason Donovan playing Frank, life imitating art).

No matter who plays Frank on stage, Tim Curry was THE Frank-N-Furter. RIP Tim. Enjoy this brief glimpse of his flamboyance. You can find the whole film, with many more great tunes, on YouTube.

●For more Sounds on Sunday, go to:
Sounds on Sunday