Pan's People

Over on fav blog ‘A Novice Novelist’ the question was recently posed; ‘If you were in a band, what would you be?’ For example, are you the fidgety drummer or the extrovert vocalist and so on? But an interesting side issue was raised and it was this; if you were not a musician then what would you be? Roadie, Dancer (Bez-like), a member of Pan’s People? Hmm...I’m not sure I’m the right shape to join Pan’s People (although that didn’t stop Morecambe & Wise) but it’s an interesting thought. After all, where else can you get to boogie to 'The Monster Mash' and wear horror make-up or dance around a load of dogs that promptly and unexpectedly leave the stage?

For all you overseas types who are probably thinking ‘What the hell is he prattling on about?’ Pan’s People was a fondly loved all-female dance troupe who graced episodes of Top of the Pops between 1968 and 1976 to replace bands who were unavailable to appear before the days when music video could step in. Originally they comprised six members, ‘Flick’, ‘Dee Dee’, Babs, Louise, Ruth and Andi and wore colour-coded outfits long before the Spice Girls. The American member, ‘Flick’ Colby, relinquished her dancing role in 1971 to become full time choreographer and the diminutive Cherry replaced the departing Andi in 1972 thus arriving at what many aficionados consider to be the classic line-up. Numerous further changes took place in 1974-5 and by 1976 they were gone.

But why is Pan’s People such a cherished part of our heritage? Why are there countless websites devoted to them and why is YouTube awash with vintage clips? Some recent clips have been painstakingly created by mashing up old footage with contemporary songs thus creating the illusion that they are still operating. However, let’s be honest, their costumes were often 1970s fashion victim disasters, the moves almost ridiculously literal and their dancing synchronicity left a little to be desired. The undisputed fact that they had precious little time to construct and rehearse routines has a bearing here and mitigates for them but it doesn’t answer the question.

I think the real reason why they had so much appeal was that they embodied the role of the ‘enthusiastic amateur’ and they did it with smiling gusto. I do not cast aspersions on their professionalism with this remark as I think to be an ‘enthusiastic amateur’ is a role that strikes deep into the psyche of the average Briton. We love them with a vengeance from the Sherlock Holmes of literature to the contestants in reality shows. We don’t like our heroes to be too perfect, we like them to be underdogs in the face of overbearing authority. Triumph by enthusiasm is enough and that’s exactly what Pan’s People achieved and it's why they are still well loved by people of a certain age.

For those of you who wish to learn more, join the forum at http://www.panspeople.com/

After extensive research on YouTube (well, someone’s got to do it), I found this neat compilation of PP doing what my dad would call ‘flinging yourself around’.