Ruby Flipper - Aria - TOTP TX: 26/08/1976

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The best solo routine by Patti Hammond, showing off how graceful and beautiful she was as a dancer.


Patti you will be missed.




Noel Edmonds looks at the weekly pop chart from 26th August 1976 and introduces Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Robin Sarstedt, Can, The Stylistics, Acker Bilk, The Chi-Lites, Cliff Richard, Gallagher & Lyle and four Ruby Flipper dance sequence's.


The fourth and final offering from this particular edition from Ruby Flipper, is a solo routine by Patti.

Introduced by the joker himself Noel Edmunds as a meaningful love song with lyrics as performed by "the one with the bowler hat is Acker Bilk, the one in the white dress was 'Sidney' from Ruby Flipper' - huge belly laughs all round, Noel you are a "Legend".

This instrumental really gives you goose bumps, a fantastic piece of music from 'Strangers on The Shore' clarinet king Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk (Acker = Somerset slang for Friend), which I think in my opinion this track is mesmerizing and beautifully more arranged than his previous hit. A truly wonderful slice of jazz.

Patti shows off her ballet skills, those straight leg twirls...wow, those imploring hand gestures, the skirt bellowing. We forget that the majority of the girls (Sue, Patti etc) are expert classically trained dancers, but all we see are the girls in routines on TOTP (so not really alot of chance to show off their classical training), not that I'm complaining. So here is a breath of fresh air, as we can see what a skilled and graceful dancer Patti really is.

You could just believe that the song was written for her, as she accompanies this beautifully and with elegance, and the TOTP orchestra, is for once, not intrusive on this track.

Not really much else to say, but sit back and really enjoy this hypnotic wonderful piece of jazz, danced to by a princess (clad in a simple white number - she looks heavenly), even Noel had a tear in his eye (bless)


BBC4 showing in High Quality MPEG2