Pan's People

September 1966: Beat Girls picture showing original Pan's People dancers; from left, Dee Dee Wilde, Lorelly Harris, Babs Lord, Flick Colby and Penny Fergusson. Dancer and choreographer Diane South, never in Pan's People, is almost completely obscured at the back.

The origins of Pan's People lie in the Dance Centre-based Katy-Dids, a six-girl jazz dance group formed in May 1964 comprising Linda Bywaters, Linda Lawrence, Jenny Ferle, Lyn Wolseley, Diane South and Ann Chapman. This group, renamed the Beat Girls following the commencement of their residence on The Beat Room in July 1964, subsequently appeared on many music and light entertainment TV programmes in the UK and Netherlands.

Following numerous line-up changes, by December 1966 only two members were left who had appeared in The Beat Room, which ended in January 1965:

• Barbara (Babs) Lord,[3] who appeared from September 1964
• Diane South - despite having appeared in the Katy-Dids and Beat Girls since 1964, she was never a regular, for she frequently stood in as choreographer when their choreographer/manager, Gary Cockrell, was unavailable.[4]

The other members at this time were:

• Felicity (Flick) Colby[3] (1946–2011) - recruited in January 1966, though she already had a Dutch TV special, featuring the Beat Girls, built around her.
• Patricia (Dee Dee) Wilde[3] - joined in March 1966, she had attended the Elmhurst School for Dance in Surrey.[5]
• Lorelly Harris - joined around May 1966
• Penelope (Penny) Fergusson - joined around May 1966, a former member of the Royal Ballet School[6]

Following an Equity-backed dispute with their management over pay rates for Dutch shows,[7] three members, Colby, Lord and Wilde, walked out and formed a new group on 8 December 1966 in London.[8] After considering other names, including Dionysus's Darlings they agreed on the name Pan's People, named after the Greek god Pan as the "god of dance, music and debauchery".[9] By 18 December, they were joined by two of the remaining three Beat Girls, Harris and Fergusson. This marked the end of the Beat Girls as a regular act on British television; however, with new recruits joining Diane South,[10] that group continued their Dutch engagements from January 1967, finally ceasing to perform in May 1968.[11]

By Christmas 1966 Pan's People recruited Felicity Balfour (sometimes called Felicity Balfour Smith), who had briefly been in the Beat Girls, and had been a schoolfriend of Dee Dee Wilde. Thus they formed a sextet,[12] with Colby also acting as choreographer.

Press accounts during the lifetime of the group omit the Beat Girls involvement from Pan's People's history;[13][14] however, modern-day recollections include this time[15] though sometimes incorrectly as a continuation of the previous group.[16]

Their first TV appearance was in the Belgian TV programme Vibrato in January 1967, with the initial line-up.[17]

In February/March 1967, Felicity Balfour's contract was terminated, due to her being unsettled in the group. After Pan's People, amongst other subsequent activities she performed with the Denise Shaune dancers, and worked in musical theatre, notably forming part of the original London cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.[18]

Following an audition, Balfour was replaced by Ruth Pearson (1946–2017).[19] Like Lord, Pearson was an original Beat Girls member, performing in the group until early 1966, then in a prior Beat Girls breakaway group, Tomorrow's People.[20]

Pearson also did some of the group choreography over the first two years in the group.[13]

The new line-up with Pearson appeared on The Dickie Valentine Show in September and October 1967, replacing the Beat Girls from the 1966 series. All the Pan's People in this line-up, except for Pearson, had appeared in the earlier series.[21]

The group were to appear in a ballet performed with the Yardbirds in December 1967,[22] but it was cancelled shortly before it was to be performed.

Also in December 1967, Penny Fergusson left to do other work, and was replaced by Louise Clarke (1949–2012)[23] In February 1968 three of Pan's People (Lord, Colby and Wilde) appeared on the West German show Beat Beat Beat with Tom Jones.[24] This series was unique in that Ruth Pearson got sole choreography credit.

In the final change before the Top of the Pops era, Lorelly Harris chose to leave in March 1968, ultimately going into the Bluebell Girls. She was replaced by Andrea (Andi) Rutherford.[3] (1947–2015).[25]

Colby's future husband, James Ramble, was manager, initially in partnership with promoter Rik Gunnell, but solo by the time of his marriage to Colby in 1967. He retained this role into 1970, the year of his divorce from Colby. In 1970 he claimed to have created two rules, one that the dancers must wear their hair down, and second that they must get married rather than have partners;[26] however, the second rule was also reported later the same year as marriage was not allowed until the end of 1971.[27]

Following the end of his management, the troupe members managed themselves - later accounts of the history of Pan's People focus on this second structural phase.[28][29]

Top of the Pops began on 1 January 1964[30] as a weekly programme playing a selection of records from the current charts. From November 1964, Top of the Pops had an all-girl dance troupe regularly appearing, the Go-Jos, formed and choreographed by another ex-Beat Girl, Jo Cook. Through to the beginning of 1968, professional dancing had been restricted to approximately monthly appearances by this group, performing to one track on the show typically where the artist couldn't attend.

This situation began to change in January 1968: whilst still in the Beat Girls, Diane South appeared solo on the show, dancing to the song "Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)".[4]

On several occasions Pan's People presented brochures to the BBC with a view to appearing on Top of the Pops, the last being in March 1968, but up to this point they had not been employed on any BBC programme.[31]

1968: Pan's People (from left, Dee Dee Wilde, Louise Clarke, Babs Lord, Ruth Pearson and Andi Rutherford) accompanying Herman van Veen

In late March 1968, the producers held an open audition for dancers on Top of the Pops to appear on 4 April 1968 to a routine to "Simon Says" by the 1910 Fruitgum Company. Four dancers were engaged, Dee Dee Wilde and Ruth Pearson from Pan's People (who along with the four other Pan's People had auditioned individually rather than as part of a group),[32] and Janice (Janie) Kells and Jackie Dalton (both later in the Young Generation[33]). An established choreographer, Virginia Mason, arranged the dancing.[31] However, a BBC database recording band appearances only indicates 'disc' for this performance, omitting mention of dancers, so there is no direct evidence this performance was ever broadcast.[30]

Following the performance, the two Pan's People participants spoke to the producer of the show, Colin Charman, and persuaded him to hire Pan's People as a group.[34] This led a further routine with three members of Pan's People (Wilde, Pearson and Colby) with no extra dancers, and choreographed by Colby. The exact date and performance varies in different sources, alternatively:

• "Cry Like a Baby" by The Box Tops[31] – the BBC archive indicates this track was only featured on the show on 18 April.
• "Young Girl" by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap[32] – the BBC archive indicates this track was featured on the show on 2, 16 and 23 May, with later showings after known Pan's People performances.[30]

The two early performances are sometimes stated in contemporary sources as Go-Jo performances,[34] but the Go-Jos were not involved.[35]

Subsequently, the entire Pan's People sextet appeared in a routine set to "US Male" by Elvis Presley[8] on 30 May 1968.[31][30]

The final performance of the Go-Jos was either to the 1910 Fruitgum Company,[36] whose track was on Top of the Pops on 4 and 25 April 1968[30] or the Rolling Stones,[37] transmitted on 20 June 1968.[30] By either scenario, Pan's People were left as the sole dance troupe by July 1968.

Following the changes in the line-up during their first year,[12] Pan's People by the time of their first appearance on Top of the Pops were:[38]

• Louise Clarke
• Flick Colby (dancer and choreographer)
• Babs Lord
• Ruth Pearson
• Andi Rutherford
• Dee Dee Wilde

This is often called the 'Original' line-up, though several dancers had joined subsequent to its formation.[39]

In summary:

'Disc' indicates the track is played with the accompanying footage either of the audience or dancers.

'Promo' indicates a video is played.

Penny Fergusson briefly rejoined the group for the Frankie Howerd show (broadcast August to September 1969)[40] when Ruth Pearson worked as a choreographer on the Decidedly Dusty TV show (broadcast September to October 1969).[41] In both 1968 and 1969, Pearson was co-credited with Colby for choreography on some shows.[13]

Two male dancers, Adrian Le Peltier and Gary Downie, also occasionally accompanied the group between 1968 and 1970, in Happening for Lulu,[42] the Bobbie Gentry Show and Top of the Pops.[43]

The group also did shows, their manager said in June 1969, "So far this year they have had 24 free days...to compensate it would be a bad week if the girls didn't pick up at least £90 each".[44] From November 1969, Top of the Pops began broadcasting in colour. Each week, from 22 January 1970 up until September 1970, the group performed a short routine during the opening credits.[45] New titles were produced using Andi Rutherford as a dancer, that debuted on 1 October 1970,[46] however, this was only used for 5 editions before finally being replaced in early November by the iconic C.C.S cover version of 'Whole Lotta Love'.

The earliest known footage of Pan's People on Top of the Pops is rehearsal footage for 1 January 1970 edition.[47]

From 22 January 1970 the programme was extended from 25 to 45 minutes; the group appeared weekly from this point on. Also from this date, Colby as choreographer and the group began to be listed in the end credits of the programme and in Radio Times.[48]

Colby chose to concentrate full-time on choreographing the group's routines,[3] with her last performance as a dancer in February 1972. She was not replaced, so the number of dancers reduced to five.

Andi Rutherford married in December 1971;[49] in September 1972 she ceased dancing due to pregnancy, managing the group till March 1973. She then left on maternity leave though she never returned, eventually forming her own troupe, Sister-matic, in 1976.[50] She was replaced as a dancer in December 1972 by Cherry Gillespie,[3] initially appearing in the show in gift-wrapping.[51]

By this time the line-up was:

• Louise Clarke
• Babs Lord
• Ruth Pearson
• Dee Dee Wilde
• Cherry Gillespie

On 16 May 1974 Clarke made her last performance, dancing to R Dean Taylor's There's a Ghost In My House, leaving Pan's People to start a family; Sue Menhenick was selected to succeed her, and made her first appearance on 6 June 1974, dancing to Summer Breeze by the Isley Brothers.[3]

The dancers rehearsed three days a week for the show. Rehearsals began on the Monday morning prior to that week's show, with Colby scripting a routine, and a costume fitting later the same day. Rehearsals ended with a run-through a few hours before the show on the Wednesday.[52]

However, due to Top of the Pops being a chart show, problems could arise - Pearson recalled: "We can often spend three or four days rehearsing an intricate dance routine to a certain record. Then, on the Tuesday, when the new pop charts come out, we learn that the record we're planning for the show has actually gone down in the charts, instead of up . . . so it's out. Dropped. We then have to do a completely different record number, and go on the programme with maybe only one day's rehearsal on it. This really isn't fair on us, because we are judged on our performance on screen. I'm sure viewers do not know that we've had to change the number, sometimes only a day before we do the show".[53]

In August 1974 the group released a double A-side record You Can Really Rock And Roll Me/The Singer Not The Song on the Epic label[54][55] with Cherry Gillespie on lead vocal. However, it did not chart. A second single, He's Got Magic, followed in 1975 but was again unsuccessful.[56]

In March 1975, Carolyne Argyle joined the group. However, she left the group that June without ever performing, because she was viewed as struggling to learn the routines in the timescales needed for the show.[57] Although she stated an intention to continue dancing, she ultimately had an acting career.[58]

In September 1975 Lord left[38] (after marrying Robert Powell on 29 August), and two members joined the troupe, Mary Corpe and Lee Ward. These were the last permanent additions to the group, and briefly brought its line-up back to six members for the first time since 1972.

After planning to quit earlier in the year to coincide with her planned marriage and the unsuccessful membership of Carolyne Argyle, Dee Dee finally quit in October 1975.

Blue Peter presenter Lesley Judd became a temporary member of the group for a one-off routine, dancing to "Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto De Aranjuez" by Manuel and the Music of the Mountains, transmitted on Top of the Pops on 12 February 1976.[59] The rehearsals and behind-the-scenes footage of the routine were featured on Blue Peter. Judd had been a dancer in the late 1960s and, as an occasional member, had appeared alongside Flick Colby, Babs Lord and Dee Dee Wilde in the Beat Girls 10 years before in the Dickie Valentine Show and in the Pathé film Jetaway Getaway.[60] She had also briefly been in the Go-Jos[61] and Young Generation[62] so was in four prominent 1960s dance groups.