A TOP OF THE POPS Christmas special brought all the memories – and the catchy toe-tapping tune – back to life.
The Floral Dance, by the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, reached No2 in the pop charts and stayed there for nine weeks.
That was in November and December 1977, some 35 years ago.
To the band’s musical director at the time – and the man behind The Floral Dance – it only seems like yesterday.
Derek Broadbent, now 74, received a phone call at his Wyke home at 6.50pm this Christmas Eve.
“Whatever you do, don’t miss Top of the Pops on BBC4 at 7pm,” said the voice.
The Floral Dance was back in the public consciousness thanks to BBC festive nostalgia.
But to anyone who knows the modern-day Brighouse and Rastrick, The Floral Dance has never been away.
“It was nice to see Top of the Pops again but I can remember it well anyway,” said Derek.
“For me it is not a vague, distant memory. It was a lot of fun and a unique time in the life and history of Brighouse and Rastrick.”
Legs & Co, a young Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats, Bonnie Tyler and Leo Sayer were just some of the stars who rubbed shoulders with the 27 down-to-earth bandsmen from deepest, darkest Yorkshire.
All the band had full-time jobs – plumbers, electricians, medics, builders, farmers and so on – and all had to be on standby for Top of the Pops in case The Floral Dance hit the charts.
That means some understanding bosses as work was missed the following day.
Now disgraced Top of the Pops presenter Jimmy Savile was convinced The Floral Dance would be No1.
He was very nearly right. All that kept the single off the top was the third best-selling single of all-time – Mull of Kintyre by Paul McCartney and Wings.
“It was a wonderful time,” recalled Derek. “In 1978 we topped the bill in every major nightclub in the North of England.
“There were an awful lot of stars – who I won’t name – who were down the bill because of us. Who would have believed it?”
Derek, who was resident conductor for 10 years and professional musical director for three years from 1977, was the man who came up with the idea of releasing The Floral Dance.
The band, self-funded through public donation, needed to generate new income and it was suggested that a new record was needed.
The band already sold recordings at its concerts, but more sales were called for.
Derek, who worked in electrical services at the University of Bradford, went away to give it some thought.
And, like a bolt from the blue, The Floral Dance tune came into his head during a lunch break.
The band recorded it as a single but it was far from an overnight success.
“It was released in 1976 and didn’t do anything,” said Derek.
“So we decided to play it at concerts in 1976 and into 1977 and from then played it threadbare.”
The recording, with its easy-to-remember tune, was hugely popular with audiences but its chart breakthrough came courtesy of a BBC producer.
The producer of Terry Wogan’s breakfast show put the single on the airwaves – and the rest is history.
“The record was played at two minutes to eight on Radio 2 and once it had become established that was it,” said Derek.
“Everybody was a little bit taken aback by its success, but we knew from playing it at our concerts how audiences loved it.
“We knew that from the very first time we played it in public. One weekend we performed a concert in the Lake District and I put it on the programme and we recorded it. Such was the reaction you couldn’t hear the last third of it.”
Derek credits the producer and Terry Wogan – who later recorded his own version with another band – for the amazing success.
“Like everything, though, it is down to luck and circumstances,” he added.
“The germ of the idea was correct and the production was correct. Then you just need the luck.”
In Derek’s words Terry Wogan used The Floral Dance “for his own purposes which is fair enough” but he liked the way Terry wrote to him and told him of his plans to record the piece, but only after giving the band every chance to sell as many records as possible.
Though married father-of-one Derek left the band in 1983, he still keeps in regular touch with people from the time, and there was a 25th anniversary reunion in 2002 at which the original band members played again.
“People still talk about The Floral Dance because the band still plays it,” said Derek.
He’s never got fed up with talking about such a special time in his life, but admitted: “I have learned to live with it.”
Asked what he meant by that, he said: “There was a great chunk of time where that was all you were expected to play.
“I suppose that goes along with any really popular hit record. That’s all people want to hear.
“Fortunately there was only a minimum number of people who thought that was all I could do musically. But that didn’t bother me one bit!”
So Derek is happy to watch re-runs of Top of the Pops and be reminded of some great times.
Long live The Floral Dance!
ANDREW WAGSTAFF was one of the youngest bandsmen at the time The Floral Dance became a national phenomenon.
Andrew, of Thongsbridge, was just 20 and worked in the purchasing department at Brook Motors in Honley.
Andrew, now 55, who played tenor horn, was blown away by the success.
“It was an amazing time for me being one of the youngest,” he said.
“It was extremely busy and what I remember is the TV appearances and press interviews.
“Of course Top of the Pops was the highlight, but there were others too. We appeared on This Is Your Life with Terry Wogan.
“They interrupted the last five minutes of his Radio 2 breakfast show and whisked him away to record the programme as live.
“The band came on at the end and Terry later presented us with a gold disc.”
The band was much in demand from the newspapers and there were spreads in most of them. One of the biggest was in the Sunday Times magazine.
“It was a very busy time and a very lucrative time,” said Andrew, whose son Mark followed him into the band.
“The band relied on subscriptions and The Floral Dance set the band up for years.
“As individuals we were amateurs and did not make any money with all the royalties going to band funds,’’ added Andrew. “I’m sure the band still benefits today. It was just a unique moment in time that is unlikely to be repeated.”
Sheridan Fryer, 68, of Brighouse, who also played in the band, said his favourite memory of the time was from Top of the Pops.
“I remember the Boomtown Rats and Bob Geldof. I just assumed that all the bands would arrive and then change into their outfits..
“One of the Boomtown Rats wore pyjamas on stage and I just saw him get out of the taxi wearing his pyjamas!”
The other surprise at the time was that the Brighouse and Rastrick Band was the only group to perform live on the show.
Sheridan, who worked in the building trade, was the butt of jokes about his sudden ‘stardom.’
“I responded by saying I would be on Top of the Pops without ever thinking it would ever happen,” he said. “But it did!”
Sheridan had 28 years in two spells in the band and is now the band’s librarian, in charge of storing the band’s 5,000-piece musical library.
He recalled: “The first time we played The Floral Dance in rehearsal everybody knew it was something very different.
“Bands were very much rooted in history at that time and this was very catchy.”
The band’s signature piece is The West Riding, a march written in the 1940s.
But it is The Floral Dance which the band is most associated with to this day.
“People associated the band with The Floral Dance and it is still played at the end of the majority of concerts,” said Sheridan. “It’s almost expected.”
Stephen Howes, 57, of New Mill, was the principal horn player in the 1977 band. A former band chairman, he gave up playing 12 years ago but remains chairman of the trustees.
“It was an amazing time and there was a period where we didn’t know where we were going to be one week to the next,” he said.
“I don’t think these days people would be able to get the time off. I was a sales manager in Cleckheaton and never had a problem.”
Stephen said Brighouse and Rastrick was proud to be the only top flight band not to be commercially sponsored.
“Yes, it made some money and the money was wisely invested but that was as far as it went.”
He added: “What I remember is the enthusiastic audiences and the fun of doing it. It was a non-pressure job.
“It’s a time of my life I will never forget and I don’t think any of us will.”
All about Brighouse and Rastrick Band
THE Brighouse and Rastrick Band was formed as the Brighouse and Rastrick Temperance Band in 1881 and was funded then, as now, through public subscription.
The Floral Dance single spent nine weeks at No 2 and sold more than a million copies, earning silver and gold discs.
The Floral Dance album, which included 12 tracks, also earned a gold disc.
In 1978, the year after the unprecedented chart success, the band proved it hadn’t forgotten its roots by winning the traditional British Open Brass Band Championship.
The band opened a purpose-built HQ – called West Ridings – at the Brighouse High School campus in January 1995 and that remains its base.
