Club X
Encyclopedia
Club X was a short-lived 1989 Channel 4
arts and music magazine programme that is often cited as an example of TV Hell
.
. At the time Club X was commissioned Channel 4’s new Chief Executive Michael Grade
was attempting to make the channel’s cultural programming more accessible – a process regarded by some as dumbing down
.
The Club X format was intended to blend items on relatively high-brow arts with the kind of quirky stories and items that had been features of Network 7, such as feminist pornography. Club X was broadcast live over 23 weeks during Summer 1989 in a Wednesday night 90-minute slot scheduled directly against BBC2’s new arts magazine The Late Show, another production by Network 7 graduates. There was an edited repeat the following Sunday.
Fortunately the show's presenters led by Murray Boland and Martina Attille had live experience yet struggled bravely with the often spurious chaotic direction. The other presenters included drag artist Regina Fong and Fou Fou L. Hunter, a version of Leigh Bowery
dressed as a green fairy, and who died mid-series (11 August 1989). In a reference to the then current Acid House
scene the programme’s set was modelled on the nightclub Heaven though the constant background music made it impossible for the presenters to hear cues and studio interviews were often inaudible while members of the audience occasionally interfered with the set ups.
Each week was themed around an avant-garde art movement, Dada, Surrealism etc. Club X was the first television work of Victor Lewis-Smith
whose stand-alone segment Buygones featured humorous takes on disastrously conceived consumer items such as the Aztec Bar, or OMO washing powder. The comedy of the Buygones section was augmented by the amateurism of the programme that surrounded it.
supper during which the waiter poured water over Paul Morley
who then punched the waiter and walked out.
A re-enactment of Yves Klein
’s Anthropometry performance in which nude female models covered each other in blue paint and then rolled against a canvas. The item drew criticism as the programme was broadcast without a disclaimer.
drew complaints. A second series was not commissioned; as Channel 4 had (unusually) produced the series in-house, the channel bore the full cost. This made it one of the most expensive failures in the company’s history. Some elements such as ‘Buygones’ were recycled as stand alone programmes or greatest hits compilations. Charlie Parsons went on to set up 24 hours a production company, with Waheed Ali, which then merged with Planet pictures brainchild of Tony Boland, which went on to produce among other programmes, the channel 4 breakfast time TV programme which featured Zig and Zag, 2 puppets from Irelands rte 2s 'the den', and also 'The Word' out of which several successful media careers were launched.
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
arts and music magazine programme that is often cited as an example of TV Hell
TV Hell
TV Hell was a BBC2 theme night broadcast on 31 August 1992, showing a whole evening of archive television clips widely regarded by critics and the public alike as among the worst ever produced in Britain...
.
Details
The production and presentation team was largely taken from the earlier Channel 4 success Network 7 and had the same editor Charlie ParsonsCharlie Parsons
Charlie Parsons is a British television producer who created a number of notable television shows including Survivor. He also created The Big Breakfast and The Word....
. At the time Club X was commissioned Channel 4’s new Chief Executive Michael Grade
Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
was attempting to make the channel’s cultural programming more accessible – a process regarded by some as dumbing down
Dumbing down
Dumbing down is a pejorative term for a perceived trend to lower the intellectual content of literature, education, news, and other aspects of culture...
.
The Club X format was intended to blend items on relatively high-brow arts with the kind of quirky stories and items that had been features of Network 7, such as feminist pornography. Club X was broadcast live over 23 weeks during Summer 1989 in a Wednesday night 90-minute slot scheduled directly against BBC2’s new arts magazine The Late Show, another production by Network 7 graduates. There was an edited repeat the following Sunday.
Fortunately the show's presenters led by Murray Boland and Martina Attille had live experience yet struggled bravely with the often spurious chaotic direction. The other presenters included drag artist Regina Fong and Fou Fou L. Hunter, a version of Leigh Bowery
Leigh Bowery
Leigh Bowery was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, actor, pop star, model and fashion designer, based in London. Bowery is considered one of the more influential figures in the 1980s and 1990s London and New York art and fashion circles influencing a generation of artists and...
dressed as a green fairy, and who died mid-series (11 August 1989). In a reference to the then current Acid House
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
scene the programme’s set was modelled on the nightclub Heaven though the constant background music made it impossible for the presenters to hear cues and studio interviews were often inaudible while members of the audience occasionally interfered with the set ups.
Each week was themed around an avant-garde art movement, Dada, Surrealism etc. Club X was the first television work of Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith is a British satirist, producer, critic and prankster. He is known for his sarcasm and biting criticism.-Radio and recordings:...
whose stand-alone segment Buygones featured humorous takes on disastrously conceived consumer items such as the Aztec Bar, or OMO washing powder. The comedy of the Buygones section was augmented by the amateurism of the programme that surrounded it.
Memorable Moments
A staging of a FuturistFuturism (art)
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city...
supper during which the waiter poured water over Paul Morley
Paul Morley
Paul Morley is an English journalist, who wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, during one of its most successful periods, and has since written for a wide range of publications...
who then punched the waiter and walked out.
A re-enactment of Yves Klein
Yves Klein
Yves Klein was a French artist considered an important figure in post-war European art. He is the leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by the art critic Pierre Restany...
’s Anthropometry performance in which nude female models covered each other in blue paint and then rolled against a canvas. The item drew criticism as the programme was broadcast without a disclaimer.
Cancellation
An edited version of the Wednesday broadcast was shown at 2pm the following Sunday. Although the edited version tidied up the presentation and removed the more graphic elements the content remained the same and an off-colour remark about the dead comedian Eric MorecambeEric Morecambe
John Eric Bartholomew OBE , known by his stage name Eric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together with Ernie Wise formed the award-winning double act Morecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death of a heart attack in 1984...
drew complaints. A second series was not commissioned; as Channel 4 had (unusually) produced the series in-house, the channel bore the full cost. This made it one of the most expensive failures in the company’s history. Some elements such as ‘Buygones’ were recycled as stand alone programmes or greatest hits compilations. Charlie Parsons went on to set up 24 hours a production company, with Waheed Ali, which then merged with Planet pictures brainchild of Tony Boland, which went on to produce among other programmes, the channel 4 breakfast time TV programme which featured Zig and Zag, 2 puppets from Irelands rte 2s 'the den', and also 'The Word' out of which several successful media careers were launched.