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Yorkshire Evening Post |
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When “Colour Me Pop” was taken off BBC2 thousands who had enjoyed good pop decently presented on television were disappointed. Leeds-born Steve Turner, the programmes producer, was also disappointed, even though he is going ahead to bigger things in television. We met recently when Steve came back to Leeds to see his parents for a few days. He talked about the programme which he produced so successfully in a tiny 30ft by 20ft studio. “The size of that studio helped, really,” he said, “I felt that I had to do something different because in a big studio you can mess around. But I had to be very conscious of the music and do what the music dictated.” In Tempo. Although he is not a fanatical gimmick man Steve believes that “where the music dictates, you should perhaps use something a little more freaky.” He explained how the programme took shape while the group played as he sat behind the console of switches in control of his cameras. “I remember when we had Ten Years After on. The music reached a tremendous crescendo, and I was pressing buttons in tempo. I think by the end my fingers were going as fast as they could.” Steve has been praised in that he has brought many unknown groups, both straight and progressive to the public eye. “I liked not only to use the well-known groups, but the smaller ones as well. There is a lot of talent around which is just not getting to be on television.” At 32, married with two children, Steve looks 25 and a gay bachelor. He grins frequently, is easy going, but listens hard to what is said to him before answering. Pushing. He went into television 11 years ago “as a probationary technical assistant, pushing cameras around” after answering an advertisement. After a spell in vision-mixing he directed for two years before “Colour Me Pop” came along as part of “Late Night Line-Up”. The programme was so popular it quickly became a feature in its own right. Today he describes himself as an attachment to BBC’s Light Entertainment department as a production assistant involved in productions like “The Dave Allan Show”, and “Dad’s Army”. Reasons. “What amazed me was the number of middle aged and older people who enjoyed the progressive groups. They would write and say ‘Thank you for introducing me to this music’.” Steve Turner admits he misses pop and his little studio. His reasons are simple: “I was disappointed when we went off because I enjoyed doing the programme. It wasn’t like work for me. Not like work at all.” |