[Susan Foreman]

Does anyone else remember the television show ECT, which was broadcast on CH4 in 1985?

In the spring of 1985, UK television was subject to something extremely unusual… just over 2 months of live heavy metal.. each and every week on channel 4.

In the days when we only had 4 television channels this was a big deal for us metalheads and almost certainly represents the greatest coverage ever of Hard Rock music on UK terrestrial television.

Admittedly, the format could have been better. In the days of music videos taking over the world magazines such as Kerrang suggested this would have shown metal in a better light.

However the show created its own historical moment in metal time - and for two months, live heavy rock took over Channel 4 on Friday afternoons.

*ECT – EPISODE 1 – 12th APRIL 1985

The first band to appear on the show were MOTORHEAD. Dressed in suits, the then 4 piece band (Lemmy, Phil Cambell, Wurzel and Pete Gill) got things off in style with Nothin Up My Sleeve, Bomber and Mean Machine !!!




Next up were the punk/goth supergroup THE LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH, featuring Stiv Bators (The Dead Boys), Brian James The Damned), Dave Tregunna (Sham 69) and Nicky Turner (The Barracudas). Dark swaggering and mysterious The Lords were in top form and Stiv's prophetic drug joke in between songs must have set pulses racing at Channel 4. Prophetic because Stiv always had a taste for indulgence and he physically deteriorated massively over the next few years. Anyway enjoy The Lords at their peak..


The third band on the bill were MAGNUM. Heading for soon to be chart success and promoting their new well reviewed album ‘On A Storyteller’s Night’, Magnum were definitely favourites of rock critics and fans in 1985..

I saw them a number of times in the 80's, and loved them. Here’s their performance – How Far Jerusalem and Just Like An Arrow:



Bizarrely headlining, were the short lived American glamsters MADAM X. I liked them, and booked a ticket to see them at The Dominion Theatre in London on the strength of this performance, although I had never been to London on my own before, and I had no idea where the theatre actually was!! Sadly (or maybe luckily), the show was cancelled at the eleventh hour, and so I never got to make the journey. Anyway, enjoy the fun! Songs are High In High School and Come One, Come All

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