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''Rock Follies'', and its sequel, ''Rock Follies of '77'', is a musical drama shown on British television in the 1970s. The storyline, told in 12 episodes, two series, and one TV mini-series running 10 and 1/2 hours, followed the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the "Little Ladies" as they struggled for recognition and success. The series starred Rula Lenska, Charlotte Cornwell and Julie Covington as the Little Ladies, with support from Emlyn Price, Beth Porter, Sue Jones-Davies, Bob Hoskins, Stephen Moore, Derek Thompson, Denis Lawson and Little Nell among others. The series was made with a very low budget for Thames Television, with a style inspired by fringe theatre. The series was a success, winning three BAFTA Awards and the soundtrack album reaching No.1 in the UK Charts. == Overview == The fictional band was made up on-screen of talented session musicians as well as the three lead actresses who proved they could sing, and the spin-off album of music from the series entered the UK charts at number one (a common occurrence now, but exceptionally rare at that time).〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Official Albums Chart Top 60 )〕 The songs were written by Andy Mackay, who was a founding member of Roxy Music. Lyrics and screenplay were written by Howard Schuman. The second series, ''Rock Follies of '77'', was a continuation of the first, but industrial action during May of that year at ITV, the commercial channel that aired the show, caused the last few episodes to be postponed until November.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Scrapbook )〕 The second series pushed the style further in an experimental direction: where the first series had a lot of dialogue and "off stage" scenes, the second focused more on the music and fantasy sequences, with additional songs and musical interludes used to move the plot forward rather than relying on dialogue as the first had done. More sophisticated video effects were also used. The show was a pioneer in that it was one of the first musical dramas in serial form (a TV mini-series), and in addition featured all original songs and music.〔Rigby, Jonathan ''Roxy Music: Both Ends Burning'' (12: The Talking Pictures ) (Reynolds & Hearn, 2005; revised edition 2008) ISBN 1-903111-80-3〕 It laid the groundwork for the later series ''Pennies from Heaven'' by Dennis Potter, which followed a similar overall format but did not feature original songs. It was also unusual in portraying strong female central characters, and having an overtly feminist message. Some commentators have also pointed out that its format very much anticipates the age of the music video and MTV, being made at a time when the music video itself was in its infancy. The first series won a BAFTA award in 1977 for Best Drama Series, while Julie Covington was nominated for best actress and Rod Stratfold and Alex Clarke were nominated for best design.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=BAFTA Awards )〕 The second series was nominated for seven BAFTA awards, winning two; for best lighting effects and for best camerawork in 1978.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=BAFTA Awards )〕 The series first appeared in the United States in late 1976 when several episodes from series one were shown on New York City’s WOR-TV Channel 9 as part of a "Thames on 9" programming week.〔"U.S. TV Execs Evaluate the ‘Thames on 9’ Week," ''Variety'', 8 September 1976, pg. 54〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=THAMES On 9 )〕 Soon after, the first series was shown in the United States on public television, and rapidly became something of a cult, especially in large metropolitan centres like New York and San Francisco. However the second series was felt to be too "raunchy" for the sensibilities of a public television audience, especially as the first had received a lot of complaints from the public in areas outside the larger cities for its frank portrayal of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. As a result the second series did not get shown on US television until 12 years later. Two albums of songs from the series were released; ''Rock Follies'' (1976) was released on Island Records in the UK, and on Atlantic Records in the US. The second, ''Rock Follies of '77'', was released on Polydor Records in both countries. Both albums were re-released on Virgin Records in 2000. The TV series is also available as a 2-disc DVD set. Also, there were three singles released: "Glen Miller is Missing", "Sugar Mountain" (both on Island Records in 1976); and "O.K.?" (on Polydor Records in 1977). The latter of these became a hit, reaching No.10 in the UK Charts.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=JULIE COVINGTON )〕 In addition, the second album reached No.13.〔(Official Charts - ''Rock Follies of 77'' at No.13 )〕 Speaking in 1991, the three stars commented on the gruelling schedule while working on the series, stating that for each episode they had to learn a minimum of five songs, as well as perform the dance routines and learn the script itself in a short space of time. Due to this they were reluctant to do a third series, although they did say that they'd like to do another series at that time, 15 years later. Covington also stated that they were paid £225 per episode.〔''Tonight With Jonathan Ross'', Channel 4 TV interview, 4 February 1991〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rock Follies」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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