Legs & Co. were a dance troupe created in 1976 for the BBC's weekly Top of the Pops programme. They had made over three hundred appearances on this show by the time of their last performance in 1981.[1] The group then continued for four further years on tour.[2] The six-girl dance troupe replaced Ruby Flipper on Top of the Pops, representing a reversion to the earlier all-female format for troupes on this show, and covering the time period when the disco, punk and new wave music fashions were at their chart peak.
Legs & Co. were the fourth dance troupe to perform on the BBC's Top of The Pops. The tenure of the first group, the Go-Jos, ran from 1964 to 1968, with Pan's People then taking over until April 1976. This group were choreographed for their entire existence by Flick Colby, who was also initially a dancer in the troupe. Ruth Pearson performed as one of the dancers in this group throughout its run on the programme, retiring when the group was replaced.
Pan's People were succeeded by Ruby Flipper, a mixed-gender and mixed-race group, choreographed by Colby and managed by Pearson. This group's short run was terminated in October 1976. Audience research by the producers indicated Ruby Flipper were not popular amongst its TV audience.[3] Colby formed a new group, again managed by herself and Pearson, retaining the remaining three female dancers from Ruby Flipper and adding three new dancers following auditions. This replacement was the group that came to be known as Legs & Co.
Due to improvements in the BBC archival process and the increase in off-air recordings from the mid-1970s, unlike the previous three groups, all performances at least partially survive with the vast bulk complete.
The three remaining female Ruby Flipper members were retained for the new group. These were:
Following a set of auditions, the following dancers were added:
By the time of the new troupe's first appearance on Top of the Pops on 21 October 1976, dancing to the Average White Band's "Queen of My Soul",[4] the group was still unnamed. For their first appearances, they were introduced as the "Top of the Pops" dancers, while their name was listed as "??????" on the end credits of three editions. The BBC decided to allow viewers to select a name for the new dance troupe via a competition promoted on Top of the Pops by Ed Stewart after the girls made their dancing debut, and on the BBC children's programme Blue Peter. The name "Legs & Co." was chosen as the successful name. This was announced on the Top of the Pops of 4 November 1976,[5] with the competition winner in attendance, Elaine Coombes.
As with all dance troupes on Top of the Pops, Legs & Co. performed routines to songs of various musical styles, reflecting what was in the charts at the time. While these performances would often include dance records, for example disco[6] and soul music,[7] less dance-orientated musical styles were also included including tracks from Punk bands such as the Sex Pistols[8] [9] and The Clash,[10] novelty songs[11] and in the final year, medley songs.[12]
The costumes were made specially for each performance, with the designs created by Flick Colby and the dress designer each Thursday for the next show.[13] Whilst in the vast bulk of performances contemporary costumes were used, humour was occasionally used resulting in unconventional costumes including dressing as boxers,[14] babies and a camel.
There was a rigid production schedule for the group necessitated by Top of the Pops being a weekly chart show.[15] [16]
The typical schedule for a recorded Top of the Pops was as follows:
The troupe could also rehearse for and perform up to three cabaret performances prior to the following Monday.
By 1981, Top of the Pops began going out live on occasion, with three live editions, 7 May 1981, 9 July 1981[17] and 3 September 1981[18] including three performances on each date by Legs & Co.
The BBC only holds in their library master tapes for all Top of the Pops episodes broadcast after 8 September 1977, with only partial coverage up to this date. Nine editions in the Legs & Co era do not have master tapes in the BBC library, though all missing performances survive either in off-air recordings or master copies, though not all are complete.The following table shows for each year the number of performances on the show, the number of repeats of these performances, and the number of wiped performances, with totals on the bottom row.
| Year | Performances | Repeat | bbc-wiped | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 15 | 0 | 4 | |
| 1977 | 66 | 8 | 5 | |
| 1978 | 64 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1979 | 58 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1980 | 48 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1981 | 71 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 322 | 37 | 9 |
The episodes not in the BBC archive are:
| Date | Performances | Availability | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 November 1976 | Hank C Burnette – Spinning Rock Boogie | 90 seconds only survives from a copy of a master tape, the official naming of the group was on this episode and is lost. | |
| 18 November 1976 | Peter Frampton – Do You Feel Like We Do | 69 seconds only survives from a copy of a master tape. | |
| 2 December 1976 | Queen – Somebody to Love | Off-air exists | |
| 16 December 1976 | The Stylistics – You'll Never Get To Heaven | Off-air exists | |
| 10 February 1977 | Heatwave – Boogie Nights | Off-air exists | |
| 3 March 1977 | David Bowie – Sound And Vision | Off-air exists | |
| 31 March 1977 | David Soul – Going in with My Eyes Open | Off-air exists - played as part of BBC4 rerun | |
| 4 August 1977 | Candi Staton – Nights on Broadway | Off-air exists | |
| 8 September 1977 | Jean Michel Jarre – Oxygene | Off-air exists |
As well as their regular appearances on Top of the Pops, Legs & Co. as a full group appeared on other productions of the time including:
They also did cabaret at the weekends as this fitted into their production schedule; however, they had to remain predominantly UK-based during their Top of the Pops era due to the need to be rehearsing for the show each Monday. Sue Menhenick recalled "As legs & co progressed more with cabaret, [our] shows became more of a 'show' rather than just 'a routine and then someone else would come on', which was the case with Pan's People sometimes, so we did more of a running show."[25] By 1980, they had a 45-minute set.
The original Legs & Co. line-up ran from October 1976 to 19 March 1981, when Pauline Peters left the group. She was replaced on 28 May 1981 by singer and dancer Anita Chellamah following auditions. Frances Ruffelle was an unsuccessful applicant.[26]
The first performance of this new line-up was to Ain't No Stopping by Enigma.[27] The second line-up lasted until the end of the group's tenure on Top of the Pops.
Though the seven Legs & Co. dancers never had stand-ins, on several occasions other dancers appeared together with Legs & Co. on Top of the Pops, shown in the following table. The additional dancer(s) accompanied the full troupe in each case unless otherwise stated.
| Date | Dancer | Track | Artist | Credited (Y/N) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 December 1976 | Floid Pearce | "I Wish" | N | ||
| 25 December 1976 | 6 unknown (in animal costumes) | "Jungle Rock"[28] | N | ||
| 14 April 1977 | Floid Pearce | "Lonely Boy" | N | ||
| 16 June 1977 | Floid Pearce | "You're Gonna Get Next To Me" | N | ||
| 11 August 1977 | Floid Pearce | "I Feel Love"[29] | N | ||
| 25 December 1977 | Floid Pearce | "Sir Duke"[30] | N | ||
| 25 May 1978 | Floid Pearce | "Let's Go Disco"[31] | N | ||
| 25 May 1978 | Floid Pearce | "You're the One That I Want"[32] | N | ||
| 21 September 1978 | Floid Pearce | "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)"[33] | N | ||
| 19 October 1978 | Martin (with Patti Hammond) | "Sandy"[34] | N | ||
| 25 December 1978 | Floid Pearce + 5 other males | "Summer Nights"[35] | N | ||
| 13 August 1981 | Alex (with Gill Clark) | "How Deep Is Your Love" section of Startrax Club Disco[36] | StarTrax | Y | |
| 24 September 1981 | Jeremy (with Lulu Cartwright) | "Endless Love"[37] | Lionel Richie | Y |
In latter-day radio[38] and newspaper interviews and two books[39] claims have been made that an additional dancer appeared in Legs & Co. during their Top of the Pops tenure variously as a full member,[40] a two-time contributor,[41] or in an unspecified precursor of the group.[42] However, there is no independent evidence for any further female dancers from either primary BBC sources[43] or the shows themselves. In addition, an original member stated "[she] was never ... in Legs and Co, either in cabaret with us or appearing on TOTPs".[44]
The following displays the timeline for Top of the Pops dancers between 1974 and 1983, showing the transition of dancers between the troupes. This is a complete list, with the following exceptions and notes:
The full-height vertical lines indicate the last performance of each troupe.
Colors = id:Pans_People value:red legend:Pan's_People id:Ruby_Flipper value:blue legend:Ruby_Flipper id:Legs value:green legend:Legs_&_Co. id:Zoo value:orange legend:Zoo id:Perf value:purple legend:Performer id:Accom value:gray(0.5) legend:Accompanying_dancer
id:bars value:gray(0.95)
BackgroundColors = bars:bars
LineData=
at:04/29/1976 color:red layer:back at:10/14/1976 color:blue layer:back at:10/29/1981 color:green layer:back at:09/29/1983 color:orange layer:back
BarData = bar:Babs text:Babs Lord bar:Dee text:Dee Dee Wilde bar:Louise text:Louise Clarke bar:Ruth text:Ruth Pearson bar:Cherry text:Cherry Gillespie bar:Sue text:Sue Menhenick bar:Mary text:Mary Corpe bar:Lee text:Lee Ward bar:Lesley text:Lesley Judd bar:Patti text:Patti Hammond bar:Lulu text:Lulu Cartwright bar:Phil text:Phil Haigh bar:Floid text:Floid Pearce bar:Gavin text:Gavin Trace bar:Gill text:Gill Clark bar:Rosie text:Rosie Hetherington bar:Pauline text:Pauline Peters bar:Martin text:Martin bar:Anita text:Anita Chellamah bar:Alex text:Alex bar:Jeremy text:Jeremy bar:Others text:Others
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(15.-4)
bar: Babs from:start till:09/09/1975 color:Pans_People bar: Dee from:start till:10/30/1975 color:Pans_People bar: Louise from:start till:05/16/1974 color:Pans_People bar: Ruth from:start till:04/29/1976 color:Pans_People bar: Ruth from:07/22/1976 till:07/22/1976 color:Accom bar:Sue from:06/06/1974 till:04/29/1976 color:Pans_People bar:Sue from:05/06/1976 till:10/14/1976 color:Ruby_Flipper bar:Sue from:12/17/1981 till:12/17/1981 color:Zoo bar:Sue from:12/31/1981 till:12/31/1981 color:Legs bar:Lesley from:02/12/1976 till:02/12/1976 color:Pans_People bar:Sue from:10/21/1976 till:10/29/1981 color:Legs bar:Cherry from:start till:04/29/1976 color:Pans_People bar:Cherry from:05/06/1976 till:09/30/1976 color:Ruby_Flipper bar:Patti from:05/06/1976 till:10/14/1976 color:Ruby_Flipper bar:Patti from:10/21/1976 till:10/29/1981 color:Legs bar:Patti from:12/31/1981 till:12/31/1981 color:Legs bar:Lulu from:05/06/1976 till:10/14/1976 color:Ruby_Flipper bar:Lulu from:10/21/1976 till:10/29/1981 color:Legs bar:Lulu from:12/31/1981 till:12/31/1981 color:Legs bar:Lee from:09/25/1975 till:04/01/1976 color:Pans_People bar:Mary from:09/25/1975 till:04/28/1976 color:Pans_People bar:Mary from:01/14/1982 till:01/14/1982 color:Zoo bar:Mary from:01/21/1982 till:01/21/1982 color:Zoo bar:Gavin from:05/06/1976 till:07/15/1976 color:Ruby_Flipper bar:Phil from:05/06/1976 till:10/14/1976 color:Ruby_Flipper bar:Floid from:05/06/1976 till:10/14/1976 color:Ruby_Flipper bar:Floid from:12/23/1976 till:12/23/1976 color:Accom bar:Floid from:04/14/1977 till:04/14/1977 color:Accom bar:Floid from:06/16/1977 till:06/16/1977 color:Accom bar:Floid from:08/11/1977 till:08/11/1977 color:Accom bar:Floid from:12/25/1977 till:12/25/1977 color:Accom bar:Floid from:05/25/1978 till:05/25/1978 color:Accom bar:Floid from:05/25/1978 till:05/25/1978 color:Accom bar:Floid from:09/21/1978 till:09/21/1978 color:Accom bar:Floid from:12/25/1978 till:12/25/1978 color:Accom bar:Others from:12/25/1978 till:12/25/1978 color:Accom bar:Others from:12/25/1976 till:12/25/1976 color:Accom bar:Martin from:10/19/1978 till:10/19/1978 color:Accom bar:Rosie from:10/21/1976 till:10/15/1981 color:Legs bar:Rosie from:12/31/1981 till:12/31/1981 color:Legs bar:Gill from:10/21/1976 till:10/29/1981 color:Legs bar:Gill from:12/31/1981 till:12/31/1981 color:Legs bar:Pauline from:10/21/1976 till:03/19/1981 color:Legs bar:Anita from:05/28/1981 till:10/29/1981 color:Legs bar:Anita from:11/05/1981 till:11/05/1981 color:Zoo bar:Anita from:12/24/1981 till:12/24/1981 color:Zoo bar:Anita from:12/25/1981 till:12/25/1981 color:Zoo bar:Anita from:12/31/1981 till:12/31/1981 color:Legs bar:Anita from:02/25/1982 till:02/25/1982 color:Zoo bar:Anita from:08/12/1982 till:08/12/1982 color:Perf bar:Alex from:08/13/1981 till:08/13/1981 color:legs bar:Jeremy from:09/24/1981 till:09/24/1981 color:legs
Legs & Co. gained a pin up status much like Pan's People. According to Lulu Cartwright, "We didn't really think about it all that much. It was very flattering. People would come up to you in the street. It wasn't overbearing and certainly not a problem. You could go out of your front door without someone recognising you."[45]
By 1981, a new producer, Michael Hurll, frequently relegated Legs and Co to backing dancers. Also by this time they were often not used as producers found it easier to use a video than include a routine.[46] By July, the dancers knew their tenure was soon ending. Their last lead performance was on 15 October 1981 to The Tweets' "The Birdie Song";[47] and on 29 October they danced behind Haircut 100[48] during their performance of "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)".[49]
On 5 November 1981, a week after Legs & Co.'s final on-screen appearance, Zoo, the final featured dance troupe to appear on Top of the Pops, made their debut. They were choreographed by Colby, and consisted of a rotating pool of 12 male and 12 female performers. Their first performance was dancing to Twilight by ELO.[50]
On 17 December 1981, Sue Menhenick made a final appearance on TOTP, with a solo routine to "I'll Find My Way Home" by Jon & Vangelis.[51] This marked Menhenick's final appearance as a dancer on Top of the Pops after over seven years, and probably the most appearances by any dancer, and making her the second longest serving dancer on the programme, Sue was credited as a member of Zoo in the end credits for the programme, making her unique in being credited for appearing as a member of four different dance troupes in her time on TOTP.
The whole troupe appeared uncredited on 31 December 1981 'Hits of 1981' Top of the Pops, dancing behind Shakin' Stevens whilst he sang Green Door (originally aired 13 August 1981), and with Aneka and Japanese Boy (originally aired 27 August 1981).
On the 12 August 1982 edition of 'TOTP', for the opening number, Anita Chellamah (under the surname Mahadervan) appears with the group Toto Coelo performing their hit 'I Eat Cannibals Part 1'. Presenter John Peel makes no mention of Anita's past association with either Legs & Co or 'TOTP'.[52] Anita and Toto Coelo appeared two weeks later on 28 August 1982 edition of 'TOTP' to perform 'I Eat Cannibals Part 1' again.
In a retrospective segment on the 1000th and 20th anniversary editions of Top of the Pops, broadcast on 5 May 1983 and 5 January 1984, a photo of Legs & Co briefly appeared on screen.[53]
After their last appearance on Top of the Pops, Legs & Co. spent a further four years performing at corporate events and cabaret shows. However several members had left at the end of the Top of the Pops period; the new line-up had Hammond, Cartwright and Menhenick joined by Patricia McSherry (who also danced with Dee Dee Wilde's Pan's People), Sandra Easby and Liz Green. Ruth Pearson and Flick Colby ceased to manage the group; Cartwright managed the group in this latter period. This line-up appeared in a 1982 television commercial for the Milk Marketing Board as part of their Gotta Lotta Bottle campaign.[54]
Later Easby and Green left and Tanya Lee joined. In 1983 this line-up appeared on TV-am, where the group discussed looking for a new name and perform a routine.[55] The group were eventually renamed Smax (one of the losing names in the 1976 naming competition)[56] for the remainder of their existence.
Patti Hammond died following a long illness on 15 September 2021, at the age of 71.[57]
From April 2011, the BBC began showing on BBC4 and iplayer weekly all broadcastable episodes from the BBC library from April 1976 onwards which from original dates in October 1976 covered the Legs & Co period on the programme. As master tapes for 9 episodes in the Legs & Co era are not held by the BBC, all these shows were absent from the rerun, except the 31 March 1977 edition, where an off-air recording was used. From October 2012, editions covered by DJs who formed part of Operation Yewtree were no longer rebroadcast as part of the ongoing rerun.
Sue Menhenick and Lulu Cartwright appeared as interviewees of the BBCs' The Story of Top of the Pops, produced at the start of each rerun year, for the year 1978, and Menhenick on her own for 1979 and 1981.