English television presenter
Bill Grundy
|
---|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/ef/Bill_Grundy.jpg/220px-Bill_Grundy.jpg) |
Born
| William Grundy
(
1923-05-18
)
18 May 1923
|
---|
Died
| (
1993-02-09
)
9 February 1993 (aged 70)
|
---|
Nationality
| British
|
---|
Occupation
| Broadcaster
|
---|
Known for
| Today
interview with the
Sex Pistols
|
---|
Children
| 6
|
---|
William Grundy
(18 May 1923 ? 9 February 1993) was an English
journalist
and broadcaster. As the host of
Today
, a regional magazine programme on
Thames Television
in London, he gained national attention for an interview with the
Sex Pistols
in 1976, during which the band swore and traded insults with him on live television. The interview effectively destroyed Grundy's career, elevated the Sex Pistols to notoriety, and signalled the arrival of mainstream
punk rock
.
[1]
Biography
[
edit
]
The son of a foreman at Gorton Locomotive Works (Gorton Tank), Grundy was born in
Manchester
in 1923 and educated at the
University of Manchester
, where he read
geology
.
He began his career as a geologist and as a part-time journalist. When
Granada Television
began broadcasting in May 1956, Grundy auditioned for the post of newsreader, which at first he held in tandem with his geological work. During his time at Granada, he established himself as a reporter and presenter for the station's regional programming, including
People and Places
,
Northern Newscast
,
Scene at 6:30
and
Granada in the North
, alongside such contemporaries as
Gay Byrne
,
Chris Kelly
,
Michael Parkinson
,
Mike Scott
and
Brian Trueman
.
[2]
On the night of the
assassination of John F. Kennedy
, Grundy anchored a late-night news special for the Granada region, alongside Mike Scott, who broke the story on
Scene at 6:30
that evening.
[3]
He also fronted Granada's coverage of elections, the main political party conferences and the
Trades Union Congress
.
Grundy was also a producer at Granada, working on the long-running history series
All Our Yesterdays
and early editions of the current affairs programme
World in Action
.
In 1967, he produced a children's drama series,
The Flower of Gloster
(1967). The serial, about four youngsters who take a narrow boat from
North Wales
to London, was broadcast as a 13-part weekly series. Based on a 1911 book of the same name by
E. Temple Thurston
, it was Granada TV's first venture into colour. Grundy also wrote a book of the same name, basically an updated version of Thurston's original.
[4]
As well as writing a regular column for
Punch
magazine, Grundy played himself in the 1974 film version of
Man About the House
, and hosted the
Today
show in London, after moving from Granada to Thames. In 1975, he presented an educational programme called
The Land
for Independent Television's schools and colleges programming.
The
Today
incident
[
edit
]
Queen
were booked for the
Today
show of 1 December 1976, but they cancelled their appearance at the last minute due to vocalist
Freddie Mercury
needing emergency dental surgery. They were replaced by the
Sex Pistols
, the
punk
band, appearing at short notice accompanied by their entourage.
[1]
[5]
The show was broadcast live and uncensored on weekdays in the early evening, a time when spoken obscenities were forbidden.
A screenshot from Grundy's interview with the Sex Pistols on the
Today
show
The interview began with Grundy introducing the band, stating "they are as drunk as I am", although Grundy later denied being intoxicated during the interview to the press.
[6]
The interview resumed following a playing of the music video for the song "
Anarchy in the U.K.
". Grundy was dismissive towards the band, speaking to viewers instead of directly to them and referring to them as "that group" in his challenging of what he felt was hypocrisy over the philosophy of punk.
[7]
Initially, he received mocking but relatively innocuous responses from bassist
Glen Matlock
.
[7]
Grundy said "I am told... that that group... have received £40,000 from record company.... Doesn't that seem to be largely opposed to your anti-materialistic view of life?" Matlock replied "No, the more the merrier."
[7]
When Grundy asked the band to explain further,
Steve Jones
quipped: "We fuckin' spent it ain't we?" Grundy did not comment on the profanity but responded "I don't know, have you?” Matlock said that the money had all gone "down the boozer".
[7]
Grundy then asked the band "are you serious?" in reference to their music, comparing them to musicians such as
Beethoven
,
Mozart
,
Bach
and
Brahms
.
Johnny Rotten
(John Lydon) sarcastically replied "They're all heroes of ours, ain't they?". When Grundy inquired further, Lydon went on, stating "Oh yes, they’re wonderful people, they really turn us on!" Grundy responded with, "What if they turn other people on?" to which Lydon dismissively remarked, "That's just their tough shit." When challenged by Grundy, Lydon said, "Nothing, a rude word! Next question." Grundy insisted that Lydon repeat what he had said. When Lydon did so, "shit", Grundy tauntingly retorted, "Good heavens, you frightened me to death," to which Lydon called him "Siegfried" as Matlock muttered that Grundy was "like [a] dad... or [a] granddad."
[7]
Grundy then turned his attention to the female members of the band's entourage, known as The
Bromley Contingent
appearing with them and which included
Siouxsie Sioux
. He asked, "What about you girls, behind? Are you worried, or are you just enjoying yourself?" To which Sioux responded, "enjoying myself". Grundy responded "Are you?" to which she and Simone Thomas chorused "Yeah." Grundy responded "Ah, that's what I thought you were doing." That prompted a large exhalation from a band member. Sioux said, "I've always wanted to meet you", to which Grundy responded by saying, "Did you really? We'll meet afterwards, shall we?"
[7]
Interpreting this as a sexual comment, Jones began openly insulting Grundy, calling him a "dirty sod" and a "dirty old man." Grundy asked Jones to "say something outrageous", a challenge that Jones met by calling Grundy a "dirty bastard" and a "dirty fucker".
[7]
Grundy responded, "What a clever boy!" and Jones added "What a fucking rotter!" As the show ended and the credits rolled, Grundy mouthed, "Oh shit" as the band began dancing to
the closing theme
.
[7]
Although
Today
was only a regional programme for London, it became a national story due to coverage and comment by the
tabloid
press. As a result, Grundy was suspended for two weeks. The head of programming for Thames,
Jeremy Isaacs
, described the incident as "a gross error of judgment" leading from "inexcusably sloppy journalism". The commercial television regulator of the day, the
Independent Broadcasting Authority
accepted the franchise holders' argument that the incident could not have been prevented. In his defence, Grundy said he had set out "to prove that these louts were a foul-mouthed set of yobs. And that is what I did prove".
[6]
Today
was
cancelled
two months later.
[8]
In a 2008 poll conducted by
FremantleMedia
, at this point Thames' parent company, the
Today
show interview was the most requested TV clip ever.
[9]
Post-
Today
[
edit
]
The broadcast harmed Grundy's television career. By 1979, he was presenting a book review programme,
A Better Read
, broadcast not in the early evening like
Today
, but on Sunday mornings.
[10]
His slot on
What the Papers Say
in the early 1980s was his last on network television, although he continued to present on
BBC North West
on such regional shows as
Sweet and Sour
and
The Lancashire Lads
into the mid-1980s. He also appeared as an interviewer in ITV's adaptation of
A Kind of Loving
in 1982 and worked on school programmes for Granada, including a stint presenting
Politics - What's It All About?
.
In July 1986, Grundy was lead
compere
for the
Festival of the Tenth Summer
at the newly opened
Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre
(GMEX), a week-long celebration of the anniversary of the Sex Pistols' performance at the
Lesser Free Trade Hall
. Grundy was chosen for the role by organiser
Tony Wilson
, in a nod to the 'Today incident' and Grundy's association with the Sex Pistols.
[11]
Grundy died of a heart attack at a nursing home in
Stockport
,
[12]
on 9 February 1993, aged 70.
[13]
He had four sons and two daughters.
[13]
His son
Tim Grundy
was a radio presenter on
Piccadilly Radio
and
Key 103
, and a TV presenter, until his death in 2009.
Michael Parkinson
, who worked with Grundy at Granada in the 1960s, described him as:
A difficult man to keep sober, but not to produce. He was one of the best front men I ever worked with...At his best he was a superb forensic interviewer...sadly, as his career drifted, he let drink overwhelm his personality.
[14]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Brown, Jonathan (1 December 2006).
"Never mind four-letter words... here's the Sex Pistols: when television met punk rock"
.
The Independent
. London. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- ^
Seen at 6.30
, Transdiffusion, 4 December 2020
- ^
Late Scene Extra - JFK Assassination
, 22 November 1963
- ^
The Flower of Gloster
, Grundy, Bill, Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd, London. 1970
- ^
Smith, pete (2018).
Sex Pistols: The Pride of Punk
. Lanham, MD & London: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 40.
ISBN
9781442255593
.
- ^
a
b
"Grundy banned"
. 3 December 1976
. Retrieved
17 January
2020
.
You cannot do a job like I do without being sober.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"Transcript: Sex Pistols v Bill Grundy"
.
The Guardian
. 4 February 2004
. Retrieved
17 January
2020
.
- ^
Matlock, Glen (1 June 1998).
I was a teenage Sex Pistol
. Omnibus Press.
ISBN
978-0-7119-1817-7
.
- ^
Sex Pistols on Bill Grundy's 'Today' show most requested clip
. NME. Retrieved 9 June 2012
- ^
"Fission Fragments 2"
. Ansible.co.uk
. Retrieved
1 September
2013
.
- ^
King, Richard (2012). "How Soon Is Now? The Madmen and Mavericks Who Made Independent Music 1975-2005" London: Faber & Faber. pp.197-198
- ^
"Deaths England and Wales 1984?2006"
. Archived from
the original
on 4 November 2015
. Retrieved
9 February
2009
.
- ^
a
b
Allan, Andy (12 February 1993).
"Obituary: Bill Grundy"
.
The Independent
. London. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- ^
Parkinson, Michael
(14 May 2009).
Parky ? My Autobiography: My Autobiography
. Hodder & Stoughton. p. 145.
ISBN
978-1-84456-900-7
.
External links
[
edit
]