Rosie Hetherington (Legs and Co )
Lets make this a thread, not just for "Pans People"
but for any female dance troupe that danced to pop records
on TV...ie "Legs and Co..." Hot Gossip,
even "the Young Generation..." if anyone's got any pics !
Lets face it, any girl who can dance up on stage , in front of an audience , has got to be a bit special.
They have usually been training for years to be able to do what
they do, up there on stage, or in the TV studios.
They deserve all the fame and success that comes their way.
Pan's People were a British TV dance troupe who became a
feature of the pop show........." Top of the Pops."
In an era before pop videos, they danced to songs when the
artists were not available to perform them live. They were
not the first dance troupe to appear regularly on TOTP -
they were preceded by The Go-Jo's in the programme's
early days, before Pan's People replaced them in May 1968.
The original Pan's People line-up consisted of:
Louise Clarke
Felicity "Flick" Colby
Barbara "Babs" Lord
Ruth Pearson
Andrea "Andi" Rutherford
Patricia "Dee Dee" Wilde
Babs Lord ( Pans People )
At the end of 1972, Andi Rutherford left Pan's People to
raise a family, and was replaced by Cherry Gillespie.
In a 1976 edition of Top Of The Pops, Blue Peter presenter
Lesley Judd (a former member of dance troupe
The Young Generation) became a sixth Pan's Peoplette
for a one-off routine. The backstage rehearsals were
then shown on Blue Peter a few weeks later.
Eventually...in October 1976 the dance group
" Legs and Co " got the gig at Top of the Pops
Lulu Cartwright
Gillian Clarke
Patti Hammond
Rosie Hetherington
Susan Menhenick
Pauline Peters
Rosie was a student at the Italia Conti stage school,
and Pauline, the first black female dancer to appear as
a member of a dance troupe on Top of the Pops, had
appeared on stage in various West End productions.
Rosie Hetherington ( Legs and Co )
Although Pan's People are more fondly remembered
by past TOTP viewers, the original Legs & Co. line-up
stayed together longer than any of the various Pan's People
line-ups.
Legs and Co made their first appearance on 21 October 1976,
dancing to the Average White Band's "Queen of My Soul".
Hot Gossip
Hot Gossip were a British dance troupe most notable
for their appearance on the TV series The Kenny Everett
Video Show, which aired on ITV in 1978.
Their overtly sexual dance routines were taking things
to a new level on TV .......and all before the 9 o clock
watershed !
It was created and choreographed by Arlene Phillips.
The sexually suggestive dance routines, moves, gestures
and costumes used by the troupe were considered very risqué,
especially considering the early evening timeslot.
Hot Gossip are often keen to claim that
these risqué dance routines were not simply a result of
the television programme and that they performed such
dances since they were formed, four years before
The Kenny Everett Video Show first aired.
Hot Gossip also made a couple of pop
records, featuring a "Sarah Brightman" on lead vocal.
They scored a hit with....." I Lost My Heart To a
Starship Trooper," a lightweight disco track that
cashed in on the media hype surrounding the original
Star Wars film.
They went on to record an album in the early 1980s................ "Geisha Boys and Temple Girls
........... The album was a commercial failure.
Dancers who performed with Hot Gossip
at one time or another before they disbanded in 1986
include Heather Alexander, Debbie Ash, Debbie Astell,
Bunty Bailey, Bonnie Bryg, Richard Bodkin,
Lindsay Cole, Titian Deakin, Lorraine Doyle,
Annie Dunkley, Penni Dunlop, , Donna Fielding,
Carol Fletcher, Debbie Fox, Judey Ford, Donette Goddard,
Nicky Hinkley, Laura James, Richard Lloyd King,
Sarah Miles, Sinitta Renet, Lyndsey Ward,
Carol Fletcher ( right )