Pan’s People: Dancing Queens

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Talent…

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… These are the lovely ladies and gorgeous girls of eras gone by whose beauty, ability, electricity and all-round x-appeal deserve celebration and – ahem – salivation here at George’s Journal…

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Always Dad’s favourite and often the highlight of Top Of The Pops, they were the madams with the moves, the coquettes in the costumes and the bods for the mod times – they were fun, frolicsome, a bit fancy, but always family-friendly; they were Pan’s People and they were most definitely Talent, five or six doses of it all in one go…

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Profile

Name: Pan’s People

Members: Louise Clarke (1968-74), Felicity ‘Flick’ Colby (1968-71 dancer/ 1971-76* choreographer); Barbara ‘Babs’ Lord (1968-75); Ruth Pearson (1968-76); Andrea ‘Andi’ Rutherford (1968-72); Patricia ‘Dee Dee’ Wilde (1968-75); Mary Corpe (1975-76*); Cherry Gillespie (1972-76*); Susan ‘Sue’ Menhenick (1974-76*); Lee Ward (1975-76*)

Nationality: British

Profession: Dance troupe

Known for: Performing light-hearted and cheeky dance routines on the BBC’s weekly chart music show Top Of The Pops during the early- to mid-1970s, when live performances of particular songs or video films for them weren’t available; as well as public appearances throughout the decade and performances on the BBC’s 1974 In Concert TV series and, occasionally, The Two Ronnies sketch show.

Strange but true: Pan’s Person Babs Lord went on to marry actor Robert Powell and became an amateur yachtswoman and explorer – travelling to the Himalayas, the Sahara and the Guyanan jungle, and is the oldest housewife to have visited both the North and South Poles. Also, Cherry Gillespie went into acting and appeared in the James Bond film Octopussy and episodes of Bergerac and Minder.

Peak of fitness: Dancing along to Van McCoy And The Soul City Symphony’s The Hustle on Top Of The Pops, while all wearing terribly short white, frilly, feathery dresses

* Pan’s People continued as a group of dancers beyond 1976, but their final Top Of The Pops performance was broadcast in April 1976

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