Midnight Special US TV Broadcast

A Burt Sugarman production the Midnight Special was a long running weekly broadcast in the United States on the NBC network from 1973 till 1981.   The first few years legendary DJ Wolfman Jack hosted and introduced the acts.   Helen Reddy replaced him with those duties from 1975 to 1976 and after that various artist would host the show.   It's sad that only two clips from the first episode featuring Uriah Heep have ever surfaced.   But we know from the information below other footage is available somewhere sitting in a vault.

Three appearances on The Midnight Special TV show were broadcast in the USA.  The first of such dates was filmed on August 5, 1973 during the London Music Festival.  Possibly filmed before the concert itself, two songs are documented, Stealin' and Sweet Freedom.  The official broadcast date was on September 28, 1973 on episode # 36 with show host Seals and Crofts, special guest included T Rex and Arlo Guthrie among others.  These videos were done as lip sync but improvisation is evident in the broadcast recording.   These are the only two sources of these broadcasts to surface at this point in time.

The two other appearances were recorded on a date which remains unknown at present.  Four songs were recorded for use on this show or others, same lineup except with John Wetton on bass.  On episode # 127 which was aired on August 15, 1975, hosted by Helen Reddy they preformed Devil's Daughter, Return to Fantasy and Prima Donna.   Other quest stars on this show were Glenn Campbell and Gwen McCrae.  No video or audio of these songs has surfaced to date.  

The last remaining song from this session was broadcast on episode # 148 on January 23, 1976 hosted as well by Helen Reddy.  Special guest on this broadcast included Petula Clark, Natalie Cole, CW McCall, Ted Neely and comedian Billy Braver.  The one song broadcast was Shady Lady.

Filmed: August 5, 1973
Aired: September 28, 1973
Venue: Alexandria Palace
Location: London, England
Length: 11 minutes 28 Seconds
Quality: B-

Set list:
Stealin'
Sweet Freedom

Lineup:
David Byron / Vocals
Mick Box / Lead Guitar
Ken Hensley / Keyboards
Lee Kerslake / Drums
Gary Thain / Bass 

 

The below Youtube presentation is a low quality version of the Sweet Freedom video but it's about as good as any to surface.

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