Do any of you remember this show? It was my favorite when I was a kid, even more so than Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. There were so many things I loved about it – the animation, the arts and crafts that Tony Hart made (for some reason I relish the sound of scissors cutting paper), and most of all the music. The jazzy, jaunty music, all horns and what sounds like an xylophone.
For some reason the show was always hard to find. Of course I didn’t know it was from the BBC, and so would flip hopefully through the channels trying to find it. Once by chance my mother found it for me, but it was a channel with horrible reception, and yet I sat through it, hoping to catch a glimpse of the words “Vision On” turning into that squiggly frog thing, and whatever great project Tony Hart was whipping up out of poster board and tape.
As an adult I never heard anything about the show. Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers were still on; they were still talked about. Sometimes I’d ask people, randomly, “Do you guys remember a show with xylophone music and a squiggly frog?” and they’d just look at me like I was nuts. It didn’t help that I couldn’t remember the full name, just “vision” something. I began to think I had made the whole thing up.
Then recently, MB was playing Mickey Baker’s take on the Third Man theme, and for some reason that reminded me of Vision On. I turned to the Internet and found it lickety split.
And man, what a weird show! I swear, the best kids’ shows seem like they’re made by people on drugs. And how ‘70s! That lady’s bellbottoms are crazy. And Tony Hart kinda looks like Benny Hill!
Check out Part 2 for the talking bubbles, perhaps my favorite part of the whole freakshow.
Never heard of it :-(