Sammy at the BBC

After a bit of digging, I've found that the 'Maria' clip comes from Meet Sammy Davis Jr part 2, which was made the year after the show that BBC4's repeating tonight. So, here, from The A-Z of LE, transmitted as part of Lime Grove Day in 1991, is the clip in question. The bongo player is Juan Mendoza, and on first viewing, I thought that the shot had been achieved using overlay or inlay techniques, but the shadow cast on Sammy's arm at 0:50 clinches it. Mendoza is physically sitting in front of the camera, which is mounted on a camera crane being moved backwards and forwards. I'd love to know who the senior cameraman on this was. Someone like ELS904 will have a shrewd idea.

Dissolution

So, 6 May it is. Which way will you be voting? For the first time in my life, I am, very seriously, considering spoiling my paper. There's just nothing on offer for me. The party of which I was once a member has spent the last 13 years reducing freedom and privacy, as well as raping the economy. The Conservatives would shit on everybody who hasn't been shat on by Labour, and I can't abide the thought of the least worthy Tory leader of the last 15 years being in the right place at the right time to become PM. I think I'd rather countenance Iain Duncan-Smith running the country than David Cameron. Yes, that bad.

What about the Liberal Democrats? My constituency is a two-horse race and, with the best will in the world, they aren't going to make up the ground they'd need. If it were closer, they'd have my cross, just to revive that February 1974 vibe. As for the rest, they can all fuck right off. UKIP are headcases - we should be sunk to the nuts in Europe, not waiting around for the USA's sloppy seconds. BNP? No thanks. Despite being blond and white, I quite like people who aren't.

I can't allow myself not to show up at the ballot box. I might be powerfully disillusioned, but I still hold to the view that this shit is important. I couldn't enjoy the TV coverage (as I always do) if I hadn't made some effort to be a part of the democratic process. Back in the students' union election days, there was always a candidate called RON. This stood for 're-open nominations'. If I were to spoil my paper (almost certainly by writing "They're all shite" across it in purple fountain pen) on 6 May, it would be a de facto vote for RON. If you're thinking of not voting, go along and write "They're all shite" on your paper.

No one-eyed little black Jew jokes

Tomorrow night (Tuesday), BBC4, 11pm, Meet Sammy Davis Jr - original tx: 5 May 1963. A one-off special produced by Dennis Main Wilson. I'm not sure, but I think it's the source of the clip in The A-Z of LE from Lime Grove Day, with Sammy singing 'Maria' from West Side Story accompanied only by a bongo player. The bongo player remains close to the camera throughout, while Sammy gets nearer and further. For years I'd assumed it was inlay or overlay, but someone on Bernie Newnham's excellent Tech Ops site, possibly Bernie himself, mentioned that one of the types of camera crane used at the BBC had a bucket seat at the camera end, so it's possible that the bongo player was physically on the crane. Watch tomorrow and see what you think.

Some great background on the show from the producer here.