On TV
Appendix 2 of Rock and Role attempts to list every TV appearance that Peter Hammill and Van der Graaf Generator have made. You can watch most of them here, including promo films and selected onscreen interviews, presented in chronological order. Not all of them are available in high quality, but in each case, the best version has been used.
Thanks to all the people over the years who've posted these films - and if you know of any others, or have better quality recordings, please let me know.
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VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Beat Club – ARD TV (Germany)
Darkness / Whatever Would Robert Have Said?
Recorded: 5 April 1970 at Radio Bremen TV studios, Bremen
Broadcast: 27 June 1970
Released: The Charisma Years 1970-1978
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Refugees – promo film
Recorded: 2 June 1970 at Eyeline Studio, Dean Street, London
Directed by: Piers Bedford
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Pop 2 – ORTF 2 TV (France)
Lost / Killer / Octopus (excerpts)
Recorded: 18 March 1972 at the Bataclan Theatre, Paris
Broadcast: 27 May 1972
Released: The Charisma Years 1970-1978
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Pop Shop – RTB TV (Belgium)
Theme One / A Plague Of Lighthouse-Keepers
Recorded: 21 March 1972 at Mathonet Studios, Brussels
Broadcast: 21 September 1972
Released: The Charisma Years 1970-1978
PETER HAMMILL
Rock En Stock – ORTF 1 TV (France)
In The End / German Overalls
Recorded: August 1973 at Maison de la Radio et de la Musique, Paris
Broadcast: 21 August 1973
Released: The Charisma & Virgin Recordings 1971-1986
PETER HAMMILL
Kaléidospop – TSR TV (Switzerland)
The Lie / Forsaken Gardens / A Louse Is Not A Home
Recorded: March 1974 at TSR studios, Geneva (location unconfirmed)
Broadcast: 30 March 1974
Released: The Charisma & Virgin Recordings 1971-1986
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Follies – RTB TV (Belgium)
The Undercover Man / Arrow / Scorched Earth / The Sleepwalkers
Recorded: 27 September 1975 at Palais des Expos, Charleroi
Broadcast: 17 April 1976
Released: The Charisma Years 1970-1978
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Wondering – promo film
Recorded: October 1976, Canada (unconfirmed)
VAN DER GRAAF
Cat's Eye/Yellow Fever – promo film
Recorded: unknown, 1977
VAN DER GRAAF
Unknown programme – TSR TV (Switzerland)
Interview
Recorded: 26 November 1977, Palais des Expositions, Geneva
Broadcast: unknown
VAN DER GRAAF
Ohne Maulkorb – ORF TV (Austria)
Interview, includes excerpts of:
Lizard Play / The Sleepwalkers / Mirror Images (watch from 0:14)
Recorded: 8 July 1978 at the Kohfidisch Open Air Festival
Broadcast: July 1978
Released: The Charisma Years 1970-1978
PETER HAMMILL
Chorus – Antenne 2 TV (France)
With Graham Smith
Energy Vampires / My Room (watch from 14:03)
Recorded: 14 May 1979 at the Théâtre de l’Empire, Paris
Broadcast: 24 June 1979
Released: The Charisma & Virgin Recordings 1971-1986
PETER HAMMILL
Play Away – BBC2 TV (UK)
Tintagel By The Sea (mime to pre-recorded track)
Recorded: summer 1979 at Tintagel Castle, Cornwall
Broadcast: 15 December 1979 (repeated 16 September 1980 on BBC1)
Released: The Charisma & Virgin Recordings 1971-1986
PETER HAMMILL
Follies – RTBF TV (Belgium)
The Future Now / Faculty X (AUDIO ONLY - click on image to play)
Recorded: 4 December 1979 in Brussels
Broadcast: 15 December 1979
PETER HAMMILL
Rockpalast – WDR TV (Germany)
With The K Group
The Future Now / Losing Faith In Words / Stranger Still / Sign / My Experience / Modern / The Second Hand / Sitting Targets / The Sphinx In The Face / Flight / Central Hotel / The Spirit / Door / My Room (solo)
Recorded: 26 November 1981 at Markthalle, Hamburg
Broadcast: live?
Released: Live At Rockpalast – Hamburg 1981 (DVD/CD)
PETER HAMMILL
Klassik-Rock-Nacht – BR TV (Germany)
My Room (solo)
This Side Of The Looking-Glass (with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra)
Recorded: 9 December 1981 at Circus Krone Bau, Munich
Broadcast: live across Europe via Eurovision TV
PETER HAMMILL
Klassik-Rock-Nacht – BR TV (Germany)
Time Square / Give Peace A Chance (guest singer with other players including Sparks, John Miles, Mike Rutherford, Mel Collins and Morris Pert - watch from 20:00)
Recorded: 9 December 1981 at Circus Krone Bau, Munich
Broadcast: live across Europe via Eurovision TV
PETER HAMMILL
Riverside – BBC2 TV (UK)
In Slow Time (live vocal over pre-recorded backing track)
Dancers: Nicholas Dixon & Matthew Hawkins
Recorded: late 1981 at Riverside Studios, London
Broadcast: 22 February 1982
PETER HAMMILL
Unknown programme – RAI TV (Italy)
With John Ellis
The Future Now / Ophelia (If I Could was also broadcast: listen to the audio here)
Recorded: 12 July 1983 at Teatro Tenda Lampugnano, Milan
Broadcast: unknown
PETER HAMMILL
Rectangular Picture Machine (RPM) – BBC West TV (UK) Short feature/interview, includes excerpts of:
Just Good Friends (solo) / The Future Now and Sign (with The K Group)
Recorded: K Group tracks - 26 October 1983 at the London School of Economics (unconfirmed)
Broadcast: spring 1984
PETER HAMMILL
Discoring – RAI 1 TV (Italy)
Just Good Friends (mime to pre-recorded track)
Recorded: October 1984 at RAI studios, Rome
Broadcast: 21 October 1984
PETER HAMMILL
Orecchiocchio – RAI 3 TV (Italy)
With The K Group
The Future Now (watch from 17:00)
(This collection also features Sign from the same show (watch from 31:34 - broadcast unknown)
Recorded: 26 October 1983 at the London School of Economics (unconfirmed - same source as RPM tracks above)
Broadcast: 26 October 1984
PETER HAMMILL
Unknown programme – RTL TV (Belgium)
Stranger Still (live vocal over pre-recorded track)
Recorded: 23 March 1985 at Limelight, Kortrijk
Broadcast: unknown
PETER HAMMILL
Timepieces: The Songs Of Peter Hammill – BBC West TV (UK)
Documentary, includes excerpts of:
After The Show / Four Pails / Shell / Porton Down / Painting By Numbers / Just Good Friends (mimed solo performances)
Film Noir (with The K Group)
Recorded: late 1985, with locations including Hammill’s home/studio in Freshford, Somerset and Iford Manor Gardens. Film Noir - 26 October 1983 at the London School of Economics (unconfirmed)
Broadcast: 28 January 1986
PETER HAMMILL
Tocata – TVE1 (Spain)
Painting By Numbers (mime to pre-recorded track)
Recorded: 13 November 1986, TVE studios, Madrid
Broadcast: 28 January 1987
PETER HAMMILL
Música NA – TVE1 (Spain)
Just Good Friends / Shell / The Play’s The Thing (plus interview)
Recorded: 12 December 1989 at the Festival de Música Visual, Lanzarote
Broadcast: early 1990
PETER HAMMILL
FAX – MuchMusic TV (Canada)
Interview, includes excerpts of:
Patient
Recorded: 14 March 1990 at The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto
Broadcast: 15 March 1990
PETER HAMMILL
Unknown programme – RTBF TV (Belgium)
Interview, includes excerpts of:
Time To Burn / Our Oyster / The Future Now
Recorded: 10 July 1990 at La Botanique, Brussels
Broadcast: unknown
PETER HAMMILL
Music Hall: In Concert – Hessen Drei TV (Germany)
Curtains
(Incomplete? Radio broadcast also included Time To Burn / Traintime / Losing Faith In Words)
Recorded: 2 February 1992 at Bockenheim Music Hall, Frankfurt
Broadcast: 30 March 1992
PETER HAMMILL
Music Hall: In Concert – Hessen Drei TV (Germany)
With Stuart Gordon, Nic Potter & David Lord
I Will Find You / Fireships / His Best Girl / Curtains / Stranger Still / Traintime / The Future Now / Modern / Something About Ysabel’s Dance (not broadcast)
Recorded: 7 April 1992 at Bockenheim Music Hall, Frankfurt Broadcast: 18 May 1992
PETER HAMMILL
Rebelde Sin Pausa – ATC TV (Argentina)
Just Good Friends / Too Many Of My Yesterdays
Recorded: 7 June 1992 at ATC studios, Buenos Aires
Broadcast: live
PETER HAMMILL
Hidrogen – Canal-33/Televisió de Catalunya (TV3) (Spain)
If I Could / Ophelia / Curtains (plus interview)
Recorded: 13 October 1992 at Zeleste, Barcelona
Broadcast: November 1992
PETER HAMMILL
In concert – MTK (Moscow TV) (Russia)
With David Jackson, Stuart Gordon & Manny Elias aka the Peter Hammill Quartet
Easy To Slip Away / The Siren Song / The Unconscious Life / Autumn / Comfortable? / Shingle Song / Sign / Primo On The Parapet / Planet Coventry / Ophelia / A Way Out / A Headlong Stretch / Your Tall Ship
Recorded: 18 May 1995 at the Gorbunov Palace Of Culture, Moscow
Broadcast: live
PETER HAMMILL
L’Orchestre National de Lille 20th anniversary – France 3 Nord-Pas-de-Calais Picardie TV (France)
With L’Orchestre National de Lille
Traintime
Recorded: 20 April 1996 at the Zénith Arena, Lille
Broadcast: unknown
JUDGE SMITH with PETER HAMMILL
Frieze Frame – HTV/ITV (UK)
Feature about the making of Judge Smith’s Curly’s Airships, includes excerpts of Hammill singing:
A Byronic Sort Of Blighter / The Night Before / A Ship Of Fools
Recorded: early 1997 at Terra Incognita, plus an unknown country house and nearby airfield
Broadcast: 10 July 1997
PETER HAMMILL
‘A Story In Songs’/Lola Da Musica – VPRO TV (Netherlands)
Documentary, includes abridged performances of:
Labour Of Love / After The Show / Happy Hour / Just Good Friends / Stranger Still (with Stuart Gordon) / Amnesiac / Nothing Comes (with Stuart Gordon) / A Better Time
Recorded: 5 January 1998 in and around Bath and Freshford, including Terra Incognita
Broadcast: 23 January 1998
PETER HAMMILL
Unknown programme – N3 (NDR) TV (Germany)
Interview, includes (mostly inaudible) excerpts of:
Vision / Touch And Go / Bubble (click on image to watch)
Recorded: 10 January 2001, backstage at Fabrik, Hamburg
Broadcast 10 January 2001
PETER HAMMILL
Los Conciertos de Radio 3 – TVE 2 TV (Spain)
A Better Time / Bubble / Wendy And The Lost Boy / I Will Find You / Patient
Recorded: 17 May 2002 at TVE studios, Madrid
Broadcast: 6 June 2002
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Rockpalast – WDR TV (Germany)
The Undercover Man / Scorched Earth / Every Bloody Emperor / Lemmings / Darkness / Childlike Faith In Childhood’s End / The Sleepwalkers / Nutter Alert / Man-Erg / Killer / Wondering
Recorded: 5 November 2005 at the Forum, Leverkusen
Broadcast: 15 January 2006
Released: Live At Rockpalast – Leverkusen 2005
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Cool Tour – RAI 5 TV (Italy)
Interview with Carlo Massarini, includes (mostly inaudible) excerpts of:
Childlike Faith In Childhood’s End / Interference Patterns / Mr. Sands
Recorded: 4 April 2011 at Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome
Broadcast: April 2011
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
On Canvas – WHYY/PBS TV (US)
Documentary, includes excerpts of:
Interference Patterns / Flight / Man-Erg / The Sleepwalkers / Lemmings / Nutter Alert (click on image to watch)
Recorded: 23 June 2012 at Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, Pennsylvania
Broadcast: 29 November 2012
PETER HAMMILL
Rockpalast – WDR TV (Germany)
Mirror Images (click on image to watch)
Recorded: 25 July 2018 at Kirche Breitenbach, Breitenbach am Herzberg
Broadcast: 17 September 2018