Before the glittering costumes became a memory, Malc and Trev showed the real men behind Showaddywaddy
There is something wonderfully revealing about seeing Malcolm “Malc” Allured and Trevor Oakes sitting for an interview on ATV Today on 15 November 1977. By then, Showaddywaddy were no longer simply a Leicester band enjoying a taste of success. They had become one of the most recognisable British acts of the decade, carrying their revival of 1950s rock ’n’ roll into the heart of mainstream television. Yet this particular appearance feels much more relaxed than the larger-than-life image associated with the group. Away from the dancing, colourful clothes and carefully staged performances, Malc and Trev offered a glimpse of the musicians themselves, the people behind one of Britain’s most distinctive eight-piece groups. The surviving television listings confirm the ATV Today interview, while archival records preserve the segment as an approximately eight-and-a-half-minute piece.
For Trev, the story had begun long before the television cameras arrived. Trevor Oakes had been one of Showaddywaddy’s founding members in 1973, after his group Choise merged with the Golden Hammers to create the unusual eight-man line-up. During the day he had worked as a sheet-metal worker, while music remained his great ambition. He became one of the band’s principal songwriters, contributing songs including “Rock ’n’ Roll Lady,” “Lookin’ Back,” “I Don’t Like Rock ’n’ Roll No More” and “Trocadero.” Malc, meanwhile, was the group’s drummer and another founding member. The two men represented an important part of what made Showaddywaddy different: this was not simply a manufactured collection of performers assembled around a nostalgic image. There was a genuine history between the musicians, stretching back through Leicester’s local music scene.
And the timing of the interview makes it particularly fascinating. Just weeks earlier, Showaddywaddy had begun another major chapter with “Dancin’ Party,” released in October 1977. Their previous single, “You Got What It Takes,” had reached No.2 in Britain, following their extraordinary run of success that had begun with “Under the Moon of Love” reaching No.1 in late 1976. When Malc and Trev appeared on ATV Today, the band were therefore sitting at a remarkable point in their career. The old rock ’n’ roll sound was decades removed from its original era, yet Showaddywaddy had made it feel completely at home in 1970s British pop. Their television appearances became part of that visual memory, with the eight members turning a stage into something closer to a small rock ’n’ roll theatre. Their Top of the Pops appearance the same week as the ATV Today interview featured “Dancin’ Party,” underlining just how busy that period was for the group.
What makes footage like this especially precious now is the contrast between the image and the people. The Showaddywaddy most people remember from photographs and television was flamboyant, energetic and deliberately nostalgic. But sitting across from an interviewer were two working musicians who had lived through the long road before the records became hits. Trev’s later recollections make that even clearer. He remembered the importance of being able to write their own material, the enormous audiences at places such as Glasgow Apollo, and the strange intensity of television appearances where a band might have only a few minutes to make an impression. He once described Top of the Pops as hard work for everyone despite the brief time on stage.
Looking back from today, the ATV Today interview has another layer of poignancy. Trevor Oakes died on 18 February 2026, aged 79, following a long illness. Showaddywaddy’s official website described him as a founding member, songwriter, guitarist and close friend to his former bandmates, with Dave Bartram remembering a friendship that had stretched across 57 years. Malc himself later paid tribute to Trev as a great friend and remembered his songs, particularly “Trocadero.”
That is why this old television appearance feels different now. It is not simply another piece of 1970s pop footage. It preserves Malc and Trev at a moment when the future still seemed wide open, before decades of touring, changing line-ups and retirement had become part of the story. There they are, young, relaxed and unmistakably themselves, caught for a few minutes while Showaddywaddy were still racing through the brightest part of their journey.