Dancing Is My Life

A founding member of iconic dance troupe Pan's People, Dee Dee Wilde recalls the golden years of Top Of The Pops, and how dancing keeps her young and happy

- ALISON JAMES

Never mind the incredible musicians and pop stars who appeared on Top Of The Pops from 1967 to the mid-'70s, there was a certain group of dancers who were just as famous - if not more so.

Pan's People were the "It" girls of their generation, combining glamorous, tongue-in-cheek sexiness with a friendly, fresh-faced, girl-next-door appeal. Dee Dee Wilde was a founder member, along with Babs Lord and Flick Colby.

"It was late 1966," Dee Dee recalls. "Babs, Flick and I were in a dance group called The Beat Girls on the BBC2 programme, The Beat Room.

We weren't happy with our manager and decided to form a new group. The three of us sat in the Soho flat of the lady who made our costumes, trying to come up with a name. After a few bottles of wine, we rejected Dionysus' Darlings in favour of Pan's People - Pan being the Roman god of dance."

The group's first appearance on TOTP in 1967 proved so popular, they became regulars on the show, dancing to tracks when the artists themselves were unable to appear. Over the next five years the line-up changed a few times then, in 1972, Flick left to become the choreographer.

"Cherry Gillespie joined and we had the quintet that became iconic," Dee Dee goes on. "Me, Babs, Ruth Pearson, Louise Clark and Cherry. It was the glam-rock era and we wore some incredible outfits. Once, we were covered in baubles but every time we turned, they'd fly off all over the studio. And I'll never forget dancing to Gilbert O'Sullivan's Get Down and sharing the stage with some dogs, one of whom just wandered off during filming.

"TOTP was great fun but actually very hard work. Flick was a perfectionist and had a very set idea of what she wanted. We'd sometimes have a moan about that! She must have been under so much pressure, though.