Heart Throbs of the 70s

Heart-Throbs explores the phenomenon of the bedroom wall poster, and those lucky stars who have held the title of 'teen dream' over the last three decades. Over the next three weeks, Sky One is proud to present the seminal heart-throbs of the 70s, 80s and 90s, as well as exploring the pin-up phenomenon itself. Each show focuses on the five big pin-ups of the decade, interspersing interviews with archive footage and talking to the fans who were willing to follow their idols to the ends of the earth in the hope of getting a glimpse of their lust-object's glitter boots.


In the first show we catch up with the five biggest pin-up faces of the 70s. With his squeaky clean image, parents everywhere were safe in the knowledge that their children lusted after a wholesome Donny Osmond. David Cassidy picked up where Donny left off: star of The Partridge Family and famed for wearing rather fetching velveteen suits, he even got to sing on the tarmac at Heathrow airport, such was his fame. Next to be given the star treatment was the most popular of Charlie's Angels, with a hairdo that made history long before the 'Rachel': Farrah Fawcett, whose famous red swimsuit poster was the best seller of all time. Largely to credit for igniting women's interest in football, George Best was the first major footballing glamour-boy and posters of him were snapped up immediately. Think of 70s glam rock and you'll no doubt think of the next star in tonight's show, Marc Bolan. He looked like a girl but was actually a boy and his asexual look was just what the kids wanted.

The show also checks out some of the biggest crazes of the era that spawned their own pin-up stars and perpetuated the phenomenon. We look at TV shows including The Dukes Of Hazzard, Happy Days and Chips. See how the age of women's lib went from strength to strength with forceful women like Debbie Harry and Suzi Quatro emerging as new media r“le models. Check out how the music and sport of the age gave us more of those famous blu-tak bound pictures.

What self-respecting show about pin-ups could be complete without considering the birth of the teen mag, that all important vehicle which enabled our dreams to come true as we kissed our current lust-object goodnight (even if they were stuck to the bedroom wall)? The 70s saw the arrival of Jackie, Oh Boy! and Pink and with them the financial exploitation of the teenage crush on a massive scale.

Tune in to relive the trends of the decade and of course, to discover what the people you dreamed of marrying when you were 13 are doing now.

Heart Throbs Of The 70s can be seen on Sunday 18 March at 21.00 on Sky One