Victoria Wood was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over several decades and her live comedy act was interspersed with her own compositions which she performed at the piano. Much of her humour was grounded in everyday life and included references to activities, attitudes and products that are considered to exemplify Britain. She was noted for her skills in observational comedy and in satirising aspects of social class. In 2006, Wood came tenth in ITV’s poll of the British public’s 50 Greatest TV Stars.
“I’ve Had It Up To Here” Here is one of her early songs. In 1980 she wrote and starred in the stage play Good Fun from which this song is taken. This performance is taken from the charity event ‘The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball’ in 1981. Wood is sharing her thoughts on men and relationships – a popular theme in her writing. In October 1983 Wood performed her first solo stand-up show, Lucky Bag, in a five-week run at the King’s Head Theatre in Islington. The show transferred to the Ambassadors Theatre for a 12-night run in February 1984. Lucky Bag went on a short UK tour in November and December 1984 and was also released as a live album recorded at the Edinburgh Festival in 1983.
“Northerners” Also taken from the album ‘Lucky Bag’ is this song in which Wood, who was born in Lancashire, finds success in her musical career by ‘being northern’. The song consists of a relentless series of northern cliches which Wood is told to employ if she wants to succeed in her musical career. Here is a version recorded as part of an early TV series ‘Wood & Walters’ which she shared with long time collaborator Julie Walters in 1982.
“The Ballad of Barry and Freda (Let’s Do It)” Wood left Granada in 1984 for the BBC, which promised her more creative control over projects. Later that year her sketch show Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV went into production. Wood chose the actors: her friend Julie Walters once again starred, as did Duncan Preston. Wood’s friends Celia Imrie, Susie Blake and Patricia Routledge were in the cast. As Seen on TV featured the Acorn Antiques series of sketches, parodying the low-budget soap opera Crossroads, and rumoured to be named after an antiques shop in her birthplace. Acorn Antiques is remembered for characters such as “Mrs Overall” (played by Walters), the deliberately bad camera angles and wobbling sets, and Celia Imrie’s sarcastic tone as “Miss Babs”. One of Wood’s most popular comic songs, “The Ballad of Barry and Freda (Let’s Do It)”, originated on this show. It tells the story of Freda (a woman eager for sex) and Barry (an introverted man terrified of intimate relations), and makes clever use of allusions to a multitude of risqué activities while avoiding all taboo words.
“Pam” In 1988 she appeared in the BAFTA-winning An Audience with Victoria Wood for ITV. At the time of recording the show she was six months pregnant. The end of 1988 saw the release of her second live performance Victoria Wood Live, recorded at the Brighton Dome. During this period Wood moved away from the sketch show format and into more self-contained works, often with a bittersweet flavour. Victoria Wood (six parts, 1989) featured Wood in several individual stories such as “We’d Quite Like To Apologise”, set in an airport departure lounge, and “Over to Pam”, set around a fictional talk show. The down to earth observations, and putting a human perspective on them, were core to lots of Wood’s songs. Pam is a perfect example. It was finally included on her album ‘Real Life – The Songs’ in 1997.
“Things Would Never Have Worked” is another song from this period which again is included in her 1997 album ‘Real Life – The Songs’. This version is taken directly from that ITV Audience With Victoria Wood special. A very funny song about a relationship that was just a little doomed.
