Havakazoo

For this next nostalgic memory. I'm delving deep in to the realms of long forgotten 90's kids TV shows. This time a programme which aired on Channel 5's Milkshake strand.

Channel 5 when it launched in 1997 was completely different to the Channel 5 now. They tried to make a lot more of their own shows. Not just late night entertainment shows but even their own game shows, soaps and even children's programmes. Something you don't see at all now. Shows like Whittle, Family Affairs, 100%, Beachcomber Bay and Night Fever are a long distant memory.

One of the children's programmes I distinctly remember watching quite regularly in these early days of Channel 5 was Havakazoo.

I guess the first thing I have to address with this programme is the theme tune. I don't think many theme tunes feature kazoo's as the main instrument. I think that should be more common practise. Shows like Newsnight and Casualty would benefit massively from it.

Oh and the theme tune is quite catchy. So catchy in fact. I've found myself singing it to myself on numerous occasions.

"Havakazoo,
We are the crew,
We're not sure what we're doing here
We haven't got a clue,
But we'll have some fun,
And so will you, 
Havakazoo, Havakazoo, Havakazoo"

Now this look back at Havakzoo would have been fairly difficult to do until recently as my memories of the show were a bit hazy after 20 years. But luckily for me and anyone else who remembers the shows. A kind Youtuber has recently uploaded a few editions of the show.

Havakazoo aired quite early in the morning if memory serves me right. The show was set inside a windmill and featured three presenters all of whom had a certain creative skill.

First off there was entertainer and street performer Jason Maverick.

Artist, Gabrielle Bradshaw.

And Musician, Vo Fletcher.

There was also a character called Messy. A robot who was half washing machine and half telephone. Who ran around the studio speaking in an incredibly high pitched voice. Messy was voiced and puppeteered by Jo Greco. Who had previously appeared in shows such as Emu's Pink Windmill Show, Spatz and Wizadora among many others.

Each 25 minute episode of Havakazoo would feature Messy reading out viewers letters. Musical numbers from Vo, Art and craft segments with Gabrielle and Jason would often demonstrate magic tricks, juggling and mime along with presenting segments about animals along with Messy.

At the end of the animal segments. A puppet elephant would pop up and tell an animal related poem.

Each segment in the show was transitioned with very surreal short sketches. Most of which featured a set of talking slugs.

There was also a story segment towards the end of the show. Where Messy would sneak off to his secret corner in the studio and tell a story to the viewers. Along with his friend Elephant (But this time a completely different elephant to the one seen earlier, confusingly).

There was also a segment called Nosey which is perhaps the one part of the show I remember really well. Nosey was an animated anthropomorphic walking camera that would go out and film and investigate various day to day outdoor activities. I vividly remember one episode taking place at a car wash but this has never surfaced online unfortunately.

Can I also mentioned that Nosey also had it's own awesome theme tune?

Some time later, another character was introduced to the show called Watchdog and then a few series later Jason, Gabrielle and Vo all left the show and were replaced by new presenters. Naomi Wilkinson and Andy Ford. Who played bakers Patrick and Patricia. The windmill set was changed to look like a bakery. I didn't watch the show as much by this point.

If memory serves me right. The show ran from 1997 until around 2000/2001. Despite that length of time it was on telly. It's extremely difficult to find anyone who remembers the show. Which is a great shame. Clips of the show have been rare online but as mentioned earlier Youtube user mrpokegan2 has uploaded a few episodes of the show. So a big thank you to them.

I enjoyed watching Havakazoo as a child and it's been nice to revisit the show once again. What I like about the show is it had a very improvised feel to it. Which is not a bad thing. Kids TV doesn't have to always be slick and have all the bells and whistles to be good. Sometimes keeping it simple and a spur of the moment idea is better. Havakazoo to me felt like a successor to shows such as Rainbow and Playdays. Each episode crammed in music, stories, educational pieces, comedy and art demonstrations. What more could you want?

If you would like to find out a little more about the show. May I recommend the excellent website of Joe Greco who has written in great detail the many shows he worked on in the 1990's. Both in front and behind the camera and has written about Havakazoo himself. The website can be viewed here.

"Havakazoo, Havakazoo, Havakazoo, HAVAKAZOO!"

Up next on the blog. A Q&A with one of the presenters of Havakazoo. Watch this space!