Page 1 of 1
We're not the Hot Doris Band! "Before the Act" includes rare It's a sin
Posted: Fri 31 Jul 2026, 7:40 pm
by Sandy Shaw
I was really pleased to stumble upon this podcast made by women who were involved in the organisation of Before the Act in 1988.
https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Cultu ... =156308321
Start from the beginning of episode 3 or go in st 2 minutes 38 seconds.
Screenshot_20260731_193558_Chrome.jpg
Screenshot_20260731_193611_Chrome.jpg
Screenshot_20260731_193541_Chrome.jpg
Re: We're not the Hot Doris Band! "Before the Act" includes rare Its a sin
Posted: Fri 31 Jul 2026, 7:46 pm
by Dog
Brilliant find Sandy!
Re: We're not the Hot Doris Band! "Before the Act" includes rare It's a sin
Posted: Fri 31 Jul 2026, 7:52 pm
by Sandy Shaw
Dog wrote: Fri 31 Jul 2026, 7:46 pm
Brilliant find Sandy!
Thanks Dog!
I was in the audience, I didn't think to try to tape the show!
Bearing in mind the proliferation of live recordings and clips these days on YouTube and other sites, I'm wondering whether a full upload of both songs the Boys performed would be possible one day.
I've mentioned this before but as Ian Mckellen kept insisting that every note and word in the show was penned by lesbians or gay men (nowadays we would say LGBT of course) I took this as a quiet coming out by the Boys.
Re: We're not the Hot Doris Band! "Before the Act" includes rare Its a sin
Posted: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 12:39 am
by DopeFiend
Some backstory here:
https://www.rhino.com/article/this-day- ... -play-live
So there was a live performance on the 5th of June, 1988. Obviously predating the MCMLXXXIX tour.
They did 2 songs, One More Chance and It's A Sin.
It seems someone has an audience-recorded bootleg cassette, because this podcast has a brief snippet of it.
We hear Neil speaking, introducing the song. Then we hear IAS for 50 seconds, from intro to end of chorus before it's interrupted. Then it resumes, the last 20 seconds of the song followed by audience applause.
Apologies if it seems robotic of me to describe the above, but I saw this thread and didn't really know what it was.
It's a brief live recording of the Piccadilly Theatre 1988 performance that was held for a special event.
I agree with
Dog, it's a good find. Given this podcast is from 2020 and seemingly hasn't been posted here.
Nice to hear it.
Re: We're not the Hot Doris Band! "Before the Act" includes rare It's a sin
Posted: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 10:18 am
by Sandy Shaw
DopeFiend wrote: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 12:39 am
Some backstory here:
https://www.rhino.com/article/this-day- ... -play-live
So there was a live performance on the 5th of June, 1988. Obviously predating the MCMLXXXIX tour.
They did 2 songs, One More Chance and It's A Sin.
It seems someone has an audience-recorded bootleg cassette, because this podcast has a brief snippet of it.
We hear Neil speaking, introducing the song. Then we hear IAS for 50 seconds, from intro to end of chorus before it's interrupted. Then it resumes, the last 20 seconds of the song followed by audience applause.
Apologies if it seems robotic of me to describe the above, but I saw this thread and didn't really know what it was.
It's a brief live recording of the Piccadilly Theatre 1988 performance that was held for a special event.
I agree with
Dog, it's a good find. Given this podcast is from 2020 and seemingly hasn't been posted here.
Nice to hear it.
Good good.
The thread title was just to encourage Petheads to take a look /listen. The bootleg would have been made by one of the women involved in putting on the show as described in the podcast. It was a VERY exciting event with the great and good of the arts world helping with this fundraiser for the short-lived Organisation for Lesbian and Gay Action which laid the foundations for the Stonewall lobbying group (as it was, Stonewall itself became much more than that). I remember thanking Simon Rattle afterwards as he was a heterosexual supporter I was pleased to see him there. I don't think I saw the Pets emerge from the stage door.
Re: We're not the Hot Doris Band! "Before the Act" includes rare Its a sin
Posted: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 10:37 am
by Richard-Eastham
This is brilliant! What a find!
Ian McKellen - "I only asked them to do one song!" when he sees all the stage gear being unloaded
Re: We're not the Hot Doris Band! "Before the Act" includes rare It's a sin
Posted: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 10:45 am
by Sandy Shaw
Excuse my missing apostrophe in the thread/song title!
I've popped it in, but some of the replies will still show it as missing.
There's a lovely typo in the Rhino article:
"Sir Michael Uppett" for Sir Michael Tippett.
I had the programne for tbe event for many years and think it will have made the move to the houseboat with me, but due to my huge amounts of "stuff" I won't be able to find it in a hurry. I also had the poster with the names of all he acts on the bill which stayed in pretty good condition, bluetacked to my bedroom wall when I lived in the maisonette.
Re: We're not the Hot Doris Band! "Before the Act" includes rare It's a sin
Posted: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 1:25 pm
by g_m
Great find! Another gem from years ago is unearthed. Isn't there a photo of them playing at the event knocking around somewhere? An old Literally?
And is that the Paninaro timpani making an appearance?
Re: We're not the Hot Doris Band! "Before the Act" includes rare It's a sin
Posted: Sun 02 Aug 2026, 8:49 am
by domino
Thanks for that pearl, Sandy! That is incredible!
This is brilliant! What a find! 
