Starting as we mean to go on, let Filthy the Dog bring you woofing into 2024.
A creation of Gregory’s Funhouse, which was both a band and a public access show on Manhattan cable TV, Filthy the Dog achieved cult fame on the 1990s Channel 4 show Manhattan Cable, hosted by hipster darling Laurie Pike and introducing the likes of Ru Paul to British viewers. The show was one of many produced by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey in the glory days of late-night British TV and brought together clips from the assorted weird, wonderful, pretentious and absurd shows that took advantage of public access TV that allowed anyone to make a show, free from censorship or traditional production standards. It had already been a regular source for TV shows hosted by Clive James and Chris Tarrant that mocked foreign television, but Manhattan Cable eschewed the Ugly George’s in favour of more experimental and arty shows (as well as originally shot interviews with New York scenesters and reports from NY happenings that no one watching the show cared about). Filthy the Dog was one of the show’s stand-out moments, simply because it appeared without any context and only made sense as a moment of outsider art – with (to warn you) an insanely catchy song that will lodge itself in your head and never leave.
Happy New Year – and may it all be as entertainingly deranged as this.
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