Robert Wyatt - I'm a believer - Top Of The Pops - 1974

In a '74 interview, Robert Wyatt-Ellidge admitted he loved pop.

So Simon Draper, the Virgin record executive, seized the opportunity and suggested releasing a "commercial" single.

Thus, after the creation of a complex and intense album like "Rock Bottom," Robert Wyatt recorded a cover of “I’m a Believer,” written by Neil Diamond and sung by the "Monkees" in '66.

The single entered the charts, surprising many, and Robert was invited to "Top of the Pops."

However, the producers at the television studios expressed strong concerns about his disability, thinking that the sight of a man in a wheelchair wasn’t suitable for the audience of the show.

So they asked Robert to sit in a wicker chair.

In response, of course, he told them to fuck off.

After that, Richard Branson (the head of Virgin) tried to mediate, proposing to use a vintage wheelchair.

In the end, however, Wyatt prevailed, performing in his own four-wheeled chair.

After the show, Robert and his musicians ended up on the cover of "New Musical Express," all in wheelchairs.

In the shot above, Nick Mason is played by a stunt double.
#chiaroscuro