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Matthew James Butler (born 3 October 1974) is a former child performer who appeared on cult Saturday morning children's show Tiswas in 1980 and 1981. He debuted on the show aged five, having won over presenter and producer Chris Tarrant in an audition of children's acts.
Tiswas was a children's British television series that originally aired on Saturday mornings from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982 and was produced for the ITV network by ATV Network Limited.
Christopher John Tarrant, is an English radio and television broadcaster. He presented the ITV children's television show Tiswas from 1974 to 1981, and the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from 1998 to 2014. He was a Capital Radio host from 1984 to 2004.
Contents
- Post-Tiswas
- Name change
- Media interest
- Radio show
- Bright Eyes act in 2005
- Tiswas Reunited – The 2007 Special
- References
- External links
Matthew's act was to sing "Bright Eyes" in an endearingly childlike way, prompting laughter and applause from the audience, although Matthew himself did not seem aware of the comedy value of his singing. All of his recitals of 'Bright Eyes' were performed with him dressed in a bunny rabbit costume, holding a large felt carrot.
"Bright Eyes" is a song written by Mike Batt and performed by Art Garfunkel. It was written for the soundtrack of the 1979 British animated adventure drama film Watership Down, and was later used in the television series of the same name explicitly as its theme song. The track appears on British and European versions of Garfunkel's 1979 Fate for Breakfast and on the US versions of his 1981 album Scissors Cut. It was the biggest-selling single of 1979 in the UK, remaining at number one for six weeks and selling over a million copies there. Richard Adams, author of the original novel is reported to have hated the song.
After his debut in early 1980, he was invited back two weeks later to sing another song - Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall". After this he would be invited back occasionally throughout this series and the next, always performing "Bright Eyes" – when not foiled by Tarrant's cry of "Not now, Matthew!"
Pink Floyd were an English rock band formed in London in 1965. They achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music. Distinguished by their philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, extended compositions, and elaborate live shows, they are one of the most commercially successful and influential groups in popular music history.
"Another Brick in the Wall" is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera The Wall, written by bassist Roger Waters. "Part 2", a protest song against rigid schooling, features a children's choir. At the suggestion of producer Bob Ezrin, Pink Floyd added elements of disco.
Matthew's act rose to a cult status – he even had his cover of the song issued as a commercial single, although it failed to reach the top 100 in the British music charts. The song was included on The Four Bucketeers LP, a piece of Tiswas merchandise. Matthew took the opportunity to perform his song in front of a paying audience at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, on the Tiswas team's Four Bucketeers tour.
The Four Bucketeers were an ad-hoc music/water-throwing group from the ITV children's programme Tiswas.
The Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue seating 858 and situated in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built after the Second World War in Britain and as such was more than a place of entertainment. It joined the new Coventry Cathedral as a symbol of optimism and culture in one of the largest re-development projects then undertaken, to rebuild the city of Coventry, which had been almost totally destroyed by bombing. The building is now a grade II listed building. In 1963 the Belgrade was registered as a charity by the Charity Commission. The Belgrade acquired its name in recognition and thanks for a gift of timber from the Yugoslavian capital city of Belgrade, that was used extensively in the construction of the auditorium. Since opening in 1958, the theatre has established itself as a centre for the new and innovative productions.
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England.
His rabbit costume and carrot were made by his mother. According to Tiswas presenter Sally James "Matthew turned up in his rabbit suit and then one week she just turned up with all these rabbit suits for all of us – and all these carrots. It was just so bizarre, and we all wore them. I’ve still got mine! The last time I put it on, my kids were very little, and we said to them ‘If you look out of the window in a moment you’ll see the Easter bunny in the garden, putting Easter eggs around’. And so I hopped outside about five minutes later. You know, obviously they knew it was me, but it was quite fun". [1]
Sally James is a former presenter on the ITV Saturday morning children's show Tiswas from 1977 until it ended in 1982.
