TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

A weekly series produced by Juke Box Jury's Barry Langford which was an attempt to get both top forty acts and newcomers playing live in the studio. According to the BBC "Twenty-five minutes of non-stop beat and shake", later changed to "thirty minutes..."

The newly created BBC2 had been given the opportunity to try new things and attract a younger audience, instead they just chose to come up with a Ready Steady Go clone. The studio set-up itself, recorded at BBC Television Centre studio three, looked like a copy of RSG with cameras in view with lots of room for dancing. The only slight difference was that there was no host on-camera, just the voice of Pat Campbell introducing the acts. It was likely that the broadcast day of Monday was not intended as the NME stated "Screening of BBC2's new non-stop series has been switched to Monday nights, commencing July 6." The show was to be pre-recorded the previous Thursday.

Everyone performed at least two songs live, and among those acts were David Bowie, making his music debut with Davie Jones and The King Bees, The Kinks, The Beach Boys and pretty much all the best British R&B acts at the time making this a proper rival for Ready Steady Go!

Wayne Gibson and his band were originally contracted to appear only for the first six shows, but it was extended for a further seven in August 1964.

An article in Fabulous magazine written on-set for the 21st and 28th September 1964 editions suggests that the artists enjoyed doing the show and didn't hide in their dressing rooms waiting to be called, rather sitting around on the set, talking to each other.

The show would employ a resident group whose role was to back singers and then perform a spot of their own each week. The first was Wayne Gibson and the Dynamic Sounds, later replaced by Peter and the Headliners in October.

A talent spot The Beat Room Audition Slot tried to replicate the success of Ready Steady Win, but in the end they just replicated something that didn't work. The resident dance troupe was the Beat Girls lead by Gary Cockrell and Jo Cook, who left after a few weeks, but would later go on to lead The Go-Jos featuring Lyn Wolseley, Ann Chapman, Diane Smith, Linda Lawrence, Jenny Ferrell and Ruth Pearson.

In October 1964 producer Langford flew to America in order to secure bookings for artists like James Brown, Charlie Rich, Faron Young and Clyde McPhatter among others. Talking to Disc at the time he said "I want to feature at least one American star each week or fortnight".

In a move that would attract criticism The Beat Room was given its own New Year's Eve special Beat In The New Year, broadcast opposite the Ready Steady Go special.

It was the intention to have Georgie Fame as a resident act from the beginning of January until the end of the month, but plans changed. A report in a late December 1964 issue of Disc Weekly suggests the show would have a re-vamp from the 11th January 1965 edition onwards, ditching the resident groups. But it seems BBC2 ditched the show instead a few weeks' later. Another report in Melody Maker in December 1964 suggested that time may have been up for the show. A BBC-2 spokesman said, “We are not dropping ‘Beat Room’ in the immediate future, but certainly the long term future of this type of programme is under consideration because naturally we want to keep in the forefront of changes in fashion.” Producer Barry Langford said, "My own feeling Is that I would like to see the style of the show changed. It is a big big rave up at the moment and in recent months styles have changed radically. Ballads are coming in."

As BBC2's transmission range extended across the country throughout 1964 the viewing figures predictably increased, but not enough to ensure its survival, and after seven months it was replaced with the Gadzooks!, also produced by Barry Langford.

Only one complete show is known to exist.

THE BEAT ROOM

BBC2

6th July 1964 - 25th January 1965