TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 -
It's My First Time...
Pop stars pop their cherries on TV
We all have to start somewhere, but in many cases it took a while.
10cc
Pre-
Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders
ABC Thank Your Lucky Stars -
(probably) For You For You
Singer and writer Eric Stewart had been with the band throughout its career, both with Fontana as their lead singer and latterly without, and just before they split another singer and writer Graham Gouldman would join the group on bass. After the split Stewart would go on to help create Strawberry Studios in Stockport which would become 10cc's home for the next few years.
The Mockingbirds
Top Of The Pops 1964-
Probably the best band from Manchester at that time not to make it, despite great 45's for Decca, Immediate and Columbia. Kevin Godley and Graham Gouldman's band had a weekly gig warming up the audience for Top Of The Pops before the cameras were turned on, but sadly the BBC's cameras never pointed in their direction, but given time...
Hotlegs
BBC1 Top Of The Pops -
Neanderthal Man
The first of three personal appearances by Stewart, Godley and Creme promoting a
song which was only intended as a test to see if new recording equipment at Strawberry
Studios worked properly, and using a band name that was an in-
10cc
BBC1 Top Of The Pops -
Donna
Their rock and roll ballad spoof caught the ear of the boss of UK Records, Jonathan
King and he signed them to a two album deal. Apple had been given the chance to sign
the new as yet un-
The Animals
Granada Scene At 6:30 -
Baby Let Me Take You Home
The Animals had to head down to Manchester to make their TV debut, rather than staying in Newcastle as, presumably, Tyne Tees weren't interested, or, probably not aware of the scene going on in the their own city. Mike Jeffreys, their manager, got them a booking on one of the most influential local ITV shows. Scene at 6.30 would play host to pretty much all of the country's most important acts over its five year history. However, the record itself wouldn't be released for another week, so it might have been in vain. Just two days' later they hit the big time as an appearance on Ready Steady Go! would help the record get into the lower reaches of the chart.
Shirley Bassey
AR Jack Hylton Presents: Variety -
Stormy Weather
The genesis of Shirley Bassey's fame pretty much co-
Her appearances in Jack Hylton shows on stage would extend to TV once Associated-
The Bay City Rollers
BBC1 Top Of The Pops -
Keep On Dancing
Active in various line-
The Beatles
Granada People And Places -
Some Other Guy, Love Me Do
Nearly two weeks after the release of their debut 45 they found themselves in Manchester's Granada studios for its early evening news show. Since Liverpool never had its own TV channel (although it now has Liverpool TV, a community channel) they had to travel the twenty miles across Lancashire between lunchtime and evening gigs at The Cavern. It must have been something of a novelty for their fans to see them on TV and then 'in the flesh' only two hours' later, but their success would only bring animosity from some of the Cavern regulars who didn't want to share them. Granada's Johnny Hamp had previously seen the band in Hamburg and suggested that Granada catch them in action at The Cavern upon their return. They were filmed in August 1962 performing Some Other Guy in front of a crowd who were hostile to their new drummer. The clip was put on the shelf until 1963.
The Bee Gees
BBC1 Top Of The Pops -
New York Mining Disaster (1941)
After the Gibb family emigrated to Australia in 1958 sons Barry, Maurice and Robin
continued their childhood passion for singing and would in time become regulars on
the TV show circuit in Australia in the first half of the sixties, making their debut
in August 1960 on the curiously titled Desmond and The Channel 9 Pins show in Brisbane.
This would eventually lead to a recording contract with Leedon Records in 1963, releasing
their debut album in 1965. However as The Easybeats, Frank Ifield, Olivia Newton-
Polydor Records had picked up the UK rights to Spicks And Specks from the Spin label
in Australia, releasing it just after the brothers arrived in the UK in February
1967, but it didn't chart. Arranging a new management/publishing/recording deal with
NEMS/Robert Stigwood they set about starting all over again as, apart from the Manchester
police force, no-
Bypassing the introductory round of shows like Dee Time, The Eamonn Andrews Show
or even Scene at 6.30 The Bee Gees were pushed into the deep end. Top Of The Pops.
The single had crawled up to number 17 and for their UK TV debut Robin was put behind
a small keyboard stage right, Colin was on drums on the other side with the three
singers and guitarists stood on a raised platform behind them. Despite the single's
success, and it did continue to climb to number 12, they only made the one appearance
on the show to promote it. Altogether they would make ten appearances on The Pops
that year, including one of the year-
Cilla Black
TWW Discs-
Love Of The Loved
It's likely Cilla made her debut on the 100th edition of the legendary, but now elusive pop series, recorded in Bristol. Proving popular with TV producers and the audience she would made a further eleven appearances in the last few months of the year.
Marc Bolan
Rediffusion Ready, Steady, Go! -
The Wizard
His debut single The Wizard had been released by Decca and Bolan was given an invite
to the best possible place to promote it. However, that week RSG was still mired
in controversy over P J Proby's reluctance to appear unless he got, what he considered,
a sincere on-
A couple of setbacks then followed, as intended but cancelled appearances on ATV's The Mod Ball and ABC's Thank Your Lucky Stars in 1965 put him back to square one. However Lucky Stars came to his aid on 19th February 1966 as he made his third appearance promoting The Wizard, a single which was now three months' old. His second Decca 45, The Third Degree attracted no attention from the telly when released in June 1966, so he would have to wait until 16th December 1966 and Ready Steady Go to plug his sole Parlophone release Hippy Gumbo. Desdimona, his one hit with John's Children in summer 1967, found no takers in UK TV land. It would take a year until his return to our TV screens. BBC1's early evening How It Is played host to Tyrannosaurus Rex on 27th September 1968, probably to play One Inch Rock. It would be over two years' later, a name change and Ride A White Swan's debut on Top Of The Pops on 12th November 1970 to help make Marc the superstar he always thought he should be.
David Bowie
BBC1 Juke Box Jury -
His first single, Liza Jane by Davie Jones and The King Bees, was featured on BBC1's weekly pop trial by TV Juke Box Jury. That week's jury was made up of Charlie Drake, Diana Dors, Bunny Lewis and Jessie Matthews. According to Geoff Leonard's Juke Box Jury website only Charlie Drake voted it a hit, while Jones was in the hot seat listening to the comments and soaking up the embarrassment before revealing that he was backstage all the time.
Rediffusion Ready, Steady, Go! -
Davie Jones & The King Bees -
Jones found himself in the company of Dusty Springfield, The Animals and The Crickets
for his musical TV debut. However, the single sold poorly and the group were let
go by Vocalion after the one release. It would be another five years before the public
would give a damn, and even then it was just a one-
Culture Club
BBC2 Something Else -
In the late seventies our South London Boy was living in Birmingham, and turned up at Pebble Mill for a recording for BBC2's youth magazine show, chatting with the hosts about fashion. Martin Degville from the future Sigue Sigue Sputnik also went along for a laugh.
BBC1 Top Of The Pops -
The Jets -
George O'Dowd/Boy George is seen dancing along to this rockabilly-
BBC1 Top Of The Pops -
Culture Club -
If you're going to make your TV debut then The Pops was the deep end. Boy George
later claimed that Culture Club were given the chance to appear due to a cancellation
by Shakin' Stevens, although their producer Steve Levine recalls that an Elton John
promo clip was ditched in favour of that weeks' highest climber, Culture Club. Unfortunately
since the track was being mimed-
David Essex
Rediffusion The Five O'Clock Club -
Can't Nobody Love You
His second of four forty-
Georgie Fame
AR Ready, Steady, Go! -
Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames -
Having played behind many British and American pop and rock acts of the late fifties
and early sixties courtesy of manager Larry Parnes Clive Powell/Georgie Fame found
himself keyboard player in Billy Fury's then backing-
Fleetwood Mac
BBC2 Late Night Line-
Despite the Eric Clapton era John Mayall's Bluesbreakers making several appearances on teatime kids' show The Five O'Clock Club and Ready Steady Go, they were absent from TV after Clapton left. There would be no known TV appearances to promote 1967's A Hard Road, Mayall's album with his new guitarist Peter Green. After forming Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and signing to CBS's Blue Horizon label they almost immediately found themselves with a top three album, without much promotion, but it would take several more single releases to attract any kind of attention from TV producers. After a try out pilot show in May 1968 BBC2 gave the go ahead for the UK's first dedicated pop TV show to be broadcast in colour. Colour Me Pop was there to promote (mostly) albums, so it was perfect vehicle for bands like Fleetwood Mac who would be given the chance to showcase their album.
Genesis
BBC2 Disco 2 -
unknown
After the failure of their Decca singles and album, and despite some radio play by
Kenny Everett and Radio Caroline Genesis had decided to call it a day. They had made
their album, albeit with a pop-
Despite having no real management at the time, they secured a six-
Gerry & The Pacemakers
ABC ABC At Large -
How Do You Do It?
It's difficult to point to who would have been Merseyside's second best, The Searchers
perhaps, The Big Three? But Gerry Marsden was a writer, and a very fine one at that,
but sadly his group were not only given a cover version to record for their first
single, but one that The Beatles and George Martin had previously rejected. Once
again, Granada had not seen any potential for the Liverpool band, so it was up to
ABC and their late-
Herman's Hermits
Peter Noone had been a successful teenage actor appearing in numerous TV dramas in
the UK from 1961 onwards. The first I can trace is Granada's drama Family Solicitor,
in an episode called First Eleven Plus, broadcast Wednesday 30th August 1961, where
the fourteen year old Noon (no 'e' at the end) played a schoolboy called Harrison
in a story about a school playing field being sold off for building land. A few months'
later he appeared in the then year-
Talking to Melody Maker in July 1966 Noone claimed "We've got a lot better since
we started. You know Johnny Hamp -
The Hollies
ATV Carroll Levis Junior Discoveries – c.1959
Tony Hicks, future Hollies guitarist played washboard, presumably in a skiffle band. If it was it must have been a very late one.
Granada Scene at 6.30 -
The Hollies didn't have to go far to make their telly debut, appearing on Manchester's early evening news and arts show. Tasked with finding the talent show producer Johnny Hamp said "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them. They were dressed in jeans and shirts that didn't match, and they looked more like rough kids than musicians. But we put them on, because they had a new kind of talent, and they never looked back."
The first show I can attribute an actual date is this...
Grampian Joe and The Music -
(probably) Searchin'
Their first 45 (Ain't That) Just Like Me failed because it just wasn't very good.
However, hiding on the B side was The Hollies' greatest weapon. They could play and
sing alright, but they could write their own songs. Everyone was doing it then, but
many lacked the confidence to suggest that their own song should be the A side. So
there it was, 'Hey What's Wrong With Me' written by Nash -
Engelbert Humperdinck
ABC Oh Boy! -
Gerry Dorsey
The press reported that a special train was laid on to bring 100 fans from Leicester,
courtesy of the Leicester Chronicle, specially for the show. They were there to support
local singer Gerry Dorsey, making his Oh Boy debut. 22 year-
Rediffusion The Five O’Clock Club -
Engelbert Humperdinck -
For once, good fortune found him. After running into old flatmate Gordon Mills in 1965 he suddenly found himself with a new manager, but Mills had a shock for him. In order to gain a new audience like he had done with Tom Jones then maybe a name change would be a good thing, and that name would be...
Engelbert could also be forgiven for thinking the merry-
Humperdinck had a much deserved stroke of luck when on the 5th February 1967 singer Dickie Valentine had to drop out of the Sunday Night at the London Palladium show due to illness. Decca suggested this singer who had a new single, a cover of a country hit Release Me. The record had already come in at 39 in the chart two weeks before the Palladium appearance, then up to 23 a week before the show, then up to 12 as a response to the show. The day after the broadcast all copies that were in the shops had run out and Decca received orders for another 80,000. By the end of the decade his hits The Last Waltz and Release Me were both in the top ten biggest sellers of the 1960s.
Elton John
TWW Now!!! -
"The Bluesology" were listed for this edition in Melody Maker backing Patti LaBelle & Her Belles. Elton/Reg Dwight's band had been supporting them on a nationwide tour. Although Bluesology were a recording act in their own right, releasing two singles on Fontana and one on Polydor, no TV producers appeared to be interested.
BBC1 Juke Box Jury -
The 433rd and (thankfully) final edition featured Spencer Davis as the Hot Seat guest who mentioned that Reg Dwight and Bernie Taupin had written a song for his band's new LP.
BBC1 Lulu and A Song For Europe -
Elton and Bernie's song I Can't Go On Living Without You was in the shortlist of six songs to be considered as the UK entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The British TV audience thought it not as good as Boom Bang A Bang apparently, but to be fair that song actually won the contest (along with three others).
Granada Discotheque -
Ayshea's debut as a co-
Tom Jones
BBC Wales Donald Peers Presents – 1960
Tommy Wooward -
The twenty year-
TWW Discs-
The Senators – unknown
The Senators made one appearance and, despite the show's name, they didn't appear to have made a disc to promote. They would later become Jones' backing band.
BBC Wales Donald Peers -
Tommy Scott – unknown
Returning to the show for two appearances, he had now changed his name to Tommy Scott. Tommy Scott and The Senators would be one of South Wales' best bands.
ABC Lucky Stars (Summer Spin) -
Tom Jones -
After a false start with a Joe Meek recording session in 1963 Tom Jones, as he now called himself, had earned a Decca recording contract and had started on the ladder of promotion with this, his first single, released in late August. The Senators had become The Squires, but didn't get a credit on the label. Having moved down to London from South Wales they found themselves having to go further back to Aston, Birmingham for their national TV debut.
The Kinks
AR Ready, Steady, Go! -
Long Tall Sally
Their menagerie of managers bagged The Kinks the best TV show of its era to promote the band's first 45. According to a Melody Maker report at the time they played live, while photos have them playing at the bottom of one of the studio's famous spiral staircases with Pete Quaife and Mick Avory on a large podium and the Davies brothers between them and the camera. Despite the perfect promotional spot it didn't help. It didn't sell, and to be honest it was a poor single. They would have to wait until late July and You Really Got Me until they could outrage parents properly.
Led Zeppelin
BBC All Your Own -
The JG Skiffle Group -
Like thousands of others Jimmy Page and his school chums had formed their own skiffle group. However, by 1958 it seemed a bit late. Skiffle was fading, slowly being replaced by blues copyists, something that Page would later latch on to himself. But they were given the chance to appear on national telly and on Easter Sunday there they were live on a youth talent show. Radio Times described the show as "A programme in which children from all over Great Britain have been invited to take part" Jimmy and his pals were briefly interviewed by host Huw Weldon about their ambitions, with Page expressing an interest in biological research. But by 1962 he had made music his living and in June 1963 he was interviewed by Channel Television about his future. On the 6th March 1965 Page would appear on ABC's Thank Your Lucky Stars playing his solo 45 She Just Satisfies.
BBC1 How Late It Is -
Communication Breakdown
The Flying Burrito Brothers were to be musical guests for the second edition of BBC1's
late night venture into the counter-
Lulu
Scottish One Night Stand -
Lulu & The Luvvers
Scotland's own Little Miss Dynamite (as the press called her) made her debut on Scottish TV's talent show for new beat groups. Three bands were featured in each show, along with a professional group. Lulu and her group shared the studio stage that evening with Tommy Dene and The Tremors and The A Beats, but she would have to wait until Friday 1st May 1964 for her national TV debut on Ready Steady Go, performing her Decca 45 Shout, but without her band The Luvers/Luvvers, despite being credited on the label. Lulu (with or without her band) immediately became a familiar face to viewers around the country, racking up at least 24 appearances on British TV in 1964 alone. Like Tom Jones she would have to ditch the group in order to move forward professionally and by the late sixties she was hosting her own shows and series, but despite To Sir With Love selling two million copies in America she never attracted TV producers there like Jones had.
Manfred Mann
Southern Day By Day -
Manfred Mann in a ten-
Manfred Mann (the band) were London-
Dudley Moore
ATV Music Shop -
unknown
Despite making his name as a part of comedy revue Beyond The Fringe in 1961 Moore
had been playing and recording with Johnny Dankowrth since the late fifties and it's
likely that he made his TV debut with them at some point. But he was popular enough
to have his own solo TV spots from time to time, leading to ATV's invite on to their
Sunday afternoon diversion. The formation around that time of The Dudley Moore Trio
and their popularity led to their two appearances on Associated-
The Move
Mike Sheridan was Birmingham's John Mayall. Guitarists like Eric Clapton, Peter Green
and Mick Taylor made themselves able band members until a higher calling took them
away to other bands. Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne had both been through Mike Sheridan's
Lot or The Nightriders, while Rick Price had also recorded with him. Although Sheridan
made his TV debut on Rediffusion's tea-
Rediffusion Ready, Steady, Go! -
Night Of Fear
Once again the Brummies had to head to London. Despite name-
Mud
BBC1 The Basil Brush Show -
(probably) Shangri-
or
LWT South Bank Summer: All Shades Of Pop -
Vehicle
The Mud had signed to CBS in 1967 and all their four songs for the label were written
by "R Davis/Davies" giving the false impression that they were somehow unheard Kinks
songs. Rob Davis would be the band's hidden writing talent and would continue to
have hits right through the 2000s. Having been dumped by CBS they were picked up
by Philips over a year later, releasing Shangri-
Olivia Newton-
BBC2 The Dick Emery Show -
Pat & Olivia (Pat Carroll & Olivia Newton-
After the failure of her first UK single release Till You Say You'll Be Mine in May 1966 Olivia decided to stay in the UK, reuniting with her singing partner Pat Carroll who also had to come over from Australia, where the duo had been regulars on the Time For Terry TV show in Melbourne. Despite not having a recording deal the two proved popular on stage and gained a regular gig as resident guests on The Dick Emery Show in 1967 and 1968. After Carroll's visa expired she returned to Australia and Olivia carried on alone in the UK.
LWT Stewpot-
Toomorrow
After losing his job as the Musical Director for The Monkees Don Kirshner made certain
that he would not be in a position to be dumped again, so he created a cartoon band,
The Archies, that wouldn't berate him about a lack of musical credibility. After
their massive success, he made his next move, this time a movie project, a (mostly)
British group chosen for their looks as much as musical talent. After the movie and
soundtrack again both flopped they then signed with Decca for a one-
BBC1 The Cliff Richard Show -
Her personal relationship with writer/producer and ex-
Pink Floyd
Granada Scene Special: It’s So Far Out It’s Straight Down -
Interstellar Overdrive, Percy The Ratcatcher (aka Matilda Mother)
Nicely timed to co-
Queen
BBC2 The Old Grey Whistle Test -
Keep Yourself Alive (Filmfinders clip)
Despite being fans of the band Queen never actually appeared live in the OGWT studio, so it was Philip Jenkinson's Filmfinders to the rescue and footage of World War II was summoned up to support the track, a little like Lou Reizner would do with the awful All This And World War II about three years' later. Despite the fact that this show still exists in the BBC archives, this track however is not mentioned in the BBC INFAX list of surviving appearances. Queen's name would appear on the Tuesday 13th November 1973 edition, but the band were on tour supporting Mott The Hoople at the time, so it was likely to have been another film clip. That edition of the show is now missing, something that Queen fans would have to get used to.
BBC1 Top Of The Pops -
Seven Seas Of Rhye
Top Of The Pops was like the Call-
Cliff Richard
ABC Oh Boy! -
Cliff Richard & The Drifters -
Schoolboy Crush, Cliff's first 45 was released in late August and he and his band were invited to appear on the first of Jack Good's ABC rock and roll show two weeks' after its release. According to a rehearsal sheet listed on Geoff Leonard's Oh Boy website, Cliff's A side was ignored in favour of the B side and Milton Allen's R&B flavoured Don't Bug Me Baby. TAM TV ratings suggest that nearly two million homes witnessed his debut, helping to get Move It to number two a few weeks' later, with even more homes tuning in for his second appearance the following week. Cliff would become Oh Boy's was almost exclusive property, with a few exceptions, appearing on ATV's The Jack Jackson Show on the 22nd October and ATV's Val Parnell’s Star Time on 13th November 1958, and it was with ATV that Cliff would stay for the next stage of his career, becoming the mum's favourite as well as the daughter's.
The Rolling Stones
Although the band didn't make it to on TV until summer 1963 one member of the group already had some TV experience. Monday 14th September 1959 ATV's Seeing Sport: Rock Climbing was broadcast from High Rocks, Tunbridge Wells in Kent with Michael Jagger and his teacher father explaining the importance of correct footwear. Michael said nothing, just showing us his plimsolls as requested by Jagger Snr.
ABC Lucky Stars (Summer Spin) -
Come On
The band were taken to Carnaby Street by Andrew Oldham in order to buy matching suits
for their big TV debut, choosing a houndstooth design. The image was at odds with
their unkempt hair which garnered a comment from the show's host Pete Murray to the
effect that the Hairdresser's Union wanted to see them after. Keith nearly caused
backstage fisticuffs with the Irish showband The Cadets for what they were wearing.
It had to be said they were dressed like part-
Roxy Music
BBC2 The Old Grey Whistle Test -
Ladytron
Despite the urban myth of Bob Harris not liking Roxy Music when they first appeared on the show the fact was that he wasn't even hosting it then. When Planet Janet's finest made their TV debut Richard Williams was the host. He had championed the band after hearing a demo tape and wrote about them in Melody Maker in the summer of 1971. However Whistle Test didn't give time to unsigned talent, so they had to wait nearly a year before their TV debut, which by that time they had the now classic line up. However the band made a second appearance in 1973, finally giving Harris the chance to air his disapproval.
Whistle Test was past the bedtime of many of us, so we had to wait until 24th August 1972 and their Top Of The Pops debut playing Virginia Plain, as profound an influence and as shocking a spectacle as Bowie's Starman a few weeks' earlier.
The Searchers
ABC Lucky Stars (Summer Spin) -
Sweets For My Sweet
Merseyside's second greatest made their debut on the show that had given The Fab's their big TV break. Despite the band's humour, particularly that of their drummer Chris Curtis, they were never considered for their own special, only The Beatles would get that treatment. Although Tony, John, Chris and Mike never quite had the ring of John, Paul, George and Ringo, not even Pye Records' owners ATV saw the potential. The personality of the band's members would only come through on occasion, like Ready Steady Go where the acts could get a word in edgeways with interviews, but Tony Jackson leaving the band seemed to sour relations with the media.
The Sex Pistols
Granada So It Goes -
Anarchy In The UK
After appearing at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester on June 1976 the band
get booked straight away for the late night rock show, hosted by Tony Wilson, also
to be recorded in Manchester. Not giving one thought to what the bosses at Granada
might think Wilson booked them for the last spot on the last show, just to be on
the safe side, hoping for a quick getaway should it all go a bit Ken Tynan. Unexpected
compromises were made however. Due to the anti-
Sandie Shaw
ABC Lucky Stars (Summer Spin) -
As Long As You're Happy Baby (cancelled appearance)
'Miss Sandy Shaw' as she was referred to in Record Mirror was due to make her TV debut on the prime time Saturday night record show, promoting her first single released on the 10th July. However, union trouble at ITV meant that the recorded but cancelled edition of show due for broadcast on the 4th July would finally get an airing on the 18th July instead, elbowing Sandie's intended debut. She would eventually appear the following week on the 25th July 1964 show.
Rediffusion The Five O’Clock Club -
As Long As You're Happy Baby
She finally gets her overdue TV debut, albeit on kids' TV, but the single is a flop. Thankfully There's Always Something There To Remind Me takes her to the top a few months' later and she becomes not only a regular on British TV for the rest of the decade, but eventually gets her own series on BBC1 in 1968.
Slade
BBC1 Monster Music Mash -
Ambrose Slade -
The public could be excused some chin-
The Small Faces
ABC Lucky Stars (Summer Spin) -
Whatcha Gonna Do About It
The Small Faces' TV debut was the day after the record's release, but it's certain that some viewers would have seen the singer's face before, even if they didn't know his name. Before forming The Small Faces in 1965 Stephen Marriott had been a successful adolescent actor, making many TV appearances, probably starting with BBC's Mrs Pastry's Progress on 21st April 1962. Later he would appear in Dixon Of Dock Green, William The Pacemaker both in 1963, the same year as his debut 45 Give Her My Regards, which garnered no interest from TV. He also popped up in Sid James' Taxi and BBC's Television Club in 1964, while his two appearances in the pop films Live It Up and Be My Guest were probably more to his liking as he already had his own band The Moments who had released a lone 45 in the USA. According to legend the band's keyboard player Jimmy Winston misbehaved during their Lucky Stars' debut, swinging his arms around to distract attention away from Steve Marriott, guaranteeing that his days were numbered. Sonny & Cher also appeared on the show and became early champions of the band. The following Friday they appeared on Ready Steady Go where Eric Burdon introduced them as The New Faces.
Dusty Springfield
Strictly speaking Dusty had four debuts.
BBC1 The Six-
The Lana Sisters -
The Lana Sisters were a singing trio, one of which was Shan Lana, aka Mary O'Brien,
aka Dusty Springfield. The trio's recording career ran from autumn 1958 to late 1960,
and despite their lack of success in their home country The Lana Sisters did have
one top ten hit in Ireland with their final 45, My Mother's Eyes. The B side, You've
Got What It Takes, was co-
ABC Thank Your Lucky Stars -
The Springfields -
It would be ten months between The Lana Sisters final TV appearance in July 1959 and her next venture, a folk/calypso singing trio with her brother Dion, aka Tom Springfield and future record producer Mike Hurst. Shan had become Dusty and by this time she had progressed from standing on one end to standing in the middle with her 'brothers' either side of her. A mere two months' after their TV debut they were given their own four part, fifteen minute, series in the early evenings on the BBC. On Saturday 2nd March 1963 Dusty appeared without the other Springfields on the panel of Juke Box Jury and after a blazing row backstage at Ready Steady Go in August 1963 the trio were finished, but there were still a few appearances that they were contractually obliged to do, with their final appearance on Sunday Night At The London Palladium on Sunday 6th October 1963.
Associated Rediffusion Ready, Steady, Go! -
Dusty co-
Associated Rediffusion Ready, Steady, Go! -
I Only Want To Be With You
Probably as a thank you for her hosting work RSG gives Dusty her solo singing TV debut. Although she would eventually get her own backing band, The Echoes, for live work she would be on her own for the majority of TV appearances. Her mod dress sense singled her out for public attention and her humour brought her back to RSG time and time again.
Alvin Stardust
ABC Thank Your Lucky Stars -
Shane Fenton and The Fentones -
Singer Bernard Jewry had been called in to replace the first Shane Fenton, Johnny
Theakston, who had died suddenly. Signing to Parlophone Records a year before The
Beatles Shane Mk 2 only had a couple of hits before Merseybeat came in and ruined
everything. He made his debut on the show that would go on to make so many British
pop stars in the first half of the decade, Thank Your Lucky Stars, and for his debut
he was introduced by Helen Shapiro, who had been discovered on the show earlier in
the year herself. He hit the charts twice, first with the Jerry Lordan song I'm A
Moody Guy and then with a cover of the American hit Cindy's Birthday the following
year before being let go by the label in Spring 1964, despite making many TV appearances
in support of his releases. Billy Fury was another artist who would also suffer at
the hands of the beat boom and by the early seventies had put together a label for
friends and signed the otherwise retired Fenton for a couple of single releases in
1972 using the names Shane Fenton and Jo-
Granada Lift Off -
Alvin Stardust (aka Peter Shelley) -
Meanwhile in London, singer, songwriter and producer Peter Shelley had helped launch
the independent Magnet Records in 1973. Shelley had recorded the label's first release,
the Spirit In The Sky sounding My Coo Ca Choo, credited to Alvin Stardust, a gesture
to the all over-
BBC1 Top Of The Pops -
Alvin Stardust (aka Bernard Jewry) -
History repeated itself when Bernard was called in once again to replace another
nom de plume. Alvin Mk 2 made his TV debut dressed head to foot in black leather
with a black mane of hair. He hadn't used rubber gloves when applying the hair dye
and stained his right hand, so a black leather glove was employed to cover it. The
right-
Status Quo
Border Beatwave -
The Spectres -
The first recording incarnation of Britain's most popular band since The Beatles lasted three singles and one TV appearance, even then it was only for local TV in Carlisle. They then changed the group name to The Traffic Jam, lasting just one single before changing identity once more to The Status Quo. It didn't even stop there as Mike Rossi would later become Francis Rossi.
BBC1 Top Of The Pops -
The Status Quo -
They finally get their first hit, the first of (probably) several hundred as it seemed. By the end of the shows' run they had notched up over one hundred appearances, but it turned sour in 1996 when Radio One decided not to include their new single on their playlist, deeming them a Radio Two act, which given that Britpop was still in the air was probably not unreasonable. Making an appearance for I Didn't Mean It in 1994 they didn't appear again until 2002.
Rod Stewart
BBC2 The Beat Room -
Long John Baldry & The Hoochie Coochie Men
It's possible that Stewart had appeared on TV with Baldry's group before, but Baldry is the only name that gets mentioned in press.
Rediffusion Ready, Steady, Go! -
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Rod The Mod gets to perform his debut 45, a cover of the Sonny Boy Williamson song, on the most mod show of all. He was in fine company that week, sharing the bill with The Kinks, the Yardbirds and American stars The Dixie Cups and Sugar Pie Desanto. Photos taken on set show Rod with an electric guitar, which is odd as there's only an acoustic heard on the record. Apparently he fell down a ladder while making his way to his mark on the stage floor. Just over a year later Rod would have his own documentary special, also for Rediffusion, despite the fact that he had no hits and wouldn't do until the Jeff Beck Group albums in 1968.
The Sweet
Granada Lift Off -
Funny Funny
Like many acts from the early seventies Glam Rock would be the last throw of the
dice for many acts, Sweet being one of them, but to be fair as a band they had only
been in existence for about two and a half years, but their signing to RCA in late
1970 would be their third record deal. Their Fontana and Parlophone singles would
see no chart action, despite the intervention by songwriter-
The Who
BBC2 The Beat Room -
The High Numbers -
Their solitary Fontana 45 had been released the previous month but it had strangely
been ignored by the modfathers at Ready Steady Go, so a rival knock-
BBC2 The Beat Room -
The Who -
Four months on, a new name, a new label and a second chance on the same show. The single wouldn't be released for another four days but any publicity would be welcomed as, once again, Ready Steady Go were slow off the mark, but to be fair Rediffusion's That's For Me showed the band's promo clip for the record an hour before The Beat Room appearance. RSG would finally find room for them by the end of the month.
Yardbirds
Rediffusion Ready, Steady, Go! -
I Wish You Would
Despite packing the clubs since 1963 it took until Spring 1964 to get a record out
and three weeks' after its release the band get to play it on Britain's best pop
show. A month later on 27th June 1964 they also plug the song on Thank Your Lucky
Stars, wih a trip to Discs-