TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

It was unfortunate that any pop group that tried to come to any kind of prominence after The Beatles in 1963 would be needlessly, and unsuccessfully, compared to them, like it was somehow their fault that The Beatles were that good, and also their fault that they couldn't equal, let alone outdo them. It could also be said that Mike and Bernie Winters would forever be compared, and always unfavourably, with Morecambe and Wise. It was not their fault that Morecambe and Wise were that good, but certainly fault lay with the Winters that they allowed poor material (written by others) to expose weakness and flaws in their act. Their patter was similar to Mike playing Carl Reiner interviewing Bernie as the 1000 year-old man. With Morecambe and Wise in the frame Mike and Bernie Winters would be no-one's favourite comedy double act.

But while Morecambe and Wise were definitely Hollywood minded when it came to song and dance, brothers Mike and Bernie were savvy enough to have connections with both jazz and British pop music from the very first days of their professional career.

Mike had played clarinet and studied at the Royal College of Music where he dared to start a jazz club, but it was Bernie who harboured comedy aspirations, appearing at the Regency Club in Soho, London. After World War II they formed a musical duet with Bernie on drums, they then took to comedy as a duo, but despite winning a talent contest they split, only to reform just in time for Britain's first popular musical revolution.

Appearing with the brothers on their BBC TV debut in 1955 were Cherry Wainer, later to appear weekly on Oh Boy, and singer Georgia Brown, however on the 2nd March 1957 they began a regular guest spot on the BBC's first attempt at a teenage pop music show, The Six-Five Special, staying with the show until May 1958. They were so popular that they were even invited to appear in the spin-off movie. After Bernie got an offer of a solo role in the movie Idol On Parade the duo split, but disillusionment with the film business would eventually see Bernie reunite with brother Mike. The duo would appear in other music-led movies in the early sixties like Jazzboat, It's Trad Dad, Play It Cool and The Cool Mikado, providing solid comic support between the soapy ballads and lukewarm jazz.

Big Night Out had been the name given to a series of one-off specials made by ABC Television in the early sixties, but the title would now be used for a new series of variety shows and the Winter brothers were offered the chance to host it. Between summer 1963 and 1965 The Beatles appeared several times on the show and its summer replacement Blackpool Night Out. The duo enjoyed larking about with The Fabs and it seemed to be mutual. Although they had a few pop guests like Gerry & The Pacemakers it was mostly singers from cabaret land that filled the spots, unlike Arthur Haynes who had more contemporary, chart aware turns like The Rolling Stones and The Dave Clark Five. But when summer replacement show Blackpool Night Out began in summer 1964 things took a noticeable turn with Cilla Black, Peter & Gordon, The Searchers and others all lining up to appear.

Despite the poor material it was Bernie's buck-toothed silliness and Mike's bare toleration of him that had found favour with the public, and not just the public, pop acts liked playing alongside them. Not only were they playing host to pop stars they nearly became pop stars themselves, releasing a couple of respectable singles on CBS, even appearing on Thank Your Lucky Stars, a show Big Night Out spoofed on several occasions.

Sunday 3rd April 1966 saw the first of their own series for ABC, Mike & Bernie’s Show, featuring an eclectic line up of guests including Judy Collins, Eric Delaney, Janie Jones and Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, while the second series beginning 18th March 1967, re-titled Mike & Bernie's Music Hall seemed to be cast with more traditional musical guests like Anita Harris and Vince Hill. By the end of 1967 and into 1968 Mike & Bernie's Show seemed to be back with the big names like Cliff Richard & The Shadows and Sandie Shaw. However with the end of ABC's franchise they could only hope that they could find a new home at ATV or maybe ABC's replacement, which is what eventually happened, but it wouldn't appear until 13th November 1968. Thames' Mike & Bernie's Show had guests Tiny Tim, Joe Brown, Jackie Trent etc, while the 1969 series played host to Clodagh Rodgers, Alan Price and The Orange Bicycle.

Mike & Bernie's Scene debuted on Thames 27th April 1970, in the usual Monday evening Opportunity Knocks' slot, with guests like Dave Dee and The Tremeloes, but otherwise it was mostly back to Blackpool favourites like Josef Locke and Frank Ifield. The title reverted to Mike & Bernie's Show on Thames in 1972 with guests Clodagh Rodgers and Roger Whittaker.

A one-off vaudeville special co-starring Peter Noone appeared in 1973, but time was running out for not only Mike and Bernie, but for their type of routine. Moving to ATV in March 1973 didn't make much difference, they found themselves hosting the same kind of guests they had since the late sixties.

It was evident to those around them that the brothers resented each others presence, just as The Everly Brothers had several years before. For the sake of the family relationship, the double act had to go. In a remarkable bout of honesty and humility Bernie told the Daily Mirror in September 1978 "We both felt we were on a dreadful treadmill, doing endless rounds of nightclubs and summer shows. We've done it all, topped the bills, appeared on the Royal shows, had our own TV series. There was nowhere for us to go, except down. We've never kidded ourselves. Mike and I were always regarded as the poor man's Morecambe and Wise. We've taken a lot of stick from the critics over the years." Their final show together was at the Pavilion Theatre, on the Isle of Wight, not the London Palladium, or a TV special send-off. Mike would leave for America to work for an industrial equipment importer, then on to Miami to run a theatre bar, while Bernie stayed in the UK and filled the gap left by brother Mike with a St Bernard dog, Schnorbitz.

The Winters' routine of the irritating one and the irritated one would became the property of Cannon and Ball who would become not only the kings of Saturday evening TV, but the kings of Blackpool.

MIKE AND BERNIE WINTERS

ABC / Thames / ATV

1963 - 1973