TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

From TV Times "A series of programmes for people with something to sing about. Folk songs reflect the life we experience and what we hope for and believe in."

Hosted by composer and singer Sydney Carter the Sunday early evening show seemed to fall somewhere between Sunday Break and Stars on Sunday. The first series featured the Salvation Army's pop group The Joystrings, claiming that "We're going to set the world a-singing" according to the TV Times. Another one of Ben Churchill's music-based shows for ABC, the first editions featured local church hymns, the manufactured pop of The Joystrings all the way to America's Stars Of Faith tour.

The second series of thirteen shows began July 1965 and according to an article in TV Times host Sydney Carter claimed "The object of the series is to raise questions to which religion holds to answers. Music can make our questions - both social and religious ones - come alive better." Carter had devised a concept for each of the shows in the second series like Act of God, The Odd Man Out, Hallelujah I'm A Bum, Human Need etc.

Supporting Carter in many of the shows were British folk stars Martin Carthy, Nadia Cattouse, Isla Cameron, Robin Hall & Jimmie MacGregor, The New Faces, Alex Campbell and The Johnny Scott Trio.

However, the one show that must have drawn its biggest audience was 7th June 1964 when Bob Dylan was invited onto the show to perform Don't Think Twice It's Alright, Blowin’ In The Wind and Chimes of Freedom.

In a 1990s interview Reg Presley claimed that the sound of this show on in the background in his home inspired him to write The Troggs' hit Love Is All Around.

A tie-in album, Songs From ABC Television's “Hallelujah”, was released by Fontana.

HALLELUJAH

ABC

31st May 1964 - 26th September 1965