TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 -
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-
The newly created BBC2 had been given the opportunity to attract a younger audience,
and they came up with this Ready, Steady Go! clone. The studio itself looked like
a copy of the Ready Steady Go! set-
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-
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! The 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-
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".
They were given their 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 show's end at 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-
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 -