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Ready Steady Go!

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Angliaman (talk | contribs) at 17:11, 19 October 2009 (→Presenters: changed to Presenters and Producers, explaining why Ready Steady Go was no more and what became of Rediffusion and London TV generally after big changes). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
For other uses, see Ready Steady Go (disambiguation).
Ready Steady Go!
RSG! studio floor with Manfred Mann performing
Created byElkan Allan, Vicki Wickham
StarringKeith Fordyce and Cathy McGowan
Production
ProducerVicki Wickham
Original release
NetworkITV
ReleaseAugust 1963 –
December 1966

Ready Steady Go! or simply RSG! was one of the UK's first rock/pop music TV programmes. RSG! was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV, who wanted to try a music radio show. Allan was assisted by record producer/talent manager Vicki Wickham, who became the producer. It was broadcast from August 1963 until December 1966. It was produced by Associated-Rediffusion the weekday ITV contractor for London, called Rediffusion-London post 1964. The show eventually went out live nationally. It was contemporary with the surge in British pop music of the 1960s.

The show gained its highest ratings on March 20, 1964 when it featured the Beatles being interviewed and miming their songs It Won't Be Long, You Can't Do That and Can't Buy Me Love - the last of which was a hit at the time.

It last aired on December 23, 1966.

Description

The show aired early on Friday evenings with the line The weekend starts here!, and was introduced by The Surfaris "Wipe Out" - later replaced by Manfred Mann's "5-4-3-2-1" (later replaced by Manfred Mann's "Hubble Bubble, Toil and Trouble"). It was more youth oriented and informal than its BBC rival, Top of the Pops. Due to airing of local news in parts of the UK outside London, several ITV regions joined the show part-way through.

Initially, RSG! artists mimed to records but by late 1964 some performed live and the show switched to all-live performances in April 1965. [1]

It was noted for allowing artists to perform the full version of their songs rather than the short versions demanded by other shows. Despite popularity in Britain, it never showed in the United States during its production years. "RSG" was in black-and-white. ABC, CBS, and NBC were converting to colour.

The show was recorded at small studios in Rediffusion's headquarters in Kingsway, London. Although the company had bigger facilities at Wembley it was easier to attract stars to central London. As the studios were compact it was not possible to hide cameras. The ever-present cameras, which were very large with rotating lens turrets rather than zooms, were sometimes incorporated into the action, notably in a Manfred Mann performance of the song Machines which ended with Paul Jones singing crouched on the floor surrounded by menacing cameras.

In 1966, the time that the 'beat boom' was fading, the show was cancelled. Its disappearance at the height of its popularity enhanced its status. Many years later Dave Clark bought the rights to the surviving show. Compilations aired on the UK's Channel 4 in the 1980s and VHS videos were issued. In 1989 the show was seen for the first time in the US, on Disney Channel. Disney was a pay channel aimed at adults at night. Despite rumours and promises, nothing has ever been offically released on DVD.

Presenters and Producers

The most famous presenters were Keith Fordyce and Cathy McGowan, though early shows were introduced by Dusty Springfield. The show was occasionally presented by David Gell and Michael Aldred.

McGowan joined after answering an advert for 'a typical teenager' as advisor. She found herself presenting the show, and in fact her status as a fan was evident in her style; stumbling over lines, losing her cool and apparent inexperience made her more popular and by the end she was presenting alone. She also joined in various fun and games including miming with The Rolling Stones to other peoples records, notably "I Got You Babe".

In 1968 Rediffusion Television as a name, lost out in ITA, Independent Television Authority contract changes, when the weekday ITV contract was offered and accepted by Thames Television, created as a shot-gun wedding between Rediffusion holding 49% of shares, but the senior partner was the former ITV contractor for Midlands and the North at weekends, ABC Weekend Television with 51% holding. Ready Stead Go was no part of Thames' TV programme plans, and while for a short period, Thames TV local output, including Today with Eamon Andrews, came from Television House Kingsway near Holborn, Thames built a new studio base in Euston Road, close to Warren Street. The new studios housed Thames's Education, Religious and Schools out-put and local news magazines, while major light entertainment and drama were recorded at ABC's London studios at Teddington, Middlesex.

Elkan Allan did not transfer as a producer to Thames Television, and after 1968 he was for many years the Television Editor of The Sunday Times

ATV who had provided London ITV at the weekends, and programmes for the Midlands on weekdays, was awarded the Midlands for the entire week, and a new company was appointed to provide ITV in London from 7pm Fridays until closedown on Sundays, and that was London Weekend Television, later known as LWT.

It featured most successful artists of the era, among them The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, The Supremes, The Walker Brothers, The Kinks, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Rolling Stones, Donovan (discovered by RSG!), The Fortunes, Helen Shapiro,P J Proby, Otis Redding, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Dave Clark Five, Bobby Vee, The Animals, Cilla Black, The Searchers, The Who, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, Billy Fury, Lulu, Marvin Gaye, Gene Pitney, The Beach Boys, Sandie Shaw, Burt Bacharach, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kenny Lynch, Small Faces, Them and The Four Pennies.

The show was what broke Jimi Hendrix worldwide. His first TV performance in England was on RSG! with "Hey Joe". After this appearance his club tour sold out and he was quickly added to a nationwide tour headlined by the Walker Brothers.

Dusty Springfield devised and introduced the RSG Motown Special in April 1965, featuring the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.[2] The Supremes performed their now legendary Stop In The Name Of Love dance routine for the first time on the show.

The Who proved particularly popular and in 1966 had an episode to themselves entitled "Ready Steady Who". The programme no longer exists, but an EP of the name marked the show (although no recordings were from the show). The Walker Brothers were also hugely popular and had a special live edition in 1966 but again the tape was wiped, although extracts surfaced on Youtube in 2009 proving the group did not mime.

The show was designed to annoy the stuffed shirt British establishment. There were young men wearing Blazer suits and ties, combing their hair smartly, but dancing to outrageous pop groups, like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, instead of partnering a chick for a Waltz or Rumba.

  • Although not mentioned by name.. "Ready, Steady, Go" is parodied in the 1967 Film "Bedazzled" featuring comedians Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore (who both used to appear on the show in real life). In one sequence during the movie, both Cook and Moore play parts of Pop Stars singing songs with girls in the audience going crazy for them. Cook's "Devil" character and his group taking the name of "Drimble Wedge and the Vegetations".
  • In a 1996 Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout, Saffy refers to Patsy looking like a 'sad reject from Ready Steady Go!'

References

  1. ^ Tv.com Ready Steady Goes Live! Episode Number: 88 Season Num: 2 First Aired: April 2, 1965 - Accessed February 2007.
  2. ^ Ready, Steady, Go! Mersey Beat Rock and Pop Memorabilia
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