MrMurphMcgee wrote: ↑Sun Dec 24, 2023 5:44 pm
I really have believed that for some time that my study of the Beatles should also include as much possible context as possible. Hearing the guest bands on Pop Go the Beatles is some great context. The difference is stark, they must have sounded like aliens to some. Listening now, it’s the support acts that sound odd and otherworldly.
Yes, some fare better than others. Without wanting to upset anyone, I find the SBJ to be terribly amateurish sounding. On the other hand, some of the bands I had never heard of I like a lot. The Marauders I like a lot, but they sank without trace. Carter-Lewis are probably my favourites but they too never got anywhere. I think the two that have weathered the years best are Graham Bond and Cyril Davies, because R&B isn't affected by the changing fashions of pop. The thing you gotta understand though, is that these sorts of groups appearing on the BBC was completely new and revolutionary. I have plenty of Radio Times from 1963, and if you ever feel like popping into a time machine and going back to 1963 then reading those may change your mind! Up until The Beatles really started breaking through, the radio and tv was paralysingly boring! I mean, really, really dreary. The tv consisted of nothing but homegrown plays and variety shows (The Rolf Harris Show or The Black And White Minstrels anybody?) and the radio schedules were just full of boring singers backed up by dance orchestras. Even a show like Saturday Club just rotated the same boring acts again and again: the Trad Lads, Karl Denver, Lorne Gibson, Russ Sainty, Susan Maughn, The Bachelors... it was relentless. People like Shane Fenton, Johnny Kidd and The Beatles were the first to break through the boredom, and then it was only after that that the first tricklings of the sort of bands we associate with British pop began to appear. Gerry And TP were of course among the first. But these PGTB shows were literally the first time a lot of people ever heard of The Searchers or The Hollies.
I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas, and that this has made it go with a bit more of a swing. It's been a wonderful year to be a fan! Good health and happiness to all. And let's all say a prayer for peace in the world... God knows we need it.