Pop Go the Beatles

Last updated

Pop Go the Beatles
Running time29 minutes (5:00 pm 5:29 pm)
Home station BBC Light Programme
Hosted by
  • Lee Peters
  • Rodney Burke
Starring The Beatles
Created byVernon Lawrence
Produced by
  • Terry Henebery
  • Ian Grant
Original release4 June (1963-06-04) 
24 September 1963 (1963-09-24)
No. of episodes15
Opening theme Pop Goes the Weasel

Pop Go the Beatles was a weekly radio show that ran for fifteen episodes on the BBC Light Programme from June to September 1963. Hosted by Lee Peters for the first four episodes and Rodney Burke for the following eleven, the show would feature a guest band and then a conversation with and performance by the Beatles.

Contents

Background

The show was first pitched by studio manager Vernon Lawrence to his assistant Donald MacLean on 30 April 1963. At first only four episodes were booked, but eleven more were added due to the show's success. [1] The first four episodes of the show were hosted by disc jockey Lee Peters, whom the Beatles secretly referred to as "Pee Litres" behind his back, and the following eleven were hosted by Rodney Burke. [2] It was produced by Terry Henebery for the first thirteen episodes and Ian Grant for the final two, with a budget of £100 per episode. The BBC estimated at the time that the show was heard by 5.3% of the British population, or 2.8 million people, though it only received 52 out of 100 on the Appreciation Index. [1]

Content

The show would begin with a guest act and then feature a conversation with and performances by the Beatles, usually comprising six songs. Guest acts on the show included the Hollies, the Searchers, Carter-Lewis and the Southerners, and Russ Sainty. [3] Throughout the run of the show, the Beatles played many covers that they never did studio recordings of, including Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business", "Sweet Little Sixteen", "Memphis, Tennessee", and "Carol", Carl Perkins' "Sure to Fall", "Glad All Over", and "Lend Me Your Comb", Arthur Alexander's "Soldier of Love" and "A Shot of Rhythm and Blues", Ann-Margret's "I Just Don't Understand", Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman", Elvis Presley's "That's All Right", the Jodimars' "Clarabella", and Chan Romero's "Hippy Hippy Shake". [2] [4] The theme song for the show was a rock arrangement of the song "Pop Goes the Weasel" performed by the Beatles. [1] [5]

Legacy

Many of the performances on the show were reissued on the compilation album Live at the BBC . Paul McCartney, bassist and singer for the Beatles, said about the recordings that "We are going for it, not holding back at all, trying to put in the best performance of our lifetimes.” [6] Rolling Stone and Slate magazines both published retrospectives on the series, with the former saying the fifth episode was "...when the Beatles pulled even with their heroes, and then surpassed them" and the latter saying that the format of the show "compelled the band to dig deep into its repertoire" and show off their influences. [4] [2] Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn wrote that the band getting their own show at that point was "a remarkable coup", noting that the first episode was recorded less than year after their first recording session for EMI. [7]

Episodes

Episode #Date recordedDate airedHostGuestSongs performed by the Beatles
124 May4 JuneLee Peters The Lorne Gibson Trio
21 June11 JuneLee Peters The Countrymen
31 June18 JuneLee Peters Carter-Lewis and the Southerners
417 June25 JuneLee Peters The Bachelors
52 July16 July Rodney Burke Duffy Power and the Graham Bond Quartet
610 July23 JulyRodney BurkeCarter-Lewis and the Southerners
710 July30 JulyRodney Burke The Searchers
816 July6 AugustRodney Burke The Swinging Blue Jeans
916 July13 AugustRodney Burke The Hollies
1016 July20 AugustRodney Burke Russ Sainty and the Nu-Notes
111 August27 AugustRodney BurkeThe Cyril Davies Rhythm and Blues All Stars with Long John Baldry
121 August3 SeptemberRodney Burke Brian Poole and the Tremeloes
133 September10 SeptemberRodney Burke Johnny Kidd & the Pirates
  • "Too Much Monkey Business"
  • "Till There Was You"
  • "Love Me Do"
  • "She Loves You"
  • "I'll Get You"
  • "The Hippy Hippy Shake"
  • "A Taste of Honey"
143 September17 SeptemberRodney Burke The Marauders
  • "Chains"
  • "You Really Got a Hold On Me"
  • "Misery"
  • "A Taste of Honey"
  • "Lucille"
  • "From Me To You"
  • "Boys"
153 September24 SeptemberRodney Burke Tony Rivers and the Castaways
  • "She Loves You"
  • "Ask Me Why"
  • "Devil in her Heart"
  • "I Saw Her Standing There"
  • "Sure to Fall (In Love With You)"
  • "Twist and Shout"

Notes

  1. The Beatles also recorded "Three Cool Cats", "Sweet Little Sixteen", and "Ask Me Why" for the BBC on 2 July, but these were not broadcast at the time. [8]
  2. The Beatles also recorded "Lucille" and "Baby It's You" for the BBC on 1 August, but these were not broadcast at the time. [9]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Lewisohn 1992, pp. 110–111.
  2. 1 2 3 Wickman, Forrest (10 May 2013). "The Beatles Get Their Own Show". Slate . ISSN   1091-2339 . Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  3. "The Beatles Bible - Radio: three episodes of Pop Go The Beatles". The Beatles Bible. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  4. 1 2 Fleming, Colin (2 July 2018). "Remembering the Beatles' Greatest BBC Session". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  5. "Pop Go The Beatles". jpgr.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  6. Sorene, Paul (18 November 2013). "Pop Go The Beatles: The Golden Age Of The Fab Four At The BBC". Flashbak. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  7. Lewisohn 1992, p. 110.
  8. Lewisohn 1992, p. 115.
  9. Lewisohn 1992, p. 118.

Bibliography

See also