Pop Go the Beatles

Pop Go the Beatles
Running time29 minutes (5:00 pm – 5:29 pm)
Home stationBBC Light Programme
Hosted by
  • Lee Peters
  • Rodney Burke
StarringThe 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 themePop 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.

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 later 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

Each episode of the show would begin with a guest act and then feature a conversation with and performance 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 recorded in the studio, 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 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 a year after their first recording session for EMI.[7]

Episodes

Episode No. Date recorded Date aired Host Guest Songs performed by the Beatles
1 24 May 4 June Lee Peters The Lorne Gibson Trio
2 1 June 11 June Lee Peters The Countrymen
3 1 June 18 June Lee Peters Carter-Lewis and the Southerners
4 17 June 25 June Lee Peters The Bachelors
5 2 July 16 July Rodney Burke Duffy Power and the Graham Bond Quartet
6 10 July 23 July Rodney Burke Carter-Lewis and the Southerners
7 10 July 30 July Rodney Burke The Searchers
8 16 July 6 August Rodney Burke The Swinging Blue Jeans
9 16 July 13 August Rodney Burke The Hollies
10 16 July 20 August Rodney Burke Russ Sainty and the Nu-Notes
11 1 August 27 August Rodney Burke The Cyril Davies Rhythm and Blues All Stars with Long John Baldry
12 1 August 3 September Rodney Burke Brian Poole and the Tremeloes
13 3 September 10 September Rodney 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"
14 3 September 17 September Rodney Burke The Marauders
  • "Chains"
  • "You Really Got a Hold On Me"
  • "Misery"
  • "A Taste of Honey"
  • "Lucille"
  • "From Me To You"
  • "Boys"
15 3 September 24 September Rodney 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]

References

  1. ^ a b c Lewisohn 1992, pp. 110–111.
  2. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b 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