Missing music performances from Granada's 'Scene at 6.30'

[markdixon]

I spotted a music-related clip from ‘Scene at 6.30’ on YouTube that I’ve never seen before. The title is ‘Pete Best & Mona Best interview’. Johnnie Hamp talked to them about life since Pete Best’s dismissal from the Beatles. I think the clip must be from either 1963 or 1964.

I couldn’t find a mention of the clip on ITN Source, but in Keith Badman’s ‘The Beatles Diary: Volume 2’ it says that the version held in the archives is about 10 minutes long.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

May 14, 2015 10:09:17 GMT markdixon said:

I spotted a music-related clip from ‘Scene at 6.30’ on YouTube that I’ve never seen before. The title is ‘Pete Best & Mona Best interview’. Johnnie Hamp talked to them about life since Pete Best’s dismissal from the Beatles. I think the clip must be from either 1963 or 1964.

I couldn’t find a mention of the clip on ITN Source, but in Keith Badman’s ‘The Beatles Diary: Volume 2’ it says that the version held in the archives is about 10 minutes long.

This one:-

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_p_zKrKWFE

[markdixon]

Here’s a bit more info about ‘Scene at 6.30’ that I’ve found online:

More missing music performances

c. Sep 1963: The Four Pennies ‘Juliet’ (this appearance took place a few months before the song was released as a single)
24 Nov 1964: Marianne Faithfull (I think 24 Nov was the recording date; the broadcast date was probably 26 Nov 1964)
4 Jan 1965: The Noblemen (beat group from Sussex)
22 Jun 1966: The Kinks ‘Sunny Afternoon’.
Oct 1966: Carolyn Hester? (A ‘Melody Maker’ article from 15 Oct 1966 stated that she was about to appear in a Granada programme. This was probably ‘Scene’)

Outdoor performances

In an earlier post I mentioned that the performance by the Righteous Brothers on ‘Scene at 6.30’ was filmed at Belle Vue in Manchester. Here are some more examples of missing performances that didn’t take place in a studio:

5 Feb 1963: Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. The performance took place on a boat sailing along the Manchester Ship Canal
8 Feb 1963: Little Eva - ‘The Locomotion’. The performance took place at a railway depot in Longsight, Manchester
1963: Kenny Lynch - ‘Up on the Roof’. The performance took place on the roof of the Granada studios
c. Nov 1963: The Country Gentlemen - ‘Greensleeves’. The performance took place somewhere on the banks of the River Mersey.

Surviving material

I looked at ITN Source again and found details of some more music-related ‘Scene’ material:

11 Mar 1965: Mick Jagger was interviewed by Michael Parkinson. This was broadcast on ‘Granada in the North’ which was a late-night programme produced by the ‘Scene at 6.30’ team. A clip is on YouTube under the title ‘MICK JAGGER Early Interview 1965’

1966: Wee Willie Harris. I think this was a ‘Scene’ special, but I don’t know how much of the episode still exists. According to Lost Shows ‘one or more sequences exist, but the complete programme is lost’.

ITN Source also lists a regular edition of ‘Scene’, supposedly from 01 Jan 1968. A running time isn’t given so I suspect that the episode is incomplete. I don’t know if the surviving footage includes a musical performance or not.

8mm footage?

News of the recent discovery of 8mm film of the Beatles on ‘TOTP’ made me wonder if similar footage might exist of musical guests on ‘Scene at 6.30’. The programme featured music 5 days a week for over 3½ years so there’s a strong chance that someone filmed the TV screen to capture an appearance by their favourite singer or band. The potential audience for ‘Scene at 6.30’ was huge because in those days the Granada region covered the North West, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and the signal could be picked up in parts of North Wales. Maybe some 8mm footage will turn up at a car boot sale held in one of these areas.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

Jun 26, 2015 13:06:00 GMT markdixon said:

Here’s a bit more info about ‘Scene at 6.30’ that I’ve found online:

More missing music performances

c. Sep 1963: The Four Pennies ‘Juliet’ (this appearance took place a few months before the song was released as a single)
24 Nov 1964: Marianne Faithfull (I think 24 Nov was the recording date; the broadcast date was probably 26 Nov 1964)
4 Jan 1965: The Noblemen (beat group from Sussex)
22 Jun 1966: The Kinks ‘Sunny Afternoon’.
Oct 1966: Carolyn Hester? (A ‘Melody Maker’ article from 15 Oct 1966 stated that she was about to appear in a Granada programme. This was probably ‘Scene’)

Outdoor performances

In an earlier post I mentioned that the performance by the Righteous Brothers on ‘Scene at 6.30’ was filmed at Belle Vue in Manchester. Here are some more examples of missing performances that didn’t take place in a studio:

5 Feb 1963: Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. The performance took place on a boat sailing along the Manchester Ship Canal
8 Feb 1963: Little Eva - ‘The Locomotion’. The performance took place at a railway depot in Longsight, Manchester
1963: Kenny Lynch - ‘Up on the Roof’. The performance took place on the roof of the Granada studios
c. Nov 1963: The Country Gentlemen - ‘Greensleeves’. The performance took place somewhere on the banks of the River Mersey.

Surviving material

I looked at ITN Source again and found details of some more music-related ‘Scene’ material:

11 Mar 1965: Mick Jagger was interviewed by Michael Parkinson. This was broadcast on ‘Granada in the North’ which was a late-night programme produced by the ‘Scene at 6.30’ team. A clip is on YouTube under the title ‘MICK JAGGER Early Interview 1965’

1966: Wee Willie Harris. I think this was a ‘Scene’ special, but I don’t know how much of the episode still exists. According to Lost Shows ‘one or more sequences exist, but the complete programme is lost’.

ITN Source also lists a regular edition of ‘Scene’, supposedly from 01 Jan 1968. A running time isn’t given so I suspect that the episode is incomplete. I don’t know if the surviving footage includes a musical performance or not.

8mm footage?

News of the recent discovery of 8mm film of the Beatles on ‘TOTP’ made me wonder if similar footage might exist of musical guests on ‘Scene at 6.30’. The programme featured music 5 days a week for over 3½ years so there’s a strong chance that someone filmed the TV screen to capture an appearance by their favourite singer or band. The potential audience for ‘Scene at 6.30’ was huge because in those days the Granada region covered the North West, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and the signal could be picked up in parts of North Wales. Maybe some 8mm footage will turn up at a car boot sale held in one of these areas.

Nice work Mark!

[markdixon]

Thanks Ray.

There was one snippet of info I forgot to mention: The Kinks performed ‘Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy’ on the programme on 5 April 1965.

[John Green]

O/T,but since someone mentioned Harris of the Wee Willie variety... www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv3YfyyTeWM

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

""Paul Defending London's 'Counter Culture' on the TV Programme "Scene" in 1967 ""

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NQz1QkdRRA

This is from 18/01/1967.

Not sure if Granada (ITN Source) have it or not.

[markdixon]

ITN Source have got that clip of Paul McCartney. It’s from the ‘Scene’ special that featured Pink Floyd – ‘It’s So Far Out It’s Straight Down’.

I think 18/01/67 must have been the recording date for the interview. The programme was broadcast on 07/03/67.

[Ray Langstone (was saintsray)]

Jul 3, 2015 12:38:09 GMT markdixon said:

ITN Source have got that clip of Paul McCartney. It’s from the ‘Scene’ special that featured Pink Floyd – ‘It’s So Far Out It’s Straight Down’.

I think 18/01/67 must have been the recording date for the interview. The programme was broadcast on 07/03/67.

Thank you Mark.

[markdixon]

I found the following in the 2014-15 Annual Report of the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia

In a rare find, a standard 8mm home movie from a larger collection was recently digitised and was found to include a segment featuring the Beatles during make-up preparation at Granada TV studios, Manchester, United Kingdom. The footage was shot on 14 October 1964 before the filming of a music TV series, Scene at 6.30 (a series presented by Michael Parkinson during the 1960s). Footage also includes the UK band, the Pretty Things, from 1965. The home movie was shot by Dawn Swane, an Australian make-up artist and dancer who worked in the UK during the 1960s.

This isn't the first time that behind-the-scenes footage has turned up of the Beatles' visit to Granada TV on 14 October 1964. Many of you will be familiar with the control room footage of the Beatles performing 'I Should Have Known Better'. The broadcast version of the performance is still missing.

I don't know if the Pretty Things footage relates to a 'Scene at 6.30' performance. I think it's highly likely that they appeared on the programme at some point.

[Joe Haynes]

These Northern Regional music shows are the most important pieces of lost Music recordings imo. Just imagine being able to finally see footage of Johnny Kidd and The Pirates or more footage of The Beatles in their early years

[markdixon]

Here’s an update featuring information I’ve found in “TV Times”, “The Stage” and various books and websites

More missing music performances from “Scene at 6.30”

c. Jul 1963: Johnny Kidd and the Pirates - “I’ll Never Get Over You” (apparently, this clip was repeated in Oct 1966 after Kidd was killed in a road accident in Lancashire)
Aug 1963: The Chants
1963: The Penguins (Mancunian beat group)
1963: Alberta Laine (‘double-voiced’ jazz/pop vocalist)
c. 1963: The Undertakers (Liverpool beat group featuring vocalist Jackie Lomax)
Early 1964: TV debut of the Yardbirds (?)
c. Feb 1964: The Naturals (‘harmonising trio with guitar’)
c. Apr 1964: Jeannie and the Big Guys (beat group from Chester)
Oct 1964: Shangri-Las - “Remember (Walkin’ in the Sand)”
c. Nov 1964: Jan Douglas - “Walking in the Rain” (Scottish singer)
1964: Millie (probably “My Boy Lollipop”)
6 Aug 1965: Carolyn Hester
c. Aug 1965: Sonny and Cher - “I Got You Babe”
06 Sep 1965: Manfred Mann
1966: The Cryin’ Shames (probably “Please Stay”)

Additional information about performances already listed in this thread

22 Nov 1963: It’s likely that the performance by Brian Poole and the Tremeloes was cut short or cancelled to allow presenter Mike Scott to announce the news of President Kennedy’s assassination.
04 May 1964: It’s possible that the Rolling Stones performed “I’m a King Bee”, a track off their debut album
4 Aug 1965: The Byrds performed “Mr Tambourine Man”
13 Jul 1966: Simon and Garfunkel performed “Wednesday Morning 3 A.M.” (a song that was never released as a single).

More surviving film inserts listed on ITN Source

01 Jul 1963: Interview with Adrian Henri about artistic ‘Happenings’ staged at Hope Hall, Liverpool (I think this clip contains footage of the Roadrunners, a Liverpool r ‘n’ b group, who provided the music at these events).
01 Jun 1965: Interview with Herman’s Hermits
1967: Feature about the Lemon Line, a psychedelic band from Manchester who released one single on Decca.
1967: Footage of the King Mojo club, a Northern Soul club in Sheffield run by Peter Stringfellow and his brothers

Related programmes

I estimate that over a thousand pop music performances were shown on "Scene at 6.30" and other Granada regional news programmes during the period 1963-1968. Most of these are now missing. Many of these performances were broadcast on the afternoon bulletins “Good Evening from Granada in the North” (Oct 1964- Mar 1967) and “On Air” (Mar 1967-April 1968) and the late-night magazine programmes “Late Scene” (Aug 1963-Mar 1964) and “Granada in the North” (Nov 1964-Jun 1966).

Here are details of some of these missing performances:

“Late Scene”:
01 Nov 1963: Joe Brown and the Bruvvers - “Little Ukelele” (this cover version of a George Formby song was banned by the BBC at the time)

“Good Evening from Granada in the North”:
31 Aug 1965: Fritz, Mike and Mo – “Someone Stole the Sun” (folk-pop trio featuring Fritz Fryer, formerly of the Four Pennies)
Sep 1965: The Strollers (folk-pop group from Lewisham, South London, featuring Dave and Toni Arthur)
Sep 1965: Paddy, Klaus and Gibson (trio managed by Brian Epstein)
06 Oct 1965: The Strollers 

“Granada in the North”:
04 Feb 1965: Chris Sandford (actor who started a musical career after playing “singing window-cleaner” Walter Potts in “Coronation Street”)
1965: Cabaret duo David and Marianne Dalmour appeared on the show about 7 times
26 Oct 1965: “Wee Willie Harris at the Talk of The North, Eccles” (30-minute special also featuring the Tony Thorpe Group and Jerry Harris)
30 Dec 1965: Herman’s Hermits - “A Must to Avoid”.

Any additions or corrections are welcome.

[petercheck]

Apr 17, 2015 9:20:12 GMT johnpoole said:

American Rock'n'Roll - The UK Tours 1956-72 by Ian Wallis (Music Mentor Books) has some appearances which I don't think are listed above -

28/01/63 Brian Hyland
29/03/63 Brenda Lee
25/04/63 Del Shannon
30/05/63 Roy Orbison
??/03/64 Bobby Vee
20/03/64 Jerry Lee Lewis
04/06/64 Carl Perkins
15/09/64 Bill Haley & the Comets
09/10/64 The Ronettes
29/10/64 The Dixie Cups
27/11/64 Jerry Lee Lewis
14/01/65 Del Shannon
??/02/65 Screamin' Jay Hawkins (also appeared on "Late Scene")
25/03/65 The Drifters
28/04/65 Chubby Checker
05/05/65 The Everly Brothers
??/08/65 Chubby Checker
20/10/65 Ben E. King
09/03/66 Clarence "Frogman" Henry
31/03/66 Arthur Alexander

Forget the Jerry Lee Lewis shows mentioned above, as they never happened...

Jerry Lee's ONLY appearance on "Scene At 6.30" was on 7th May 1963, where he mimed to his latest single 'Good Golly Miss Molly' (one of the very few times he agreed to mime on TV).

[petercheck]

Incidentally, early bios of The Hollies from up to 1965 claimed that they made their TV debut on this show. This would've been around May 1963, though I've yet to find an exact date & song performed.

[Kev Mulrenan]

The Kinks definitely appeared. Are they on the list?