Ready Steady Go

[Alistair Wilson]

I think that Sherwood is right about the Shindig clips being recorded in the UK specifically for the show. I checked the Kinks day-to-day listings book and it lists their sessions at studios such as Twickenham where they did several songs to be spread over a number of Shindig shows. According to that book, the Kinks tended to do live versions for RSG wheras they sang live to pre-recorded backing tapes on Shindig. I assume that as Jack Good produced both Shindig and RSG, someone made the link and that's where the suggestion that some RSG performances were included comes from. On the plus side all episodes of Shindig still exist as b/w 16mmm t/rs so plenty of UK band performances are around. In particular Shindig sent a camera crew to film the 1965 Richmond Jazz Festival in colour although that is missing and only the b/w version exists in the archives. The tv.com site has a complete episode listing.

I'm still intrigued to know where the RSG clips owned by Dave Clark were found and whether any of that footage has remained unbroadcast as part of the C4 comps. Of course the fate of much of the Redifussion archive is shrouded in mystery. It would be good if someone like Record Collector could arrange an interview with Dave Clark so he could be asked direct about his RSG holdings; a long shot but worth a try?

PS if anyone knows where I can find a copy of The Action on 'Where the Action Is', I would be very grateful.

[Deleted]

I recall that RC did indeed interview Clark some years ago, making reference to the RSG material he owned. His reply was seemingly carefully worded though, saying something like what he had "represented the bulk of the RSG editions". It came across as though he was trying to pass off the meagre assortment of surviving clips as being the majority of all the shows produced between 1963 and '66!

Glad all the Shindigs exist as t/rs but I have some of the footage in two different formats: as t/r and the same material as VT.Does anyone happen to know if all the shows exist in this way?

Great shame about the colour filming of the Richmond Festival being missing. Didn't know about that one in the first place!

[Alistair Wilson]

That's interesting, Laurence, as I also recall reading something that led me to believe plenty of RSGs still existed so could well have been the Dave Clark feature in Record Collector. I was pretty depressed when I found out the paltry amount that actually exist!

Unless there is more up-to-date info it seems that most of the Shindig VTs were wiped and things like the Dating Game recorded on them instead. However the guy who has researched this believes that the following Shindig clips and full episodes are still in 2"VT and t/r (they're listed as kinescope so I assume that is the US term):

Videotape clips (hopefully, the complete episodes survive on videotape):

--1964 Pilot: Videotape clips of audience members appear on the home video release of "The Beach Boys: An American Band."

-- 07Oct64 (Episode #4): Videotape clips of the Beatles' performances and the Karl Denver finale survive.

-- 23Dec64 (Episode #16): A videotape clip of the Beach Boys performing "Dance, Dance, Dance" appears on "The Beach Boys: An American Band."

-- 27Jan65 (Episode #21) Videotape clips of Bobby Sherman ("Splish Splash") and Glen Campbell ("Dixieland Rock") were shown on "Good Morning America" in February 1984.

--26May65 (Episode #37) The Howling Wolf segment survives on videotape.

-- 30Jun65 (Episode #42) A videotape clip of Jerry Lee Lewis ("Rockin' Pneumonia") was shown on "Good Morning America" in February 1984.


Complete Episodes:

-- 4Aug65 (Episode #47) Dixie Cups / Great Scots / Nooney Rickett 4

-- 11Aug65 (Episode #48) Ronettes / Donovan / Rolling Stones

-- 08Sep65 (Episode #51) Patty Duke / Guilloteens / Searchers

--30-Sep-65 (Episode #56) Mickey Rooney / the Turtles / Lesley Gore


--Note: As mentioned above, all of the Shindig episodes do survive as 16mm kinescopes. The above list is an attempt to catalog all of the known surviving 2" network videotapes.


**The four Shindig episodes shot directly on film were the two "Shindig in London" shows and the two "Shindig in Europe" shows. The "Shindig in London," shows, filmed at the Richmond-On-Thames Jazz Festival, aired 04-Dec-1965 & 09-Dec-1965. The "Shindig in Europe" episodes were broadcast on 18-Dec-1965 and 01-Jan-1966.

The line-up for the 2 Richmond Jazz Festival shows were as follows:

December 4, 1965 (Saturday) - "Shindig Goes to London" Part One From VHS tape: The Animals - "Rosie" (opening song) The Animals - "We Gotta Get Outta This Place" The Moody Blues - "I'll Go Crazy" Brian Auger Trinity with Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart and Julie Driscoll - "Do Lord Remember Me" The T-Bones - "Wooly Bully" Georgie Fame - "Monkeying Around" Eric Burdon, Steve Winwood, Long John Baldry, Julie Driscoll, and Rod Stewart - "I Feel Alright" (Finale, closing titles) The TV Guide listing for this episode reads "'Shindig Goes to London,' first of two parts filmed at the Richmond-On-Thames Jazz Festival." (The entire show appears to have been filmed at the festival.) 30 minutes.

December 9, 1965 (Thursday) - "Shindig Goes to London" Part Two From printout: The Yardbirds - "For Your Love" and "Hang On Sloopy" The Who - "Anyhow, Anyway, Anywhere" and "Shout & Shimmy" Manfred Mann - "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" Graham Bond Organization - "Hoochy Koochy Man" 30 minutes.

Apparently most (or all?) of The Who set still exists so it seems likely that other performances were filmed in full as well. Anyone got any ideas if any of that still exists though?

[Peter Chadwick]

I really would take anything Dave Clark says with a rather large pinch of salt. Don't forget, he put the edited version of 'Around The Beatles' as a RSG 'special edition'. On the subject of 'Shindig', it would be nice to think some VT footage survives; I've only seen The Beatles 1964 appearance on film (the best copy being on 'Anthology').

[Chris Barratt]

I have an edition of Shindig on a dvd, it's from 6th January 1966 (either the final or penultimate show) and includes The Who (I Can't Explain & My Generation), Dave Berry, Sandie Shaw, Twinkle and The Kinks

[Deleted]

Peter said:

I really would take anything Dave Clark says with a rather large pinch of salt. Don't forget, he put the edited version of 'Around The Beatles' as a RSG 'special edition'. On the subject of 'Shindig', it would be nice to think some VT footage survives; I've only seen The Beatles 1964 appearance on film (the best copy being on 'Anthology').

I've got a VT copy of most of The Beatles' appearance so I can definitely vouch for it existing in that form. Anyone know how much of Shindig has been released on DVD? Are they compilations or whole shows?