Ready Steady Go
For
teenagers everywhere, early Friday evenings were dominated by one
program - Ready, Steady, Go - which promised "the
weekend starts here".
The first show was presented by Keith Fordyce and David Gell,
with 200 kids in the studio.
The line-up for the debut show featured Pat
Boone, Chris
Barber, Billy Fury, Brian Poole and The
Tremeloes, and Joyce
Blair.
Over the next three years, Ready Steady Go proved to be
quite simply the best television pop show ever, combining its
unique atmosphere and vitality with the best sounds around. The
studio discotheque set allowed the general public onto the studio floor
for dancing and mingling with the appearing stars.
The show featured both new releases, existing hits and
off-the-cuff interviews with the artists. It made stars of singer
Donovan and a 19 year old 'typical teenager' from Streatham, South
London - Cathy McGowan.
 A lowly £10-a-week secretary, Cathy answered an advertisement
for a teenage adviser to the show, along with 600 other hopefuls.
Elkan Allan, the man behind Ready Steady Go, remembered
"she was awfully gauche and raw and desperately nervous, but
she was worth taking on because she was obviously terribly
switched on in a teenage way".
Cathy was totally unspoiled. She lived with her parents and
admitted that her favourite program was Danger Man :
"He's my idea of a smashing, terrific looking chap". And
in spite of her new-found fame, she still dusted her production
office everyday.
The young girl, who constantly flicked her hair out of her
eyes, soon became known as 'Queen of the Mods' and received 600
fan letters a week, and you could buy Cathy McGowan shirts, jeans,
stockings and even a movable doll.
A 1964 spin-off series featured the RSG team in a show
called Ready Steady Winner, searching for new pop talent.
The panel of judges included Brian
Epstein, Bill Haley and Brian
Matthew.
April 1965 saw a temporary name change to Ready Steady Goes
Live when the show decided to ban miming, and live
transmission began.
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