
Spot The Tune 
1 9 5 6 - x (UK)
209 x episodes
This forerunner to Name That Tune was hosted by Ken
Platt, Jackie Rae and Ted Ray in turn. The resident singer was
Marion Ryan (mother of sixties pop stars Paul and Barry Ryan).
Marion always looked glamorous, and for the 1958 season had no
fewer than 100 dresses on order, ranging in price from £7 10s to
325 guineas. She predicted, "I'll defy most people to tell
which are the cheap ones and which are the expensive". In
which case somebody somewhere wasted a lot of money!
Spot The Tune had a moment of high drama concerning a
lady by the name of Norma Longbottom, who was going for the £600
jackpot. Host Ken Platt wasn't sure if she had given the correct
tune title within the time limit.
He appealed to the floor
manager, who in turn consulted the director. In the end they
decided that an answer would be given after the director had heard
a recording of the show.
Switchboards were jammed as viewers waited anxiously for the
outcome while the production team sat around a tape recorder.
Eventually they agreed that Norma had won and the nation rejoiced.
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