''Saturday Club'' was an influential

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

programme in the United Kingdom, broadcast on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

and later

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

between 1957 and 1969. It was one of the earliest – and for several years almost the only – radio programme in the country to broadcast pop music. Its longest-serving and best remembered host was Brian Matthew.

''Saturday Skiffle Club''

The programme began after a suggestion by producer Jimmy Grant. He initially proposed a modest series called ''Skiffle Session'', featuring two or three singers with a

skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...

group. At first, BBC management was unsure that there should be a radio show specifically for teenagers, but auditions were held for musicians including

Chas McDevitt Charles James McDevitt (born 4 December 1934) is a Scottish musician who was one of the leading lights of the skiffle genre which was highly influential and popular in the United Kingdom in the mid-to-late 1950s. Biography McDevitt was born in ...

, and a weekly programme was agreed. As ''Saturday Skiffle Club'', it was first broadcast on 1 June 1957. It had a budget of £55 per week, and newsreader Brian Matthew as an announcer.

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

failed an audition for the programme and was not used, but early regular performers included McDevitt, the

Vipers Skiffle Group The Vipers Skiffle Group – later known simply as The Vipers – were one of the leading United Kingdom, British musical ensemble, groups during the skiffle period of the mid to late 1950s, and were important in the careers of radio and televisio ...

, Johnny Duncan and his Bluegrass Boys, and

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973, he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...

and his Bubbling Over Four. The budget was increased on occasions when

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002) was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought ...

, the top skiffle star of the time, performed. Although the experimental programme was successful, management was concerned about the high proportion of American songs performed, and also about the use of songs with religious themes.

The early years of ''Saturday Club''

In October 1958, the programme was extended to two hours, from 10 am to 12 noon on Saturday mornings. The word "

" was dropped from the title, its budget was increased, and a wider range of performers began to appear. These included Cliff Richard,

Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. As a British rock and roll teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK singles chart with " What ...

Chris Barber Donald Christopher Barber (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and Trombone, trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with "Petite Fleur ...

, Humphrey Lyttelton,

Marty Wilde Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s and 1960s hit singles including " E ...

, Terry Dene, Vince Taylor, Russ Sainty, Johnny Kidd, Michael Holliday,

Bert Weedon Herbert Maurice William Weedon, OBE (10 May 1920 – 20 April 2012) was an English guitarist whose style of playing was popular and influential during the 1950s and 1960s. He was the first British guitarist to have a hit record in the ...

and Clinton Ford. Brian Matthew relaxed his style, and often started the show saying "Hello my ole mateys." The show consisted mainly of pre-recorded "live" performances, because of " needle time" restrictions on the number of records that could be played by the BBC. Most programmes had four live acts and only contained around six record requests and three new releases. The theme music was "Saturday Jump", which was written by Jimmy Grant (under his pseudonym of Eddie James) and performed by Ted Heath. By August 1959 ''Saturday Club'' had a regular audience of five million listeners, including many children, as the programme immediately followed '' Children's Favourites''. It soon began featuring performances from touring American artists including

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran ( ; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", " Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in ...

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American rock and roll musician who pioneered the style of rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-a-Lula", is ...

Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (April 26, 1938 – April 30, 2024) was an American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" guitar sound, including ...

and

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor who performed Pop music, pop, Swing music, swing, Folk music, folk, rock and roll, and country music. Darin started ...

, after a Musicians' Union ban on performances by non-British musicians ended. Other American performers followed, including

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close-harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

Chris Montez Chris Montez (born Ezekiel Christopher Montañez; January 17, 1943) is an American guitarist and vocalist, whose stylistic approach has ranged from rock & roll to pop standards and Latin music. His rock sound is exemplified in songs such as hi ...

and

Tommy Roe Thomas David Roe (born May 9, 1942) is an American rock and pop singer-songwriter. Best-remembered for his hits " Sheila" (1962), "Sweet Pea" (1966) and " Dizzy" (1969), Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of th ...

. In 1960, an LP, ''Saturday Club'', was issued, on the

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

label, featuring 13 performers including Tommy Bruce,

Ricky Valance David Spencer (10 April 193612 June 2020), known professionally as Ricky Valance, was a Welsh pop singer. He was best known for the UK number one single " Tell Laura I Love Her", which sold more than a million copies in 1960. He was the first ...

, Keith Kelly, Bert Weedon and the King Brothers.

The Beatles on ''Saturday Club''

The fifth-anniversary show in October 1963 starred

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, The Everly Brothers, Tommy Roe, Frank Ifield,

Kathy Kirby Kathy Kirby (born Catherine Ethel O'Rourke; 20 October 1938 – 20 May 2011) was an English singer. She is best known for her cover version of Doris Day's " Secret Love" and for representing the United Kingdom in the 1965 Eurovision Song C ...

, Clinton Ford,

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

, Joe Brown and his Bruvvers,

Kenny Ball Kenneth Daniel Ball (22 May 1930Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music''. (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), p. 29; ) – 7 March 2013) was an English jazz musician, best known as the bandleader, lead trumpet player and vocalist in Kenny Ball and ...

's Jazzmen and Arthur Greenslade's group with strings. The producer, Bernie Andrews, spent £483.12.6d on the performers. The Beatles received 50

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

(£52 10''s.''). In all, the Beatles appeared on the programme ten times. They first appeared on 26 January 1963, two weeks after the release of " Please Please Me", when they performed " Some Other Guy", "

Love Me Do "Love Me Do" is the debut single by the English rock band the Beatles, backed by " P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at number 17. It was released in the United States i ...

", "Please Please Me", " Keep Your Hands Off My Baby" and " Beautiful Dreamer." Their other appearances were on 16 March, 25 May, 29 June, 24 August, 5 October, and 21 December 1963; 15 February, 4 April, and, finally, 26 December 1964.

Later years

By 1965, Brian Matthew, who had also begun a Sunday morning programme, '' Easy Beat'', had been replaced as host by Ray Orchard. The programme was effectively killed off by the advent of Radio 1 in 1967, although the BBC did keep it going for a year with Keith Skues as host. The first Radio 1 ''Saturday Club'' on 30 September 1967 featured the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

, and other editions included

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

Wayne Fontana Glyn Geoffrey Ellis (28 October 19456 August 2020),

the Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War v ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. They were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The group had two l ...

Small Faces Small Faces were an English Rock music, rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966 ...

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

and

the Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

. The show completed 500 editions on 4 May 1968, but was axed on 18 January 1969.

Recorded legacy

Sessions recorded for ''Saturday Club'' by Chas McDevitt, The Everly Brothers, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Johnny Kidd, Billy Fury, Dusty Springfield,

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...

, Small Faces, Cream, Harry Nilsson and the Who have been released on CD.

Episode guide

References

{{Reflist BBC Radio 1 programmes Radio programmes about the Beatles Rock music radio programs 1957 radio programme debuts 1969 radio programme endings BBC Light Programme programmes 1950s British radio programmes 1960s British radio programmes