The Jo Cook Dancers
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The Go-Jos were a British TV
dance troupe A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a sport, spectacle or entertainment. There are many different types of dance companies, often working in different list of dance ...
, created for the
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
TV music chart show ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' in late 1964, appearing regularly on the show until mid-1968. They were the first of a series of five dance troupes on the programme. They also appeared on other
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
and ITV shows, finally disbanding in 1971.


Formation

The troupe were formed by Jo Cook, who had been a member of the TV dance troupe the Silhouettes in the early 1960s. She then became a founder member of the Beat Girls, appearing in ''
The Beat Room ''The Beat Room'' is a British television series presenting beat music, beat, rhythm and blues and other pop music, shown on BBC2 from 1964 – 1965. Production The series was produced by Barry Langford and directed by James Moir (executive), ...
'', a weekly pop show on
BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...
, from July 1964. She was forced to leave the Beat Girls in October 1964 due to a contractual dispute. In November 1964, ''Top of the Pops'' producers had decided a dance troupe was needed to perform when the act was not available. Jo Cook won the job of providing this troupe, and so created the group, the Go-Jos, named after herself. Their first performance was on 19 November 1964 dancing to "
Baby Love "Baby Love" is a song by the American music group the Supremes from their second studio album, '' Where Did Our Love Go''. It was written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland and was released on September 17, ...
" by
the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...
. When dancing on ''Top of the Pops'' to the latest pop hits, the group were usually dressed in the
mini skirt A miniskirt (or mini-skirt, mini skirt, or mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a dress with such a hemline is called a minidress or a miniskirt ...
s and high boots that were fashionable at the time. The Go-Jos were not fully resident; they typically only appeared every few weeks.


''Top of the Pops''

In the beginning, on ''Top of the Pops'', Linda Hotchkin and Jane Bartlett performed with Pat Hughes. Hughes left towards the end of June 1965, and Jo Cook herself appeared over the next few months. The troupe changed again later in 1965 when Jo Cook finally quit dancing to focus on choreography. Barbara von der Heyde and Thelma Bignell joined by the beginning of 1966, and Linda Hotchkin temporarily left, creating a three-person group. Hotchkin rejoined in early 1967, and the group expanded to six in 1968 with the addition of Lesley Larbey and Wendy Hillhouse. However, the BBC decided in mid-1968 to replace the Go-Jos with
Pan's People Pan's People were a British all-female dance troupe most commonly associated with the BBC TV music chart show ''Top of the Pops'', from 1968 to 1976. The group, founded and led by choreographer Felicity "Flick" Colby in December 1966, accompanie ...
on ''Top of the Pops''. Their final performance was on 20 June 1968, dancing to " Jumping Jack Flash" by
the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
. Only one ''Top of the Pops'' performance by the Go-Jos is known to survive, " Reflections" by
Diana Ross and the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...
, transmitted on 26 December 1967.


The Jo Cook Dancers

Jo Cook rebadged the Go-Jos as the Jo Cook Dancers when they appeared on the sixth and last series of '' Thank Your Lucky Stars'', replacing the Dance Centre group, the Lucky Stars. This series ran from 2 October 1965 to 31 December 1966 with regular Go-Jo dancers Linda Hotchkin, Jane Bartlett, Barbara von der Heyde and Thelma Bignell in performances with a chart band.


Timeline

The following chart shows the timeline of the GoJos on ''Top of the Pops'' and the Jo Cook Dancers and GoJos on ''Thank Your Lucky Stars''. ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:120 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1964 till:12/31/1968 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:1964 Colors = id:GoJos value:red legend:GoJos id:JoCook value:blue legend:Jo_Cook_Dancers id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars BarData = bar:Jane text: Jane Bartlett bar:Linda text: Linda Hotchkin bar:Pat text: Pat Hughes bar:Jo text: Jo Cook bar:Barbara text: Barbara von der Heyde bar:Thelma text:Thelma Bignell bar:Lesley text:Lesley Larbey bar:Wendy text:Wendy Hillhouse bar:Dolores text:Dolores Bourne bar:LesleyJ text:Lesley Judd PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(15.-4) bar: Pat from:11/19/1964 till:06/24/1965 color:GoJos bar: Jo from:07/15/1965 till:08/12/1965 color:GoJos bar: Jane from:11/19/1964 till:06/20/1968 color:GoJos bar: Linda from:11/19/1964 till:08/12/1965 color:GoJos bar: Linda from:02/02/1967 till:06/20/1968 color:GoJos bar: Barbara from:01/06/1966 till:06/20/1968 color:GoJos bar: Thelma from:01/06/1966 till:06/20/1968 color:GoJos bar: Lesley from:12/26/1967 till:06/20/1968 color:GoJos bar: Wendy from:12/25/1967 till:06/20/1968 color:GoJos bar: Dolores from:06/20/1968 till:06/20/1968 color:GoJos bar: LesleyJ from:04/03/1965 till:04/03/1965 color:GoJos bar: Jane from:10/02/1965 till:12/31/1966 color:JoCook width:3 bar: Linda from:10/02/1965 till:12/31/1966 color:JoCook width:3 bar: Barbara from:10/02/1965 till:12/31/1966 color:JoCook width:3 bar: Thelma from:10/02/1965 till:12/31/1966 color:JoCook width:3


Later years

The group continued for several years appearing on a variety of TV shows, including the
Val Doonican Michael Valentine 'Val' Doonican (3 February 1927 – 1 July 2015) was an Irish singer of traditional pop, easy listening and novelty songs, noted for his warm and relaxed vocal style. A crooner, he found popular success, especially in t ...
show and ''
The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940 – 12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their The Goodies (TV series), ...
''. As the Go-Jos, they worked with
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in 1967 on the music and comedy series ''Three of a Kind'', which also featured
Mike Yarwood Michael Edward Yarwood (14 June 1941 – 8 September 2023) was an English impressionist, comedian and actor. He was one of Britain's top-rated entertainers, regularly appearing on television from the 1960s to the 1980s. Early life Michael Edwar ...
. They appeared in the 1966 Southern TV show ''Tale of Two Rivers'' with
Lesley Judd Lesley Judd (born 20 December 1946) is a British former television presenter and dancer, best known as a long-serving host of the BBC children's programme '' Blue Peter'' (1972–1979). Background Born in London, the daughter of Leslie T. Judd a ...
appearing as a member with Linda Hotchkin and Barbara von der Heyde. The group appeared in the film '' Moon Zero Two'' in 1969, but with none of the regular members. Jo Cook and Linda Hotchkin appeared in ''Top of the Pops: The True Story'' in 2001 talking about their time on ''Top of the Pops''.


References


External links


Gojos performances, biographies and interviews
{{Top of the Pops Top of the Pops dance troupes