Rock & Pop On British TV

Jeff Evans

Author Evans here does us proud. He’s listed just about every worthwhile TV programme that’s tooted its flute on behalf of pop, and keeps everything entertaining. He’s dug back a bit too. Yes, there really was pop life before Jack Good. Admittedly it struggled more than a micron to shrug off the shackles of Lord Reith, but Evans recalls the efforts of such as trumpet-playing Jack Jackson, whose radio and TV shows helped changed the face of British pop in an era where teenagers hardly existed. From there it’s a brilliant ride, hurtling through Good’s array of ’50s gamechangers, the inevitable Top Of The Pops, the ’60s pop art Mod parties of Ready Steady Go! and countless others you’ve either never met or maybe forgotten (Doing Their Thing, Breakers, Pop Down The Pub etc) before arriving (after making a Glastonbury stop-off) at the world of Pop Idol and X Factor. Remember when Dusty made her last TV appearance, on Later, with Alison Moyet and Sinéad O’Connor providing backups? This book does… and more. Fred Dellar