Cathy McGowan
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Keith Fordyce



Gay Singleton



Cathy and Gay

Pop presenter Keith Fordyce was being kept busy! This Friday pop show with its slogan 'The Weekend Starts Here!' was co-hosted by the demure mod Cathy McGowan with additional presenters David Gell and Michael Aldred. Produced by Elkan Allen and directed by Daphne Shadwell, Robert Fleming, Rollo Gamble, Michael Lindsay Hogg and Peter Croft, it was first broadcast on 9th August 1963 from TV House, Kingsway, London in a half hour slot beginning at 7p.m. ( some regions transmitted it in a late evening slot at 10:40p.m. ) and the first live acts were Billy Fury and Brian Poole and The Tremeloes, performing in front of about 200 teenagers. The original theme tune was 'Wipe Out' by the Surfaris which was soon replaced by Manfred Mann's distinctive '5-4-3-2-1'. In 1964 it moved to a 50 minute slot which began at 6:08 p.m.

The studio disco 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 usually carried out by Michael Aldred or Gay Singleton.

The Kingsway studio proved to be an inappropriate venue to cater for the hundreds of fans who always crowded around outside the building and it was eventually moved to Wembley ( now Fountain ) studios. This facility was not always available at the same time every Friday and so the show was pre-recorded, usually on Tuesdays. Direction of the show was shared by Peter Croft, Rollo Gamble, Daphne Shadwell and Michael Lindsay-Hogg. Resident full-time dancers on the show were Theresa Confrey and Patrick Kerr who demonstrated new dances alongside 'members of the public' ( whom they chose specially from their visits to the 'Sabre' club ), with a certain Paul Raven, better known in later decades as Gary Glitter, as warm-up man for the dancing 'public'.

In 1964 the RSG magazine was launched, costing 2 shillings. Also in 1964, a spin-off series featured the RSG team in a show called 'READY STEADY GO + WIN', searching for new pop talent. The panel of judges included Brian Epstein, Bill Haley and Brian Matthew plus guest judges each week including Ringo Starr, Brian Jones and Mick Jagger.

April 1965 saw a temporary name change to 'READY STEADY GOES LIVE' when live transmission and artist performances began, the previous shows being pre-recorded with the acts miming to their records. The series ran until 23rd December 1966. Tapes of the shows are owned by Dave Clark of The Dave Clark Five who acquired them in the Eighties.

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