Juke Box Jury
GenreMusic
Created byPeter Potter
Presented byDavid Jacobs (1959–67)
Noel Edmonds (1979)
Jools Holland (1989–90)
Opening theme"Hit and Miss" by John Barry
Original release
NetworkBBC Television Service (1959–1964)
BBC One (1964–1967, 1979)
BBC Two (1989–1990)
Release1 June 1959 (1959-06-01) –
25 November 1990 (1990-11-25)
Related
Jukebox Jury
Drumbeat

Juke Box Jury was a music panel show which ran on BBC Television between 1 June 1959 and 27 December 1967. The programme was based on the American show Jukebox Jury,[1] itself an offshoot of a long-running radio series.[2] The American series, which was televised, aired from 1953 to 1959 and was hosted by Peter Potter, Suzanne Alexander, Jean Moorhead, and Lisa Davis.[3]

The series featured celebrity showbusiness guests on a rotating weekly panel who were asked to judge the hit potential of recent record releases. By 1962 the programme was attracting 12 million viewers weekly on Saturday nights.[4]

The concept was later revived by the BBC for one series in 1979 and a further two series in 1989/1990.

Format

Juke Box Jury took a format where a guest panel reviewed new record releases in a 25-minute programme, extended to an hour for some Christmas shows. The format was drawn from that of the US TV series, Jukebox Jury.[5] Host David Jacobs each week asked four celebrities (the 'Jurors') to judge newly released records on his jukebox (a Rock-Ola Tempo II) and forecast which would be declared a "hit" or a "miss" – the decision accompanied by either a bell for a 'hit' or a hooter for a 'miss'.[6] A panel of three members of the audience voted as a tie-breaker if the guests' decision was deadlocked, by holding up a large circular disc with 'Hit' on one side and 'Miss' on the other. Most weeks the performers of one of the records would be hidden behind a screen and emerge to "surprise" the panel after they had given their verdict.[7]

The series was usually broadcast from the BBC TV Theatre, Shepherd's Bush Green, London. Each programme normally consisted of between seven and nine records. Those editions which were pre-recorded normally followed a live transmission, and broadcast in the regular slot.

History

1959–1967

Juke Box Jury was first broadcast on BBC Television on 1 June 1959. Originally on Monday evenings, the BBC show was moved to early Saturday evenings starting on 3 September 1959 due to its immediate popularity.[4] The series was produced by Russell Turner.[8]

The original panel consisted of Pete Murray, Alma Cogan, Gary Miller and Susan Stranks, who gave a 'teenager's view'. Murray appeared every week for the first 11 episodes, however, generally the panel of judges changed from week to week and mainly featured current stars from music, television and film. The panel normally comprised two male and two female guests, many of whom appeared more than once. Singers Gary Miller and Alma Cogan were regular panelists in the early shows. Actor Eric Sykes was often a panelist and Katie Boyle was a frequent Juror (appearing at least 37 times), as were Lulu and Cilla Black, who appeared twelve and nine times respectively.[9] From 31 December 1966, a regular panel was established for eight consecutive editions. Jimmy Savile, Simon Dee, Alan Freeman and Pete Murray sat in judgement for all these programmes, having first appeared together on 3 December 1966. From 25 February until 1 April, the foursome continued as regular panelists, but alternating in pairs each week, with Savile and Murray appearing together, followed by Freeman and Dee. Among the diverse others from the world of entertainment who appeared were Thora Hird, Alfred Hitchcock, Spike Milligan, Lonnie Donegan,[10] Johnny Mathis,[11] Roy Orbison and David McCallum.

By October 1959 Juke Box Jury had reached a weekly audience of almost 9 million viewers.[12] Bill Cotton took over production of the series during 1960, to be followed later in the year by Stewart Morris and then Neville Wortman, who was to remain the producer until the series ended in 1967.[8]

On 7 December 1963, the panel was the four Beatles,[13][14] while George Harrison and Ringo Starr both appeared separately later, as did their manager Brian Epstein, who was twice a panellist. John Lennon had already appeared on 29 June 1963.[15][16] Then on 4 July 1964 the five members of the Rolling Stones formed the panel, the only time there were more than four Jurors on the programme.[17] Keith Richards later wrote of this appearance: "We didn't give a shit.... We just trashed every record they played."[18]

By early 1962, Juke Box Jury had a weekly audience of over 12 million viewers,[4] while the Beatles appearance on 7 December 1963 garnered an audience of 23 million,[4] and news of the Rolling Stones' appearance the following June garnered 10,000 applications to the BBC for tickets for the recording. The attraction of the programme deftly crossed generational boundaries – younger viewers revelling in the appearance of their current pop stars, while older adults identified with the often anti-pop sentiments of the panellists from a non-musical or older background,[5] confirming "adult and youthful prejudices at the same time"'.[19]

In January 1967, the Sunday tabloid newspaper News of the World in a series of attacks on the new hippy sub-culture and LSD, castigated David Jacobs in one article for playing the Mothers of Invention single "It Can't Happen Here" on a Juke Box Jury broadcast in November 1966 as it was 'recorded on a trip', and also blamed two of the jury for voting it a hit.[20] The jury on this occasion included Bobby Goldsboro, Susan Maughan and comedian Ted Rogers. In fact, by the time of the article, the BBC had already cut seven minutes from the 7 January 1967 programme because of drug references in one of that week's chosen songs, "The Addicted Man" by the Game, which had resulted in universal disapproval by the Jurors during an extended discussion.[21] This was part of a new policy for the programme during its last year of broadcast, when a regular panel of four disc jockeys was introduced, with a more detailed discussion of each song.

On 24 December 1966 and again on 5 August 1967 the Seekers became only the fourth band to appear as Jurors in the series, appearing just a few weeks after The Bachelors. The programme had by this time seen a drop in ratings, and from 27 September 1967 Juke Box Jury was moved from its prime place in the Saturday evening schedules and transmitted on early Wednesday evenings, replaced in the key Saturday slot by Dee Time.[22] On November 8, 1967, the scheduled edition of the show was cancelled without notice, leading to speculation the show was to end. At the end of 1967, Juke Box Jury was dropped from the BBC schedule because of its falling ratings, and the last broadcast was on 27 December 1967, with original Jurors Pete Murray and Susan Stranks appearing once more.

David Jacobs hosted a one off Juke Box Jury in 1989 to mark the centenary of the phonograph. Pete Murray was on the panel.

Post 1967

The programme has been revived twice, first in 1979 with Noel Edmonds as presenter, and then with Jools Holland for two seasons in 1989/1990, ending on 25 November 1990.[23] Frequent jurors from the original run Katie Boyle & Lulu both returned for the Jools Holland era, which also included impressionist Steve Nallon on the panel impersonating the sitting Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The 1979 series was most notable for a panel containing Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), who gave a characteristically acerbic performance before walking out before the end of 30 June 1979 programme.[24][25]

The final televised edition of Juke Box Jury aired on BBC2 on 25 November 1990. Dusty Springfield was on the final panel, joining Alan Freeman who appeared on 30 September 1990, as the only personalities to feature as jurors in all three eras of the television run. Lulu appeared in the 1990s run, but was not a juror during the 1979 series, although her single "I Love To Boogie" was featured in the series; where it was erroneously judged to be a likely hit.

BBC Radio Merseyside has run a radio version of Juke Box Jury for some years, hosted by Spencer Leigh and normally broadcast under the programme name On The Beat although it is often scheduled as Juke Box Jury.[26] The broadcaster Chris Evans also ran a variation of the format in 2008 on his BBC Radio 2 'Chris Evans Drivetime' programme, where listeners were invited to text either 'hit' or 'miss', plus their comments, to the programme.

The format also crossed over into children's television on Going Live! and later Live and Kicking having a segment entitled 'Trev and Simon's Video Galleon" (also Garden/Goldmine and Grandprix).[27]

Surviving recordings

Because of the BBC's policy of wiping tapes of its programmes in the 1960s, and the practice of not recording live programmes, only two episodes (29 October 1960 and 12 November 1960) are thought to still exist in their complete form,[28] although transcripts also exist of the Beatles' appearances – both solo and together. In 2001, during a year-long drive to find lost archive material, the BBC announced that an audio recording of the Beatles' appearance in December 1963 had re-surfaced,[29] a tape taken directly from the television broadcast.

Theme music

For the first six weeks of the programme, the theme to Juke Box Jury was "Juke Box Fury", written by composer and arranger Tony Osborne and recorded by his band under the name Ozzie Warlock and the Wizards.[30]

The programme's producer Russell Turner then replaced the theme with another instrumental, "Hit and Miss", performed by the John Barry Seven Plus Four, which remained the title music from 1960 to 1967.[31] For the last few months of the original series this was replaced by a version recorded by the Ted Heath Band.

The 1989–1990 Jools Holland series also featured "Hit and Miss", this time recorded by Courtney Pine.

Cultural references

Juke Box Jury has a history of being parodied, and the format has been used a number of times for other programmes:

In 1959, the BBC refused Tommy Steele permission to use David Jacobs in a Juke Box Jury comedy sketch for his Tommy Steele Show on ATV. The sketch went ahead in October 1959 with another BBC personality, announcer McDonald Hobley taking Jacobs' part.[32]

Benny Hill parodied the show as 'Soap Box Jury' on a show for the BBC on 4 March 1961. He impersonated David Jacobs and the panellists, one of whom was called "Fred Curry", a takeoff on Pete Murray and another "Lady Edgware", a takeoff on Lady Isobel Barnett – the joke being that Barnet and Edgware are neighbouring London suburbs. The sketch ended with a shot of Hill as all four panellists in one shot, achieved through filming each "panellist" separately and keeping the other three-fourths of the lens covered, which made this a landmark in both Hill's career and the development of television production. The sketch can be seen on the DVD compilation Benny Hill: The Lost Years, which was released in 2005.[33]

Also in 1961, comedian Jimmy Edwards promoted a tea-shop band 'The Burke Adams Tea-Time Three', who had a record judged a hit on Juke Box Jury, in "The Face of Enthusiasm", part of his Faces of Jim comedy series.

Finnish television ran its own version of Juke Box Jury called Levyraati.[34] The Finnish version long outlasted Juke Box Jury – it ran from 1961 to 1992, and has both been revived since, and also re-imagined as Videoraati by Finnish cable TV channel MoonTV.

On 7 July 1962, BBC TV broadcast "Twist Music With a Beat", a pop music programme about the dance craze 'The Twist', featuring a Twist competition between Juke Box Jury members and members of the cast of Compact. The show featured Petula Clark, Don Lang & His Twisters, Tony Osborne & His Mellow Men and the Viscounts.[35]

A ten-minute version of Juke Box Jury also featured as part of a regular 1960s BBC Christmas Day variety show Christmas Night with the Stars on Christmas Day 1962 and 1963.

The 1963 Gordon Flemyng film about the pop music industry Just For Fun[36] had a Juke Box Jury section which featured David Jacobs in his usual host position while Jimmy Savile, Alan Freeman and Dick Emery played the jury panel. The film was scripted by Milton Subotsky, who was one of the earliest guests on the programme.

In 1964, the Rolling Stones recorded an advert for the breakfast cereal Rice Krispies, which used themes from the programme including a jukebox, studio audience scenes and both the 'Hit' button and the 'Hit' signs that the audience jury used.

The British comedy duo French and Saunders, who appeared on the programme in 1989, referred to Juke Box Jury in their parody of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? in their eponymous 1990 comedy series.

The Generation X 1978 song "Ready Steady Go!" referenced the programme in its lyrics: "I'm not in love with Juke Box Jury/I'm not in love with Thank Your Lucky Stars".[37]

Ian Dury and The Blockheads named their November 1981 album, Juke Box Dury.[38]

In 1989, BBC TV's Arena produced a programme titled "Juke Box Jury" to commemorate the centenary of the jukebox. Hosted by David Jacobs, it also featured Juke Box Jury regulars Pete Murray and Dusty Springfield, with Phil Collins and Sarah Jane Morris making up the rest of the team.

The Late Show programme, "Classical Juke Box Jury" (1990) was a spoof of Juke Box Jury, in which a panel of three people with a background in classical music voted on different versions of Beethoven's 9th Symphony by a variety of conductors.[39]

Jurors

An incomplete list of the guest panellists. Each week had four guest 'Jurors', often plus one surprise artist chosen from among the records played that week.[8][40][41]

1959–1967

David Jacobs was host throughout the series 1959–1967, with regular panellist Pete Murray standing in on a number of occasions.

1959

1960

In addition to David Jacobs hosting, Vicki Smith was 'hostess' for the first few programmes.

1961

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1979 series

Hosted by Noel Edmonds. Each show featured a jury of four celebrities and one or two surprise guests whose records were judged by the jury.

(The series had a one-week break on 21 July.)

1989 series

(filmed in Newcastle upon Tyne, 1989), hosted by Jools Holland

1990 series

(filmed in London, 1990) host – Jools Holland

References

  1. ^ "A brief description of Juke Box Jury". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  2. ^ "Oddball Game Shows of the 1950s". Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  3. ^ Clemens, Samuel (2021). The Triumph and Tragedy of Suzanne Alexander. Sequoia Press. p. 45. ISBN 9781639720385.
  4. ^ a b c d Mundy, John: "Popular music on screen: from the Hollywood musical to music video" (Manchester University Press, 1999) ISBN 0-7190-4029-9, pp204-5
  5. ^ a b Turnock, Robert: "Television and consumer culture: Britain and the transformation of modernity" (I.B.Tauris, 2007) ISBN 1-84511-079-X
  6. ^ and often the panel's decision was wrong, notably 18 May 1963 when every panellist voted Bobby Rydell's single 'Butterfly Baby' a miss, even though it was already in the charts – New Musical Express Alley Cats column 24 May 1963
  7. ^ "John Leyton - News". Johnleytonofficial.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  8. ^ a b c "Juke Box Jury". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  9. ^ "TV | The Official Cilla Black Website". Cillablack.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  10. ^ who, according to Bill Wyman, caused complaints from viewers and annoyed the Rolling Stones with an excessive outburst against one of their records – Wyman, Bill and Coleman, Ray: "Stone alone: the story of a rock 'n' roll band" (Viking, 1990) ISBN 0-670-82894-7
  11. ^ "Sixties City - Neville Wortman - British Television". Archived from the original on 19 December 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  12. ^ "Alley Cats". New Musical Express. 9 October 1959.
  13. ^ a sequence now lost as far as video is concerned – Ingham, Chris (2003). The rough guide to the Beatles. Rough Guides. p. 211. ISBN 1-84353-140-2.
  14. ^ The BBC recorded a concert by The Beatles in the afternoon at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool, then recorded Juke Box Jury from The Odeon Cinema, Liverpool immediately afterwards. The concert was broadcast later the same evening, after Juke Box Jury, as 'It's The Beatles'. Both shows were produced by Juke Box Jury producer Neville Wortman
  15. ^ Lennon voted all eight records in the programme a ‘miss’, including Elvis Presley's "(You're the) Devil in Disguise"
  16. ^ "John Lennon Interview: Juke Box Jury 6/22/1963 - Beatles Interviews Database". Beatlesinterviews.org. 22 June 1963. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  17. ^ "Jukebox Jury". Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  18. ^ Richards, Keith (26 October 2010). Life - Keith Richards. Orion. ISBN 9780297858621. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  19. ^ Mundy, John: "Popular music on screen: from the Hollywood musical to music video" (Manchester University Press, 1999) ISBN 0-7190-4029-9, pp204-5 and: Hill, John and M McLoone (editors): "Boxed In. The aesthetics of film and television" in "Big picture, small screen: the relations between film and television" (Luton University Press, 1996)
  20. ^ "Pop Stars and Drugs – the facts that will shock you", News of the World, 29 January 1967.
  21. ^ "The BBC and drug songs". New Musical Express. 12 January 1967. All four DJs featured that week considered the record "a disgrace"' (the words specifically used by Pete Murray to describe the song), and the record label, Parlophone, withdrew the record from release shortly afterwards. Copies now fetch considerable sums of money.
  22. ^ Ironically, the presenter Simon Dee had made a number of appearances on Juke Box Jury prior to taking the slot away from the series.
  23. ^ Holland, Jools and Vyner, Harriet – Barefaced Lies and Boogie-Woogie Boasts (Penguin UK, 2008) ISBN 0-14-102677-4
  24. ^ "PiL Discography | Sex Pistols: Live Worldwide LP". Fodderstompf.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  25. ^ Lydon's comment on the show was featured in the music press a few weeks later: "Cos it was a racket!" he beams. "Quite frankly, it's the most awful goddamn programme in the world, and it's about time someone said so!" – 'JR wants you for a sunbeam' Record Mirror 28 July 1979
  26. ^ "BBC Radio Merseyside - Programmes". Bbc.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  27. ^ "Saturday Mornings ~ from Swap Shop, through Live & Kicking, to TMi and everything inbetween". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  28. ^ 29 October 1960 programme survives, but it is not currently clear from available sources which other programme exists. There is some confusion on the internet over the broadcast date of the 29 October 1960 programme, with some sources citing it as a 1959 broadcast, so there may be only one full programme extant
  29. ^ "BBC gets Juke Box Jury tape of Beatles". The Telegraph. London. 17 September 2001. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  30. ^ "Radio Days News". Turnipnet.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  31. ^ 'John Barry: A Sixties Theme: from James Bond to Midnight Cowboy' (Boxtree Ltd, 2001) ISBN 0-7522-2033-0
  32. ^ New Musical Express Alley Cat column 25 September 1959
  33. ^ "Benny's Place • Benny Hill: The Lost Years DVD Review - Benny & The Jests". Runstop.de. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  34. ^ "Levyraati entry". IMDb.com. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  35. ^ "Career: British TV Appearances - The Sixties". PetulaClark.net. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  36. ^ "Just For Fun". IMDb.com. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  37. ^ "GENERATION X LYRICS - Ready Steady Go". Plyrics.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  38. ^ "Juke Box Jury - Ian Dury and the Blockheads". Iandury.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  39. ^ "Classical Juke Box Jury (1990) | BFI". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 24 January 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  40. ^ "The Actors Compendium - Filmography listings of actors and actresses". Filmdope.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  41. ^ "CTVA Music - UK Pop Music TV Shows - "Juke Box Jury" (BBC1)(1959-67(1979)(1989-90)". Ctva.biz. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  42. ^ according to the Radio Times. If correct, there were 7 guests that week. It is more likely that the Poni-Tails were the surprise guests.
  43. ^ David Jacobs was astounded that Harding, noted for his rude attitude (he was known in the press as 'the rudest man in Britain') liked Eddie Cochran's 'Little Angel' that he gave him the record – New Musical Express 15 January 1960
  44. ^ from Wurlitzer UK, who had supplied the iconic jukebox for the series, although it was actually a Rock-Ola, manufactured by one of their rivals – 'Juke Box Jury big hit on BBC-TV' Billboard 1 February Vol. 72, No. 5 Nielsen Business Media, Inc. ISSN 0006-2510
  45. ^ who were all unable to identify Elvis Presley singing – New Musical Express 22 July 1960
  46. ^ married to each other at the time
  47. ^ New Musical Express Alley Cats column 21 April 1961
  48. ^ "Beatles Interview: Juke Box Jury 12/7/1963 - Beatles Interviews Database". Beatlesinterviews.org. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  49. ^ "George and Ringo on Juke Box Jury - July 25, 1964". BeatlesWiki. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  50. ^ Lewisohn. M. The Complete Beatles Chronicle, Hamlyn UK, 1992, ISBN 0-600-61001-2
  51. ^ recorded on 25 July 1964 immediately after the George Harrison recording
  52. ^ "The Time of Your Life - BBC One London - 22 April 1983 - BBC Genome". Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 22 April 1983. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  53. ^ Matt Goss and Luke Goss of Bros appearing with their manager Tom Watkins

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