Swinging London

The British music variety show that started in 1961 on Independent Television’s (ITV’s) Thank Your Lucky Stars became a vehicle for new record releases and many of the leading pop groups of the time performed on it, including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.  However, it was ITV’s Ready Steady Go!, that was launched August of 1963, and the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Top of the Pops, which debuted in January of 1964, that became essential weekly viewing for hip and not-so-hip fans alike.  Ready Steady Go! was a short-lived broadcast that was on every Friday evening from August 9, 1963, until December 23, 1966.  Top of the Pops lasted from 1964 through 2008 and then it came back again for 2018, 2019 and 2020.  These shows became a cultural movement among the young which reflects the history of music for this time.  Ready Steady Go! stood out for being more youth-oriented and informal compared to its BBC rival, Top of the Pops, especially after 1964, when it went to a live format.  One of its distinguishing features was the active involvement of the audience as dancers, creating an electrifying atmosphere for both the artists and the viewers.  Top of the Pops started pulling in the larger audience, because the producers of this show had the advantage of knowing what was published on the top 20 chart and if listeners wanted to know which song reached #1, they had to watch this show.

Last week we had Preserving American Music where the theme was to find a song that has been preserved in the National Recording Registry.  This week the theme is to find a song that that was played on the UK shows Top of The Pops or Ready, Steady Go suggested by Willow of willowcot21.  Take some time to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this music challenge, and even better, read as many of them as you can as you will probably find many enjoyable songs and it is quite possibly that you will learn a thing or two.  Share your music with others and post a video, try do some research and let everyone know something about the song that you post.  Tell everyone why you like the song, whether it was a hit, or what you think the song is about.  Show the lyrics, let’s all listen to our favorite songs and explore some new music.  Try to find a song that fits the theme, then write your post and create a pingback, or you can just place your link in the comments section.

Suggestions
• Try to use the prompt words or at least conform to a general theme, as you see it.  If the song you select does not meet the criteria, then please explain why you chose this song.
• It would be good if you could post the lyrics to the song of your choice, as this is helpful for the people that want to follow along with the music.
• Please try to include the songwriter(s) – it’s a good idea to give credit where credit is due. It would also be a good idea to give credit to the singer and the band associated with your song.
• Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be, but please try not to include too many videos as that just makes it take longer to look at all of the other posts.
• Link to the YouTube video, or you can pull it into your post, so others can listen to the song.
• Ping back to this post or place your link in the comments section below.
• Read at least one other person’s blog, so we can all share new and fantastic music and create amazing new blogging friends in the process.
• Feel free to suggest future prompts.
• Have fun and enjoy the music.

This week I will be writing about the Jethro Tull song ‘Witch’s Promise’, and next week, I will be writing about the song ‘Bird Song’ by The Grateful Dead with Clarence Clemons.  The upcoming prompts will be:
June 23, 2024 – Songs that features a saxophone
June 30, 2024 – Songs that features keyboards
July 7, 2024 –Song that features great drums
July 14, 2024 – Song that features a great bass line