BBC - Juke Box Jury - 1959

BBC Juke Box Jury 1959 Programmes. Room for Rop Comments.

  • 01

    Monday 1 June 1959, 7.30-7.55pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Alma Cogan, Gary Miller, Pete Murray, Susan Stranks
    Personality – Anthony Newley (Decca) 0.30
    Personality – Lloyd Price (HMV) 0.29


    Records played:
    Once Again
    – Edmund Hockridge (Pye) 1.13
    Wow – Ossie Warlock & the Wizards (unissued HMV) 1.15
    You’re The One For Me – Wanda Jackson (Capitol) 0.37
    Say One For Me – Bing Crosby (Philips) 1.30
    A Teenager In Love – Craig Douglas (Top Rank) 0.55
    More, More, More Romancing – Jo Shelton (Top Rank) 1.02
    That’s Show Biz – Dale Wright & the Wright Guys (Pye) 0.38
    Sig tune : Juke Box Fury: Ossie Warlock & the Wizards (unissued HMV) 0.28 + 0.44


    David Jacobs in 1963 NME Annual:
    How well I remember the very first programme. It was transmitted on June 1, 1959 – and I thought I’d never last the half-hour. I sat in my chair, absolutely hating the programme, the panel, the producer, the audience and myself. And I thought that the viewers hated the show, the panel, the BBC and me. I felt so nauseated by it all that I desperately wanted to get up and walk out.

    Mind you, I had no intention of just disappearing without the confused viewers knowing what was happening. I plotted in my mind to say calmly into the camera, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry that this show is being brought to you, and I am also sorry that I am associated with such a load of tripe. I can’t stand it any longer. Goodnight!’

    Of course, I did no such thing. If I am hired to do a job, then I’ll do it as well as I can. But perhaps it just wasn’t one of my days because viewer reaction was so favourable – so encouraging in fact that I thought I must have been mad for ever thinking such a thing about the show.

  • 02

    Monday 8 June 1959, 7.30-7.55pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Alma Cogan, Gary Miller, Pete Murray, Susan Stranks


    Records played:
    Nowhere In This World – Derry Hart & the Heartbeats (Decca)
    Kansas City – Little Richard (London)
    Camera script: was going to be Forty Days
    Lipstick On Your Collar – Connie Francis (MGM) side set
    The Windows Of Paris – Tony Osborne & his Orchestra (HMV)
    All Night Long – Monty Babson (London)
    I-ay-ove-lay Oo-yay – Three Barry Sisters (Decca)


    Camera script: was going to be Red Shoes (Kirby Stone Four)
    Peter Gunn – Duane Eddy (London)
    Camera script unused: Sway (prob Norman Grant Orch), When You See Her (Lee & Jay Elvin)

    Reviewed by Nancy Spain in Daily Express the following day: “The BBC’s Juke Box Jury seems to be a dismal flop. Alma Cogan, Pete Murray, Gary Miller and a typical teenager called Susan Stranks are still hard at it guessing which records (if any) are gong to be hits and which misses. All four are conscientious and with the occasional exception of Alma Cogan, the most deadly bores. I actually heard Pete Murray speaking of a record which sounded to me like the insistent yowling of a tom-cat say it was a ‘prestige record’. If this programme has a value (which I rather doubt) it will be in the comparison which we can make between the panel’s prophecy and the actual hits.”

    “New Juke Box Jury signature tune waxed by Ossie Warlock and the Wizards; this nom de plume conceals Tony Osborne’s identity.” Alley Cat, 12 June 1959

  • 03

    Monday 15 June 1959, 7.30-7.55pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Alma Cogan, Gary Miller, Pete Murray, Mandy Miller


    Records played:
    Tallahassee Lassie – Freddie Cannon (Top Rank)
    My Melancholy Baby – Tommy Edwards (MGM)
    Lovey Dovey – Clyde McPhatter (London)
    Sing Along – Gary Miller (Pye)
    One Kiss – Jaye P Morgan (MGM)
    Lonely Boy – Paul Anka (Columbia)
    Battle Of New Orleans – Lonnie Donegan (Pye) 1.21
    Battle Of New Orleans – Johnny Horton (Philips) 0.49


    Camera script unused: I Know, Forty Days and Endlessly.

    This programme got off to a false start with loss of vision. A caption was screened with the record Granada by Percy Smith. All was well after a minute.

  • 04

    Monday 22 June 1959, 7.30-7.55pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Mandy Miller, Pete Murray, Eric Sykes, Shani Wallis


    Records played:
    Waterloo – Stonewall Jackson (Philips)
    Waterloo – The Mudlarks (Columbia)
    I’m Gonna Change Him – Cathy Carr (Roulette)
    The Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll – Winifred Atwell (Decca)
    I Know – Perry Como (RCA)
    What A Diff’rence A Day Made – Dinah Washington (Mercury)
    Bobby Sox To Stockings – Frankie Avalon (HMV)
    Marshal Marshal – Gar Bacon (Fontana)


    Camera script unused: All My Sorrows, Driftin’ , Along Came Jones. Camera script has final record Don’t Forget by Hughie Green. Also, An Anonymous Letter by June Valli for Dinah Washington.

    No show on Monday 29 June 1959 because of the Star Ballroom Championships from Earls Court.

  • 05

    Monday 6 July 1959, 7.30-7.55pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Mandy Miller, Pete Murray, Eric Sykes, Shani Wallis
    Mandy Miller replaces the “typical teenager” as a “teenager actress”.


    Producer: Russell Turner


    Records played:
    Ring-A-Ling-A-Lario – Jimmie Rodgers (Columbia)
    A Big Hunk O’Love – Elvis Presley (RCA)
    Here Comes Summer – Jerry Keller (London)
    I’ll Be Satisfied – Jackie Wilson (Coral)
    All My Sorrows – Kingston Trio (Capitol)
    Teenage Guitar – Bert Weedon (Top Rank)
    Remember When – The Platters (Mercury) 1’39”

  • 06

    Monday 13 July 1959


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Petula Clark, Pete Murray, Susan Stranks, Eric Sykes


    Producer: Russell Turner


    Records played:
    Scotland The Brave – Edmundo Ros (Decca)
    Mary Ann Thomas – Bobby Freeman (London)
    The Wonder Of You – Ronnie Hilton (HMV)
    The Wonder Of You – Ray Peterson (RCA)
    Wonderful You – Ronnie Carroll (Philips)
    La Plume De Ma Tante – Hugo & Luigi (RCA)
    Moody – The Poni-Tails (HMV)
    Ragtime Cowboy Joe – David Seville & the Chipmunks (London)


    Camera script unused: Tiger (Fabian)

    No show on Monday 20 July 1959 because of Royal International Horse Show.

  • 07

    Monday 27 July 1959


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Petula Clark, Pete Murray, Susan Stranks, Eric Sykes
    Camera script: Petula Clark, Garry Miller, Pete Murray, Susan Stranks


    Records played:
    Crossfire – Johnny & the Hurricanes (London)
    Someone – Johnny Mathis (Fontana)
    Audie – The Inadequates (Capitol)
    Sinner Man – Tommy Sands (Capitol)
    Twixt 12 And 20 – Pat Boone (London) 1’35”
    Just Keep It Up – Dee Clark (London)
    You Threw A Dart – Ersel Hickey (Fontana)


    Camera script says Don’t Forget – Hughie Green played and Bei Mir by Louis Prima & Keely Smith not used. They scheduled more records than they needed and then they could have recorded comments on more records before editing for broadcast.

    No show on Bank Holiday Monday 3 August 1959 because of the Beaulieu Jazz Festival

  • 08

    Monday 10 August 1959, 7.30-7.55pm

    (Recorded)


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Jill Chadwick, Eric Sykes and all three Poni-Tails


    Duration: 25’40”


    Opened with 15 seconds of Born Too Late


    Records played:
    Lonesome – Chris Barber’s Jazz Band (Columbia) 1’48”
    Only Sixteen – Craig Douglas (Top Rank)
    Only Sixteen – Sam Cooke (HMV)
    And The Angels Sing – Johnny Nash (ABC Paramount logged, HMV here)
    All My Own – Richard Lyon (Fontana)
    Lavender Blue – Sammy Turner (Decca)
    Teenie Weenie Bikini – Upbeats (Pye International) 0’47”
    Souvenirs – Barbara Evans (RCA)
    Milk From The Coconut – Johnny Gentle (Philips)


    Camera script: Souvenirs replaced My Unbreakable Heart

    Jill Chadwick, a 22-year-old actress from Bury, had been a record plugger “so perhaps I do know something about hits and misses.” (Radio Times)
    The Poni-Tails were also featured on Drumbeat, but not on that evening.

  • 09

    Monday 17 August 1959, 7.30-7.55pm


    Panel: Sheila Buxton, Dickie Dawson, Diana Dors, Pete Murray


    Records played:
    With Open Arms – Jane Morgan (London)
    China Tea – Russ Conway (Columbia)
    High Hopes – Frank Sinatra (Capitol)
    High Hopes – Dave King (Pye)
    It Was I – Skip & Flip (Top Rank)
    Run – Jeri Southern (Capitol)
    For You For You – Michael Holliday (Columbia)
    Taboo – Arthur Lyman Group (Vogue)
    What Is Love – Playmates (Columbia)


    Dickie Dawson, husband of Diana Dors

  • 10

    Monday 24 August 1959, 7.30-7.55pm


    Panel: Judy Carne, Dickie Dawson, Pete Murray, Venetia Stevenson


    Records played:
    A Hoot An’ A Holler – Don Lang (HMV)
    I’m Gonna Get Married – Lloyd Price (HMV)
    Plenty Good Lovin’ – Connie Francis (MGM)
    Cry – Knightsbridge Strings (Top Rank)
    Midnight Flyer – Dave Cavanagh (Capitol)
    One More Sunrise – Leslie Uggams (Philips)
    A Girls Work Is Never Done – Chordettes (London) 1.52

  • 11

    Saturday 5 September 1959, 6.55-7.15pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Cleo Laine, Eric Robinson, Susan Stranks, Eric Sykes


    Records played:
    I Ain’t Gonna Lead This Life – Frankie Vaughan (Philips)
    Til I Kissed You – Everly Brothers (London)
    Adonis – Petula Clark (Pye)
    Sal’s Got A Sugar Lip – Lonnie Donegan (Pye)
    Morgen – Ivo Robic (Polydor)
    The Three Bells – The Browns (RCA)
    Johnny Reb – Johnny Horton (Philips)

  • 12

    Saturday 12 September 1959, 6.50-7.15pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Peggy Cummins, Eric Robinson, Susan Stranks, Eric Sykes


    Records played:
    Peggy Sue Got Married – Buddy Holly (Coral)
    Cry Baby Cry – Bernie Fenton (Philips)
    Lady May – Eddie Hickey (Decca)
    Smile Smile Smile And Sing Sing Sing – Russ Hamilton (Oriole)
    My Funny Valentine – Shirley Bassey (Philips)
    The Shape I’m In – Johnny Restivo (RCA)

  • 13

    Saturday 19 September 1959, 6.50-7.15pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Judy Carne, Petula Clark, Bill Maynard, Peter Noble


    Reccords played:
    I Want To Walk You Home – Shane Rimmer (Columbia)
    Angel Face – Billy Fury (Decca)
    Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (Pye)
    Sleepwalk – Ken Mackintosh (HMV)
    You Were Mine – Tommy Steele (Decca)
    Someone To Love – Anthony Newley (Decca)
    Mack The Knife – Bobby Darin (London)

  • 14

    Saturday 26 September 1959, 6.50-7.15pm

    (Recorded 12 September 1959)


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Dickie Dawson, Diana Dors, Eunice Gayson, Tony Vlassopulo


    Records played:
    Battle Rhythm – Bob Summers (Capitol)
    What Would I Do Without You – King Sisters (Capitol)
    I’ve Been There – Tommy Edwards (MGM)
    Cat On A Cool Tin Roof – Ragpickers (Saga)
    Cap And Gown – Marty Robbins (Fontana)
    The Mummy – Bob McFadden & Dor (Coral)
    Primrose Lane – Dickie Pride (Columbia)
    I’ll Never Fall In Love Again – Johnnie Ray (Philips)

  • 15

    Saturday 3 October 1959, 6.50-7.15pm

    (Recorded 19 September 1959)


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Petula Clark, Dickie Dawson, Diana Dors, Tony Osborne


    Records played:
    Treble Chance – Joe ‘Mr Piano’ Henderson (Pye)
    Makin’ Love – Floyd Robinson (RCA)
    So High So Low – Danny Williams (HMV)
    Broken Hearted Melody – Tony Raymond (Fontana)
    But Not For Me – Ella Fitzgerald (HMV)
    Jenny – Ray Sone (Decca)
    She Came As A Stranger – Perry Ford (Parlophone)
    Oh What A Fool – Impalas (MGM)

  • 16

    Saturday 10 October 1959, 6.50-715pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Gloria Kindersley, Gary Miller, Milton Subotsky, Venetia Stevenson


    Records played:
    Doodles – Eddie Layton (Mercury)
    Love Potion No 9 – Clovers (London)
    A Worried Man – Kingston Trio (Capitol)
    Mr Blue – David Macbeth (Pye)
    Mr Blue – Mike Preston (Decca)
    Just Ask Your Heart – Frankie Avalon (HMV)
    Wish It Were Me – Craig Douglas (Top Rank)
    Old Shep – Hank Snow (RCA)

  • 17

    Saturday 17 October 1959, 6.50-7.15pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Alma Cogan, Louie Ramsay, Jimmy Savile, Digby Wolfe


    Records played:
    Destiny – Henry Rene (London)
    Put Your Head On My Shoulder – Paul Anka (Columbia)
    What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For – Emile Ford (Pye)
    Teach Me – David Hughes (Top Rank)
    Candlewick – Winifred Atwell (Decca)
    My Only Love – Allan Bruce (Fontana)
    Oh Carol – Neil Sedaka (RCA)

  • 18

    Saturday 24 October 1959, 6.50-7.15pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Winifred Atwell, Paul Carpenter, Sandra Dorne, Digby Wolfe


    Records played:
    Shout – Isley Brothers (RCA)
    Lonely Street – Chris Martin (HMV)
    Heartaches By The Number – Guy Mitchell (Philips)
    The Best Of Everything – Johnny Mathis (Fontana)
    Tucumcari – Jimmie Rodgers (Columbia)
    I’ll Stay Single – Jerry Lordan (Parlophone)
    Seven Little Girls (Sitting In The Backseat) – Avons (Columbia)

  • 19

    Saturday 31 October 1959, 6.50-7.15pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Lynn Curtis, Gary Miller, Venetia Stevenson, Digby Wolfe


    Records played:
    Seven Little Girls (Sitting In The Backseat) – Avons (Columbia)
    Alice Blue Gown – Leroy Holmes (MGM)
    My Blue Heaven – Platters (Mercury)
    What Do You Want – Adam Faith (Parlophone) HIT
    Snowcoach – Russ Conway (Columbia)
    Dear Daddy – Petula Clark (Pye)
    Hushabye – Dene Four (HMV)
    The Merry Men – Don Robertson (Capitol)


    No show on Saturday 7 November 1959 because of British Legion Remembrance Service and a Semprini concert

  • 20

    Saturday 14 November 1959, 6.50-7.15pm

    (Recorded 31 October 1959)


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Jeanne Baldwin, Bunny Lewis, Gary Miller, Venetia Stevenson


    Records played:
    Happy Little Caterpillar – Sam Tacit (Decca)
    The Ways Of Love – Tommy Edwards (MGM)
    Unforgettable – Dinah Washington (Mercury)
    Fool’s Hall Of Fame – Pat Boone (London)
    Little White Bull – Tommy Steele (Decca)
    Talk To Me – Frank Sinatra (Capitol)
    So Many Ways – Brook Benton (Mercury)

  • 21

    Saturday 21 November 1959, 6.50-7.15pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Alan Freeman, Joan Heal, Venetia Stevenson, Milton Subotsky


    Records played:
    Dear Daddy – Petula Clark (Pye)
    While Paris Sleeps – Tony Osborne (HMV)
    San Miguel – Lonnie Donegan (Pye)
    The Village Of St Bernadette – Anne Shelton (Philips)
    Ivy Will Cling – Arnold Stang (Fontana)
    If I Had A Girl – Jerry Keller (London)
    If You Were The Only Girl In The World – Steve Marsh (Decca)
    Who Made The Morning – Max Bygraves (Decca)
    True Love, True Love – Mudlarks (Columbia)


    Only 18 seconds of Dear Daddy played, but 1 minute 43 seconds of Arnold Stang.

  • 22

    Saturday 28 November 1959, 6.50-7.15pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Judy Carne, Peter Noble, Sylvie St Clair, Digby Wolfe


    Records played:
    Happy Prancer – Dance, Prancer & Nervous (Capitol)
    Still Small Voice – Perry Como (RCA)
    Loving Is A Way Of Living – Ilse Werner (Qualiton)
    Just About This Time Tomorrow – Tony Reese (London)
    The Meaning Of The Blues – Kalin Twins (Brunswick)
    Among My Souvenirs – Connie Francis (MGM)
    Roses From Venice – Donald Peers (Columbia)

  • 23

    Saturday 5 December 1959, 6.50-7.15pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Russ Conway, Joan North, Nancy Spain, Eric Sykes


    Records played:
    Way Down Yonder In New Orleans – Freddy Cannon (Top Rank)
    Starry Eyed – Gary Stites (London)
    You Deserve – Peggy Lee (Capitol)
    Wildcat – Gene Vincent (Capitol)
    In The Chapel In The Moonlight – Kestrels (Pye)
    Some Kinda Earthquake – Duane Eddy (London)
    Happy Anniversary – Joan Regan (Pye)
    Be My Guest – Fats Domino (London)

    “Opinion of your Alley Cat disagrees with Juke Box Jury panel but endorses David Jacobs’ view that Some Kinda Earthquake is another Duane Eddy smash hit.” Alley Cat, 11 December 1959

  • 24

    Saturday 12 December 1959, 6.50-7.15pm


    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Russ Conway, Jayne Mansfield, Venetia Stevenson, Eric Sykes


    Records played:
    In The Mood – Ernie Fields (London)
    Turnabout Heart – Eve Boswell (Parlophone)
    Career – Dean Martin (Capitol)
    Not One Minute More – Della Reese (RCA)
    Marina – Gary Miller (Pye)
    The Christmas Song – Ella Fitzgerald (HMV)
    Who Do You Think You Are – Four Lads (Philips)

  • 25

    Saturday 19 December 1959, 6.50-7.15pm

    (Recorded)

    Chairman: David Jacobs


    Panel: Catherine Boyle Patricia Bredin, Gary Miller, Eric Sykes


    Records played:
    Lotta Piano – Martinas & his Music (Columbia)
    Too Young – Bill Forbes (Columbia)
    Talk That Talk – Jackie Wilson (Coral)
    The Singing Piano – Tolchard Evans & his Singing Piano (Decca)
    Holiday Of Love – King Sisters (Capitol)
    Reveille Rock – Johnny & the Hurricanes (London)
    It Must Have Been Something Wonderful – Ronnie Carroll (Philips)
    I Wish That I Could Be Father Christmas – Lenny the Lion with Terry Hall (Parlophone)
    Mary’s Boy Child – Nina & Frederik


    “Starting in the new year every alternate transmission will be telerecorded the previous Saturday, immediately following the live presentation.” (NME, 4 December 1959)
    Eric Sykes on Reveille Rock: “That would work. I would have to get up to turn the darn thing off.”
    Feature on David Jacobs, NME, 25 December 1959:
    Juke Box Jury is excellent musical entertainment for the whole family. And it’s done far more for pop music than most people think. The records we play are more or less all made with the teenage market in mind. But on Juke Box Jury, viewers have seen adults voicing approval of the very same discs – the adults being the panel, of course. The net result is that the Jury has encouraged people to be far more tolerant towards pop discs. It has also stopped a lot of parents sneering at pop music and made them realise that it is an everyday part of their children’s lives.