The Quarrymen are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several school friends, the Quarrymen took their name from a line in the school song of their school, the Quarry Bank High School. Lennon's mother, Julia, taught her son to play the banjo, showed Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars in a similar way to the banjo, and taught them simple chords and songs.
Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments.
Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought up in England, Donegan began his career in the British trad jazz revival but transitioned to skiffle in the mid-1950s, rising to prominence with a hit recording of the American folk song "Rock Island Line" which helped spur the broader UK skiffle movement.
Sally "Petula" Clark is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 years.
Peter Murray James,, known professionally as Pete Murray, is a British radio and television presenter and actor. He is known for his career with the BBC including stints on the Light Programme, Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 4. In the 1950s, Murray became one of Britain's first pop music television presenters, hosting the rock and roll programme Six-Five Special (1957–1958) and appearing as a regular panellist on Juke Box Jury (1959–1967). He was a recurring presence in the BBC's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest. Murray returned to broadcasting for a Boom Radio special on Boxing Day 2021, over 70 years after his career began. He returned to the station on Boxing Day 2022 where he presented a two-hour show alongside his friend David Hamilton.
John Franklin Duncan was an American bluegrass and skiffle musician. He became popular in Britain in 1957 with "Last Train to San Fernando", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart.
Alan Albert Freeman, known professionally as Alan A. Freeman was an English record producer, remembered for being Petula Clark's producer from 1949 until 1963, when his role was taken over by Tony Hatch. Freeman founded the independent Polygon label and worked for its successor labels, Pye Nixa and Pye. He also produced number 1 hits by Lonnie Donegan.
Jack Good was a British television producer, musical theatre producer, record producer, musician and painter of icons. As a television producer, he was responsible for the early popular music shows Six-Five Special, Oh Boy!, Boy Meets Girls and Wham!!, the first UK teenage music programmes. Good managed some of the UK's first rock and roll stars, including Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, Jess Conrad and Cliff Richard.
The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches typified by slapstick, mime, parody, and double entendre.
Oh Boy! was the first teenage all-music show on British TV, airing in 1958 and 1959. It was produced by Jack Good for ITV.
"Rock Island Line" is an American folk song. Ostensibly about the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it appeared as a folk song as early as 1929. The first recorded performance of "Rock Island Line" was by inmates of the Arkansas Cummins State Farm prison in 1934.
Charles James McDevitt is a Scottish musician who was one of the leading lights of the skiffle genre which was highly influential and popular in the United Kingdom in the mid-to-late 1950s.
John Stanley Livingstone Harris was a Scottish composer, producer, arranger, conductor, and musical director. He lived in the United States from 1972 until his death.
Saturday Club was an influential BBC Radio programme in the United Kingdom, broadcast on the BBC Light Programme and later BBC Radio 1 between 1957 and 1969. It was one of the earliest – and for several years almost the only – radio programme in the country to broadcast pop music. Its longest-serving and best remembered host was Brian Matthew.
British rock and roll, or typeset as British rock 'n' roll, is a style of popular music based on American rock and roll, which emerged in the late 1950s and was popular until the arrival of beat music in 1962. It was important in establishing British youth and popular music culture and was a key factor in subsequent developments that led to the British Invasion of the mid-1960s. Since the 1960s, some stars of the genre, most notably Cliff Richard, have managed to sustain successful careers and there have been periodic revivals of this form of music.
"Grand Coulee Dam" is an American folk song recorded in 1941 by Woody Guthrie.
Ken Sykora , born Charles Kenneth Sykora, was an English jazz guitarist and radio presenter.
Stanley Dale's National Skiffle Contest toured the United Kingdom over 1957 and 1958. Headlined by the Vipers Skiffle Group and compèred by teen idol Jim Dale, the shows were based around a battle of the bands between local skiffle groups at each venue, with an advance to a promised television appearance for the winning acts. Twenty-one of the amateur groups appeared on the BBC's pop music programme Six-Five Special from February to August 1958. The final three competitors were the Woodlanders of Plymouth, the Saxons of Barking and the Double Three of Bury St Edmunds. No winner was officially announced.
