Lonnie Donegan: Grand Coolie Dam + Jack Of Diamonds + [Paddy Madison and Lee Stone] [SIX-FIVE Special-1958 THESE GIRLS ARE UNDRESSIN' HIS SKIFFLE! ]

SIX-FIVE Special (1958) - part 5of6

1) Lonnie Donegan - "Grand Coolie Dam", "Jack Of Diamonds"

2) Paddy Madison and Lee Stone

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The Six-Five Special was a British television programme launched in February 1957 when both television and rock'n'roll were in their infancy in Britain.

It was the BBC's first attempt at a rock'n'roll programme, a very great innovation at the time and subsequently much imitated, even today. It was called the "Six-Five Special" because of the time it was broadcast - it went out, live of course as all programmes did then, at five past six on a Saturday evening.

Jack Good was the producer and disc jockey Pete Murray was its presenter who used the catchphrase "Time to jive on the old six five". Its resident band was Don Lang and his Frantic Five. The show opened with film of a steam train accompanied by the programme's theme song, played and sung by the Frantic Five.

The show was originally scheduled to last six weeks but, as a result of Jack Good ignoring the guidance given to him by the BBC management not to show the young audience alongside the performers, it continued indefinitely.

The BBC interfered with Good's vision of what the show should be by cluttering it with educational and information elements, as per their Public Service Broadcasting policy. The relationship between Good and the BBC became strained and they eventually fired him, resulting in a big loss of viewing audience.

Jack Good would quickly join the ITV company ABC to create "Oh Boy!", which was the show he'd wanted to make from day one. It featured non-stop music and lost the tedious "public service-inspired" elements as part of its more frenzied pace, and trounced the further-diluted "Six-Five Special" in the ratings.