Jack Good (producer)
| Jack Good | |
|---|---|
| Born |
7 August 1931 Greenford, London |
| Residence | Oxfordshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Citizenship | UK |
| Education | Oxford University |
| Occupation | Television producer, musical theatre production, musician |
| Years active | 1955–1997 |
| Employer | BBC Television, ABC, Jack Good Productions |
| Known for | Shindig!, Six-Five Special, Oh Boy!, Catch My Soul (film), Catch My Soul (musical) |
Jack Good (born 7 August 1931) is a pioneering British former television producer, musical theatre producer, record producer, musician and painter of icons.
Jack Good was a pioneer television and music producer who produced the Six-Five Special, Oh Boy!, Wham! and Boy Meets Girls TV series, the first UK teenage music programmes. Jack Good introduced and managed a number of the UK's first rock and roll stars, including Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, Jess Conrad and Cliff Richard. He was a significant figure in popular music during the 50s and 60s expanding the popularity of rock and roll.
Good was born in Greenford, London. He joined the BBC on the magazine-format show Six-Five Special. He wanted music and a lot of movement. To get his way, Good had sets built, but shortly before the show started, they were wheeled out of the way, and he filled the space with the milling audience and performers. Television then was live, so once the programme started, the producer got his way. Good kept it all as impromptu as possible. The running order was sketched out on Friday morning, then the only complete run-through happened immediately before transmission. The show launched the hand jive and Good even wrote an instruction book, Hand Jive at Six-Five. None of the Six-Five Special productions shows was taped, so they are lost forever, but a low-budget film based on the show survives.
Although Jack had given the BBC a show that was attracting 12 million viewers, he was being paid only £18 a week . He left for independent television and launched Oh Boy! in June 1958. After trial broadcasts in the Midlands, it went national, in direct competition with Six-Five Special on Saturday evenings. Six-Five Special stuck to its mix of rock, jazz, skiffle and crooners, but Good was in his rock 'n' roll element with Oh Boy! The programmes were broadcast from the Hackney Empire, London, and made a star of Cliff Richard, as well as showcasing Billy Fury on several editions. Oh Boy! is arguably seen as Good at his very best; it was non-stop rock and roll. Each show was 26 minutes, and no song lasted more than a minute. When ITV replaced the show on 12 September 1959 with Boy Meets Girls, people wondered whether Jack had lost his touch. Jack later claimed his wife persuaded him that rock 'n' roll was on the way out and to adopt a more middle of the road approach.
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