Ready Steady Go!

Imagine creating the perfect vehicle to start a weekend. It’s a mix of sound, vision and fashion. It is delivered with a hip sense of democracy expected/required for teens but not forgetting the inherent need for authoritarian dogma.The vehicle was a tv show: ‘Ready, Steady, Go!!’ It lasted just three years, an outcome expected, though rarely achieved.Author Andy Neill writes a sparse though elegant and passionate narrative braced by recollections from almost all of the key participants. All the pieces of the story come together like an instantaneously complete jig-saw puzzle.So good, I have to force myself to read it in small portions; just like enjoying a perfect meal.

Thorough with masses of pictures. Beautiful bound book and heavy pages. It does get a bit redundant because the experience of RSG is brought forth through many people’s memories and tales. Kind of sad that mod girl Cathy McGowan doesn’t do interviews but there are literally tons of info and stories of her from everyone else.The book is best to read at a table as it’s very large and heavy. Somewhat difficult to read lounging on a couch moving a book light around, but I got it done!

If you have any interest in British music TV from the 60s, you will know about the pioneering show Ready Steady Go. This book is filled with every conceivable fact about the creation and the making of the show. The pictures make the book a worthwhile purchase alone, but there is so much info about the show, the creators, the presenters, and the acts who performed. The weekend started here for me when this coffee table-sized book was delivered!

The pictures and information is well researched and is awesome!

Anything published by Andy Neill will be thoroughly researched, carefully organized, and extremely well written. Ready Steady Go (RSG) is his latest effort and the result is, as expected, brilliant. He describes the book as a “labour of love,” and probably that is the most accurate description. But that alone wouldn’t merit a 5 Star review. Already out in the UK, comments there wax poetic about the detail and scope of Andy’s history of a TV show that few Americans ever saw. Why should the book merit high regard here in the states? Come and gone by the end of 1966, the RSG TV show assumed a shadowy status for American teenagers. We were told that it was a show where The Who became stars. It had a glamourous emcee named Cathy McGowan. It was filled with English bands who started the British invasion in early 1964 (The two terms, British and English, meant the same thing, right?) That was about all we knew. Those of us listening to teenage music on American AM stations at the time were puzzled by British band references to Radio Luxembourg. Surely British radio stations and TV played British rock and roll all day long. Why would anyone in London have to listen to a foreign radio station? Andy’s book goes a long way toward explaining the entire cultural background in the UK that took American music, tried to copy it, created a “new” exciting sound, and shoved it down deep into our American hearts and minds. All of this done in a nation still locked into the after-shock of World War II and a class system not quite ready to give up its hold on the general population. This is a book for anyone interested in sixties music and culture, and who wants a good broad overview of what was happening in London ’63-’66. It is not a quick read. Physically, the size and nearly 6-pound weight of the book call for a table or counter-top where the book can be left open so that the reader can tackle it at leisure. RSG deserves a careful and thoughtful read. Treat it like a good Scottish malt whiskey – neat and in small doses. As is always the case when reading Andy Neill’s books, I am looking forward to wherever he takes us next.

Wow, what a great book. Massive size and totally packed with pics of the musicians, dancers, hosts and everyone else who made this show happen on a weekly basis during much of the 60’s. If you have any interest in the British pop scene during this era, this book is a must. Words and music from those who lived it. Excellent book and worth every penny. Get it while you can.

I really cannot praise this publication too highly. I have one of Andy Neill's previous books, the one chronicling The Who, and that was an incredibly enjoyable read and amazing in the detail it provided on the group's career. But this fantastic book surpasses even that. Everything you ever wanted to know about RSG is within these pages and more. Who appeared on the show and when. What songs did they sing and how many times did they star. When was the show transmitted region by region and at what time of the day. What were the kids wearing and who was behind the programme, and who presented it. It must have taken an incredible amount of time to compile this book, carry out the interviews (with the likes of Mick Jagger, Ray Davies and Pete Townsend no less) and I suspect it was a labour of love for the author. He really does deserve every accolade going and then some.Another thing - THIS BOOK IS MASSIVE! Not just in actual size, it is VERY heavy. To say you are getting your money's worth with this one is really an understatement and the quality overall is top class. I've always been interested in RSG and the people who presented it, starred in it and even watched it in the studio. This is the book I have been looking for and then some for so long. A huge thank you to all concerned in its publication, not least the author. Well done that man!

My favourite era in music is undoubtedly 1963-1966, and no other music TV show encapsulated that incredible creative and fast-changing period better than 'Ready, Steady, Go!' ('Top of The Pops' may have had the ratings and the longevity, but any vaguely "cool" music TV show since such as 'The Tube', 'The Word' and 'T.F.I. Friday' owe RSG a HUGE debt).Andy Neill is up there with Keith Badman, Spencer Leigh and Alan Clayson as one of the foremost experts on all things Sixties, and was the perfect candidate to write this brilliant book. With over 100 all-star interviews, a detailed chronological history, a full episode guide and many, many, MANY rare photos and memorabilia, this really sets a new standard for books of this type. As Cathy McGowan would've said, it's "Absolutely Smashing!".

This is a massive tome, was quite surprised when it arrived in a huge box. Not only that, it is packed solid with information and interviews and episode guides and photos (most I have never seen before) and press clippings and cards and documents and so much more - this has jumped high on my list of 'best books about the 60s' - totally recommended

This is without doubt one of the best books on Pop Culture I've read. It is an impressively well researched volume, highly informative and entertaining. It has plenty of style and lots of substance. I was only 2 when the show was first broadcast and frustratingly have no first hand memory of it. I did watch the Dave Clark series of videos that were first shown in 1985 on Channel 4. The Motown Special was my personal favourite. The large format book is beautifully presented, stylish graphics excellent photographs and personal testaments tell the story in minute details/data about every show broadcast between 1963 and 1966- the closest we'll ever get to viewing those lost episodes. This really is the gold standard by which all pop culture books must be measured in future. A tour de force! "Smashing!"

I was hoping this book would be good… I was wrong. It’s amazing. The wealth of photos, the mass of information, the sheer detail contained in this massive hardback is way beyond my expectations. Don't hesitate - buy the book. It’s fab…PS: Shame Amazon couldn't have packed it better - no reflection on the book, of course.