The show initially opened with American girl Ricki Merriman as compère and Johnny O'Keefe and his band The Dee Jays as guests.[1] The Dee Jays consisted of Dave Owens (tenor sax), Johnny "Greeno" Greenan (baritone sax) and Johnny "Catfish" Purser on drums, Keith Williams on bass guitar, and Lou Casch on guitar,[2]Bob "Bluto" Bertles, later a leading jazz player, substituted as the second saxophone.[citation needed] After six shows O'Keefe took over the hosting role.[3] The show usually opened with O'Keefe singing "Weeeeeell, come on everybody it's six o'clock, uh huh huh huh", with The Graduates providing the "bap bap bap bap" background.[1]
The first episode featured Reg Lindsay, The Australian All-Stars, The Graduates, Terry King and Johnny Ball. The dancers in the opening title sequence were Lee Nielson and Milton Mitchell.
The show originally contained a mixture of rock and roll and jazz. The jazz was supplied by the Australian All Stars, featuring Don Burrows on alto and baritone sax, Terry Wilkinson on piano, Ron Webber on drums, Fred Logan on bass, and tenor player Dave Rutledge. The jazz musicians were always a bit uncomfortable with their role, and since O'Keefe insisted on deciding who should be on the show, the jazz numbers were few and far between. O'Keefe wanted the show to be all rock music.
O'Keefe left the show in 1961 to move to ATN-7 to compère the more elaborately produced Johnny O'Keefe Show. These later shows were compered by Tanya Halesworth and Chet Clark, as seen in an existing 1961 edition. Six O'Clock Rock closed in 1962 after changing to a 'softer' format with O'Keefe's departure, and suffered from competition from O'Keefe's new show on Channel 7 and Bandstand on Channel 9.
50 Years of ABC-TV Timeline 2007-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
May 08, 2024
clock, rock, australian, rock, roll, television, show, broadcast, television, from, february, 1959, 1962, saturdays, title, cardcreated, bydavid, porterpeter, pagestarringricki, merrimanjohnny, keefecountry, originaustraliaoriginal, languageenglishoriginal, re. Six O Clock Rock was an Australian rock and roll television show broadcast on ABC Television from 28 February 1959 to 1962 at 6 p m on Saturdays Six O Clock RockTitle cardCreated byDavid PorterPeter PageStarringRicki MerrimanJohnny O KeefeCountry of originAustraliaOriginal languageEnglishOriginal releaseNetworkABC TelevisionRelease28 February 1959 1959 02 28 1962 1962 Contents 1 Program synopsis 2 See also 3 References 4 Sources 5 External linksProgram synopsis editInspired by the BBC program Six Five Special it had a similar format to its rival on TCN 9 Bandstand compered by Brian Henderson This was ABC TV s first youth oriented music program long before Countdown The show initially opened with American girl Ricki Merriman as compere and Johnny O Keefe and his band The Dee Jays as guests 1 The Dee Jays consisted of Dave Owens tenor sax Johnny Greeno Greenan baritone sax and Johnny Catfish Purser on drums Keith Williams on bass guitar and Lou Casch on guitar 2 Bob Bluto Bertles later a leading jazz player substituted as the second saxophone citation needed After six shows O Keefe took over the hosting role 3 The show usually opened with O Keefe singing Weeeeeell come on everybody it s six o clock uh huh huh huh with The Graduates providing the bap bap bap bap background 1 The first episode featured Reg Lindsay The Australian All Stars The Graduates Terry King and Johnny Ball The dancers in the opening title sequence were Lee Nielson and Milton Mitchell Entertainers who got their first big exposure on Six O Clock Rock include Lonnie Lee 4 Barry Stanton and Warren Williams The Delltones also debuted on this show which was produced by Peter Page The show originally contained a mixture of rock and roll and jazz The jazz was supplied by the Australian All Stars featuring Don Burrows on alto and baritone sax Terry Wilkinson on piano Ron Webber on drums Fred Logan on bass and tenor player Dave Rutledge The jazz musicians were always a bit uncomfortable with their role and since O Keefe insisted on deciding who should be on the show the jazz numbers were few and far between O Keefe wanted the show to be all rock music O Keefe left the show in 1961 to move to ATN 7 to compere the more elaborately produced Johnny O Keefe Show These later shows were compered by Tanya Halesworth and Chet Clark as seen in an existing 1961 edition Six O Clock Rock closed in 1962 after changing to a softer format with O Keefe s departure and suffered from competition from O Keefe s new show on Channel 7 and Bandstand on Channel 9 See also edit nbsp Television portal nbsp Australia portal nbsp Music portal List of Australian music television showsReferences edit a b Television Johnny Rock n Roll Archived from the original on 12 December 2006 Retrieved 9 February 2007 McGrath Noel 1978 Australian Encyclopedia of Rock Outback Press ISBN 086888216X Johnny O Keefe HowlSpace Archived from the original on 25 January 2007 Retrieved 9 February 2007 Photogallery The 50s Australian Broadcasting Corporation Archived from the original on 14 May 2006 Retrieved 9 February 2007 Sources editBryden Brown John 1982 Terror on TV JO K the Official Johnny O Keefe Story Doubleday ISBN 9780868240862 External links editSix O Clock Rock at IMDb nbsp Six O Clock Rock at the National Film and Sound Archive 50 Years of ABC TV Timeline Archived 2007 08 24 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Six O 27Clock Rock amp oldid 1210272354, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
