Cathy McGowan (DJ)

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Cathy McGowan and Elkan Allan at Ready Steady Go! around 1963 to 1966
Cathy McGowan and Elkan Allan at Ready Steady Go! around 1963 to 1966

Cathy McGowan (born 1943 ) is a British presenter and journalist. She was featured as the host of the television rock show Ready Steady Go! known.

Ready Steady Go!

Ready Steady Go! (RSG) first aired in August 1963. The new show coincided with the rise of the Beatles in Britain and the world. A historian for television history summarized in the 1970s “ the revolution had the greatest possible effect on television… and hindsight commentators were to see the year (1963) as a line of demarcation drawn between one kind of Britain and another ” (German: “Die Revolution had the greatest possible effect on television ... and in retrospect, commentators see the year (1963) as the line of demarcation between one Britain and the other ")

With its slogan “ the weekend starts here ” (German: “here the weekend begins”), RSG was shown on Fridays from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The original presenter was Keith Fordyce (1928-2011), a staunch supporter of the BBC Light Programs and Radio Luxembourg . He was joined by Cathy McGowan and Michael Aldred in 1964 . McGowan was selected as a consultant from 600 applicants. She previously worked in the fashion department of the British weekly Woman's Own . It is alleged that she won the role in a neck-and-neck race with journalist Anne Nightingale , who later became a presenter on BBC Radio 1 . Elkan Allan (1922–2006), executive producer of RSG and head of entertainment at the cable network Rediffusion , is said to have asked at the end of the interview whether sex, music or fashion are most important to teenagers . McGowan is said to have answered "fashion".

McGowan seemed to vibrate with the rhythm of time. Eric Burdon of the Animals called her “ the girl of the day ” (German: “the girl of the day”). McGowan was nicknamed " Queen of the Mods " because of her sense of fashion . (This title was given to others like Dusty Springfield and, in New Zealand, Dinah Lee .) Much of her appeal was that she was an RSG viewer of age . Young women saw her as role models . Young men were attracted to their outfits. According to her biographer Jerry Oppenheimer, Anna Wintour was among the teenagers introduced to fashion by the show. She later became the editor of the American fashion magazine Vogue . Lesley Hornby, better known by her nickname Twiggy , also saw McGowan as her heroine: “ I'd sit and drool over her clothes. She was a heroine to us because she was one of us "(German:" I wanted to sit down and drool on her clothes. She was a heroine for us because she was one of us. ")

The same empathy extended to the artists McGowan interviewed. Donovan started his career at RSG in 1965 . He remembered McGowan as the “ young Mary Quant -look hostess ” (German: “young hostess in the Mary Quant-look”). Quant was the leading British advocate of the miniskirt that McGowan helped popularize. Donovan and McGowan developed an "easy-going" style of televised conversation. The social historian Dominic Sandbrook said:

“The show's most celebrated presenter, McGowan was the same age as the national audience; she wore all the latest trendy shifts and mini-dresses; and she spoke with an earnest, ceaseless barrage of teenage slang, praising whatever was 'fab' or 'smashing', and damning all that was 'square' or 'out'. 'The atmosphere', one observer wrote later, 'was that of a King's Road party where the performers themselves had only just chanced to drop by'. "

“The show's most acclaimed host, McGowan, was as old as the national audience; she wore the latest on trendiest shirts and mini dresses; and she spoke to a serious, incessant barrage of teenage slang, praising anything that was "fabulous" or "great" and condemning anything that was "square" or "out". "The atmosphere," wrote one observer later, "was that of a King's Road party, which the actors themselves only happened to drop by."

McGowan was a fan of the Biba fashion chain , whose first store opened in September 1964. She also had her own clothing line at the British Home Stores chain . McGowan recommended the Cathy's Survival Kit portable makeup kit. Barbara Hulanicki , who founded Biba, observed that “ the girls aped Cathy's long hair and eye-covering fringe and soon their little faces were growing heavy with stage make-up ” (German: “ Die Mädchen Cathy's long hair and eye-covering fringe Imitated bangs and their small faces soon grew heavily covered with stage makeup ”). Julia Dykins, half-sister of John Lennon of the Beatles, remembered that although she wore black eye make-up, a black turtleneck and dyed black jeans "à la Cathy McGowan," she was the bouncers at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where who gained fame the Beatles couldn't convince that they were over 18, the minimum entry age. It is alleged that the creation of a "British Mini -Dress Rescue Society" in 1966 was inspired by McGowan because she had suggested she would wear a long dress at RSG .

After Fordyce's retirement in March 1965, McGowan continued to host RSG until the show ran for the last time on December 23, 1966. A decision in 1965 that artists should perform live gave her an immediacy that her long-running BBC rival Top of the Pops (1964-2006) never achieved. Although RSG's star had begun to decline, it had become a "cult program" whose influence on music and, through McGowan, the swinging sixties was widely recognized. As Sandbrook put it, “ Thanks to the enthusiastic salesmanship of McGowan and her fellow presenters, the emerging youth culture that had once been confined to the capital [London] or to the great cities could now be seen and copied almost immediately from Cornwall to the Highlands ”(German:“ Thanks to the enthusiastic sales force of McGowan and her fellow presenters, the emerging youth culture, which was once restricted to the capital [London] or the big cities, can now be seen and copied almost immediately from Cornwall to the Highlands ” ). The musician and jazz critic George Melly said that RSG “ made pop music work on a truly national scale ... It was almost possible to feel a tremour of pubescent excitement from Land's End to John O'Groats ” (German: “die Popmusik auf really made it work nationally ... From Land's End to John O'Groats , it was almost possible to feel an adolescent excitement ”).

McGowan, a 1.64 m tall dark-haired woman, also modeled and hosted a radio show on Radio Luxembourg.

After Ready Steady Go!

After stopping RSG , McGowan's star began to wane. The British weekly Sunday Times used an illustration during a preview of an exhibition of photos by Patrick, Earl of Lichfield 40 years later, to describe Queens use of his pictures in 1967:

"[Lichfield] was ... a great one for persuading people to join in, even if the outcome was not always the one they expected. In the 1960s he took a series of group portraits for Queen magazine supposedly documenting the movers and shakers of the time - except that some, such as Jonathan Aitken and Cathy McGowan, were deemed not to be "in", and were labeled as "out "in the magazine. But Lichfield, with his impeccable manners, refused to upset his subjects by letting them know that in advance. "

“[Lichfield] has been… great at getting people to participate, even when the result is not always what they expected. In the 1960s he made a series of group portraits for Queen magazine, allegedly documenting the makers of the time - just a few, such as Jonathan Aitken and Cathy McGowan, were not "in" and in the magazine as "out" were designated. But Lichfield with his impeccable manners refused to anger his models and let them know beforehand. "

- Mark Edmonds : Sunday Times Magazine, May 4, 2008

In 1978, however, McGowan was paid tribute: The song Ready Steady Go by the English punk band Generation X contained the line “ I'm in love with Cathy McGowan ” (German: “I love Cathy McGowan”). The single made it to number 47 on the UK charts. Social historian Alwyn W. Turner has cited "the band's anthem to McGowan" as an example of the ancestry of punk versus mod culture. She was also featured prominently in the video for Elton John's 1978 hit Part-Time Love . She had known John since the 1960s. He was a Reg Dwight member of Bluesology , the backing band of Long John Baldry .

Later work

McGowan continued her work in journalism and broadcasting. She was a board member of London's Capital Radio when it was founded in 1973. She worked for BBC's Newsroom South East in the late 1980s, specializing in entertainment. She interviewed many celebrities. Among them were some she had known in the 1960s. Among the other singers include Michael Ball , who became her partner, and Debbie Harry of Blondie , which she described as the most beautiful woman she had ever met. In 1991, McGowan hosted a show by British comedians to mark the 30th anniversary of Amnesty International with comedian Alexei Sayle and presenter Jonathan Ross .

family

In 1970 McGowan married actor Hywel Bennett. They had a daughter, Emma. The marriage was dissolved in 1988. She had been with Michael Ball since the early 1990s . Ball is the godfather of McGowan's grandson Connor.

McGowan's brother, John McGowan, was a DJ on King Radio, a pirate radio station that broadcasted from a fort on the Thames Estuary, in 1965.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William Mann: Never Had It So Good . In: The Times . December 23, 1963.
  2. ^ Burton Graham: A Do You Remember Book: Television . 1974.
  3. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of 20th Century Quotations (1998) 59:11
  4. ^ Halliwell's Television Companion . 3. Edition. 1986.
  5. ↑ Ready Steady Go! and Cathy McGowan. (No longer available online.) In: www.retrosellers.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2006 ; accessed on May 19, 2020 (English).
  6. ^ Roy Addison: Elkan Allan. In: independent.co.uk. June 26, 2006, accessed May 19, 2020 .
  7. ↑ a b Richard Williams: The birth of cool. Richard Williams on the joys of Ready Steady Go! In: theguardian.com. April 13, 2006, accessed May 19, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Dinah Lee. In: sergent.com.au. Retrieved May 19, 2020 .
  9. ↑ a b Jerry Oppenheimer: Front Row: The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue's Editor In Chief . St. Martin's Press, New York 2005, ISBN 0-312-32310-7 , pp. 6 .
  10. ↑ a b c d Dominic Sandbrook: White Heat . 2006.
  11. ^ Donovan (2005) The Hurdy Gurdy Man
  12. ^ History of Biba. (No longer available online.) In: www.bibacollection.co.uk. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012 ; accessed on May 19, 2020 (English).
  13. ↑ Richard Wiseman: Whatever Happened to Simon Dee? 2006.
  14. ↑ a b Cathy McGowan Biography. In: justball.net. Retrieved May 19, 2020 (English).
  15. ↑ Julia Baird: Imagine This . 2007.
  16. ↑ The Mini Takes Off - Miniskirt - Icons of England. In: icons.org.uk. Retrieved May 19, 2020 (English).
  17. ↑ Ready Steady Go! TV Show - Ready Steady Go! Television Show - TV.com . The distinguished director and producer John Sheppard (1940-2010) "reveled in directing live music on Ready Steady Go! ", Having been "easily seduced" away from the BBC by "the prospect of twice as much money": obituary in Worcester College [Oxford] Record 2010
  18. ↑ Richard Whiteley: Himoff! 2000.
  19. ^ Alwyn W. Turner: Crisis? What Crisis ?: Britain in the 1970s . 2008.
  20. ↑ Who's Who 1992 . Some internet sources put the date of McGowan's wedding in 1970, but Bennett's Who's Who is clearly 1967.
  21. ^ The Mark Hammerton Collection. In: offshoreradio.co.uk. Retrieved May 19, 2020 (English).
personal data
SURNAME McGowan, Cathy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British presenter and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH 1943