Jack Good

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Jack Good (born August 7, 1931 in Greenford , Middlesex , England , † September 24, 2017 ) was a British television producer and manager . As the manager of pop stars like Tommy Steele , Marty Wilde and Billy Fury, he was one of the most influential figures in the music business in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

biography

Study and training

Jack Good studied in London at the Music and Drama School Academy of Music and Drama , and was later chairman of the acting troupe of the University of Oxford , Oxford University Drama Society . In 1955 he played in "The Queen and the Rebels" at the Haymarket Theater in London ; the following year he appeared together with Trevor Peacock as a comedy duo. Also in 1956 he married the German student Margit Tischer. A short time later he was hired as a producer for the BBC .

Goods first shows

Good launched the first television show ( "Six-Five Special" ) on the BBC , which was specifically aimed at a young audience. After an argument with BBC officials, he went to ITV and created the rock 'n' roll show "Oh Boy!" - a kind of predecessor to Top of the Pops . Stars and newcomers from the British pop music scene appeared on this show ; musical director for "Oh Boy!" was Harry Robinson with Lord Rockingham's XI .

Good and Cliff Richard

Jack Good was also responsible for making Cliff Richard a star. As Richard himself wrote, "TV, that meant producer Jack Good, and records, that was Norrie ( Norrie Paramor of EMI ) - they made my career." Good had heard the first single from Cliff Richard & the Drifters, "Schoolboy Crush" - and decided that the B-side “Move It” had to be the hit the band should perform on their show. After this gig, EMI made “Move It” the A-side - and the first Cliff Richard hit was on its way to the charts .

Other television shows that good later produced in London, were "Boy Meets Girls" and "Wham!" . He also produced records , such as Billy Fury's LP "Sound of Fury" (1960).

Good in the USA

In 1962, Good went to the United States , where he made his living as an actor again - he played on Broadway in CP Snow's "The Affair" and was seen as a hotel owner in Elvis Presley's 1967 film "Just Don't Be A Millionaire" ( "Clambake" ) .

After Brian Epstein had him produce a television special for the Beatles , "Around the Beatles" , in 1964 , he put his concept of "Oh Boy!" Into practice again for American television ; "Shindig" became one of the most influential music shows on US television in the 1960s , producing stars such as Sonny & Cher and the Righteous Brothers .

In 1968 Good produced the rock musical "Catch My Soul" in Los Angeles , which was based on William Shakespeare's " Othello " . Jerry Lee Lewis played Iago . When the play was performed in London, PJ Proby played the Iago - and Good himself the title role. A film version by director Patrick McGoohan was released in 1974.

After that, Good, who now lived in Santa Fé , made TV shows with and about stars like Andy Williams and The Monkees . He won an Emmy in 1970 when he brought Ray Charles , Jethro Tull , The Nice and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra together for a classic pop special.

Good back in England

Back in England he brought the biographical musical "Elvis" to the stage (again with Proby and with Shakin 'Stevens ). In 1979, Good turned “Oh Boy!” Into a stage play that was performed in London. The series was then revived for British television and broadcast internationally.

After trying his hand at painting in the 80s, his musical "Good Rockin 'Tonight" came on stage in London in 1992 . The story was based on the life story of Jack Goods - a terrific show with the hits of the 50s and 60s .

Quote

As early as January 1959, when music television was still in its infancy, Good knew:

“It will become standard for all artists to make a film of themselves in which they present their record. They will send these short films to television producers for their broadcasts ... It will then not be on a record, but on video tape. You play it on the television set, which will have a kind of recorder with which you can also record your favorite show. "

Original: "It will become the standard practice for every artist to make a film of themselves performing their record. These short films will be sent to TV producers for their programs ... it would not be a disc at all but a videotape. You would play it on your television, which would have a recorder-like attachment, which would also allow you to record your favorite TV programs. "

Web links

References

  1. ↑ Richard Williams, Jack Good obituary , in: The Guardian , September 29, 2017, accessed September 30, 2017
  2. ^ Cliff Richard (with Bill Latham): Cliff Richard - a Christian in show business , p. 53, good news, Asslar, 1977/1981, ISBN 3-921872-01-8
  3. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.billyfury.com
personal data
SURNAME Good, Jack
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British television producer and manager
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Greenford , Middlesex , England
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 2017