Eye Witness to History - Vicki Wickham's Sixties

A note from the producer, Sue Clark:

‘Vicki’s story is inspirational to anyone stuck doing a job that they are not happy with. She was working as a secretary at Redifusion Televison for Elkan Allan, the man who conceived “Ready, Steady, Go! The weekend starts here”. Vicki told him she just had to work on this programme; and he generously gave up his secretary and let her become editor. RSG! as it’s affectionately known became the cult music show of the ‘60s for teenagers across the UK and launched the careers of many from The Beatles to The Stones, and from The Who to Jimi Hendrix. Everyone involved in the production team were in their early 20s and were given full rein to experiment on the shows.

Vicki had become great mates with Dusty Springfield, and it was Dusty who introduced her to the sounds of American R’n’B music. This had a great influence on the artists Vicki chose to appear on the shows. We hear from Dionne Warwick, Martha Reeves, PP Arnold, Madeline Bell, Nona Hendryx and Patti Labelle who all made their first television appearances in the UK on RSG!

At RSG! Michael Lindsay Hogg got his first opportunities at directing live television and was a whizz at making the shows interesting and exciting. He loved working on the Specials with James Brown and The Rolling Stones and The Who. He and Vicki enjoyed being wined and dined by The Who’s managers! Michael went on to work in Hollywood and Vicki went to New York to run Track Records for The Who. She also went on to manage Labelle, Dusty Springfield and Marc Almond.

Making this programme with Vicki Wickham really makes you feel that you were born at the wrong time to have missed out on the excitement of the Sixties. From hearing the talk of those days you get a sense of innocence, but also a feeling that anything was possible.’

Sue Clark


Vicki is currently working with the original RSG! team and author Andy Neill on a “Ready, Steady, Go!” book. Another Full Circle!