Juke Box Jury is a music panel show which was broadcast on BBC Television between 1 June 1959 and 27 December 1967. The programme is based on the American show Jukebox Jury, itself an offshoot of a long-running radio series. The American series, which was televised, aired from 1953 to 1959 and was hosted by Peter Potter, Suzanne Alexander, Jean Moorhead, and Lisa Davis.
The series featured celebrity showbusiness guests on a rotating weekly panel who were asked to judge the hit potential of recent record releases. By 1962 the programme was attracting 12 million viewers weekly on Saturday nights.Mundy, John: "Popular music on screen: from the Hollywood musical to music video" (Manchester University Press, 1999) , pp204-5
The concept was later revived by the BBC for one series in 1979 and a further two series in 1989–1990.
Format Juke Box Jury took a TV format where a guest panel reviewed new record releases in a 25-minute programme, extended to an hour for some Christmas shows. The format was drawn from that of the US TV series, Jukebox Jury. Host David Jacobs each week asked four celebrities (the 'Jurors') to judge newly released records on his jukebox (a Rock-Ola Tempo II) and forecast which would be declared a "hit" or a "miss" – the decision accompanied by either a bell for a 'hit' or a hooter for a 'miss'.and often the panel's decision was wrong, notably 18 May 1963 when every panellist voted Bobby Rydell's single 'Butterfly Baby' a miss, even though it was already in the charts – New Musical Express Alley Cats column 24 May 1963 A panel of three members of the audience voted as a tie-breaker if the guests' decision was deadlocked, by holding up a large circular disc with 'Hit' on one side and 'Miss' on the other. Most weeks the performers of one of the records would be hidden behind a screen and emerge to "surprise" the panel after they had given their verdict.
The series was usually broadcast from the BBC TV Theatre, Shepherd's Bush Green, London. Each programme normally consisted of between seven and nine records. Those editions which were pre-recorded normally followed a live transmission, and broadcast in the regular slot.
History
1959–1967 Juke Box Jury was first broadcast on BBC Television on 1 June 1959. Originally on Monday evenings, the BBC show was moved to early Saturday evenings starting on 3 September 1959, because of its immediate popularity. The series was produced by Russell Turner.
The original panel consisted of Pete Murray, Alma Cogan, Gary Miller and Susan Stranks, who gave a 'teenager's view'. Murray appeared every week for the first 11 episodes; however, generally the panel of judges changed from week to week and featured mainly current stars from music, television and film. The panel normally comprised two male and two female guests, many of whom appeared more than once. Singers Gary Miller and Alma Cogan were regular panellists in the early shows. Actor Eric Sykes was often a panellist and Katie Boyle was a frequent Juror (appearing at least 37 times), as were Lulu and Cilla Black, who appeared twelve and nine times respectively. From 31 December 1966, a regular panel was established for eight consecutive editions. Jimmy Savile, Simon Dee, Alan Freeman and Pete Murray sat in judgement for all these programmes, having first appeared together on 3 December 1966. From 25 February until 1 April, the foursome continued as regular panellists, but alternating in pairs each week, with Savile and Murray appearing together, followed by Freeman and Dee. Among the diverse others from the world of entertainment who appeared were Thora Hird, Alfred Hitchcock, Spike Milligan, Lonnie Donegan,who, according to Bill Wyman, caused complaints from viewers and annoyed the Rolling Stones with an excessive outburst against one of their records – Wyman, Bill and Coleman, Ray: "Stone alone: the story of a rock 'n' roll band" (Viking, 1990) Johnny Mathis, Roy Orbison and David McCallum.
By October 1959 Juke Box Jury had reached a weekly audience of almost 9 million viewers. Bill Cotton took over production of the series during 1960, to be followed later in the year by Stewart Morris and then Neville Wortman, who was to remain the producer until the series ended in 1967.
On 7 December 1963, the panel was the four Beatles,a sequence now lost as far as video is concerned – The BBC recorded a concert by The Beatles in the afternoon at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool, then recorded Juke Box Jury from The Odeon Cinema, Liverpool immediately afterwards. The concert was broadcast later the same evening, after Juke Box Jury, as 'It's The Beatles'. Both shows were produced by Juke Box Jury producer Neville Wortman while George Harrison and Ringo Starr both appeared separately later, as did their manager Brian Epstein, who was twice a panellist. John Lennon had already appeared on 29 June 1963.Lennon voted all eight records in the programme a ‘miss’, including Elvis Presley's "(You're the) Devil in Disguise" Then on 4 July 1964 the five members of the Rolling Stones formed the panel, the only time there were more than four Jurors on the programme. Keith Richards later wrote of this appearance: "We didn't give a shit.... We just trashed every record they played."
By early 1962, Juke Box Jury had a weekly audience of over 12 million viewers, while the Beatles appearance on 7 December 1963 garnered an audience of 23 million, and news of the Rolling Stones' appearance the following June garnered 10,000 applications to the BBC for tickets for the recording. The attraction of the programme deftly crossed generational boundaries – younger viewers revelling in the appearance of their current pop stars, while older adults identified with the often anti-pop sentiments of the panellists from a non-musical or older background,Turnock, Robert: "Television and consumer culture: Britain and the transformation of modernity" (I.B.Tauris, 2007) confirming "adult and youthful prejudices at the same time"'.Mundy, John: "Popular music on screen: from the Hollywood musical to music video" (Manchester University Press, 1999) , pp204-5 and: Hill, John and M McLoone (editors): "Boxed In. The aesthetics of film and television" in "Big picture, small screen: the relations between film and television" (Luton University Press, 1996)
In January 1967, the Sunday tabloid newspaper News of the World in a series of attacks on the new hippy sub-culture and LSD, castigated David Jacobs in one article for playing the Mothers of Invention single "It Can't Happen Here" on a Juke Box Jury broadcast in November 1966 as it was 'recorded on a trip', and also blamed two of the jury for voting it a hit."Pop Stars and Drugs – the facts that will shock you", News of the World, 29 January 1967. The jury on this occasion included Bobby Goldsboro, Susan Maughan and comedian Ted Rogers. In fact, by the time of the article, the BBC had already cut seven minutes from the 7 January 1967 programme because of drug references in one of that week's chosen songs, "The Addicted Man" by the Game, which had resulted in universal disapproval by the Jurors during an extended discussion. All four DJs featured that week considered the record "a disgrace"' (the words specifically used by Pete Murray to describe the song), and the record label, Parlophone, withdrew the record from release shortly afterwards. Copies now fetch considerable sums of money. This was part of a new policy for the programme during its last year of broadcast, when a regular panel of four disc jockeys was introduced, with a more detailed discussion of each song.
On 24 December 1966 and again on 5 August 1967 the Seekers became only the fourth band to appear as Jurors in the series, appearing just a few weeks after The Bachelors. The programme had by this time seen a drop in ratings, and from 27 September 1967 Juke Box Jury was moved from its prime place in the Saturday evening schedules and transmitted on early Wednesday evenings, replaced in the key Saturday slot by Dee Time.Ironically, the presenter Simon Dee had made a number of appearances on Juke Box Jury prior to taking the slot away from the series. On November 8, 1967, the scheduled edition of the show was cancelled without notice, leading to speculation the show was to end. At the end of 1967, Juke Box Jury was dropped from the BBC schedule because of its falling ratings, and the last broadcast was on 27 December 1967, with original Jurors Pete Murray and Susan Stranks appearing once more.
David Jacobs hosted a one off Juke Box Jury in 1989 to mark the centenary of the phonograph. Pete Murray was on the panel.
Post-1967 The programme has been revived twice, first in 1979 with Noel Edmonds as presenter, and then with Jools Holland for two seasons in 1989–1990, ending on 25 November 1990.Holland, Jools and Vyner, Harriet – Barefaced Lies and Boogie-Woogie Boasts (Penguin UK, 2008) Frequent jurors from the original run Katie Boyle & Lulu both returned for the Jools Holland era, which also included impressionist Steve Nallon on the panel impersonating the sitting prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The 1979 series was most notable for a panel containing Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), who gave a characteristically acerbic performance before walking out before the end of 30 June 1979 programme.Lydon's comment on the show was featured in the music press a few weeks later: "Cos it was a racket!" he beams. "Quite frankly, it's the most awful goddamn programme in the world, and it's about time someone said so!" – 'JR wants you for a sunbeam' Record Mirror 28 July 1979
The final televised edition of Juke Box Jury aired on BBC2 on 25 November 1990. Dusty Springfield was on the final panel, joining Alan Freeman who appeared on 30 September 1990, as the only personalities to feature as jurors in all three eras of the television run. Lulu appeared in the 1990s run, but was not a juror during the 1979 series, although her single "I Love To Boogie" was featured in the series; where it was erroneously judged to be a likely hit.
BBC Radio Merseyside has run a radio version of Juke Box Jury for some years, hosted by Spencer Leigh and normally broadcast under the programme name On The Beat although it is often scheduled as Juke Box Jury. The broadcaster Chris Evans also ran a variation of the format in 2008 on his BBC Radio 2 Chris Evans Drivetime programme, where listeners were invited to text either 'hit' or 'miss', plus their comments, to the programme.
The format also crossed over into children's television on Going Live! and later Live and Kicking having a segment entitled 'Trev and Simon's Video Galleon" (also Garden/Goldmine and Grandprix).
Surviving recordings Because of the BBC's policy of wiping tapes of its programmes in the 1960s, and the practice of not recording live programmes, only two episodes (29 October 1960 and 12 November 1960) are thought to still exist in their complete form,29 October 1960 programme survives, but it is not currently clear from available sources which other programme exists. There is some confusion on the internet over the broadcast date of the 29 October 1960 programme, with some sources citing it as a 1959 broadcast, so there may be only one full programme extant although transcripts also exist of the Beatles' appearances – both solo and together. In 2001, during a year-long drive to find lost archive material, the BBC announced that an audio recording of the Beatles' appearance in December 1963 had re-surfaced, a tape taken directly from the television broadcast.
Theme music For the first six weeks of the programme, the theme to Juke Box Jury was "Juke Box Fury", written by composer and arranger Tony Osborne and recorded by his band under the name Ozzie Warlock and the Wizards.