Cathy McGowan (presenter)
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Cathy McGowan (born 1943) is a British broadcaster and journalist, best known as presenter of the 1960s pop music television show ''
Ready Steady Go! ''Ready Steady Go!'' (or ''RSG!'') was a British rock/pop music television programme broadcast every Friday evening from 9 August 1963 until 23 December 1966. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan wanted a light ente ...
''


''Ready Steady Go!''

''Ready Steady Go!'' (RSG) was first broadcast in August 1963, coinciding with the rise of
the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
in Britain and internationally. As one historian of television reflected 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". With its slogan, "the weekend starts here", ''RSG'' was shown on Fridays from 6 to 7 pm. Its original presenter Keith Fordyce (1928–2011), a stalwart of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Light Programme and
Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
, was joined in 1964 by McGowan and
Michael Aldred Michael Aldred (6 July 1945 – 15 April 1995) was a British record producer, music journalist, and television presenter. He is best remembered as co-presenter of the 1960s music show ''Ready Steady Go!''. Life and career Aldred attended Emanu ...
. McGowan, recruited as an advisor from 600 applicants, had been in the fashion department of ''
Woman's Own ''Woman's Own'' is a British lifestyle magazine aimed at women. Publication ''Woman's Own'' was first published in 1932 by Newnes. In its early years it placed women's rights and social problems firmly in the foreground. Its first "agony aunt" was ...
''. She is said to have secured the role in a "run off" with journalist
Anne Nightingale Annie Avril Nightingale (born 1 April 1940) is an English radio and television broadcaster. She was the first female presenter on BBC Radio 1 in 1970, and is its longest-serving presenter. Early life and career Nightingale was born in Osterley ...
, later a
Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...
disc jockey, by answering "fashion" to a question from
Elkan Allan Elkan Allan (born Elkan Philip Cohen, 8 December 1922 – 25 June 2006) was a British television producer and print journalist. Allan is best remembered for his creation of the pioneering 1960s TV rock/pop music show ''Ready Steady Go!''. ...
(1922–2006), RSG's executive producer and head of entertainment at Rediffusion, as to whether sex, music or fashion was most important to
teenagers Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...
.Richard Williams in ''The Guardian'', 13 February 2006 McGowan seemed in tune with the times, "the girl of the day", according to
Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, pow ...
of the
Animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
– and, through her fashion sense, acquired the nickname, "Queen of the Mods". (This term has been applied to others, such as
Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dram ...
and, in
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
,
Dinah Lee Diane Marie Jacobs (born 19 August 1943), known as Dinah Lee, is a New Zealand singer who performed 1960s pop and adult contemporary music. Her debut single from early 1964, "Don't You Know Yockomo?", achieved No. 1 chart success in New Zea ...
.) Much of her appeal lay in the fact that she was the age of RSG's viewers:Dominic Sandbrook (2006) ''White Heat'' young women regarded her as a role model, while men were attracted by her looks.
Anna Wintour Dame Anna Wintour (; born 3 November 1949) is a British journalist based in New York City who has served as editor-in-Chief of ''Vogue'' since 1988 and Global Chief Content Officer for Condé Nast since 2020; she is also the artistic directo ...
, future editor of American ''
Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...
'', was, according to her biographer
Jerry Oppenheimer Jerry Oppenheimer is an American author who has written several unauthorized biographies of public figures including Hillary and Bill Clinton, Anna Wintour, Rock Hudson, Martha Stewart, Barbara Walters, Ethel Kennedy, Jerry Seinfeld and the Hil ...
, among
teenagers Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...
whom the show introduced to fashion. Another, Lesley Hornby, who became better known as
Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London. ...
, regarded McGowan as her heroine: "I'd sit and drool over her clothes. She was a heroine to us because she was one of us". A similar empathy extended to the artists that McGowan interviewed. Donovan, launched in 1965 by his appearances on ''RSG'', recalled McGowan as the "young
Mary Quant Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, (born 11 February 1930)The Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019-20 stated her year of birth as 1930, and that she became a student at Goldsmiths College around 1950. is a ...
-look hostess" (Quant being the leading British proponent of the
mini-skirt A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...
, which McGowan helped popularise), with whom he developed an "easy-going" style of on-screen conversation. In the words of
Dominic Sandbrook Dominic Christopher Sandbrook (born 2 October 1974) is a British historian, author, columnist and television presenter. Early life and career Born in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, he was educated at Malvern College and studied history and French at B ...
, a social historian:
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 King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...
party where the performers themselves had only just chanced to drop by'.
McGowan was an early patron of
Biba Biba was a London fashion store of the 1960s and 1970s. Biba was started and primarily run by the Polish-born Barbara Hulanicki with help of her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon. Early years Biba's early years were rather humble, with many of the ou ...
, whose first store opened in September 1964, and had her own fashion range at
British Home Stores British Home Stores, commonly abbreviated to BHS and latterly legally styled BHS Ltd, was a British department store chain, primarily selling clothing and household items. In its later years, the company began to expand into furniture, electro ...
. She endorsed a portable make-up set known as "Cathy's Survival Kit".
Barbara Hulanicki Barbara Hulanicki (b. 1936) is a fashion designer, born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish parents and best known as the founder of clothes store Biba. Career Hulanicki was born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish parents. Her father, Witold 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".
Julia Baird Julia Baird (née Dykins; born 5 March 1947) is a British retired teacher and author. She is the younger half-sister of English musician John Lennon, and is the eldest daughter of his mother Julia Lennon and John 'Bobby' Albert Dykins. She also ...
, half-sister of
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
of the Beatles, recalled how, despite wearing black eye make-up, black
polo neck A polo neck, roll-neck (United Kingdom, South Africa), turtleneck (United States, Canada), or skivvy (Australia, New Zealand, United States) is a garment—usually a sweater—with a close-fitting collar that folds over and covers the ...
s and dyed black jeans "à la Cathy McGowan", she was unable to convince doormen at the
Cavern Club The Cavern Club is a nightclub on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened in 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 50s and early 1960s. The club became closely assoc ...
in Liverpool, where the Beatles came to prominence, that she was over 18, the age for admission. It has been claimed that the formation in 1966 of a British Society for the Preservation of the Miniskirt was prompted by McGowan's indicating that she would wear a long skirt on ''RSG''. After Fordyce's departure in March 1965, McGowan continued to present RSG until it ended on 23 December 1966. In 1965 a decision that artists should perform live gave it immediacy that its
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
rival, ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
'' (1964–2006), never acquired; indeed, the latter retained a Mancunian model,
Samantha Juste Samantha Juste (born Sandra Slater; 31 May 1944 – 5 February 2014) was a British model and television presenter who appeared in the mid-1960s as the "disc girl" on the BBC television programme ''Top of the Pops''. In 1968, she married Micky ...
– in television, McGowan's rival – as its "disc girl" until 1967. Although RSG's momentum had begun to flag, its impact on music and, through McGowan, on the "swinging" '60s more generally was widely acknowledged. 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 ondonor to the great cities could now be seen and copied almost immediately from
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
to the
Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...
". The musician and jazz critic
George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...
thought ''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 Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...
to John O'Groats". McGowan, who was a 5 ft 4½in (1.64m) brunette, modelled and also presented a show on
Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
.


After ''Ready Steady Go!''

Once RSG had ended, McGowan's star began to wane. By way of illustration, ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'', previewed an exhibition 40 years later of photographs by
Patrick Lichfield Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (25 April 1939 – 11 November 2005) was an English photographer from the Anson family. He inherited the Earldom of Lichfield in 1960 from his paternal grandfather. In his professional practice ...
who described ''
Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
''s use of his shots in 1967:
ichfieldwas ... 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 Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving un ...
and Cathy McGowan, were deemed not to be "in", and were labelled as "out" in the magazine. But Lichfield, with his impeccable manners, refused to upset his subjects by letting them know that in advance.
However, in 1978, McGowan was the subject of a tribute: the song "Ready Steady Go" by the English band
Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s a ...
contained the line "I'm in love with Cathy McGowan." The single hit no. 47 on the UK charts. The social historian Alwyn W. Turner has cited the band's "hymning" of McGowan as an example of punk's indebtedness to mod culture. She was also prominently seen in the video for the 1978 Elton John hit " Part-Time Love", having known John since the 1960s when, as Reg Dwight, he had been a member of
Bluesology Bluesology was a 1960s British blues group, best remembered as being the first professional band of Elton John (then known by his birth name Reginald Dwight). History From about 1960, organist Reginald Dwight – then aged 13 – and his nei ...
, the backing band for
Long John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including ...
.


Later work

McGowan continued in journalism and broadcasting. She was a board member of London's
Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. ...
when it was launched in 1973. In the late 1980s she worked for the BBC's ''Newsroom South East'', specialising in entertainment. She interviewed celebrities, including some she had known in the 1960s and others such as singer
Michael Ball Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of ''Les Misérables'', and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in ...
, who became her partner, and
Deborah Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...
, lead singer of Blondie, whom she described as the most beautiful woman she had met. McGowan hosted the Brit Awards in 1990. In 1991, McGowan co-hosted with
Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th gre ...
and Jonathan Ross a show by British comedians to mark the 30th anniversary of Amnesty International.


Family

In 1970, McGowan married actor
Hywel Bennett Hywel Thomas Bennett (8 April 1944 – 24 July 2017) was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in ''The Family Way'' (1966) and played the titular "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom '' Shelley'' (1 ...
. They had a daughter, Emma. The marriage was dissolved in 1988 and, since the early 1990s, she has been the partner of
Michael Ball Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of ''Les Misérables'', and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in ...
. Ball is godfather to McGowan's grandson, Connor Bennett. McGowan's brother John McGowan was a disc jockey in 1965 on
King Radio Norman Span, known as King Radio, was a top Trinidadian calypsonian active in the 1930s and 1940s. He was a waterfront worker in Port of Spain when he started performing in public in 1929. Six years later he started his short-lived recording ca ...
, a
pirate radio Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...
station broadcasting from a fort in the
Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...
.


References


External links


''Ready Steady Go!'' and Cathy McGowan

Cathy McGowan marries Hywel Bennett: British Pathé, 1970
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGowan, Cathy 1943 births Living people British television presenters