''Drumbeat'' was a BBC television series that aired every Saturday from 4 April to 29 August 1959. It was the BBC's answer and rival to ITV's TV series '' Oh Boy!'', though as the latter finished on 30 May 1959, for most of its run ''Drumbeat'' had no comparable competition. It launched the careers of singer

Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. A teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK Singles Chart with " What Do You Want?" (1959) and "P ...

and composer John Barry, songwriters Les Reed, Johnny Worth (alias

Les Vandyke John Worsley (21 June 1931 – 6 August 2021), more widely known under the pseudonyms Les Vandyke and Johnny Worth, was an English popular music songwriter from the 1950s to the 1980s, who started his career as a singer. As "Les Vandyke", he wr ...

) and

Trevor Peacock Trevor Edward Peacock (19 May 1931 – 8 March 2021) was an English actor, screenwriter and songwriter. He made his name as a theatre actor, later becoming known for his Shakespearean roles. Later in his career, he became best known for playing ...

. Among its guest stars were

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

, the

Lana Sisters The Lana Sisters were a British vocal group formed by Iris Long in 1958, along with Lynne Abrams. They put an advert in ''The Stage'' for a third member and got a reply from Mary O'Brien, who would go on to solo success a few years later as Dust ...

(including

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 music, p ...

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known as Billy Fury, was an English singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 we ...

Dickie Valentine Richard Bryce ( Maxwell; 4 November 1929 – 6 May 1971), known professionally as Dickie Valentine, was a British pop singer who enjoyed great popularity in Britain during the 1950s. In addition to several other Top Ten hit singles, Valentine ha ...

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his signature hit songs including " Diana", " Lonely Boy", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also ...

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

and

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leading ...

. The show had a number of resident bands and singers:

Emile Ford Michael Emile Telford Miller (16 October 1937 – 11 April 2016), known professionally as Emile Ford, was a musician and singer born in Saint Lucia, British Windward Islands. He was popular in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s and early ...

Bob Miller and the Millermen Bob Miller and The Millermen was a British instrumental band of the 1950s, which appeared regularly on UK television and radio programmes in the 1950s and early 1960s, backing various singers and vocal groups. The band appeared as one of the resid ...

the John Barry Seven The John Barry Seven was a band formed by John Barry in 1957, after he abandoned his original career path of arranging for big bands. Origins Barry contacted three musicians with whom he had served in the Army and three local musicians and in ...

Vince Eager Vince Eager (born Roy Taylor, 4 June 1940, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England) is an English pop singer. He was widely promoted by impresario Larry Parnes, but later quarrelled with him over his commercialising of Eddie Cochran's tragic early dea ...

, Sylvia Sands and

. Danny Williams, the Raindrops (featuring Jackie Lee),

the Kingpins The Kingpins featuring Lorraine Muller - The Queen of Ska was a ska band from Montreal, Quebec that created Stomp Records label with fellow Montreal Ska band The Planet Smashers. The last Kingpins tour took place in 2004, after which the members ...

, and Roy Young also appeared regularly and

was the compere for 16 of the 22 episodes. The producer-director was Stewart Morris, who went on to enjoy a long career in television. For a while, he was married to resident singer Sylvia Sands. The series was broadcast live with the exception of the episode of 18 July, which was telerecorded. None of the episodes are known to have survived. In June 2010, Silva Screen Records released a CD comprising the original LP and EP recorded in 1959, together with a few related tracks.

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0268073, Drumbeat
John Barry Website (with complete Drumbeat listings)
1950s British music television series 1959 British television series debuts 1959 British television series endings BBC Television shows