''Six O'Clock Rock'' was an Australian

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

show broadcast on ABC Television from 28 February 1959 to 1962 at 6 p.m. on Saturdays.

Program synopsis

Inspired by the BBC program ''

Six-Five Special ''Six-Five Special'' is a British television programme launched in February 1957 when both television and rock and roll were in their infancy in Britain. Description ''Six-Five Special'' was the BBC's first attempt at a rock-and-roll programme. ...

'', it had a similar format to its rival on

TCN-9 TCN is the flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia. The station is currently located at 1 Denison Street, North Sydney. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Frank Packer, was one of the ...

, ''

Bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an ornamen ...

'' compered by Brian Henderson. This was ABC-TV's first youth-oriented music program, long before '' Countdown''. The show initially opened with American girl Ricki Merriman as compère and Johnny O'Keefe and his band The Dee Jays as guests. The Dee Jays consisted of Dave Owens (

tenor sax The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

), Johnny "Greeno" Greenan ( baritone sax) and Johnny "Catfish" Purser on drums, Keith Williams on bass guitar, and Lou Casch on guitar, Bob "Bluto" Bertles, later a leading jazz player, substituted as the second saxophone. After six shows O'Keefe took over the hosting role. The show usually opened with O'Keefe singing ''"Weeeeeell, come on everybody it's six o'clock, uh huh huh huh"'', with The Graduates providing the "bap bap bap bap" background. The first episode featured

Reg Lindsay Reginald John Lindsay OAM (7 July 1929 – 5 August 2008) was an Australian country music singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and radio and television personality. He won three Golden Guitar Awards and wrote more than 500 ...

, The Australian All-Stars, The Graduates, Terry King and Johnny Ball. The dancers in the opening title sequence were Lee Nielson and Milton Mitchell. Entertainers who got their first big exposure on ''Six O'Clock Rock'' include

Lonnie Lee Lonnie Lee (born David Lawrence Rix; 18 September 1940) is an Australian singer, who has fronted Lonnie Lee and the Leeman and Lonnie Lee and the Leedons. He is a pioneer of Australian rockabilly music and has worked in the industry for 60 year ...

, Barry Stanton and Warren Williams. The Delltones also debuted on this show, which was produced by Peter Page. The show originally contained a mixture of

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. The jazz was supplied by the Australian All Stars, featuring Don Burrows on alto and baritone sax, Terry Wilkinson on piano, Ron Webber on drums, Fred Logan on bass, and tenor player Dave Rutledge. The jazz musicians were always a bit uncomfortable with their role, and since O'Keefe insisted on deciding who should be on the show, the jazz numbers were few and far between. O'Keefe wanted the show to be all rock music. O'Keefe left the show in 1961 to move to ATN-7 to compère the more elaborately produced '' Johnny O'Keefe Show''. These later shows were compered by Tanya Halesworth and Chet Clark, as seen in an existing 1961 edition. ''Six O'Clock Rock'' closed in 1962 after changing to a 'softer' format with O'Keefe's departure, and suffered from competition from O'Keefe's new show on Channel 7 and ''Bandstand'' on Channel 9.

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External links

*
Six O'Clock Rock
at the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

50 Years of ABC-TV Timeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Six O'clock Rock Australian non-fiction television series Australian music television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming 1959 Australian television series debuts 1962 Australian television series endings Black-and-white Australian television shows

Program synopsis

See also

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External links