Television: Juke Box Jury

John Lennon appeared without the other Beatles on an edition of the BBC television show Juke Box Jury, recorded on this day and transmitted the following Saturday at 6.35pm.

Juke Box Jury was a panel show in which the four guests had to judge whether a new record would be a hit or a miss. It was hosted by the DJ David Jacobs. Alongside Lennon on the panel were television personality Katie Boyle, actor Bruce Prochnik and actress Caroline Maudling.

Despite the negative newspaper coverage of Lennon the previous day, he did little to endear himself to the watching public, branding each of the discs a miss. It was customary for guests on the show to present negative views in tactful ways, but Lennon made little effort to do so.

Eight songs were reviewed by the panel: Southend by Cleo Laine; So Much In Love by the Tymes; Devil In Disguise by Elvis Presley; The Click Song by Miriam Makeba; On Top Of Spaghetti by Tom Glaser; Flamenco by Russ Conway; First Quarrel by Paul and Paula; and Don’t Ever Let Me Down by Julie Grant.

The only song judged by the panel to be a hit was Presley’s Devil In Disguise, with three votes to one. Lennon was the only dissenter, claiming that his former idol now sounded like Bing Crosby.

The recording took place at the BBC Television Theatre in London. There was a 15-minute rehearsal from 7.45pm, a sound and vision test from 8-8.30pm, and the recording took place from 8.30-9.15pm.

Afterwards Lennon was driven to Battersea Heliport, and was flown to Abergavenny in south Wales in a helicopter chartered by Brian Epstein at a cost of £100, in time for The Beatles’ concert that night.