Beat-Club

Beat-Club
Genre Music
Created by Gerhard Augustin and Mike Leckebusch
Presented by Uschi Nerke (1965–1972)
Dave Lee Travis (1966–1969)
Dave Dee (1969–1970)
Gerhard Augustin (1965)
Eddie Vickers (1965–1966)
Opening theme Mood Mosaic: "A Touch of Velvet - A Sting of Brass"J
Composer(s) Mark Wirtz (theme)
Country of origin Germany
Original language(s) German, English
No. of episodes 83
Production
Location(s) Bremen, Germany
Marquee Club, London
Running time 30–45 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ARD (Radio Bremen)
Picture format

PAL

B&W (1965-1970); Color (1970-1972)
Audio format Monaural
Original run 25 September 1965 – 9 December 1972
Chronology
Followed by Musikladen
External links
Website

Beat-Club was a German music program that ran from September 1965 to December 1972. It was broadcast from Bremen, West Germany on Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen, the national public TV channel of the ARD, and produced by one of its members, Radio Bremen, later co-produced by WDR following the 38th episode. It is notable for being the first German show dedicated to popular music, and featured artists such as The Moody Blues, MC5, The Equals, Grateful Dead, Zager and Evans, Cream, Frank Zappa, The Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf, Gene Pitney, Ten Years After, Rory Gallagher, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Ike & Tina Turner, The Who, Black Sabbath, Harry Nilsson, David Bowie, The Bee Gees, The Beach Boys, Chicago, The Doors, Kraftwerk and Robin Gibb in its seven-year run. In 1972, it was replaced by Musikladen.

Performances from the show can now be seen on VH1 Classic, and reruns air in several European countries. Several DVD collections have also been released.

In early 2008, the first free Video on demand web portal for Beat-Club and Musikladen was launched at Mybeatclub.com, featuring the most popular songs and artists of both shows. In 2010, mybeatclub.com was replaced by www.youtube.de/beatclub.

Show history

Beat-Club was co-created by Gerhard Augustin and Mike Leckebusch. The show premiered on 25 September 1965 with Augustin and Uschi Nerke hosting. German TV personality Wilhelm Wieben opened the first show with a short speech. After eight episodes, Augustin stepped down from his hosting role and was replaced by DJ Dave Lee Travis.

Uschi Nerke

The show's earlier episodes featured live performances, and was set in front of a plain brick wall. It underwent a revamp in 1967, when a more professional look was adapted with large cards in the background displaying the names of the performers. Around this time, a troupe of young women billed the "Go-Go-Girls," were introduced to dance to songs when their performers couldn't appear.

In early 1969, Travis was replaced by Dave Dee, of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. On 31 December 1969, Beat-Club switched to color and again featured live performances. Dee departed in 1970, leaving Nerke as the lone host.

In the later years of its run, the series was known for incorporating psychedelic visual effects during many performances, especially following the switch to color.

Follow up on radio and on the internet

The former TV show is now a weekly radio programme on Radio Bremen 1 and on a webchannel offered by the radio station. Interestingly it is again hosted by Uschi Nerke who did it in the 1960s and early 1970s on TV.

External links