Let's Go (1964 TV series)

Lets Go started at CBC Vancouver as a summer musical series for teenagers, July 17, 1964 to Sept. 4, 1964. There were 8 Lets Go shows produced and broadcast locally on CBUT Vancouver, Friday evenings at 7:30 PM. Fred Latremouille and Randi Conlin were Hosts, with the Classics as the house band. Regular performers were Gillian Russell, Susan Pesklevits (Susan Jacks), Mike Campbell, Tom Northcott, Howie Vickers, Marcel Chouinard, Stan Cayer and Ed Whiting. Produced and directed by Ain Soodor, script assistant Chris Paton, studio director Al Vitols.

The Classics band members were, Tom Baird (keyboard/writer), Claire Lawrence (sax), Brian Russell (guitar), Glenn Miller (bass), Gary Taylor (drums), Howie Vickers (lead vocalist). On-air schedule was found in the CBC Times records for British Columbia. First Lets Go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yS97_eVuXg

Lets Go on September 28, 1964, became part of the CBC network series called Music Hop from 5 cities during the week at 5:30 to 6:00 PM. Fred Latremouille and Red Robinson were Hosts for Vancouver’'s Lets Go, which was seen on Mondays, Winnipeg’s show on Tuesdays, Toronto on Wednesdays, Montreal on Thursdays and on Fridays it was Halifax. Performers who joined Lets Go: Patty Surbey, Marty Gillan, Terry Jacks, Joanie Taylor, Bobby Faulds and Bonnie Huber. The Music Hop series continued until 1967. Lets Go shows from CBC Vancouver, were produced and directed by Ain Soodor, (1964-1966), script assistant Chris Paton. Al Vitols produced and directed Lets Go shows in 1966, script assistant was Patsy MacDonald.

Let's Go was a daily CBC Television entertainment series aired during the 1967-1968 season, featuring musical guests. It was the successor to Music Hop, and the show's title was taken from the Vancouver segment of Music Hop. Each day's episode featured local talent from a different city, moving across the country from east to west: Halifax (Monday), Ottawa (Tuesday), Toronto (Wednesday), Winnipeg (Thursday) and Vancouver (Friday). Anne Murray appeared on the Halifax show, before she achieved huge popularity with "Snowbird". The Winnipeg show was hosted by Chad Allan, the former front man for The Guess Who. The Guess Who, fronted by Burton Cummings, played as the house band in Winnipeg. Susan Jacks (Pesklevits) was a regular performer on the Vancouver show before becoming the lead singer of the Poppy Family.

Let's Go shows, starting in 1967 from Vancouver had a new host, Howie Vickers, followed by Mike Campbell, Terry Jacks, Tom Northcott and Terry Frewer, all taking turns. The new house band was named Probably Us, with Bob Buckley (sax), Terry Frewer (guitar), Bob Murphy (keyboard), Doug Edwards (bass) and George Ursan (drums).

In addition to the regular Lets Go performers, new singers were introduced each week, Jayson Hoover, Lynn Brooks, Bruce Bissell, Ted Davis, Nancy Lester, Rik Salem, The Raible Brothers, Rosalind Keene, Dave Sinclair, Kelly Christopher, Mark Middler, Anne Attenborough, Tom & Barry Collins, PM Howard, and Rick McCartie.

A variety of pop-rock groups made appearances such as The Collectors, The Wiggy Symphony, The Shockers, the Northwest Company, the Poppy Family, the Seeds of Time, My Indole Ring, Eric Burdon and the Animals, and the New Vaudeville Band. Featured celebrity interviews included Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, the Everly Brothers, Moody Blues, Righteous Brothers, the Beach Boys, the Monkees, the Yardbirds and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

These Lets Go shows from Vancouver were produced and directed by Ken Gibson, the script assistant was Patsy MacDonald. The last Lets Go show aired on June 26, 1968. CBC Vancouver and the CBC network continued in the same time slot with mostly bands and was titled “Where It’s At” until it ended on June 20, 1969.

CBC Let's Go Show was different in Vancouver and Winnipeg. The Vancouver show was hosted by Red Robinson and Fred Latremouille. Winnipeg show was hosted by Chad Allan, of The Guess Who.

References

• Many thanks to Ray Waines (Cameraman), Ken Gibson (Producer) (crew from the show) and Colin Preston (CBC Archives) for providing details of the Let's Go TV series.

External links

• Queen's University Directory of CBC Television Series: Let's Go (text link)