Shindig

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Welcome to the Shindig! guide at tv.com.
Shindig! was a rock 'n' roll series that aired on ABC from September 1964 through January 1966.

Shindig! premiered on September 16, 1964 as a half-hour show. In January 1965, the series expanded to an hour. Instead of reruns, ABC aired... more »

Welcome to the Shindig! guide at tv.com.
Shindig! was a rock 'n' roll series that aired on ABC from September 1964 through January 1966.

Shindig! premiered on September 16, 1964 as a half-hour show. In January 1965, the series expanded to an hour. Instead of reruns, ABC aired new Shindig! episodes throughout the Summer of 1965.

Most of the top American and British rock/pop acts of the mid-1960s appeared on Shindig!. The British performers often appeared in segments taped in the U.K.

For its second season, Shindig was split into two 30-minutes shows, which aired on Thursdays and Saturdays at 7:30pm. Shindig's second season was not as sucessful as its first. In an attempt to boost ratings, guest hosts were used during October 1965. Still, the ratings kept slipping and ABC announced Shindig's cancellation in late October 1965.

The Shindig! episodes from November 1965 through January 1966 were an odd mixture of programming. While some of the final episodes resembled the original Shindig format, there were other episodes that looked more like 30-minute specials. Often, these "specials" did not even feature rock 'n' roll performers.

Note: This guide is a fan site and is not associated with ABC/Disney. It is edited by Tom Alger.

Thanks to everyone who's helped with this guide, including:
-- Gary Belich - gary558@yahoo.com
-- Ben Chaput - editor of the RVSP (Rock Video 60s Project) and the RVSP Message Board.
--Charlie Harvey - editor of the Unchained Melody Collection website.

History of Shindig!, Part 1

Shindig! was a rock 'n' roll series that ran from September 16, 1964 through January 8, 1966 on the ABC network.

Shindig! was created and produced by Jack Good who had previously produced rock 'n' roll TV shows in his native Britain. There, he perfected his style of fast-paced rock music programing. In 1962, Good produced a pilot for American TV. The pilot, titled "Young America Swings the World," eventually became the blueprint for Shindig!

Shindig! premiered on September 16, 1964. During its first season, Shindig was broadcast Wednesdays at 8:30pm Eastern. It started as a half-hour show but expanded to an hour in January 1965. ABC aired new Shindig episodes throughout the Summer of 1965. (There were no reruns aired.)

Shindig! was different from previous U.S. rock 'n' roll programs. It featured non-stop music that, in most cases, was only interrupted by the commercial breaks. And the music was live...or so it seemed. In recent years it's been revealed that the backing music and most of the vocals were pre-recorded. Often, the guests would record special versions of their songs for Shindig. The music and vocal tracks were recorded a day or two before the episode was videotaped. The performers then rehearsed numerous times to make sure that their "mimed" performances looked live. (In some cases the vocals were live.)

Shindig! was hosted by Los Angeles disc-jockey Jimmy O'Neill. Other series regulars included the Blossoms, a female group who provided the back-up singing. The Wellingtons were the male back-up singers. (Another male group, the Elgibles, often appeared in place of the Wellingtons.) There were also the Shindig dancers, a troupe made up of 10 (or so) teenage girls who did choreographed dance steps.

Shindig also had a roster of performers who appeared on a semi-regular basis. These included The Righteous Brothers, Glen Campbell, Donna Loren and Bobby Sherman.

Unlike other shows of the time, Shindig! did not have its own theme song. (There was a theme song on the 1965 Shindig! LP, but it's unlikely that the song was ever performed on the TV series.) Most Shindig! episodes began with an opening song or medley performed by the Shindig guests and regulars. The medley consisted of short excerpts from current hits, classic rock 'n' roll songs, along with gospel, country and folk songs. There was no closing theme either. For the finale, a different song was performed each week.

Shindig started a (short-lived) trend in television which could probably best be described as "rock 'n' roll...with go-go dancers." In January 1965, NBC introduced Hullabaloo, a variety show featuring rock 'n' roll guests and Shindig-style dancers. A few months later, the syndicated rock shows "Hollywood A Go-Go" and "Shivaree" premiered. And in July 1965, ABC added Where the Action Is to its weekday schedule. While Action's format was different from Shindig, it did feature a troupe of dancers called "The Action Kids." Shindig's influence can also be seen in two theatrical movies: "The T.A.M.I. Show" (1964) and "The Big T-N-T Show" (1966).

The last Shindig! episode produced by Jack Good aired on June 30, 1965. Beginning with the July 7, 1965 show, former Shindig director Dean Whitmore took over as producer.

Shindig! went through many changes in its second season. The series was split into two 30-minutes shows, which aired on Thursdays and Saturdays at 7:30pm. Guest hosts were used from 30Sep65 through 30Oct65.

Shindig's cancellation was announced in late October 1965. Dean Whitmore has often been blamed for the downfall of the series. Supposedly, when Whitmore took over, the show lost its pacing and style. To be fair, most of the episodes that aired from July through October 1965 are actually quite good. Even the addition of guest hosts didn't hurt the show too much. Instead of taking over the whole show, the guest hosts usually sang one song and introduced a few of the other acts. Although there were some changes, Whitmore didn't drift too far from Jack Good's original format. It remained a fast-paced show.

What might have hurt Shindig was the large number of rock ‘n' roll shows on the air in late 1965. As mentioned earlier, "Hullabaloo," "Hollywood A Go-Go," "Shivaree" and "Where the Action Is" were on the air. ABC also had the long running "American Bandstand." In September 1964, "The Lloyd Thaxton Show," became nationally syndicated. (It had previously been a local Los Angeles program.) In addition, every large U.S. city seemed to have its own local rock 'n' roll show. With so many other rock shows on television, interest in Shindig probably waned.

Another factor that probably hurt Shindig's ratings was time-shifting by local affiliates. Many ABC affiliates across the country chose not to air Shindig in its Thursday/Saturday 7:30pm time slot. Instead, these stations moved Shindig to non-prime time hours. While this practice began during Shindig's first season, it became even more wide-spread during the series' 2nd season.

It wasn't until after the cancellation was announced that Shindig's format began to change. While some of these final shows resembled Jack Good's original series, there were others that looked nothing like Shindig and had nothing to do with rock 'n' roll. Examples of this are the shows spotlighting Louis Armstrong (4Nov65 & 11Nov65); George Maharis (27Nov65) and Johnny Mathis (25Dec65).

Shindig's cancellation was part of a mid-season reshuffle at ABC, which the network called "The Second Season." The final Shindig aired on January 8, 1966. As if to add insult to injury, many of the songs performed on that final Shindig were presented as sketches saluting the new ABC shows! One of these sketches was a tribute to "Batman," the series that replaced Shindig!

In the early 1990's Rhino Home Video released twelve Shindig tapes on VHS. These were not complete episodes but compilation tapes with themes such as "Groovy Gals" and "Sixties Superstars."

Surviving episodes

--All of the Shindig episodes survive as 16mm kinescopes.

The Shindig! series was originally recorded on videotape. (Only four Shindig episodes were shot directly on film.**) During Shindig's network run, ABC made 16mm kinescopes of all the episodes. Kinescopes were a videotape-to-film transfer produced by aiming a 16mm film camera at a TV monitor. Over time ABC erased most of the videotape masters. But, fortunately, these "erased" episodes have survived as 16mm kinescopes. The quality of the kinescopes aren't bad but they don't match up to the picture and sound quality of the 2" master videotapes.

This is a list of known videotape clips and shows.

Videotape clips (hopefully, the complete episodes survive on videotape):

--1964 Pilot: Videotape clips of audience members appear on the home video release of "The Beach Boys: An American Band."

-- 07Oct64 (Episode #4): Videotape clips of the Beatles' performances and the Karl Denver finale survive.

-- 23Dec64 (Episode #16): A videotape clip of the Beach Boys performing "Dance, Dance, Dance" appears on "The Beach Boys: An American Band."

-- 27Jan65 (Episode #21) Videotape clips of Bobby Sherman ("Splish Splash") and Glen Campbell ("Dixieland Rock") were shown on "Good Morning America" in February 1984.

--26May65 (Episode #37) The Howling Wolf segment survives on videotape.

-- 30Jun65 (Episode #42) A videotape clip of Jerry Lee Lewis ("Rockin' Pneumonia") was shown on "Good Morning America" in February 1984.

Complete Episodes:

-- 4Aug65 (Episode #47) Dixie Cups / Great Scots / Nooney Rickett 4

-- 11Aug65 (Episode #48) Ronettes / Donovan / Rolling Stones

-- 08Sep65 (Episode #51) Patty Duke / Guilloteens / Searchers

--30-Sep-65 (Episode #56) Mickey Rooney / the Turtles / Lesley Gore

--Note: As mentioned above, all of the Shindig episodes do survive as 16mm kinescopes. The above list is an attempt to catalog all of the known surviving 2" network videotapes.

**The four Shindig episodes shot directly on film were the two "Shindig in London" shows and the two "Shindig in Europe" shows. The "Shindig in London," shows, filmed at the Richmond-On-Thames Jazz Festival, aired 04-Dec-1965 & 09-Dec-1965. The "Shindig in Europe" episodes were broadcast on 18-Dec-1965 and 01-Jan-1966.
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From the Forums

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  9 Superb

  I loved this show. I couldn't watch it at home so I went next door to watch it with my Grandmother. She was cooler than my Dad. hide « show »

  I was just 14 when this show debuted and was into music. I had just become enamored with the music of the 'Stones as I always love R&B from the 50's and 60's.
  My father hated my music and would not allow me to watch it at home. I used to go to Nonni's house next door to watch it. We had a weekly 'date' with Shindig.
  The show was at the cutting edge, bringing all kinds of music into the living room.
  I particularly remember the 'Stones performing "Play With Fire" while hovering over an automobile.
  I remember Billy Preston's appearance. His recent death shook my memory of Shindig and all the fun I actualy had watching the show with Nonni.
  I wish that the episodes would be released on DVD. A wonderful show in a better time in life and wonderful guests and performances.

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  werd56 Added Jun 7, 2006 All my reviews
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  7 Good

  Fab. hide « show »

  Shindig was the place to go when you wanted your pop music straight. No having to wait through jugglers or comedians to get to the good stuff. Get on, do your songs, get off. Everyone from Neil Sedaka to the Rolling Stones appeared, and the energy level usually stayed fairly high. But they never got Elvis. Too bad.

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  crazyrhythm Added Sep 30, 2005 All my reviews