Ready Steady Go! Theme Tune - 5-4-3-2-1 (Manfred Mann) - Rediffusion 1965/66

Ready Steady Go! - the greatest music based TV show of the 1960s and quite possibly of all time.
The theme tune was of course 5-4-3-2-1 by Manfred Mann with Paul Jones on lead vocals. The song was written by Manfred Mann, Paul Jones and Mike Hugg for the show and became the Manfreds first big hit.
Ready Steady Go! was produced by Rediffusion TV, the London weekday ITV contractor, and ran from 1963 to 1966. It combined pop music, mod fashion and popular culture. This was the first television show where the studio audience was very much part of the programme. Fans mingled with presenters and pop stars on the studio floor. The show also broke the norms of broadcasting by showing television cameras in shot.
The most well-known RSG! presenters were Dusty Springfield, Keith Fordyce and Cathy McGowan. A young Annie Nightingale as well as a number of guest presenters also hosted the show.
Legendary producers and directors on the programme included Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Vicki Wickham, and Elkan Allan.
Earlier series of the show were made at Rediffusion's studios in Kingsway which were very cramped, although this gave the show a sense of excitement. Later shows were produced at the company's larger studios in Wembley.
Typically for the time, Rediffusion did not archive Ready Steady Go and the few later episodes that survive are largely thanks to the foresight of Michael Lindsay-Hogg who spent a large proportion of his salary on what were then very expensive domestic videotapes in order to record the show.
Sadly Ready Steady Go! was killed off in the popularity stakes by the BBC's Top of the Pops which, although a pale imitation of RSG, opted to concentrate solely on chart music and therefore captured a greater audience share. (Unlike London-based RSG, Top of the Pops began life in Didsbury, Manchester, presumably to be close to the Mersey groups, but it soon moved south to London where most of the singers and groups were concentrated.)
The song 5-4-3-2-1 is very fast paced. If you look up the lyrics you'll find all sorts of very different versions, presumably because they have been misheard. I THINK the following are the correct lyrics, but see what YOU think! In the comments below David Redshaw has pointed out that Manfred Mann's retelling of Greek mythology is completely wrong!!

5-4-3-2-1 Lyrics:

Five - four - three - two - one

Five, four, three, two, one
Five, four, three, two, one
Five, four, three, two, one
Five, four, three, two, one
Five, four, three, two, one
Five, four, three, two, one

Onward, onward, rode the six hundred - Five, four, three, two, one
Down the valley on their horses they thundered - Five, four, three, two, one
Ah, but was it them who really blundered? - Five, four, three, two, one
Uh-huh, it was the Manfreds

Five, four, three, two, one
Five, four, three, two, one

The Trojans waited at the gate for weeks - Five, four, three, two, one
In a wooden horse, to the city they sneaked - Five, four, three, two, one
Who let 'em in? Who was it - the Greeks? - Five, four, three, two, one
Uh-huh, it was the Manfreds

Five, four, three, two, one
Five, four, three, two, one
Five, four, three, two, one
Five, four, three, two, one
Five, four, three, two, one
Uh-huh, it was the Manfreds

Five - four - three - two - one

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Disclaimer: I do not claim any copyright in the broadcast, the images or the music composition or performance. This clip is uploaded purely for historic interest and should not be used commercially in part or in whole.