'Juke box jury' (Harold Wilson; Alec Douglas-Home; Jo Grimond)
1 portrait of Alec Douglas-Home
'Juke box jury' (Harold Wilson; Alec Douglas-Home; Jo Grimond)
by Victor Weisz
ink and crayon, circa 1964
18 1/4 in. x 21 1/2 in. (465 mm x 545 mm)
Given by executors of Elizabeth Weisz, 2003
Primary Collection
NPG 6633
Sittersback to top
- Joseph ('Jo') Grimond, Baron Grimond (1913-1993), Politician; leader of the Liberal party. Sitter in 15 portraits. Identify
- Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel (1903-1995), Prime Minister. Sitter in 36 portraits. Identify
- (James) Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (1916-1995), Prime Minister. Sitter in 55 portraits. Identify
Artistback to top
- Victor Weisz (1913-1966), 'Vicky'; cartoonist. Artist or producer associated with 15 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.
This portraitback to top
BBC1's weekly Juke Box Jury (1959-67) was the first television pop panel show. Hosted by David Jacobs, celebrities judged newly released singles as a 'hit' or a 'miss' by holding up a disc. Here Vicky shows Conservative Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home both performing the Conservative Party's new pop record, 'Songs for the Swinging Voter' (in reality sung by Ian Wallace) and judging it a hit. Labour leader Harold Wilson and Liberal leader Jo Grimond are not impressed. On 3 July 1964, a similar Vicky cartoon appeared in the Evening Standard. This showed a record sleeve with the words 'Alec and the Swinging True-Blue Jeans Singing in Spanish - He Loves Me, Si! Si! Si! (a Hit with the Teeny Tory Tots)'. The Swinging Blue Jeans performed their hit single 'Hippy Hippy Shake' on the first Top of the Pops broadcast on BBC1 on 1 January 1964 and Beatlemania exploded the same year with their No.1 song ' She Loves You'. The Spanish allusion was to negotiations between Britain and Spain for the modernisation of the Spanish Navy using British-designed ships and weapons systems. The deal eventually fell through.
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1964back to top
Current affairs
Harold Wilson narrowly wins the general election for the Labour Party, the first of his four election victories.Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans become the last people to be executed in the United Kingdom before capital punishment was abolished in 1965.
The Sun newspaper replaces the Daily Herald.
Art and science
Top of the Pops begins its reign as the longest running television music show. The first broadcast was presented by Jimmy Savile and included the Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield, The Hollies and The Beatles, who were the show's first number 1 with I Want to Hold Your Hand.International
The Civil Rights Act is passed in the USA, outlawing discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex or national origin. The Act abolished the 'Jim Crow Laws' in the Southern States, making forced segregation illegal.After spending two years in prison Nelson Mandela is sentenced to Life in Prison for the crimes of sabotage and crimes equivalent to treason against the Republic of South Africa.
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