- Johnnie Hamp
Johnnie Hamp (sometimes referred to as John Hamp, or Johnny Hamp) is a British
television producer , now retired. He is responsible for the early British television appearances of such acts asThe Beatles , singerCilla Black , comedianWoody Allen , and singerLisa Stansfield as Head of Light Entertainment withGranada Television .As a small boy he toured variety theatres as a stooge to his grandfather, a magician known as the Great Hamp. This is where his love affair with this particular genre of entertainment began.
During the
Fifties he trained as a Granada cinema manager in Kingston, moving to the Group's flagship venue atTooting to handle a1953 Frank Sinatra concert. He presented many more, firstly withJohnnie Ray ,Guy Mitchell andFrankie Laine , and later with rockersTommy Steele ,Cliff Richard andGene Vincent .In
1956 Hamp joined Granada's television division, retaining his responsibilities for stage show management, and booking acts for television productions such as "Chelsea at Nine". Granada boss Sidney Bernstein soon noticed Hamp's potential as a producer and put him in charge of several television quiz shows.By the early 1960sw Johnnie Hamp was based at the new company headquarters in
Manchester , where he was making the regional news magazine programme "Scene at 6.30". This was followed by a highly successful series of television specials featuring blues-based American artists. The shows included; "Sarah Sings and Basie Swings" (1963 ), withSarah Vaughan andCount Basie ; "I Hear the Blues" (1963), featuringMemphis Slim ,Muddy Waters ,Sonny Boy Williamson , andWillie Dixon ; and "It's Little Richard" (1964 ).Hamp made three notable television specials during
1965 ; "Woody Allen", "The Bacharach Sound", and "The Music of Lennon and McCartney".In
1969 he took over as producer of the film programme "Cinema", fronted by the youngMichael Parkinson .The Comedians
1971 saw Hamp's peak of success with the groundbreaking series "The Comedians " (intermittently1971 -1985 ) which introduced innumerable new faces to an unsuspecting British public and kickstarted a number of solo comedy careers - Mike Reid, Charlie Williams,Colin Crompton ,Mick Miller ,George Roper ,Stan Boardman , and the controversialBernard Manning - among them. The series featured mainly Northern stand-up comedians drawn from the club circuit, telling gag after gag. It was a ratings success for Granada and hugely popular during its earlier series.Continuing in the Northern club tradition, "
The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club " (1974 -1976 ), a variety series set in a makeshiftworking men's club was another success, often featuring many cast members of The Comedians.Retirement
Johnnie Hamp left Granada Television in
1987 to form his own independent production company, John Hamp Enterprises.On
10 February 1993 Johnnie Hamp became the subject of "This Is Your Life ".Now retired and still living in Manchester, Johnnie Hamp has used his post-Granada retirement to undertake a love of oil painting.
External links
* [http://www.johnniehamp.com] Personal site with biographical details, photographs, anecdotes.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.