Vicki Wickham, who helped shape pop music in the 1960s and beyond through her work on the landmark British TV show Ready, Steady, Go! and as the manager of Dusty Springfield and Labelle, has died. She was 87.
Wickham died Saturday in New York after an extended illness, her wife and longtime partner, Labelle singer Nona Hendryx, announced.
Airing on ITV from 1963-66, Ready, Steady, Go! was an influential showcase of the British beat boom, and as talent booker and later producer, Wickham helped introduce The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Cilla Black, Marianne Faithful, Donovan, The Kinks, The Animals and The Yardbirds to viewers, often providing their earliest, most significant national exposure.
Wickham also played a key role in bringing Motown to Britain. Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, credited her with exposing artists including The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye and Martha and the Vandellas to U.K. viewers.
“The wonderful Vicki Wickham had convinced her boss to do a one-hour TV special,” Berry recalled in Andy Neill’s 2020 book, Ready, Steady, Go!: The Weekend Starts Here. “The Sound of Motown was a big moment for us because it brought our music and our artists to the U.K. national television audience for the first time.”
