Book excerpt: The London-based Ready, Steady, Go! began broadcasting in August of 1963 and, within a matter of weeks, became an essential television ritual for the newly confident British teenager. It set trends and became the barometer for popular culture by attracting and presenting anyone who was anyone in popular music: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, The Animals, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Otis Redding, and many more. RSG! also provided the first small screen exposure for then-unknowns such as Rod Stewart, Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Donovan, and Jimi Hendrix. Ready, Steady, Go! ran for three and a half years, setting a blueprint for music presentation and production on television that resonated over the following decades and can still be felt today. Featured in this lavishly illustrated and definitive history of the show are hundreds of color and black and white images--the bulk of them previously unpublished--as well as exclusive essays by Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Ray Davies, Eric Burdon, Donovan, Andrew Oldham, Lulu, and others. Also included is a detailed guide to all 173 episodes--with complete artist appearances and the songs they performed--as well as forewords from the show's original editor Vicki Wickham and acclaimed director Michael Lindsay-Hogg. This is the first full documentation of the show that went from quintessential Swinging London accessory to its current status as the most legendary popular music program of all time.