The Billy Cotton Band Show was a popular Sunday afternoon radio programme on the BBC Light Programme

BBC Light Programme

The Light Programme was a BBC radio station which broadcast mainstream light entertainment and music from 1945 until 1967, when it was rebranded as BBC Radio 2...

 from 1949 to 1968.

The band leader, Billy Cotton

Billy Cotton

William Edward Cotton , better known as Billy Cotton, was a British band leader and entertainer, one of the few whose orchestras survived the dance band era. Today, he is mainly remembered as a 1950s and 1960s radio and television personality, although his musical talent emerged as early as the 1920s...

, was a larger-than-life Cockney

Cockney

The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...

 character who started each show with the cry “Wakey-Wake-aaaay!”, followed by the band’s signature tune “Somebody Stole My Gal

Somebody Stole My Gal

"Somebody Stole My Gal" is a popular song from 1918, written by Leo Wood. In 1923 Ted Weems & his Orchestra had a five-week run at number one with his million-selling version of Leo Wood’s 1922 standard...

” (which was also featured in the video game Pop'n Music

Pop'n Music

, commonly abbreviated as Pop'n, PM or PNM, is a music video game in the Bemani series made by the Konami Corporation. This game is known for its bright colors, upbeat songs, and cartoon character graphics...

 9).

The show transferred to BBC Television

BBC Television

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...

 in 1956, usually on Sunday evenings at 7.00 pm. It ran, under various names, until 1965.

Regular entertainers included Alan Breeze

Alan Breeze

Alan Louis Breeze was a singer with the Billy Cotton Band Show.He was born in West Ham, London, to Louis Breeze, a concert and oratorio singer and a member of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, and Isobel, who taught with the old London County Council.At the beginning of his career, Breeze sang in...

, Kathie Kay

Kathie Kay

Kathie Kay was a Scottish singer, best known for her television appearances in the Billy Cotton Band Show during the 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...

, Doreen Stephens and the pianist Russ Conway

Russ Conway

Russ Conway was a British popular music pianist. Conway had 20 piano instrumentals in the UK Singles Chart between 1957 and 1963, including two number one hits.-Career:...

. Pianist Mrs Mills

Mrs Mills

Gladys Mills, née Gladys Jordan , better known as Mrs Mills, was a British popular pianist who was active in the 1960s and who released many records...

 made her first television appearance on the show.

Terry Jones

Terry Jones

Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....

 and Michael Palin

Michael Palin

Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....

, both later to become members of Monty Python's Flying Circus

Monty Python's Flying Circus

Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...

, wrote jokes for the show.