Easy Beat was a BBC radio

BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...

 programme broadcast nationally in the UK on the Light Programme on Sunday mornings, between 1960 and 1967. It was one of the earliest BBC programmes to broadcast pop music

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

. Like the contemporary Saturday Club

Saturday Club (BBC radio)

Saturday Club was an influential BBC radio programme in Britain, broadcast on the Light Programme and later Radio 1 between 1957 and 1969. It was one of the earliest - and for several years almost the only - radio programme in the country to broadcast pop music...

, it was initially presented by Brian Matthew

Brian Matthew

Brian Matthew is a veteran English broadcaster, who became well known in the 1960s. He is still broadcasting on radio for the BBC, having presented Sounds of the 60s since 1990, often employing the same vocabulary and the same measured delivery he used in previous decades.-Early life and...

, and later by Keith Fordyce

Keith Fordyce

Keith Fordyce was an English disc jockey and former presenter on British radio and television. He is most famous as the first presenter of ITV's Ready Steady Go! in 1963, but was a stalwart of both BBC radio and Radio Luxembourg for many years.-Career:Born Keith Fordyce Marriott in Lincoln, he...

 and finally, David Symonds.

It was scheduled between 10:30 - 11:30 on Sunday mornings, and regularly featured Kenny Ball

Kenny Ball

Kenny Ball is an English jazz musician, best known as the lead trumpet player in Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen.-Career:...

's Jazzmen, and recorded sessions by featured guests in front of a studio audience. The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 appeared on four Easy Beat shows in 1963:

7 April 1963: performing "Please Please Me

Please Please Me (song)

"Please Please Me" is a song and the second single released by The Beatles in the United Kingdom, and the first to be issued in the United States. It was also the title track of their first LP, which was recorded to capitalise on the success of the single...

", "Misery", and "From Me to You

From Me to You

"From Me to You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles as a single in 1963. The single was the Beatles' first number one in some of the United Kingdom charts, second in others, but failed to make an impact in the United States at the time of its initial...

"

23 June 1963: performing "Some Other Guy

Some Other Guy

-Other recorded versions:The song was very popular in Liverpool's Merseybeat scene. Both the original and the version by fellow Merseybeaters The Big Three are part of John Lennon's jukebox...

", "A Taste Of Honey

A Taste of Honey (song)

"A Taste of Honey" is a pop standard written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow. It was originally an instrumental track written for the 1960 Broadway version of the 1958 British play A Taste of Honey . Both the original and a cover by Herb Alpert in 1965 earned the song Grammy Awards...

", "Thank You Girl

Thank You Girl

"Thank You Girl" is a song by The Beatles and released as the B-side of "From Me to You", which was recorded on the same day . While not released on an LP in the United Kingdom until Rarities in 1978, the single was featured as the second track on The Beatles' Second Album in the United States...

" and "From Me to You"

21 July 1963: performing "I Saw Her Standing There

I Saw Her Standing There

"I Saw Her Standing There" is a song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and is the opening track on The Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me, released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone on 22 March 1963....

", "A Shot of Rhythm and Blues

A Shot of Rhythm and Blues

"A Shot of Rhythm and Blues" is a song written by Terry Thompson and first recorded by US soul singer Arthur Alexander. It was originally released in the USA in 1961, and in the United Kingdom the following year, as the b-side of You Better Move On....

", "There's a Place

There's a Place

"There's a Place" is a song composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and was first released as a track on The Beatles' British debut LP, Please Please Me...

" and "Twist and Shout

Twist and Shout

"Twist and Shout" is a song written by Phil Medley and Bert Russell. It was originally titled "Shake It Up, Baby" and recorded by the Top Notes and then covered by The Isley Brothers. It was covered by The Beatles with John Lennon on the lead vocals and originally released on their first album...

"

20 October 1963: performing "I Saw Her Standing There", "Love Me Do

Love Me Do

"Love Me Do" is The Beatles' first single, backed by "P.S. I Love You" and released on 5 October 1962. When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom, it peaked at number seventeen; in 1982 it was re-issued and reached number four...

", "Please Please Me", "From Me To You" and "She Loves You

She Loves You

"She Loves You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney based on an idea by McCartney, originally recorded by The Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States by being one of the...

".

When Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

started in 1967, the show continued for a few months under the title Happening Sunday, before being dropped.