Vicki Wickham, the pioneering British television producer, music executive and artist manager behind Ready, Steady, Go!, died Aug. 1 in New York City after a prolonged illness, according to Billboard. She was 87.
Wickham helped shape the rise of British pop on television as a talent booker and later producer of ITV’s live music show from 1963 to 1966. Through the program, she introduced viewers to artists including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, The Yardbirds and Cilla Black.
She also played a major role in bringing Motown acts to British television audiences. Billboard reports that she booked performances by The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and The Temptations, and later produced a live special focused on James Brown.
Born in Newbury, Berkshire, England, Wickham started her career at Cassell & Co. in London before moving to BBC Radio’s Light Entertainment Department. She later managed Labelle and Dusty Springfield, helping guide Springfield’s career into the late 1980s and connecting her with Pet Shop Boys for the 1987 hit “What Have I Done to Deserve This?”
Wickham received the Music Industry Woman of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 and was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2013 for services to music. She is survived by her wife, singer-songwriter Nona Hendryx, and private family gatherings are planned in New York City and London.
