Shindig! is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles, who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley, British producer Jack Good, and production executive Art Stolnitz. The original pilot was rejected by ABC and David Sontag, then executive producer of ABC, redeveloped and completely redesigned the show. A new pilot with a new cast of artists was shot starring Sam Cooke. That pilot aired as the premiere episode. Synopsis Shindig! was conceived as a short-notice replacement for Hootenanny, a series that had specialized in folk revival music. The folk revival had fizzled in 1964 as the result of the British Invasion, which damaged the ratings for Hootenanny and prompted that show's cancellation. Shindig! focused on a broader variety of popular music than its predecessor and first aired for a half-hour every Wednesday evening, but was expanded to an hour in January 1965. In the fall of 1965, the show split into two half-hour telecasts, on Thursday and Saturday nights. Shindig!'''s premiere episode was actually the second pilot, and featured Sam Cooke, The Everly Brothers, and The Righteous Brothers. Later shows featured performances that were taped in Britain - A set was used at Twickenham Film Studios, where British acts performed live for the cameras, with the resultant footage flown back to be shown on the program. The first UK episode had The Beatles as the guests. The series later featured other "British invasion" bands and performers including The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Cilla Black. Shindig! continued to broadcast episodes with footage shot in London throughout its run. This meant many acts were seen on U.S television before they actually went to America (The Who in particular, who performed a unique early version of 'My Generation' live, two months before the single version was recorded). Many other popular performers of the day played on Shindig! including Tina Turner, Lesley Gore, Bo Diddley, Sonny and Cher, The Beach Boys, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, The Supremes, and The Ronettes.Shindig!'s success prompted NBC to air the similar series Hullabaloo starting in January 1965 and other producers to launch syndicated rock music shows like Shivaree and Hollywood a Go-Go.In March 1965, Little Eva performed a live but short version of her hit song "The Loco-Motion". This is the