The amazing Caroline Cook kindly interviewed Jamie to talk about the up and coming 60s shows at The Watermark Theatre, Ivybridge on 20 March and The Palace Theatre, Paignton on Sat 16th May.
Radio Interview: Jamie Goddard – The Zoots and The Sixties Talent Show
Host:
Right now I’m joined by my very special guest, Jamie Goddard — frontman, manager, and very much the driving force behind the brilliant band The Zoots. They’ve toured more than 35 countries, played iconic venues around the world, and now they have a very exciting new project called The Sixties Talent Show — a brand new live experience where audiences get to decide which legendary 60s band goes through to the next round.
The show is coming to the Ivybridge Watermark Theatre on March 20th and Paignton’s Palace Theatre on May 16th, and Jamie is here to tell us all about it.
Jamie, hello!
Jamie:
Hi Caroline, thank you so much for having me on. I really appreciate it.
Host:
It’s absolutely lovely to have you with us. What an interesting concept! Many of us have seen your brilliant band on stage — and even if we haven’t seen you live, we’ve probably caught some great videos online. But this show is different because the audience gets to decide what happens. It’s a whole new interactive angle. What inspired it?
Jamie:
Well, we’ve always played 60s music. The Zoots have been performing our Sounds of the Sixties show for years, and a promoter approached me with the idea of dressing up as eight different bands. I said, “That’s a lot of costumes!” — but we thought we’d give it a try.
The idea was to give something extra to the audience and let them decide which band goes through to the next round. The exciting thing is that we never know how the show is going to end — every time we’ve performed it, the outcome has been completely different.
Host:
You mentioned costumes — how on earth do you manage that many costume changes?
Jamie:
Luckily we’ve got a wonderful compère called Lauren Potter. While we’re backstage frantically trying to find the right costume — whether it’s The Rolling Stones, The Beatles or The Kinks — Lauren keeps the show going by singing songs from artists like Petula Clark and Shirley Bassey.
By the time she finishes her song, we hopefully reappear dressed as the next band — maybe The Beatles, The Monkees, The Searchers, The Beach Boys or The Who.
Host:
Do you ever get stuck backstage thinking, “Just keep singing, Lauren — we’ve got a zip problem”?
Jamie:
It has happened! There are about ten different costumes backstage, and occasionally someone comes out dressed as the wrong band. It’s part of the fun. The whole show is very light-hearted — we take the music seriously, but it’s really about having a great night out and celebrating fantastic 60s music.
Host:
So is it more of a concert or a competition?
Jamie:
A bit of both. Lauren explains how the voting works at the start. The audience either gets a voting card or simply raises their hands.
Two bands will perform — for example, The Beatles vs The Searchers — and each performs a song. The audience then votes for their favourite, and the winner goes through to the next round. That band will perform another song later in the show.
Then we move on to another match-up — perhaps The Kinks vs The Monkees — and the audience decides again. Every show turns out differently depending on the crowd.
Host:
So audiences are essentially getting eight bands in one show — that’s incredible value.
Jamie:
Exactly! It’s like eight bands, a compère, lots of costume changes, plenty of humour — and we finish the night with a big 60s party, where everyone can get up and dance.
Host:
I love that. How did you decide which bands to include?
Jamie:
We chose bands where we could perform three songs that almost everyone would recognise. So we feature groups like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Beach Boys, The Who, The Searchers, and The Monkees.
Anything we don’t cover ourselves, Lauren performs in between — things like Cilla Black or Motown classics. Then the finale is a big 60s celebration with songs by artists like Roy Orbison, Cliff Richard and The Shadows.
Host:
You mentioned The Searchers — you’ve actually worked with them, haven’t you?
Jamie:
Yes. Spencer James from The Searchers was in a band with my dad, so we grew up knowing him. He even sang at my mum’s 40th birthday! He was a huge influence on me and definitely helped inspire my love of 60s music.
Their manager Alan Field also helped me with publishing and getting my music noticed. It’s quite a small industry — everyone tends to know everyone.
Host:
And your songs have travelled all over the world. I heard that some of your music is even used to help students learn English in China!
Jamie:
Yes! Alan Field helped get some of my songs published, and a very famous singer in China recorded them. Because he was so popular, the songs ended up being used to help people learn English.
So somewhere in China there are kids listening to my songs to practise English — although they probably have no idea I wrote them! And unfortunately there are no copyright laws there, so I don’t earn anything from it — but it’s still a funny story.
Host:
Music really does help people learn languages though.
Jamie:
Absolutely. When you hear someone from another country singing English songs, you assume they speak perfect English — but that’s not always the case.
It works both ways too. When I sing La Bamba, I just hope there aren’t any Spanish speakers listening too closely to my pronunciation!
Host:
That’s brilliant. You’ve performed in more than 35 countries now, but you all seem very grounded. You clearly love the music first and foremost.
Jamie:
Yes, and what makes it special is seeing how it affects people. We played a show last night and someone in the audience told me the music brought back their teenage years — they used to go to dance halls and see the original bands.
Now they come with their children and grandchildren, and everyone knows the songs. That’s the magic of 60s music — it spans generations.
Host:
It really does. And today it’s so easy for people to discover music from any era — they just search for it on their phone.
Jamie:
Exactly. It’s amazing how accessible music is now.
Host:
Well, this show sounds fantastic. Just to remind everyone — The Sixties Talent Show is coming to:
- The Watermark Theatre, Ivybridge – March 20th
- Paignton Palace Theatre – May 16th
You can find more information and tickets by searching for The Zoots online.
Jamie:
Yes — just visit www.thezoots.com and all our tour dates are there. It’s a really fun, entertaining show with a fantastic band and a bit of comedy too.
Host:
Jamie, thank you so much — it’s been an absolute pleasure talking to you.
Jamie:
Thank you very much.
Host:
That was Jamie Goddard from The Zoots. If you’re heading along to see The Sixties Talent Show, you’re in for a fantastic night!
