Stars Pose for the 1964 Ready Steady Go Mod Ball at Wembley Empire Pool

It was April 1964, and this photo captured rehearsals for the Ready Steady Go Rave Mad Mod Ball at the Empire Pool Wembley. And, with the exception of The Beatles, who four days earlier had overwhelmed America by having the top five records there, nearly all of the beat boom stars are here, a first crop of what would soon be a golden generation of British pop stars.

Most dominant are the Merseybeat acts, like Cilla Black and others from Liverpool’s Cavern Club, the Searchers, the aptly-named Merseybeats and heartthrob Billy J. Kramer with his Dakotas and the Fourmost, both of whom got John Lennon's cast-off songs that weren't good enough for The Beatles. And what a conservative-looking crowd of kids they were, or, should we say, gang of boys, because pop then was an overwhelmingly male profession.

There’s Paul Jones, still with Manfred Mann, Freddie and the Dreamers, and Sounds Incorporated. With the exception of Cilla and Cathy, the only other non-male is blonde-haired Kathy Kirby, she of the shiny lips and tight dresses, who seems to be in conversation with Keith Fordyce, the show’s other presenter.

What do you first notice about them? Jackets and ties, hair for the most part well-trimmed and almost all shoes respectfully shone. Were it not for the guitar in the centre it could be any group of young Sixties male office workers and pretty shorthand typists celebrating a collective Pools win.