In 1948, two entertainers, Vlasta and Jan Dalibor, emigrated from (what was then) Czechoslovakia and set up home in Yorkshire, UK. Their variety act included a couple of puppets, two little boy pigs called Pinky and Perky.
In 1956, Barney Colehan, a BBC Television producer, saw the act and invited them to appear in the show ‘It’s Up To You.’ By 1958 the pigs were big stars with their very own television show, where they danced and mimed to the big pop tunes of the day. Other puppets joined in the action, including ‘Conchita’, a cow with very long eyelashes!
In the early sixties, Pinky and Perky’s success extended to the pop charts, with their own songs, sung in squeaky voices which were actually session singer voices sped up!
Many UK children, of that era, will remember hours of fun and hysterical laughter whilst listening to serious 33 1/3 LP vinyl records sped up to 45 or 78rpm so that they sounded like ‘Pinky and Perky.’ You just had to make sure you didn’t play Mum or Dad’s favourite record at high speed in case you scratched it…
