'OH BOY!' SHOW # 30 (Compered by Tony Hall)
ABC CATALOGUE SHOW NUMBER 5. (OF 13)
RESIDENT WEEKLY BAND & PERFORMERS:
Lord Rockingham's XI,
Red Price,
The Dallas Boys,
Neville Taylor & The Cutters,
Cherry Wainer,
The Vernons Girls.
THIS WEEK'S SPECIAL GUESTS:
Brenda Lee
Chris Andrews
Dickie Pride
Dean Webb
Don Lang
Lorie Mann
Mike Preston
Tony Sheridan
This is one of only two shows found in a search of the old ABC archives.
The other surviving show is the final edition from 30th May 1959 (No.38), clips of which have been widely used on commercial television.
The original 16mm telerecordings of both shows are retained in the archives of Canal Image Plus who now own the copyright to ABC material.
During the sixties it is believed ABC retained 13 titles of “Oh Boy!” on it shelves (given catalogue numbers 1- 13, these originals were then copied for export to America.)
In the intervening years, eleven of the original 13 have disappeared, (leaving just shows 5 and 13) much to the chagrin of John Heron, head of British sales at Canal Image, who would dearly love to see the missing shows returned. “They are one of the most popular titles requested from our catalogue,” said John, “ Television researchers making documentaries are having to re-use the same old clips time and time again due to the scarcity of material available.”
In this surviving edition, Lord Rockingham's XI perform a lively rendition of “Long John”, Neville Taylor and his Cutters perform the Coaster's hit, “Charlie Brown” and Tony Sheridan and his Wreckers perform the infectiously catchy “I Like Love”. During this song, a camera located behind the artists on stage pans the theatre and captures the animated audience in ebullient mood packed into the balcony.
Another highlight is Dickie Pride’s full performance of Little Richard's “Slippin n’ Slidin, which was also performed on the surviving final show of 30th May 1959. However this latter rendition contained only one verse of the song as Jack attempted to cram in abridged highlights of all the best songs in the series in this final show.
Without doubt, THE highlight of the show was the dynamic appearance of "Little Miss Dynamite" - Brenda Lee… her one and only appearance in the entire series.
Compare Tony Hall announces 14 year old Brenda as a young American singer making here debut television appearance in Britain. As the trademark “Oh Boy!” circular spotlight hits the mike at centre stage, the pint-size singer breezes on to perform her new single “Humming The Blues Over You” with a voice so strong, lucid and distinct there is little to tell it apart from the original recording.
To close the show Brenda lets rip with a superb rendition of “Wont You Come Home Bill Bailey.” The stage lights hit Lord Rockingham's band during the instrumental breaks and Brenda excels in some brilliantly executed vocals as the closing credits roll.
The famous final signature tune (as featured at the close of the Oh Boy! LP) is played at the end as Lord Rockingham’s brass section joins Brenda at the front of the stage to play out.
SEE ALSO:
“Where Have The Shows Gone?” page for further info and the NME article “JACK GOOD SEEKS AMERICAN ROCKERS” from 23rd. JANUARY in the JANUARY 1959 Diaries for more details of the American “Oh Boy!" broadcasts.
Both the BBC's "Six-Five Special" & short-lived "Dig This" series had been broadcast in direct competition with Oh Boy!, but, probably because they were losing out in the ratings war, it was decided the successor, "Drumbeat", would be scheduled at the slightly later time of 6.30 p.m -- just as the Oh Boy! broadcasts finished. On hearing the news Jack Good said in a NME interview – "I should think they now have a very good chance of succeeding! Indeed it is possible both channels will increase their audience rating as a result of not being in direct competition."