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28 August 2016

Saturday 22nd

'OH BOY!' SHOW # 11 (Compered by Jimmy Henney)

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:
Cliff Richard
'Cuddly' Dudley
The Drifters
Lorie Mann
Peter Elliott

28 August 2016

Friday 21st

The NME announces Larry Parnes will not release Marty Wilde from his 3 year contract. (See first scan below)

NME announces Michael Holliday is booked for “Oh Boy!” in December. (See second scan below)

LARRY PARNES announced this week that, despite requests from the singer, he would not release Big Beat star Marty Wilde from his current contract.

He told the NME: "I intend to go ahead with my plans for Marty. At present they involve a film and a Scandinavian tour next year."

COLUMBIA'S Michael Holliday is the latest big name attraction booked by producer Jack Good for his ABC-TV Saturday evening "Oh Boy!" show. Mike is set to appear on December 6, while the following Saturday (13th), marks the debut of Parlophone's Glen Mason.

Bill Forbes, discovered by Jack Good at an audition, has been signed by Columbia records. He makes another appearance on December 13.

One week later, American rock singer, Vince Taylor, undertakes the first of several guest spots. Fontana's new artist, Carmita, is booked for the same date. (20th).

The King Brothers appear on December 27th, replacing the Dallas Boys, who will be appearing on "6.5 Special" on that date.

Resident singer Peter Elliott has been booked for a further seven appearances, plus an option of six more, making a total of 13. Comperes Tony Hall and Jimmy Henney have also been booked until March.

EXPANSION

It is likely that the show will shortly be increased in length, rather than presented as a two-part production. A gala December 27 production may launch the first of these longer shows.
Jack Good is confident of the show being extended still further, probably until June.

Midland viewers may have an opportunity of attending a performance of "Oh Boy!" in December. It is planned to run a special train from Birmingham to London one week-end next month so that fans in the area may form the audience in the studio.

Talks have progressed this week for the TV show to be presented on stage. The full TV cast are likely attractions, but television rehearsal rquirements will probably restrict the show to the London area.

EMI's LP record featuring most of the "Oh Boy!" company is scheduled for release on Dec. 5.

Harry Robinson, musical director of the series, was married on Monday to model Ziki Arnot. He returns from a brief Paris honeymoon today (Friday). Meanwhile, Cy Payne has deputised for him at rehearsals.

28 August 2016

Monday 17th

Cliff makes his variety debut at the Metropolitan, Edgware road, London. This was a gruelling three-week tour (42 shows) arranged by his manager Franklyn Boyd and intended to give the young Cliff an intensive crash course in the art of stagecraft.

The NME write up on the following Friday (21st) gives an interesting and not oft given detailed account of the songs in Cliff’s early act. Many of the songs here were undoubtedly featured on “Oh Boy!” too during the last quarter of 1958. Both “Move It” and “Don’t Bug Me Baby” were favourites performed on the opening show of the series, and “High Class Baby” (his 2nd single) was performed on “Oh Boy!” around late November as well. The Conway Twitty hit “It's Only Make Believe” was another number Cliff loved performing live with a wonderful look of ‘anguished pain’ on his face and grabbing his arm as if jabbed by a hypodermic syringe. It is probable that Cliff sang this track on “Oh Boy!” too. In fact when Conway Twitty himself visited Britain to appear on 2 shows in May 1959 he closed one of the shows with this number.

There are also a few surprise inclusions in this variety debut. Cliff had first seen Marty perform “Poor Little Fool” and “Baby I don’t Care” at his first “Oh Boy!” audition in September and liked them so much he decided to incorporate them into his own act. Cliff closed his 30 minute set with Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (as he did on his first live debut album “Cliff” in February 1959). During the song he would go down on one knee during its quieter moments and an actual picture from the show is reproduced here. (See photo above left)

Cliff Richard isn't going to forget this week in a hurry. When he woke up on Sunday morning this is what faced him: a concert at the huge Trocadero Cinema, Elephant and Castle, London; two days in the film studio for "Serious Charge"; a Wednesday afternoon recording session at Columbia; a Jack Jackson Show" the same evening; two days rehearsal for, and the actual transmission of "Oh Boy!" Dominating all this was his first week in variety - almost a full-time job in itself. Eighteen-year-old Cliff never flinched. In between houses at the Metropolitan Theatre, London, on Monday, Franklyn Boyd, his manager, suggested the friends that had gathered in his dressing room should leave to let the singer rest. "No don't go," Cliff said, "I'm not tired."

Neither was his later performance a tired one. Richard slogged hard all through his act, swinging his pelvis in the widest arcs yet seen in Britain, vocally forcing his numbers over and compelling the female part of the audience, at least, into an ever increasing frenzy. In the Drifters, Cliff has the best group yet to tour with a rock singer. It has an enormous power and compelling beat, yet was never too loud to drown out Cliff's singing. As the "Move It" boy was announced, it thundered out from behind the curtain. The excitement had already started. "Baby, I Don't Care" was his first number. Scarcely a pause and straight into "Summertime Blues," "I've Got A Feelin," and "Don't Bug Me Baby."

Wisely he cut his talking to the minimum. He introduced the members of the group: Hank B. Marvin, Bruce Wells (guitars), Jet Harris (bass) and Terry Smart (drums). Then the smouldering Cliff went into "King Creole," a slow, struggling "Only Make Believe" and a nonchalant, hand-in-pocket "Poor Little Fool," before coming to his record hits "Move It" and "High Class Baby."

Came his finale and he set out to include and exceed everything that had gone before with "Whole Lotta Shaking." Fast, slow; loud, soft; wild, quiet; shaking or kneeling - Richard scored a notable triumph. DON WEDGE.

Harry Robinson, musical director of “Oh Boy” marries model Ziki Arnot. The couple take a short honeymoon in Paris until Friday 21st November. Cy Payne deputizes at rehearsals for four days.

Bertice Reading, a star of the two trial “Oh Boy!” shows in June 1958, falls ill and cancels her cabaret commitments in Britain.

THE STRINGBEAT YEARS

  

The Stringbeat Years cover2

Now available!

The Stringbeat Years: Songs accompanied by John Barry

Now available, a 4-CD box-set comprising of 144 tracks, a 24-page booklet (replete with period photographs and comprehensive notes) and including ten bonus tracks (among them the CD debut of the first ever cover version of a John Barry instrumental composition).

Featuring – for the first time – the film versions of ‘Mix me a Person’, ‘The Time has Come’, and ‘What a Whopper’ (slightly shortened). There’s also an unique opportunity to hear the original version of ‘Ah, Poor Little Baby’, making its premiere appearance on CD.

The box-set is limited to 500 copies and is only £16.99 post-free in the UK, so don’t miss out! It is available direct from this website!

£16.99  post-free in the UK
£19.99  anywhere else in the world

Order now!
https://paypal.me/Geoffers007

Let us know if you aren't able to do this and we'll work out another way. 

Track listing

HIT AND MISS: THE STORY OF THE JOHN BARRY SEVEN

HitAndMiss 1000

Thoroughly and painstakingly researched over a number of years, it features contributions from several ex-members of the band and from friends and relatives of John Barry.

Comprising of over 360 pages, it is packed with an array of rare photos of the band, and the singers they often supported, as well as some unique images of memorabilia and documentation from that era; some never previously published, many more seldom seen.

Even if you are not necessarily a devotee of The John Barry Seven per se, the book offers a fascinating historical insight into the British music scene of the period and, more importantly, provides an essential read for anybody remotely interested in discovering more about John Barry’s formative career.

The book’s cover price is £30, but anybody ordering direct from us will receive a 33% discount, reducing the cost to £19.99.

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