Vernons Girls

The Vernons Girls were the only act to appear on every show, including the two trial broadcasts.

Maggie Stredder's new specs

The lovely Margaret Stredder tries on the latest fashion in spectacles!

Memories of 'Oh Boy!'

The Vernon Girls appeared in all 38 shows of the “Oh Boy” series and together with Lord Rockingham's XI, the Dallas Boys , and Cherry Wainer on her Hammond Organ , formed the backbone of the shows each week. Paul Rumbol caught up with ex Vernon Girl Barbara Winslade (nee Mitchell) to revive her poignant memories of performing on Britain’s first and most exciting cult rock ‘n’ roll TV show ever!

A 1958 publicity shot of Barbara Mitchell

"The rehearsals were gruelling and very demanding", recalls Barbara Mitchell, the group’s 'blonde bombshell' who very early on became spokeswoman for the 16-strong group. Apart from learning the dance routines for the forthcoming week’s show, the girls had to provide backing vocals to all the songs as well. In addition, they performed a weekly showpiece where two or three of the girls would be featured up front as vocalists in their own right.

The Vernons Girls rehearsed every day of the week in preparation for each Saturday’s live 'Oh Boy!' show. On Mondays to Wednesdays each week the girls would rehearse at the 'Four Provinces of Ireland Club' at 13, Canonbury Lane, Islington, London N1. This boys club sported a large ballroom and the girls had to be there by 9am each morning.(travelling from their hotel in Maida Vale by tube) They worked 9- hour days under the direction of dance director Leslie Cooper and their singing teacher, Peter Knight, who were both known taskmasters and perfectionists in their pursuit of producing faultless performances from the girls.

The Vernons Girls had to work out their routines by listening to the original records which Knight and Cooper picked up from Jack Good and bought in every Monday morning.  “It was from those original records we had to learn our vocal melody lines and dance routines.” said Barbara. “We nearly always got copies of the records before they were officially released. Basically we had to be near perfect by Wednesday, as on Thursdays and Fridays we would arrive at the Hackney Empire to rehearse with the rest of the cast and bring the whole show together.”

EMPIRE THEATRE, HACKNEY

Lord Rockingham's XI, Red Price, Cherry Wainer the Dallas Boys (and to a large extent Neville Taylor and The Cutters) were permanently set up at the Empire Theatre Hackney where they would rehearse their own numbers, and then run through the songs with the guest stars popping in and out throughout the week .
The Vernons Girls would then turn up fully rehearsed at the theatre on Thursdays to join the rest of the cast. The whole theatre was a technical minefield. The seating area in the stalls was removed and every square inch was covered with film, sound and lighting equipment and masses of wiring which took up nearly all the ground floor for the series entire 9 month run. Full rehearsals at the theatre on Thursdays and Fridays were tiring, with all the cast present from 8am to 11pm some nights.

Leslie Cooper with a section of the girls

On Saturdays there was an all day full sound and vision rehearsal until the live transmission at 6pm. Each live show lasted about 28 minutes. Most of the artists could then make their escape for 'an early night' by 7.30pm.

MANIC GOOD

Barbara remembers how excited producer Jack Good used to get when bringing all the diverse elements of the show together near the end of the week’s rehearsals. When Lord Rockingham's XI, the Cutters, the Dallas Boys and the Vernons Girls all ‘fused’ together to produce a stunning audio and visual spectacle, Jack would jump up and down like a child and run wild, gesticulating like some mad Russian composer. But his infectious enthusiasm and brilliance worked wonders. Add to this backdrop the superb new crop of rock and roll singers who were fortunate enough to front this superlative combo and you had a sure-fire winning formula that could not fail. “He would get the audience so buzzed up on the night itself you could have sent on a milk float and that would have got applause” recalls Marty Wilde in a BBC interview back in 1981. “It was the most exciting television show ever. Nothing will ever take its place!”

THE ‘VERNONS’ HOTEL

The Vernons Girls were paid about £10 a week in 1958/59 and for 18 months they resided at the Colonnade Hotel off Warwick Avenue, near Maida Vale Underground tube station in West London. Even when 'Oh Boy!' ended at the end of May 1959, the girls were fully booked for other live shows and rehearsals were soon to begin that summer for Jack Good’s new series 'Boy Meets Girl' beginning in September that year and which also ran for 9 months. “The owner of that hotel did well out of us” said Barbara Mitchell. “Our management literally paid to take over the entire hotel for us 16 girls. All our accommodation, meals and travel expenses were paid for by Vernons and we had the time of our lives.” However, in 1959 when 'Oh Boy!' had become a smash hit they dared to ask for a pay increase. “We were turned down flat because they said the hotel package and the food and free travel was worth £40 a week to us in total benefits. We even offered to find our own accommodation in exchange for a pay increase but the management declined.”

HOW WE WERE SACKED AND RE-EMPLOYED IN 24 HOURS

In early June 1959 after 'Oh Boy!' had finished its run, the girls agent, Stanley Barnett, employed by Vernons, was approached by TV mogul Lord Bernard Delfont. He wanted the three main Vernon vocalists, Barbara Mitchell, Maggie Stredder, and Jean Ryder to appear in a 'London Palladium Spectacular' for three months during that summer of 1959. A petty legal issue involving the 3 girls stage names soon erupted and blew out of all proportion. After successfully auditioning in front of Delfont himself they were disheartened just moments later when Barnett told them they would not be performing. Apparently Bernard Delfont insisted he billed the girls as 'Maggie, Barbara and Jean'. Barnett, supposedly on advice from his employer, insisted they were billed as 'The Vernons Girls' to continue promoting the company name. An impasse was reached and the girls retreated to their hotel dismayed.

Barbara recalls. “We were very disappointed at this petty minded decision by Vernons . Over dinner the three of us girls thought this could be the start of something big. Apart from the Kaye Sisters there were few girl trios in the pop market at that time. That same afternoon we even went to see Peter Charlesworth, THE most successful agent in the business who represented many stars like Max Bygraves and Shirley Bassey, and he too agreed we could make it big. There was definitely an opening in the market for a girl trio. We went back to Barnett straight away asking him to reconsider his decision not to let us work at the Palladium. I remember things getting very heated. Then Jean Ryder, who was more hot-headed than the rest of us, said something and Barnett just blew his top. Right I'm not putting up with anymore of this nonsense from you. You're all fired! We returned to the hotel devastated and broke the news to the other girls over the evening meal that we had to leave. The rest of the girls were distraught. They were crying and couldn’t believe this had happened.”

But within minutes the hotel received an urgent long distance telephone call from Vernons top director Tom Grenfell who summoned Barbara to the phone. “Meet me at the Wardorf hotel in 3 hours.” He demanded. “When we met him he had especially made a trip from Liverpool to London to see us and he took us to the restaurant." This was the venue where Vernons used to entertain their big weekly Pools winners and I think we were slightly over-awed by it all. “Anyway, in the end we gave in over the Palladium issue. Grenfell offered us our jobs back. We accepted and he breathed a sigh of relief. He then gave Barnett a real telling off in front of us girls for sacking us and it did give us some sense of power. Though of course we didn’t get what we really wanted. I still wonder to this day what might have been had we been brave enough to set out as a trio act. That whole incident took place within 24 hours. That was quite a day.” Said Barbara.

BILLY FURY

The girls only occasionally socialized with the guest stars. More often than not many of the artists had live bookings later in the Saturday evening and had to rush straight off after the show to get to their gigs. Some stars did pop into see the girls during their rehearsals at Islington. Ronnie Carroll (who starred in the first several 1958 shows) and Alma Cogan in the Spring of 1959 who was “a great giggler and liked to have a laugh with us.”

Barbara Mitchell reveals "I did have a particular soft spot for Billy Fury. But he was in bad health even then. He was such a lovely kind man. And he always made time to talk and have a cup of tea with us during rehearsal breaks. I grew very close to him. As close as two people can be without becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.”

The picture (left) was taken on the 'Oh Boy!' stage during the evening of Saturday 25th April 1959 just prior to the live broadcast and shows three of the Vernon Girls (Barbara on left) with two of that week’s guest stars, Michael Cox (his only appearance) and Billy Fury who was about to make the third of his six appearances in the series.

BOOZY LUNCHES

The members who made up Lord Rockingham's XI were older than the other members of the cast, with most in their late 30s and 40s and like all seasoned jazz musicians 'hung out' together at the nearest watering hole in Hackney at every available opportunity. Barbara Mitchell recalls. “They would disappear down the pub at lunchtimes and a few in particular would come back looking a little worse for wear.” Red Price, the superb saxophonist who provided so many superlative solo performances during the series, especially enjoyed his Guinness at the lunchtime drinking sessions. “His face would go so bright red when playing we worried he’d have a seizure or his head would burst like a tomato. You still remember things like that even after all these years,” said Barbara.

THE LOTUS HOUSE, EDGEWARE ROAD

One meeting place for some of the stars was the Lotus House Chinese restaurant on the Edgware Road. The Vernons Girls used to go there often, and Cliff sometimes went there with his close friend Cherry Wainer and other members of the cast. Marty Wilde, another regular patron, who began dating Vernon Girl Joyce Baker in 1958 held his wedding reception there.

KRAY ATTRACTED TO CLIFF

One night, the notorious gangster Ronnie Kray, a regular at the restaurant and always one to court favour with celebrity, saw Cliff Richard and a small group of friends sitting at a nearby table. Kray did not recognize Cliff as famous but he had other designs on the young man, a recent ITV documentary on the gangster twins revealed. Finding the young man attractive, Kray sent over one of his henchman to invite Cliff to his table. He declined the invite. Cliff, even at the start of his career was well protected by management who looked after his welfare and kept outsiders at bay.

POLISHED SHOWS

Barbara remembers how 'well polished' the shows became so early in the series. “We knew we were producing something a bit special. I have great memories of the Dallas Boys. They were so professional and like us girls were resident each week, so it was hard work for them too. It's difficult to remember the songs we performed live on the shows back then because there were so many, and of course all the paperwork relating to those shows has disappeared too.”

The girls most popular hits were 'Don’t Look Now' and 'Bad Motorcycle' both of which were featured on the officially released live 'Oh Boy!' LP in October 1958.

Aside from singing with the entire group, Barbara, along with Maggie Stredder and Jean Ryder, performed one song each week as a trio. ( See picture right. )

Among the songs the trio performed were 'Who Are They To Say' (an obscure number), 'Jealous Heart', 'The Oowee Song' and 'Maddison Time' which was a novelty track from a dance craze at that time.

During their evenings off, the 16 Vernons Girls would either socialize at the hotel, or go off to meet their current boyfriends. Understandable considering the average age of the girls during the series was only about 22.

CHERRY WAINER’S CRASHPAD

Some of the girls used to hang out at organist Cherry Wainer’s flat in the Edgeware Road not far from the restaurant, and she held several memorable parties there. “I remember Cherry had a poodle which she was so very close to. She would take it to the rehearsals and it would sit next to her obediently for hours while she played.”

One abiding memory Barbara has of what she believes was the final 'Oh Boy!' show, was performing a song called 'Packing Up' where the Vernons actually performed on TV in their coats and clutching suitcases. “It was like a farewell track where we all said goodbye as it was the final show!” Barbara was due to sing the lead vocal but when it came to the actual show Jack Good wanted Maggie Stredder to take the centre stage. “So rather than let me do it they recorded me on tape singing the song and on TV Maggie just mimed to my recording.” That tape, along with nearly all the entire series has vanished of course. This song did not appear in the final show on 30th May 1959, as this edition is one of two 'Oh Boy!' shows which have survived in the British archives. So on which show this number was performed remains a mystery!

AFTER “OH BOY!”

Barbara left the Vernon Girls late in 1960 to get married and start a family. After 'Oh Boy!' she starred in Good’s subsequent series 'Boy Meets Girl' in 1959 and 'Wham' in 1960. She appeared in the 1959 Royal Variety Show and the May 1960 Royal Command Performance with Cliff and Adam Faith, which was the first one ever to be televised in Britain and which thankfully survives on film in Carlton’s archives. In October 1960 Barbara left the group while the other Vernon Girls went on to back Cliff on his new six part television series for ATV which was filmed in January 1961 and broadcast a month later.

In June 1989 the surviving Vernon Girls were reunited with many other former stars of 'Oh Boy!' to back Cliff for his 30th anniversary concerts at the massive Wembley Stadium. Barbara performed songs like 'It’s My Party', 'Book of Love' and 'Don’t Look Now' to an audience of over 150,000 people who packed the stadium during the historic two day event.

Today Barbara, a widow, lives in Portsmouth. She has one daughter, Kim, who is very proud that her mum was right up there performing among the biggest stars on television and who contributed to the great rock n roll revolution in Britain.

PAUL RUMBOL

RIPPIN' IT UP 3 COOL CHICKS

The following is an article written by David Griffiths, in the 12-18th October edition of the TV Times in 1958:

Oh girls! sigh OH BOY! fans

The Stage Door Johnny is back! Probably nothing quite like it has been seen outside a London theatre since the old Gaiety days - when many a chorus girl could look forward to marrying into the nobility. Times have changed, of course. Now it's the Hackney Empire, now a TV studio, that the Johnnies wait outside - with flowers, boxes of chocolates and cars, but without top hats and peerages. For this revival of an old-time theatrical custom is not caused by a theatre show. And the girls feted are not ordinary chorus girls. The show is Oh Boy! which caters for modern rock 'n' roll tastes, and the singing Vernons Girls are the centre of attraction. Most of them do not look like showgirls. Their figures, faces and heights are not standardised. The Vernons Girls, highly attractive former office workers, have now added some of the glamour of show business to their charms.
They were originally formed as a welfare project by Vernons, who wanted to encourage an interest in choral singing among their employees. With 8,000 girls to pick from, there was a high standard of talent. So it was decided to prune the singers from about 70 to about 16 and launch them in show business.
Because girls leave to get married (those Johnnies are persuasive!), dance director Leslie Cooper and their singing teacher, Peter Knight, often hold auditions at Vernons.

"They are looked after from the moment they get through an audition," Cooper told me. "They aren't expected to be polished singers, never mind dancers, at this stage. Peter Knight listens to their voices and, when he finds a good one, asks if I could train the girl. She will have been used to sitting at a desk and won't be conscious of things like deportment, so I just have to watch for a good figure - and sense of rhythm when she sings. If she has that, I assume she'll be able to dance."

While in London, the girls stay at the same hotel and are guarded by a full-time chaperone. "It's remarkable how well they get on together," said Cooper during an Oh Boy! rehearsal break. "When you get a lot of girls working together they usually squabble, but these don't. Yet they are all types. Some I have to shout at, others I have to be kindly with, to get the routines right."

Cooper and producer Jack Good have pioneered a televisual dancing style for the Vernons Girls. They are put into two or three groups with a camera on each. By fast cutting from one camera to another, viewers are shown complicated, exciting dance routines. Cooper usually thinks them up at home while listening to rock 'n' roll records. "So far I've been able to remember my ideas. I don't write them down. But with my luck, one day I'll have 16 girls in front of me and forget what I want them to do!" he said. Well, it didn't happen at the rehearsal I watched. The only hold-up was caused by the hula-hoop craze. During breaks some of the girls struggled to keep hoops circling their bodies.

Blonde Barbara Mitchell, who usually assumes the role of the girl's spokeswoman, told me: "Last week we tried using wooden hoops, and now we've got bruises and aching backs. Now we're using plastic hoops, which are lighter but more difficult to get the hang of." Will they be using hoops in any dance routines? "I doubt it," said Leslie Cooper. "They are too unpredictable. Viewers wouldn't want to see girls with hoops round their ankles."

Cliff Richard

Born Harry Roger Webb on 14th October 1940 in Lucknow, India. Like several other of Britain's first rock and roll artists, Cliff Richard's professional career started at the 2 I's Coffee bar in London.

After a brief spell as a skiffler he began to model himself on his idol, Elvis Presley. With his group, 'The Drifters', a recording opportunity arose with Norrie Paramor - a producer at EMI. Paramor decided to use the young singer's talents to produce a version of the American teen ballad 'Schoolboy Crush'.

Fortunately, it was the other side of this disc that caught the attention of disc jockeys and the rock and roll entrepreneur Jack Good. The record, 'Move It', reached #2 in the UK chart and is now widely regarded as one of the finest examples of early UK rock and roll ever made.

Following the success of 'Move It' came a long string of hits. He made a number of successful musical movies including 'Summer Holiday' which was probably responsible for setting the seal on his long term image.

Despite the 'Beat boom' and the advent of the Beatles, Cliff managed to sustain his career, and gradually shifted his material to suit the growing maturity of his audience.

With chart hits in every decade since he first began professionally, Sir Cliff Richard must rate as one the most enduring artists ever to begin with rock and roll.

[A fantastic, clear, live shot of Cliff in action with The Drifters performing their 'synchronised leg-kicks']

[Another shot of Cliff et al from the same show]

[Cliff rocking' up a storm with The Drifters on Oh Boy! late 1958]

"His renditions of rock ‘n’ roll songs that were hits at the time were all things by Chuck Berry, Little Richard or Elvis Presley and they were immaculate. Not just his copies but in the spirit of the thing. He had an extraordinary vitality, terrific good looks and he was playing the music I liked anyway!"

Ian Samwell, BBC Interview, 1981

[Cliff on Oh Boy!]

[With Marty Wilde and Vince Eager on Oh Boy!]

[Going Wilde with Marty!]

By Paul Rumbol

Cliff was a charismatic performer who excited the nation with his raw and dynamic stage performances on ABC TV's Oh Boy!. Sadly this celluloid legacy has been lost. And any details of the shows are scant to say the least. So what did Cliff perform on Oh Boy! during these early pioneering days of television broadcasting?

I have tried sifting through what little remains of any evidence of this classic rock and roll series and the long forgotten memories of 44 years ago.

Good’s Impression

When Jack Good met Cliff in the first week of September 1958 he saw all the requisite ingredients of a star in the making. "He was malleable," said Good in a BBC interview in 1981. "I thought something could be done with this boy!"

Good is the man who originally taught Cliff the act of stagecraft. He ditched Cliff’s guitar, ordered him to shave off his corny side burns and tutored him in how to perform not only with his body but with his eyes. “I always got him to look up at the camera, head tilted down and the eyes up and the angled shoulders forward. Then suddenly grabbing his arm as if he’d been poked by some hypodermic syringe.

Cliff before Oh Boy!

We presented it as if it was beyond him not to be a smoulderer – yet he didn’t mean to be! That was the excitement! “He was very slim, very innocent looking but he couldn’t help being a smoulderer. He used to get fortunes in pennies – when a penny used to be a real sized penny – thrown at him on the stage by these angry boys. There would be girls falling about and going into hysterics and foaming at the mouth and these furious boys chucking these great pennies at Cliff. Poor fellow! They didn’t know it wasn’t his fault… had to wear this pink jacket and smoulder!”

“After Move It was a hit, the audience reaction was such that he couldn’t help but be exciting because he didn’t have to do anything. The spotlight just came on him and the whole audience went wild.”

The Statistics

Cliff Richard appeared in 20 of the 38 shows in total, 13 of them of them in 1958 with just 7 appearances during 1959, including the surviving final show of the entire series on Saturday 30th May 1959. Cliff’s most consistent appearances were during 1958 when he appeared in 13 of the 16 shows broadcast between 13th September and 27th December that year.
With his natural talent for rock and roll and brilliant voice he quickly became the series' star attraction, even evoking the Daily Mirror to comment in a centre page spread “Is this boy too sexy for television?”

Cliff’s success was further assured when an ill judged decision by agent Larry Parnes to withdraw his boy Marty Wilde from the series after just 6 shows in mid-October 1958 thrust Cliff into the centre spotlight and made him the 'star of the show.' Parnes had remonstrated with Good that Cliff was getting the best songs and stealing the limelight from his protégé. Parnes quickly regretted his decision but Wilde remained ostracised and off air for 16 weeks until 7th February 1959 (show no. 22) and missed out on the recording of the all important official Oh Boy! LP within days of his leaving.

Cliff was left centre stage to take the crown.

Cliff’s appearances on Oh Boy! during early 1959 were more sporadic. His agent Franklyn Boyd had secured Cliff a lucrative but gruelling package of live concert dates around the country (working 7 nights a week) between January and May 1959 and sadly Cliff was unable to commit the time demanded by Jack Good for his live Saturday 'Oh Boy!' broadcasts from the Hackney Empire in London.

Good was a known taskmaster during his rehearsals which usually took up one whole weekday (usually a Tuesday) and the entire Saturday - the day of the live broadcast.

Good said in 1981 “There was Cliff going off into the sticks making a few hundred pounds for himself singing ‘Living Doll’ or whatever, when he should have been on my show.”

Cliff’s career was about to rocket in a way he could never have imagined…and ahead of him would lie a gruelling and frenetic work schedule which would leave him exhausted and exasperated in December 1958 and ill and overworked with laryngitis by February 1959.

Indeed Cliff’s father, a stern man with a fiery temperament, accused Boyd of overworking and exploiting his son and in late January 1959, Boyd was sacked after just three months.

Cliff with Norrie Paramor and Ian Samwell in the control room of the Abbey Road studios listening to some of Cliff's recordings from the live LP Cliff.

Even though suffering from laryngitis - the show must go on!

Cliff was also due to record his first album 'live' in front of a selected teenage audience at the Abbey Road Studios, St. John's Wood, London, on two nights on 9th and 10th February 1959. It was sandwiched in between a full diary of theatre commitments and as a result of overwork Cliff developed laryngitis during the week he was due to make his important recording debut. Cliff still went ahead with the live album -- which has come to be regarded as a classic -- despite his dodgy throat during the two performances.

1959 Appearances

 In 1959 the remaining shows 17- 38 were broadcast (22 shows in total) but Cliff and his Drifters appeared in only 7 of them. Having intermittently appeared in two shows in January 1959 he was absent for five weeks - not returning until the important 7th March 1959 show (No. 26) which was the first recorded for American broadcast.

He had been due to take part in the 7th February show (which marked the return of Marty Wilde after a long absence, but Cliff had to cancel as he was laid low with ‘flu and laryngitis for nearly three weeks during February 1959.

Cliff was absent again during the whole of April whilst on his whistle-stop tour of theatres in England.

After his appearance on Show 29 (28th March 1959) he was off air for another five weeks until his return on 2nd May 1959 (show no. 34) when he sang both sides of his envisaged new single "Choppin' 'n' Changin" and "Dynamite" backed by the Drifters.

He also performed "Turn Me Loose" for the first time and sang duets with Marty Wilde and Alma Cogan. (see detailed 'Running Order' for this show)

Cliff returned for the penultimate 23rd May broadcast singing 'Mean Streak' (Cliff's new single suddenly chosen in favour over "Choppin' 'n' Changin'") and the very final show on 30 May 1959 which includes the now famous footage of "Turn Me Loose" (his second performance of this number in a month).

[If I was sandwiched between 2 Vernons Girls, I'd be smiling too!]

Cliff's Image

13 Sept. 1958

"C'mon pretty baby let's-a move it an'-a groove it"

Described as pure sex, Cliff dressed in tight black pants, black shirt, a broad-shouldered pink box jacket complimented with luminous pink socks and pink tie. He purposefully adopted this image when the Drifters backed him on moody rock and roll tracks but sometimes he just dressed in black trousers and a casual shirt - like 'his pyjama tops' for the final show.

What songs did Cliff sing during the series?

As each show lasted only 25 minutes and featured at least ten acts each week cramming in at least 15 songs there was only time for one solo performance from each of the guest artistes.

In addition the two or three featured solo performers of the week usually united for a song together in the second half and were also present for the show’s big opening and finale tracks featuring the entire cast on set with Lord Rockingham's XI.

Because of the paucity of information, detail of the contents of shows is subject to much conjecture and is reliant largely on the distant and faded memories of those fans who were teenagers back in 1958 (and who have reached, or are now approaching 70!).

Cliff sang two songs, 'Move It' and 'Don’t Bug Me Baby' for his television debut on the first show of the series on Saturday 13th September 1958, which was a generous gesture by Good to introduce his new star to the nation.

Cliff recalls his performance of 'Move It' (his first ever single) received “genteel applause” while the audience screamed for Marty. (Marty was already the star of Oh Boy! having appeared in the two late night pilots to the series which aired in June 1958.)

Cliff’s second song 'Don’t Bug Me Baby' was a fantastic rocker which Cliff was due to record at the Abbey Road Studios on Friday 3rd October 1958 and which was earmarked as his next intended single release.

Cliff gave a blistering live performance of this track on an early Saturday Club radio broadcast and on his first live debut album 'Cliff' in February 1959. Following his superlative performance of 'Don’t Bug Me baby' Cliff joined the entire cast for the show’s finale of 'Hoots Mon' - the current smash hit for Lord Rockingham's XI.

On the second Oh Boy! on Saturday 20th September Cliff supposedly sang 'Schoolboy Crush' (the B-side of 'Move It') according to one book source whose accuracy cannot be guaranteed. This twee cover of a Bobby Helm’s hit was originally released as the A-side having been selected for him by Cliff’s producer Norrie Paramor in July 1958.

 However on auditioning Cliff , Jack Good insisted Cliff sang 'Move It' or he didn’t want him at all. EMI in a swift change of policy flipped the single promoting the new title and relegating 'Schoolboy Crush' to the B-side. Considering Good’s dislike of the song it seems odd that he allowed Cliff to sing it in this second broadcast.

Cliff also performed songs from the officially released Oh Boy! album during the course of the series. But not all of them! Some were originally intended for Marty, including the opening title 'TV Hop' and closing title 'Somebody Touched Me'.

But when Parnes withdrew Marty from the series it was Cliff who was invited to step into Wilde's shoes! He sang 7 tracks on the LP, including the opening and closing titles, which was far more than any other of the featured artists.

During the series Cliff probably sung 'High School Confidential' (a Jerry Lee Lewis rocker), 'Rocking Robin' (Bobby Day hit), 'Early in the Morning' (Buddy Holly), 'I’ll Try' (the B side of Conway Twitty’s 'It’s Only Make Believe') which co-incidentally was a number Cliff also performed in his very early live shows and very likely in the series too.

Another superlative rocker Cliff performed in the 1958 shows was 'Whole Lotta Shakin Goin’ On' and an actual Oh Boy! still of him singing it is reproduced (right).

Cliff was a big Jerry Lee fan and it is probable that he sang 'Breathless' - which Cliff used for his demo recording in June 1958 and sang during his Butlins residency in August 1958. Cliff’s favourite Jerry Lee track was undoubtedly 'Down The Line'

This frenetic rocker gave Cliff the chance to show off some fancy footwork during the two instrumental breaks and generate genuine excitement amongst the screaming female audience. Cliff recorded this track many times in his early career and it is almost certain he sang it on Oh Boy!. It featured on his first live album 'Cliff' and also on the 'Me and My Shadows' Radio Luxembourg shows (1960) with two alternate takes.

But most importantly it has been preserved on film for posterity, on Cliff’s own Saturday Spectacular for the ATV network in July 1960. This is a classic early live performance much revered by many Cliff fans.

Elvis had to be featured in the series of course and Cliff was the obvious choice to sing the material. 'Baby I Don’t Care' and 'King Creole' were sure fire Cliff choices, the latter he performed in the second of his six part 'Cliff' series for ATV in February 1961.

Among the other cover titles Cliff regularly performed in 1958 /59 were 'My Babe' (Ricky Nelson) and the raucous 'Ready Teddy' (Little Richard) which were both featured on the 'Cliff' debut album. The latter he performed on the 1960 Royal Variety Show broadcast in May that year as well as in show three of the six part ATV 'Cliff' series in March 1961.

One fan with a retentive memory recalls Cliff singing both these tracks on Oh Boy!.

Another fan remembers Cliff performing 'Apron Strings' in the Spring of 1959, which was also on the aforementioned live 'Cliff' album and which eventually became the B-side of Cliff’s summer 1959 smash hit 'Living Doll.'

Concluding the cover versions, Cliff is very likely to have performed 'Twenty Flight Rock'. This Eddie Cochran classic formed an integral part of Cliff’s early stage act and he featured it in his 'Saturday Spectacular' for the ATV network in May 1960 – which was one of three shows he made for them that year!

Major Find

Cliff was keen on promoting both a and b sides of his hit singles on his TV shows. Apart from 'Move It' and 'Schoolboy Crush' (b-side) Cliff performed his second single 'High Class Baby' in early December 1958 and the third single 'Livin, Lovin Doll' – another rocker- in January or February 1959.

The most exciting news though relates to Cliff’s fourth single 'Mean Streak' – as a full clip of this track has been found in the old ABC archives! Cliff and the Drifters performance of 'Mean Streak' from the 23rd May 1959 edition of Oh Boy! was lifted for inclusion in a commemorative documentary made by ABC TV in April 1966 to mark their 10th anniversary in broadcasting.

This show called 'The ABC of ABC' (secondary title 'A Souvenir With Music') still survives and has been donated to the BFI in London where it is available for viewing on the premises.

In the first part of the programme, which is mostly a commentary on the social and cultural changes in Britain during the fifties and early sixties, co-presenter Eamonn Andrews introduces the full length performance of 'Mean Streak' from 'Oh Boy!' with this commentary about the cast. “They opened the floodgates to a golden future. Did they see themselves as shock troops, as symbols of a new way of life?”

The classic clip features a mean and moody looking Cliff in his pink jacket flanked by the Drifters at the rear of the stage. During the song’s instrumental break the circular spotlight hits the Drifters in the distance while Cliff deftly executes some 'Elvis moves' in shadow in the foreground. Sadly the full show from which this excerpt was taken, is lost presumed wiped, along with the rest of the series.

In conclusion, vintage performances of all of Cliff’s first 4 single releases during 'Oh Boy’s' run as well as some great cover versions of rock and roll favourites were all performed 'live' during the series. There were probably at least 22 full solo performances and probably just as many duets sung in the second half with the other artists! And to think its all been lost for over 40 years.

On those rare occasions television pays brief homage to the series and clips are shown of Cliff singing 'Turn Me Loose' for the umpteenth time (which is the only surviving footage from the final show) just remember the classic performances recalled here in this feature and think what might have been saved had Britain’s television companies not been so careless and inept in the handling of its film archives!

Recording 'High Class Baby' among others.

It is without question a monumental and tragic loss!

Cliff Richard & The Drifters (formed in May 1958) personnel over the next year:

Cliff Richard lead vocals, guitar (May 1958 - Jul 1959) (ex The Quintones, The Dick Teague Skiffle Group); Terry Smart drums (May 1958 - Jan 1959) (born Terence Smart, 1942); Ian 'Sammy' Samwell guitar (May - Sep 1958, Oct 1958) (born Ian Ralph Samwell, 19.1.1937, in Lambeth, South-east London died on 13th March 2003, in Sacramento, California, USA) (ex The Ash Valley Skiffle Group); Ken Pavey guitar (May - Sep 1958); Norman Mitham guitar (born 1941) (to The Sundowners, Danny King and the Bluejacks, 1959 - 1961, Jimmy Virgo and the Bluejacks, 1961 - late 1963, Kenny Lee and the Mark Four late 1963 - Jan 1964); Hank B. Marvin lead guitar (Oct 1958 - Jan 1959) (born Brian Robson Rankin, at 138 Stanhope Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland) (ex The Five Chesternuts, Jun - Sep 1958, The Vipers, Sep 1958); Bruce Welch rhythm guitar (Oct 1958 - Jan 1959) (born Bruce Cripps, 2.11.1941, in Bognor Regis, Sussex) (ex The Five Chesternuts, Jun - Sep 1958); Jet Harris bass (Nov 1958 - Jan 1959) (born Terence Harris, 6.7.1939, in Honeypot Lane, Kingsbury, North-west London) (ex The Vipers).

What follows is a brief outline as to who Cliff Richard & The Drifters were, where they came from and what they evolved into!

First we must go back to Cliff, then known by his real name of Harry Webb, before the Oh Boy! TV show was conceived. Harry (Cliff) would hang out at the 2 I's Coffee Bar in Old Compton Street in London's West End - as did a whole host of other young hopefuls - all aspiring to be the next new 'Pop Idol' with a hit record at number one in the Charts, a brand new sports car and enough cash to buy their parents a new house!

[L-R: Terry Smart, Harry Webb, Ian Samwell & Norman Mitham
downstairs in the cellar beneath the 2 I's Coffee Bar]

This particular coffee bar was one of the breeding grounds, an important ingredient of the 'primeval soup', of the newly emerging British teenage music cult which comprised of youngsters imitating, initially, the singing stars across the 'big pond' who were making it big with a new style of music called Rock 'n' Roll.

[L-R: Terry, Harry & Ian playing at Butlins Holiday Camp, Clacton, 1958]

In that magic year of 1958, a group calling themselves 'The Railroaders' left Newcastle to take part in a talent contest in London. Such was the lure of the excitement in the teen music scene in London that two of the band's members decided to remain, and began to frequent the 'hottest place in town', the 2I's Coffee Bar. Those two young men were Hank Marvin and his pal Bruce Welch.

Later that same year, Cliff's manager went to the 2I's to check out a guy called Tony Sheridan as a possible lead guitarist to back Cliff on his forthcoming UK tour as one of the supporting acts to Chart toppers The Kalin Twins from America. Instead he signed up both Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch!

Now we have the essential 'Drifters' consisting of:

• Hank Marvin: Lead guitar
• Bruce Welch: Rhythm guitar
• Ian Samwell: Bass guitar
• Terry Smart: Drums

[Cliff & Ian Samwell - Sept./Oct. 1958 || Hank & Bruce on Oh Boy!]

In October 1958, Ian Samwell left the group to be replaced by Jet Harris who had been on the Kalin Twins tour as part of The Most Brothers. In fact Jet was already well known to the group because he had guested with The Drifters on that very same tour.

[The Whole Gang!
Cliff with The Drifters backstage
Back L-R: Terry Smart, Bruce Welch
Front L-R: Jet Harris and Hank Marvin]

[A rare shot of Cliff, Hank and Bruce
in Cliff's Marylebone apartment.]

In February 1959, drummer Terry Smart, the last of the 'originals', left and was replaced by Tony Meehan.

In July of 1959, The Drifters had to change their name because Cliff and The Drifters were on a US tour when the established American Drifters took out a court injunction to stop Cliff's backing group from using their name. A new name was quickly conjured up and henceforth The Drifters became...

"The Shadows"

The rest, as they say, is history!

 Compered by Jimmy Henney and Tony Hall