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Saturday 4th

'OH BOY!' SHOW # 4 (Compered by Tony Hall)

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 & The Drifters
Marty Wilde
Ronnie Carroll
Vince Eager
Don Lang

Cliff Richard returns for his third appearance after missing the previous week’s show to find his first single “Move It” has entered the charts at number 19. Jack got him to perform it again and the audience went wild. Cliff recalls his memories of this show in his 1977 autobiography “Which One’s Cliff?”

“Despite all the careful preparation the first 'Oh Boy!' appearance didn’t rouse a murmur. Marty Wilde got screams, I got genteel applause. A newspaper review the following day didn’t mention my name but referred to a ‘sour-faced young man, apparently chewing gum.’ That was me singing!” “Then, suddenly, 'Move It!' made the charts and everything changed. Three weeks later  (4th October) I did 'Oh Boy!' again and I couldn’t hear myself sing for the screams. I wore the same outfit, sang the same song in the same scowly way. One week nothing, the next I was nearly torn to bits and couldn’t get out of the studio.”

Vince Eager and Marty Wilde perform The Everly Brothers song "Bird Dog" together.

A callboy, Jeremy Hoare, was permitted by Jack Good to film the rehearsals and he has uploaded his material onto Youtube.

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Sunday 5th

Cliff Richard begins a 12-date tour with the Kalin Twins at the Victoria Hall, Hanley. This was the first time Cliff and the new Drifters (later known as the Shadows) performed live together.

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Monday 6th

Cliff versus Marty row makes headline news. Marty Wilde’s agent Larry Parnes complains to Jack Good that Cliff Richard is getting the best songs to sing and receiving more publicity than Marty Wilde. He once again threatens to withdraw Marty from the series after the 18th October show. Jack Good suspected Parnes of being greedy, as his stable of stars already dominated the series. So Jack cheerfully released Marty who had wanted to remain, leaving Cliff solely as the main star attraction.

Parnes was to quickly regret the decision but although a reconciliation was eventually reached between the two men, Marty was to remain off air for over three and a half months, not returning to “Oh Boy!”  until 7th February 1959.

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Saturday 11th

'OH BOY!' SHOW # 5 (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 & The Drifters
'Cuddly' Dudley
Ronnie Carroll
Valerie Shane

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Saturday 18th

'OH BOY!' SHOW # 6 (Compered by Tony Hall)

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:
Terry Dene
Marty Wilde
Ronnie Carroll
John Barry Seven
Jackie Dennis

Cliff Richard had been billed to appear on “Oh Boy!” this evening but due to a mix up with dates was unable to appear on the show. They appeared at the Rialto, York, instead, which was Cliff’s penultimate booking on the Kalin Twins tour which had begun on the 5th October. Terry Dene deputized at short notice for Cliff, and he rehearsed and appeared in the show within 24 hours of being asked.

Marty Wilde makes his final 'Oh Boy!' appearance for three and a half months, not returning until 7th February 1959.

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Sunday 19th

The 'Oh Boy!' official LP was recorded before a specially invited audience on the evening of Sunday 19th October 1958 at the Abbey Road Studios, St. John's Wood, London.

Cliff Richard and Peter Elliott were otherwise committed to live bookings on the 19th and recorded their tracks for the album at Abbey Road Studios on Tuesday 21st October. Cliff and The Drifters were appearing at the Colston Hall in Bristol…which was the final night of the Kalin Twins tour.

The LP was released on the UK Parlophone label: PMC 1072 in December 1958.

(See Oh Boy! LP for cover, label scans and track listings) [RR: create LINK!!!]

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Friday 24th

The NME announces that the “Oh Boy!” series has been extended a further 3 months to run until the end of March 1959 and that Tommy Steele had been booked to appear on the 1st November show:

"Oh Boy!" is a hit! It has been booked to continue until at least next March. And next week the show presents the first TV appearance of Tommy Steele for four months. Contracts are not yet signed, but Tommy has agreed to appear on the show next Saturday if he can fit in the date with his other commitments, which are not expected to provide dificulties. He had not planned any more television appearances this year, but agreed to do the show for Jack Good. Steele appeared in the early '6.5 Special' programme, which Good originated. They carried both singer and show to a peak wave of success.

Good is also hoping to use an American singer in future "Oh Boy!" programmes. She is Edna McGriff, who was unknown here until the beginning of March, when her first records were released by the Gala low-price label. She has quickly established herself as the labels principal artist and Gala chief Monty Lewis is planning to bring her to Britain for TV and other dates. Exact time of her visit cannot be arranged as she has just had a baby. "I certainly hope to get her for "Oh Boy!" as soon as she can come over," Good told the NME.

Both developments came at the same time as ABC-TV decided to extend the run of the programme. Due to end on December 6, the company has booked it for at least thirteen more weeks. It will continue to be seen on the entire ITV network at 6p.m. on Saturdays, but the producer has not yet had time to consider any possible cast changes for the extended period. Making a TV debut in tomorrow's show is Tony Scott's Cha-Cha Band, appearing with Don Lang, making his second showing on the programme.

Cliff Richard returns tomorrow after his absence last week, when a conflict of dates meant he had to appear at a York concert instead. The surprise deputy was Terry Dene who rehearsed and appeared in the show within 24 hours of being asked.

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Saturday 25th

'OH BOY!' SHOW # 7 (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 & The Drifters
Peter Elliott
Tony Scott's Cha-Cha Band
Don Lang

For the first time Cliff Richard and the new Drifters are given star billing and close the show. Audience response was so wild Good placed Cliff at the top of the bill for all of Cliff’s remaining 8 appearances until the end of the year. (1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd November and 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th December 1958).

Ronnie Carroll, who left the series last week, begins a 6 week residency on the rival '6.5 Special' TV show on the BBC. He is replaced by balladeer Peter Elliott who is booked until the end of the year.

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.

Order now (click this line)!

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