Oh Boy! was the first teenage all-music show on British TV, airing in 1958 and 1959. It was produced by Jack Good for ITV.
Synopsis
Good had previously produced Six-Five Special for the BBC Television, but wanted to drop the sport and public-service content from this show and concentrate on the music. The BBC would not accept this, so Good resigned.
ABC Weekend TV allowed Good to make two pilot all-music shows, which were broadcast on the ITV network, 10.50-11.20pm, on Sunday 15 and Sunday 29 June 1958.[1] These pilots were successful, so the programme was given an ITV slot on Saturday evenings, from 6.00pm – 6.30pm, in direct competition with 6.5 Special, but starting slightly earlier.[2]
The hosts were Tony Hall, a jazz record producer and critic, and Jimmy Henney, and the artists covered a broad spectrum of music including ballads, jazz, skiffle and rock and roll. The show was broadcast live from the Hackney Empire.
Eight episodes were re-broadcast in the US, but only three of the 38 shows (or 40 shows including the two pilots) still exist. The last of the original shows was broadcast in the UK on 30 May 1959.[4] At the end of that final show, it was announced that the programme was taking a break for the summer but would return on 12 September.[5] However, in the event it was a successor series also produced by Good, Boy Meets Girls starring Marty Wilde, which began its run on that date.[6]
The show was revived in 1979 for the retro rock and roll stars of the day. This time the show included Shakin' Stevens, Alvin Stardust, Joe Brown, Lulu, Mr. Lee Grant, Freddie 'Fingers' Lee, Les Gray, Tim Whitnall, Johnny Storm (now performing with the Johnny Storm Band), the Shades and Fumble. Joe Brown was the only one of the artists who was performing across the UK in the 1950s to appear on the 1970s Oh Boy! show. Alvin Stardust first emerged on the 1950s scene as Shane Fenton and the Fentones. The presenter of the show was "GBH", alias of Scottish actor Billy Hartman.
Following the Oh Boy! TV show, a similar series, Let's Rock, was created also by Good. The shows were broadcast across Europe and in the US in the early 1980s.
The album was arranged by Oh Boy! musical director Harry Robinson and recorded by EMI's Norman Newell before a live audience on 19 October 1958, except for Cliff Richard's vocal tracks which were recorded two nights later by EMI's Malcolm Addey and added to the backing tracks recorded at the earlier session. The recordings were made at EMI's Abbey Road Studios.[7][8]
References
^Weekend TV listings in The Times for 14 June 1958 and 28 June 1958, retrieved 29 April 2021