Cliff at rehearsals in striped shirt



Cliff adds a white tie to the striped shirt and is all set for the real show on the 7th of March 1959 -seen above with guest singer, Marion Ryan. (Her only appearance in the 'Oh Boy!' run)

Thanks to Jack Good himself, we now have the rehearsal schedules for the two trial "Oh Boy!"shows. They were shown only in certain regions of the UK on Sunday 15th and Sunday 29th of June 1958 going out at 10.50pm.
**(NB: Some of the artists listed below may not have appeared in the final broadcasts (see note below)

REHEARSAL SCHEDULE FOR TRIAL SHOW #1

2pm. - 6pm. Vernons Girls " " Ted Taylor " " Don Lang " " Dallas Boys " " Bertice Reading " " 2nd Vocal Group " " John Barry

**As you will quickly notice, all the artists rehearsed their songs about three months before the shows were actually televised, therefore it is still uncertain as to whether ALL of the listed artists DID appear. It is possible that one or two dropped out before the shows went on air, to be replaced (or not) by other singers such as Dudley Heslop (Cuddly Dudley) for example. As more information comes to light, the website will be updated.

REHEARSAL SCHEDULE FOR TRIAL SHOW #2

REHEARSAL SCHEDULE FOR SHOWS #1 & #2 Tuesday 9th September 1958

References in text:

First Eleven: Lord Rockingham's XI
Second Eleven: Dallas Boys, Cliff, Marty etc. and the rest of the cast.

The first rehearsal for the new series of “Oh Boy” was held at the 'Four Provinces of Ireland Club' at 13, Canonbury Lane, London N1, for the entire day on Tuesday 9th September 1958.

All the cast had to be set up and instruments tuned in time for the 10am start and the rehearsals lasted until 6pm that evening. The schedule below was for the complete first show and the lion’s share of the second. Lord Rockingham's XI, who formed the musical backbone of the series, had to plan more in advance than some of the self contained groups like Cliff Richard and the Drifters or solo artists like Cuddly Dudley, hence they are strongly represented in this initial rehearsal with ample material to fill the two weeks. In the following week, Cliff and the Drifters returned to practice the songs for their second show (unknown) and artists like Cuddly Dudley would arrive clasping their written arrangements to practice with the band. As in this initial rehearsal Cliff and the Drifters would be the first to set up and practice their standard two numbers in just half an hour in order to clear the decks for the big band rehearsals of Lord Rockingham's XI.