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Rehearsals
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 the Midlands region 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

THURSDAY 16th MARCH 1958
2pm. - 5pm.
Bertice Reading
3pm. - 6pm.
Jack Good Band
All Day
Dallas Boys
  "    "
Ted Taylor
  "    "
Jackie Dennis
  "    "
Jeremy Lubock
  "    "
Marty Wilde
  "    "
John Barry
TUESDAY 18th MARCH 1958
Morning
Don Lang
Morning & Afternoon
2nd Vocal Group
Morning & 2pm. - 3pm.
Ted Taylor
Morning
Leslie Cooper
2pm. - 6pm.
Bertice Reading
2pm. - 6pm.
Don Lang
3pm. - 6pm
John Barry Seven
All Day
John Barry
All Day
Stan Dallas
SUNDAY 23rd MARCH 1958
Morning
Bertice Reading
All Day
Marty Wilde
2pm. - 6pm.
Jackie Dennis
2pm. - 6pm.
Jeremy Lubock
All Day
Dallas Boys
All Day
John Barry
MONDAY 24th MARCH 1958
Recording for Vernons Girls & John Barry Seven at E.M.I. all the morning
2pm. - 6pm.
Vernons Girls
  "           "
Ted Taylor
  "           "
Don Lang
  "           "
Dallas Boys
  "           "
Bertice Reading
  "           "
2nd Vocal Group
  "           "
John Barry
TUESDAY 25th MARCH 1958
11am. - 2pm.
Jack Good Band
    "          "
Jackie Dennis
    "          "
Marty Wilde
    "          "
Jeremy Lubock
    "          "
Bertice Reading
    "          "
Dallas Boys
    "          "
John Barry
    "          "
2nd Vocal Group
    "          "
Don Lang
    "          "
Vernons Girls
    "          "
John Barry
    "          "
Stan Dallas
WEDNESDAY 26th MARCH 1958
All Day
Jack Good Band
  "    "
Jackie Dennis
  "    "
Marty Wilde
  "    "
Jeremy Lubock
  "    "
Bertice Reading
  "    "
Dallas Boys
  "    "
John Barry Seven
  "    "
2nd Vocal Group
  "    "
Don Lang
  "    "
Vernons Girls
  "    "
Leslie Cooper
**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

WEDNESDAY 11th JUNE 1958
  9.30am.
Vernons Girls, Dallas Boys, Jackie Dennis, Marty Wilde, Kerry Martin.
10.30am.
The Cutters.
11.00am.
Ronnie Carroll.
11.30am.
Bertice Reading.
12.00noon
LUNCH BREAK.
1.00pm.
Lord Rockingham's XI, Jackie Dennis.
1.30pm.
Vernons Girls, Dallas Boys.
1.45pm.
Marty Wilde, The Cutters.
2.00pm
Ronnie Carroll.
2.30pm
Bertice Reading.
2.45pm.
John Barry Seven, Kerry Martin.
3.30pm.
Lord Rockingham's XI & Bertice Reading leave, rest of cast continue.
5.15pm.
End of rehearsal.


******************************************

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.

FIRST REHEARSAL

Time
Group
Track Titles Rehearsed
10.00am.
Cliff Richard & the Drifters
1.Don’t Bug Me Baby
2.Move It!
10.25am
Dudley Heslop
Do You Want To Dance
10.40am
Marty Wilde & Dallas Boys
MEDLEY:
Baby I Don’t Care/ Think It Over/
Poor Little Fool /Rocky Road Blues.
12 noon
Marty Wilde, Dallas Boys &
Vernons Girls
Somebody Touched Me
12.30pm
LUNCH
1.30pm
Lord Rockingham's XI
1. Patricia
2. Daddy
1.50pm
Neville Taylor and The Cutters
& Lord Rockingham's XI
1. Yakety Yak
2. Oh What a Feeling
2.30pm
Ronnie Carroll, The Cutters,
Vernons Girls
& Lord Rockingham's XI
Seven Steps To Love
3.00pm
2 Vernons Girls
Rock and Stroll
3.30pm
Lord Rockingham's XI
MEDLEY ONE:
Fried Onions/Tom Hark
MEDLEY TWO:
Splish Splash / You Shocked Me
4.00pm
TEABREAK
4.20pm
Lord Rockingham's XI,
Second Eleven (Entire Cast)
1. Flippin’ Dumplins’
2. Hoots Mon
4.50pm
Run Through Show 1
5.20pm
Run Through Show 2
6.00pm
End of Schedule

THE SCHEDULE , SECOND REHEARSAL
Saturday 13th September 1958  Hackney Empire.
Transmission Time: 6.00pm.
8.30am
All Artists present. Preliminary sound check and balance
10.00am
Rehearse Bands and Artists
11.00am – 1.00pm
Rehearsals (Vision Only)
1.00pm
Final Sound Balance
1.30pm
Second Eleven, John Barry Seven and All Artists Present
2.00pm
Rehearsal Sound & Vision (all rehearsals held at
Four Provinces of Ireland Club, 13, Canonbury
Lane, London, N1. Telephone: CAN 5820
6.00pm
Live Transmission
Dated: 26th August 1958