Oh Boy!

1958 - 1959

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. Good had previously produced 6.5 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 allowed Good to make two pilot all-music shows, which were only broadcast in the Midlands. These pilots were successful, so the programme was given a national ITV slot on Saturday evenings, from 6.00 – 6.30 PM, in direct competition with 6.5 Special, but starting slightly earlier. 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. Each week Oh Boy! featured resident artists plus a selection of special guests. The residents included Cuddly Dudley, who sang on 21 shows, Cliff Richard, The Drifters, Marty Wilde, and The Dallas Boys. Guests included Billy Fury, Tony Sheridan, Shirley Bassey and Lonnie Donegan; with occasional US stars, such as The Inkspots, Conway Twitty and Brenda Lee. The solo artists were supported by a specially created house band Lord Rockingham's XI, who went on to have hits in their own right, including a No 1 single "Hoots Mon". Performers were also supported by the singing and dancing of The Vernons Girls, the Dallas Boys and Neville Taylor's Cutters