On Tuesday 18th August 1959 ABC announce that Oh Boy will be replaced with a new
series Boy Meets Girls. The new show would again be produced by Jack Good with Rita
Gillespie directing. The ‘boy’ was Marty Wilde and the ‘girls’ The Vernons Girls
singing group, all sixteen of them, who would be the weekly regulars.
From the TV Times "Oh Boy meets girls When Oh Boy comes bounding back to the screen
next Saturday, it will have a new title and revised format. The new title is Boy
Meets Girls, and the boy is Marty Wilde, who will compere as well as sing. The Vernons
Girls will be featured more. "The techniques will be about the same as for Oh Boy,
but the pace will be more varied," producer-deviser Jack Good tells me. The aim is
to appeal to the whole family. Bill Shepherd will be the musical director, and such
stalwarts as Lord Rockingham's Xl, Red Price, Cherry Wainer and Don Storer will be
back" but this time we will have a Dixieland sound, and we are calling the band The
Firing Squad," says Jack."
The show was similar in concept to Oh Boy! with a new backing group Jack Good’s Firing
Squad, however organist Cherry Wainer and saxophonist Red Price were retained from
the previous show. It also kept the same production team. Bill Shepherd was hired
as the musical director, Leslie Cooper was the ‘dance director’ and Trevor Peacock
was held over from Oh Boy as the script writer. Wainer would also bring along her
miniature poodle, Lotus Lee. One of the girls, Margaret Stredder would be given a
solo spot and a duet with Marty Wilde. Bill Shepherd said of her "This girl is so
dedicated to the business that she must one day be a star." She would later form
the legendary backing singers The Ladybirds, who appeared in every British variety
show from Top Of The Pops to The Benny Hill Show.
Melody Maker quoted ABC's Ron Rowson "We shall also feature American stars each week.
The show will be quieter and smoother and will not move at the same frantic pace
as 'Oh Boy'." Good said "The show will be designed to appeal to the older brothers
and sisters as well as the teenagers."
Talking to Disc ahead of the first show Good claimed ".. probably the most noticeable
thing will be that the programme will not be a frantic bash-bash-bash affair. Wild
rock n roll will still have a firm place. But the onslaught of one number on the
heels of another will no longer be a feature. You will be told the names of artistes
and what they are singing." Explaining the new direction Good said "There is no doubt
that the balance of power in popular music has changed. Five out of the American
Top Ten records have orchestrations that employ strings. Melody counts. Lyrics count.
There is a much wider variety of successful records. Nowadays you have to tickle
the public's fancy, not bash it into submission." In a TV Times article four weeks'
into the show's run Good responded to criticism that the show had been toned down
musically. "Rock n roll is not as overwhelming as it was. But there is nothing sudden
about the change. Popular music is tending to become more melodic and less frantic.
The arrangements are sweeter and the whole atmosphere is different - like the new
show. We are out to capture the elder brothers and sisters of the teenagers. And
the mums and dads too." Wilde, talking to Melody Maker claimed "I am approaching
21 and I think it's about time that I branched out as an all round performer. I want
to drop most of the rock stuff and do the real, class ballad stuff like Sinatra.
On the new series I shall be singing and compereing. But I must confess that I'm
worried to death. It is the biggest thing I have attempted and it could make or break
me. But I don't think I will flop as I never, never admit defeat."
Good later tells Disc magazine that half of the shows are live, while the other half
are video taped. The first show was broadcast from ABC's Didsbury, Manchester studios,
but may move down to Teddington, Middlesex later on.
After a run-in with guest Johnny Cash house band guitarist Joe Brown was fired, only
to be reinstated once Cash had found out what had happened. British rockers Adam
Faith, Jess Conrad, Billy Fury were frequent guests while Eddie Cochran and Gene
Vincent appeared on the show as they were on a current Larry Parnes backed UK tour.
Parnes and Good had an arrangement to promote each other's current ventures - Parnes'
tours plugged by Good's TV show, with Good managing to get his name as Producer on
posters for Parnes' tours. Other American rockers like Freddie Cannon and Ronnie
Hawkins also made an appearance, while Jerry Keller, Bobby Darin and Frankie Avalon
had been approached to appear.
Cliff Richard publishes an autobiography, It's Great To Be Young, in October 1960
and makes the claim that Jack Good resented Cliff for not wanting to appear on Boy
Meets Girl. Although Good suggests to Melody Maker before the first show that Cliff
wanted too much money "He wanted more money than we could afford to pay. Maybe later
on we will be able to meet his terms."
By late October the first evidence that something was wrong was when the show was
dropped by TWW in favour of the imported from America Nat King Cole Show, starting
7th November. ABC Programme Controller told Melody Maker "The dropping of 'Boy Meets
Girls' only applies to the TWW area and not to the rest of the country. The show
has not flopped. It just happens that TWW wanted to do something different." The
Stage weekly paper suggested "The move ought to make other companies sit up and think."
Jack Good told Melody Maker "Current viewing figures show that it is pulling in even
more viewers than 'Oh Boy!' did. There has been quite a swing in public taste. Viewers
have now accepted the quieter 'Boy Meets Girls' as opposed to the faster, noisier
'Oh Boy!'"
Despite his run in with Johnny Cash the show was an important vehicle for guitarist
Joe Brown. Signed to Decca as a solo act his musicianship, and cropped hair-do, made
him stand out and he was kept after the mid-run putsch. He also had a speaking role
each week in a cross-talk routine with host Wilde. His first Decca 45 in November
1959 had both sides written by Pomus and Shuman, both of whom appeared on the show
that month.
In mid-November 1959 the show had been given the front cover of the TV Times, suggesting
that maybe the show needed an extra promotional push, but also suggesting a commitment
and that ITV were not showing it the door just yet.
Halfway through the run director Gillespie left the show to be replaced by Ben Churchill
who had previously worked on ABC's Top Numbers and Sunday Break. The house band was
reduced in size leaving guitarists Eric Ford and Joe Baker, drummer Andy White, saxophonist
Red Price, plus Cherry Wainer and Don Storer and a new bassist. The string section
was also mothballed, along with the piano player. The new look would come into effect
with the 12th December show. The most drastic change was that the 300-strong audience
was to be removed while a new set design was also employed. Jack Good told Melody
Maker "The programme had turned out to be too much like 'Oh Boy' I intend to make
it a much more intimate show. There is so much going on outside camera range. And
I don't think this is a good thing. That is why I am dropping the out-of-vision string
section. I've no complaints about the sound, but it gives the viewers a sense of
being kidded. In future, the show will be staged from one rostrum only - instead
of covering a vast studio. So I have tried to cut the Firing Squad to get them all
in the picture. There will now be less dashing around the studio by all the artists.
I shall group them together more so that they can create their own atmosphere rather
than bask in the atmosphere generated by a teenage audience." Talking about the changes
musical director Bill Shepherd told TV Times "All musicians have a desire to play
other instruments and to sing. I hope with the new format I will be able to give
the boys a chance to expand. Who knows, we may yet see Joe Brown taking over Red
Price's saxophone." It was also the idea to introduce the members of the band as
individual personalities. Good was also negotiating to get Little Richard and Bill
Haley to appear on the show in the new year.
Before the re-boot Marty Wilde marries Joyce Baker from The Vernons Girls on 2nd
December, necessitating her withdrawal from the group. The rock and roll quota was
toned down after the change and more ballads introduced, but Jack Good avowed to
reverse the decision before the show was cancelled. Marty Wilde couldn't commit to
any more shows from April onwards so Good proposed a new show and format, Wham!
Despite the uncertainties and re-boot in March 1960 the show was voted Top TV Show
in the Melody Maker annual poll.
In September 1960 Jack Good tells readers of Disc that the tapes of the show have
already been destroyed "because of the high cost of storage", however ABC engineer
Ron Parker had made high quality audio recordings, several of which have been released
by United Artists and Rockstar Records. In 2024 a 3CD set, Mighty Good - Boy Meets
Girls was released featuring yet more of the TV soundtracks.
