Although many people think Cliff Richard's first album was the live set he recorded, backed by the Drifters, at Abbey Road Studio 2 in front of an invited audience of 200 fans in February 1959, simply titled Cliff, and released two months later, his first appearance on LP, was in fact on Jack Good's Oh Boy! soundtrack album of the hit TV show that was released on EMI's Parlophone label in October 1958, six months before his own debut album appeared the following year, so not only is Cliff celebrating the 60th anniversary of his first single, Move It, this year, but also his first appearance on an LP, that he shared with other artists from the show. What is remarkably interesting though, is that Cliff had more tracks on the album than any of the other artists featured. But perhaps that shouldn't be surprising when you consider this was the show that launched Cliff as "the boy who was going to rock the world!" Out of the twenty four selections, seven were by Cliff, while the rest of the album was made up by numbers from the other show regulars such as the John Barry Seven, the Dallas Boys, Vince Eager, Peter Elliot, Cuddly Dudley, Neville Taylor and the Cutters, and the Vernon Girls.
When I was working on upgrading Cliff's catalogue for EMI with Peter Lewry, this was one of the albums we suggested should be put out as a special edition with bonus tracks, but sadly there were licensing issues due to getting clearances on the tracks by the other featured artists, despite the fact they had reissued the album a couple of times before, in the late seventies, through their own budget and mid price MFP (Music For Pleasure) label. Although we were unsuccessful in persuading them to re-release the original album, or produce a special edition, we did manage to include all the tracks that Cliff had recorded for the album on Disc 4 of the Rock 'n' Roll Years box set in 1997. What many may not realise is that Cliff was not at the recording session in Abbey Road's Studio 2 along with everyone else on the evening that the album was recorded as he was playing Colston Hall in Bristol as one of the support acts on the Kalin Twins package tour, so he went into Studio 2 to record his seven tracks for the LP two nights later, all of which he had performed in various episodes of the TV show, and like the rest of the album were taped without an audience, even though it was marketed as if there was.
To celebrate this milestone, below are Jack Good's original album liner notes...
This recording was made in one session on the evening of October 19, 1958, the day before ABC Television had transmitted the sixth edition of 'Oh Boy!' and already the show was a smash hit. The number of viewers had doubled. Stage shows and films were being mooted. And now the L.P. In six short weeks 'Oh Boy!' had grown to the stature that '6.5 Special' had taken nine months to achieve. For, by an odd coincidence, October 19, 1958 marked to a day the first anniversary of the session at which the '6.5 Special' LP was made. And at that time '6.5 Special' had been running nine months. Both discs were made by Norman Newell and at both sessions I held a watching brief as producer of the television programme concerned. The difference of these two occasions formed a clear reflection of the changes that have taken place in the world of popular music.
A year ago we were at the height of the coffee bar era. The music was frantic, erratic and, for the most part, it had an intimate and amateur flavour. Nowadays the whole thing has become much more streamlined and professional. The music is no longer improvised to the large extent that it was. All the "Oh Boy" numbers are carefully and brilliantly arranged by our MD, Harry Robinson. Melody is now playing a much more important role - though the beat is just as insistent and exciting. Singers are currently set a much higher standard than in the early rock days. They are expected to count bars and sing in key, two things formerly regarded as frivolous refinements.
Summing all this up, the '6.5 Special' LP session had the excitement and hubbub of a jumble sale; the "Oh Boy" session had the excitement and organisation of a rocket launching. All the artists and all the numbers on this record have been featured pm the actual show and, just as in the programme, we race from one item to another without pause. It was a very happy recording session. The audience has a whale of a time (as you can hear) - so did the artists. But then they always do. It is such a friendly team that every rehearsal and transmission is like a party. That this atmosphere has been vividly captured by the L.P. is a tribute not only to the skill of those at E.M.I. who created it, but also to the imagination, faith - and, dare I say, courage? - of A.B.C Television who gave the "Oh Boy" show a chance to prove itself on the millions of television screens it serves.
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