Janice Nicholls. Remember the name from the 1960s? A teenager who gave her verdict on new record releases. Her ratings were out of five, and if she liked one, she’d say enthusiastically, ‘Oi’ll give it foive’. Her weekly appearances were on ATV’s Thank Your Lucky Stars, hosted by Brian Matthew. Her catchphrase was immortalised in song. I don’t know if she ever reviewed it herself, and it was completely ignored by the record buying public. But here’s your chance to give it a score!
Oi’ll give it foive – Janice Nicholls – my copy on a pre-release demo whirring away on my Dansette.
Out of five – how many?
Oddly, many people confuse her with being on Juke Box Jury, another record review show, but on BBC and hosted by David Jacobs. (It’s a raging debate on Facebook‘s London in the ’60s and ’70s!) But on that show, four panelists would assess whether a record would be a hit or a miss. Its theme tune, by the John Barry Seven plus four, was aptly named . . . Hit & Miss. And unlike Ms Nicholl’s offering, this record was a hit (No. 10 in 1960).
John Barry* went on to write the Bond theme (amongst many other film tunes). Janice Nicholls apparently went on to a life of podiatry. (*Fact check – oh no, he didn’t. See comments below!)
If you’ve not had enough nostalgia, there’s loads online about the programmes, though not much about Janice.
And if you like music and a story that, according to one reader is ‘a gorgeous hug of a book,’ my novel, Homeward Bound is still available to buy.
Sadly… I am old enough to remember both TV Shows “Juke Box Jury” and “Thank Your Lucky Stars” which were a must watch in their day. They were rating real talent by genuine artists. I doubt if that format of TV Show would work today amongst the “X-Factor” and “Britain’s Got Talent” generation who seem to adore karaoke performances by endless wannabes. Even better than watching these types of music shows on TV is to immerse yourself in a good book about characters who love their music. I recommend ” Homeward Bound ” by Richard Smith….buy it, read it….. you won’t regret it!
“Don’t know if she ever reviewed it herself” – didn’t she do that in the very last line of her record?
Quite right – she says it’s ‘crummy’!
Very interesting! But the James Bond theme was written by Monty Norman, not John Barry.
Too right! Thanks and sorry, sloppy checking on my part. If I’d written Barry ‘went on to write Bond themes for ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘You Only Live Twice’ I’d have been safe – or that he recorded the original Monty Norman theme and had a top 20 hit with it in 1963. But I didn’t, so apologies and it’s a fair cop! But in checking (eventually!) I see that ‘From Russia With Love’ was written by Lionel Bart. I didn’t remember that.