‘Oi’ll give it foive.’ Juke Box Jury or Thank Your Lucky Stars?

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!

‘I love Elvis and his pelvis . . . Mantovani drives me barmy . . . The Everly Brothers and the others . . .’
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).

Hit & Miss – John Barry Seven plus four, this one spinning on my Rock-Ola Tempo jukebox. This is the model originally used on Juke Box Jury – but with the letters ROCK-OLA covered over because of the BBC’s rules on adverstising.

John Barry went on to write the Bond theme (amongst many other film tunes). Janice Nicholls apparently went on to a life of podiatry.

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 goes on a blog tour in July. Catch it with these bloggers.