Lord Rockingham's XI
were a group of musicians put together by Jack Good
to play as the heavily sax-laiden resident band on 'Oh Boy!' (some episodes
of the show cerdited the band as "Jack Good's Lord Rockinham's XI").
Lord Rockingham's XI actually had 13 musicians in all if you included bandleader
Harry Robinson and the female organist Cherry Wainer. The membership was as follows:
Harry Robinson - Musical Director
Cherry Wainer - Organ
Don Storer - Drums
Reg Weller - Percussion (d. 2007)
Red Price - Tenor Sax
Rex Morris - Tenor Sax
Benny Greene - Baritone Sax
Cyril Reubens - Baritone Sax
Ronnie Black - Double Bass
Bernie Taylor - Guitar
Eric Ford - Guitar
Kenny Packwood - Guitar (joined later)
Ian Frazer - Piano (joined later)
Well known jazz 'buff' Benny Green played alto saxophone with the band, but
was so embarrassed by it that he often played in sunglasses to hide the fact.
Although most people identified scotsman Harry Robinson as Lord Rockingham,
this wasn't the case according to Jack Good. After achieving fame with their
single 'Hoots Mon' and wanting to tour, there was considerable
argument about who had rights to the name Lord Rockingham,
and lawyers had to be brought in to settle the dispute!
Although Good had created the name as a play on words 'rocking 'em', there
really had been a real Lord Rockingham in times past.
The band achieved one further minor novelty hit apart from 'Hoots Mon' and the
joke was over. Harry Robinson did try again with a modified line-up during the
hey day of the Twist a couple of years later, but got no significant response.
Lord Rockingham's XI remain a delightful, if transient, piece of 1950s fun.
