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Without the involvement and efforts of (at the time) the inexperienced but enthusiastic and energetic John 'Fozzie' Foster - would Cliff have broken through back in 1958? Who knows - but the erstwhile 'Teddy Boy' turned entrepreneur / promoter became Cliff's first manager when he was himself only one year older than his young protege! Even more important for all of us on this site......it was Johnny Foster who visited the 2is (initially looking for Tony Sheridan) to find a guitarist to back Cliff on his very first tour. Of course...we all know now that he found Hank Marvin instead and was immediately impressed by his fantastic guitar playing. Not only that....but he agreed to take Bruce on board as rhythm guitarist too. He became a largely forgotten figure in the amazing story of Cliff Richard & The Shadows. But.....in reality....he was the guy who set the whole ball rolling. He recently died of heart failure aged 73.

RIP John

http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/H ... 112012.htm

Rob, thank you for sharing that news with us. I was unaware that Mr Foster passed away, I am so sad to hear of this. I remember so many interviews of Cliff and The Shadows, both separately and together, telling that famous story of how John Foster discovered them. Below is the only one I could find at the moment (Mr Foster is specifically mentioned in Part 1). I offer it as a tribute to John Foster who, as you said, helped everything get started. RIP John Foster.



Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU7won1tEz0&feature=relmfu

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz4W5dpMXPc&feature=relmfu

Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD_P08CDol8&feature=relmfu

Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAUTLry8nk8&feature=relmfu

Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyUUXM5OEK0&feature=relmfu

Arpeggio wrote:Without the involvement and efforts of (at the time) the inexperienced but enthusiastic and energetic John 'Fozzie' Foster - would Cliff have broken through back in 1958? Who knows - but the erstwhile 'Teddy Boy' turned entrepreneur / promoter became Cliff's first manager when he was himself only one year older than his young protege! Even more important for all of us on this site......it was Johnny Foster who visited the 2is (initially looking for Tony Sheridan) to find a guitarist to back Cliff on his very first tour. Of course...we all know now that he found Hank Marvin instead and was immediately impressed by his fantastic guitar playing. Not only that....but he agreed to take Bruce on board as rhythm guitarist too. He became a largely forgotten figure in the amazing story of Cliff Richard & The Shadows. But.....in reality....he was the guy who set the whole ball rolling. He recently died of heart failure aged 73.

RIP John

http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/H ... 112012.htm

We owe him...

Hello. I found a video with John Foster in it, at about the 6:00 mark. He tells the story of how they came up with Cliff's stage name.

Kind regards,
Donna

donna plasky wrote:Rob, thank you for sharing that news with us. I was unaware that Mr Foster passed away, I am so sad to hear of this. I remember so many interviews of Cliff and The Shadows, both separately and together, telling that famous story of how John Foster discovered them. Below is the only one I could find at the moment (Mr Foster is specifically mentioned in Part 1). I offer it as a tribute to John Foster who, as you said, helped everything get started. RIP John Foster.

The Rick Richards (now deceased) that Hank refers to at the 2i's (at approx 4.15 into video) was also involved, supposedly, in the renaming of Harry Webb.

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=7058

Bill