As I was reading about Bobby Shafto - real name Bob Farrant - he states one of his early jobs was as a Junior Exploitation Man.
Anyone have an idea what this might be?
See me cry - Bobby Shafto 1966
Bobby Shafto - She`s My Girl 1964
Excerpt from The Record Mail -1962
FROM tea -boy in the London music publishing offices of Lionel Bart to recording artiste
Singing two Bart compositions on his debut disc. That is the success story of 17 -year -old Londoner, Bobby Shafto.
Bobby Shafto (real name Bob Farrant) was born in Hornsey, North London on March 4, 1944.
He has one brother who is 20 years old, and two younger sisters - one 13 and the other 6.
Bobbyâs only family connection with show - business is his father - a railway policeman stationed at Euston - who used to sing as an amateur at concerts and socials.
Bobby received his education in Hornsey, going to a Convent school at the age of 5 and moving on to St. Peterâs School two years later. It was at St. Peterâs that he sang in the school choir and also took part in school plays and concerts.
âI canât remember exactly what my first part was but I must have been a king because do recall wearing a crown. I know I played Shylock in âThe Merchant of Veniceâ. At my next school, St. Maryâs Secondary Modern School, we didnât have any regular concerts except perhaps one at Christmas. At these I used to do impressions.
Johnnie Ray was one of them. I must have been about 13 or 14 at the time.â
It was when he was 14 that Bobby formed a rock ânâ roll group. They started off with three guitars and an old Salvation Army drum. Bobby was the leader and he also handled all the vocals. They played for no other reason than they loved doing it and gradually as the weeks went by they played better.
They received engagements in youth clubs and also played in cinemas - the Granada at Walthamstow and the Gaumont, Shepherds Bush, among them.
Then came dance hall work and Bobby eventually left the group about a year ago. Incidentally, that same rock ânâ roll group is now known as The Moontrekkers and records on E.M.Iâs Parlop.
I left school when I was 15 and worked as a junior clerk for a tea firm for about a year.
I went to work for a stationery firm in a warehouse and stuck this for about a month.
Then, because I had always had a yen to get into showbusiness, particularly as a singer, I got a job with Lionel Bartâs publishing company, Apollo Music.
I started off as a tea boy but now I have graduated to junior exploitation man.
"I told Mr. Bart that I sang and also had formed a rock ânâ roll group and he advised to make
some demonstration records. I did this and The Moontrekkers backed me.
He heard the records and was impressed enough to tell Mr. Norman Newell who, in turn, arranged a recording test for me with E.M.I.
"The outcome of that test arranged by recording manager Norman Newell was Bobby Shaftoâs first release on Parlophone - âOver and overâ and âI want my bedâ.
The record is further distinguished by the fact that both numbers were written by Lionel Bart himself, the first time that a record Bobby Shafto has had Bart compositions on both sides.
Ambition
Bobby, whose ambition is to appear at the London Palladium, has been taking singing lessons at The Maurice Burman School in London for some six months.
He is 5 ft. 10 in. tall, has blue eyes and fair hair.
"Bobby Shafto ? Mr. Bart picked the name for me. At one time I wanted to go to sea and he recalled the lines of the old song, âBobby Shaftoâs gone to sea, silver buckles on his kneeâ.
Then, of course, thereâs the âBobby Shaftoâs bright and fair, combing down his
yellow hairâ in the same song.
Bobby admires Cliff Richard, Ray Charles, Brook Benton, Ricky Nelson and Connie Francis. He likes Chinese food, casual clothes, listening to records, funfairs, rock ânâ roll concerts and hot water bottles.
He dislikes people who wear sunglasses (when it isnât sunny), underground trains and getting up in the morning.
