Topic: Toppermost of the Poppermost - UK Number Ones : part 2 - The 1960s

[daf]

The PPM discrepancy in NME is because it was joint #1 with Frank Ifield in the issue dated Feb 22

Ah yes . .  I see - I hadn't noticed that. Looks like my dates are . . roughly . . OK in that case. (phew!)

On dates, the publication date of NME was the Friday (e.g. March 1st 1963) but the official chart date was the Saturday (March 2nd 1963). I would stick with Saturdays for RR and MM too as the start dates and the following Fridays as the finish.

Cheers - that's a good bit of info!

[daf]

You know what they say about American Dollies, it's . . .

144.  Cliff Richard and The Shadows - Bachelor Boy



From : 30 December 1962 – 19 January 1963
Weeks : 3
Double A-side : Cliff Richard and The Shadows - The Next Time
bonus 1 : Bachelor Boy film clip
bonus 2 : The Next Time film clip

Following his number one with 'The Young Ones' at the beginning of 1962, Cliff's next two singles both peaked at #2 in the UK chart : 'Do You Want To Dance'  (b/w 'I'm Lookin' Out The Window') in May 1962, and 'It'll Be Me' (b/w 'Since I Lost You') in August 1962.

He spent his Summer Holidays in Greece riding a red double decker bus with The Shads, Robin's Nest, "Gloria", and the lovely Una Stubbs - the lucky beggar!!

   

He returned refreshed, and topped the chart at the end of the year with his next single, the double A-side, The Next Time / Bachelor Boy.

"The Next Time" backed with "Bachelor Boy" was the first of three number one hit singles from the Cliff Richard musical, Summer Holiday. Both sides were marketed as songs with chart potential, and the release is viewed retrospectively as a double A-side single, however, "The Next Time" was pressed as the A-side, with "Bachelor Boy" the B-side.

The recording of the song took place at Abbey Road Studios in London on 10 May 1962. It was produced by Norrie Paramor and engineered by Malcolm Addey.

Other Versions Include : Mike Redway (1962)  /  "Taas kerran" by Lasse Liemola (1963)  /  "Après toi" by Richard Anthony (1963)  /  Dorothée & Cliff (1993)  /  Hank Marvin (1995)  /  SHAZAM (2010)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  Inguzz_T (2012)  /  Ronnie ( B ) (2013)  /  Dave Monk (2014)  /  Phil McGarrick (2016)  /  Steve Reynolds (2016)  /  a robot (2016)

"Bachelor Boy" was written by written by Bruce Welch and Cliff Richard. It became a hit when it was released as the B-side of Richard's single "The Next Time". Both sides of the single were regarded as having chart potential so both sides were promoted and in many markets. In many countries, "Bachelor Boy" became the bigger hit and the charts listed it first or on its own. In some countries both sides were listed separately on the charts despite them being the same record.

The single spent three weeks at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1963 and was a major hit internationally, excluding the US. Both sides of the single were included on the accompanying soundtrack album Summer Holiday.

The song is about some advice a father passes to his son, to "remain a bachelor boy until (his) dying day". Richard later commented when he wrote this song he "never expected it to be prophetic".

Other Versions Include : Ray Pilgrim (1962)  /  The Bachelors (1963)  / "Moi, je voudrais bien me marier" by Claude François (1963)  /  "Nee jongen ik trouw niet met jou" by Willeke Alberti (1963)  /  Drafi Deutscher and His Magics (1964)  /  "Lyk'lig og fri" by Bent Werther (1969)  /  "Een vrouw naar m'n hart" by Luc Steeno (2002)  /  Foster & Allen (2004)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  Riders in the Ska (2013)  /  John McNicholl (2013)  /  oldschoolbassplayer (2014)  /  BurnsErnst (2016)  /  Sam Shiva (2018)  /  Ryan Thomas (2018)  /  DJ LYLE D & DJ DIZZY D (2019)  /  a robot (2019)

On This Day :

4 January : Soviet Luna 4 reaches Earth orbit but fails to reach Moon
5 January : "Camelot" closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 873 performances
5 January : "Carnival!" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 719 performances
6 January : "Oliver!" opens at Imperial Theater NYC
11 January : The Beatles release "Please Please Me"
14 January : George Wallace sworn in as Governor of Alabama, his address states "segregation now; segregation tomorrow; segregation forever!"
14 January : "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Path is published by Heinemann in the UK
16 January : James May, TV presenter, born in Bristol
18 January : Hugh Gaitskell, British politician (Leader of the Labour Party), dies at 56
19 January : Caron Wheeler, (Soul II Soul), born in Acton, London
19 January : Martin Bashir, British reporter, born in Wandsworth, London
19 January : Orr-Derrrrrrr! : John Bercow, (Speaker of the House of Commons), born in Edgware, London

[purlieu]

Shit.

[kalowski]

Una looks quite sexy in those photos. I wonder if she'd consider shitting on me?

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Bachelor Boy is a horrible song, both musically and lyrically. We all know that in less enlightened times, people enjoyed sniggering at the lyrics: "I bet you'll always be a bachelor boy, Cliff, you big old WOOFTER!" That joke is more boring than the song itself, and anyone who ever cracked it was, and doubtless still is, a twat.

The problem with Bachelor Boy is that it's a unctuous piece of ghastly, ingratiating MOR pap - anodyne bierkeller music - in which the protagonist and his father come across as freewheeling sociopaths. There's nothing wrong with remaining single all your life if that's what you want - live how you wanna live, brothers and sisters - but the relentlessly cheerful mood of the song leaves a weird taste in the mouth.*

Still, at least it inspired the title of that ace Young Ones spin-off book, right kids?

* I BET IT DOES CLIFF YOU DIRTY OLD ETC.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I know we shouldn't spoil the fun of this thread by looking ahead, but I don't think anyone will be too disappointed to hear that Cliff more or less fucks off for a bit when the Sixties start swinging in earnest. We're almost there, folks.

[Satchmo Distel]

Una is doing an early "up the arse corner" in the left-hand photo

Cliff releases a lot of drippy ballads in the remainder of the 60s which get in the Top 10 but are no threat to the No. 1 slot, except for one that slips through in 1965.

[machotrouts]

The fatherly advice angle makes 'Bachelor Boy' a bit weird. "Son, you'll be a bachelor boy until your dying day?" That's a fucked lyric. The only two interpretations are "Son, you'll never be loved" or "Son, you'll fuck around a LOT when you grow up. You got POWERFUL horny vibes, boy". And Cliff sounds pretty in thrall to his dad given how nonchalantly he contradicts him with "As time goes by, I probably will meet a girl and fall in love". Is he planning to meet a girl after his dying day? Christians need to cut it out.

I can't knock it as a tune honestly. A solid 3rd place at Eurovision melody.

I will NOT make any gay jokes about this song it's beneath us all. Anyway, on to The Next Time,

Dorothée & Cliff (1993)

Always suspected he was a friend of Dorothée!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[daf]

Bruce Welch recalled : "Cliff was becoming a family entertainer and I thought 'Bachelor Boy' would be a great title for him. I wrote most of it and when I got stuck on one of the verses I got Cliff to help me out."

I think this is the bit Cliff must have contributed - (judging by its clumsy structure & banausic rhyme imagery) :

As time goes by I probably will
Meet a girl and fall in love
Then I'll get married have a wife and a child
And they'll be my turtle doves

- - - - - - - - - -
'The Next Time' was one of Danny Baker's Desert Island Discs :

"The next one is the cusp of the coming era. It is just before The Beatles, and this is the era before, which I have a lot of affection for, but I'm aware . . it didn't change the culture. And nothing sums it up better than Cliff Richard, who has become a figure of fun, but was an enormous, tremendous entertainer . . and uh, Summer Holiday . .  the end of Summer Holiday, when he's up on the Acropolis and singing 'The Next Time'. . . it's a lovely song, . .  but it is the Last Hurrah of a kind of innocence"

[daf]

Just spotted that I didn't mention who wrote it in the notes above - so here's a bonus bit on the writers :

The Next Time was written by Buddy Kaye, Philip Springer.

Phillip Springer co-wrote Santa Baby.

Buddy Kay co-wrote "'A' You're Adorable", and the lyrics for the theme song of I Dream of Jeannie. His name appeared in the end credits, despite the fact that his words were never heard on screen - as an instrumental version was used instead.

Jeannie, fresh as the daisies,
Just love, how she obeys me,
Does things, that just amazed me so.

She smiles, prestos the rain goes,
She blinks, out comes the rainbows.
Car stops, even the train goes slow.

When she goes by . .
She paints sunshine on every rafter.
Sprinkles the air with laughter.
We're close as a quarter after three.

There's no one like  . .
Jeannie.   I'll introduce her,
To you, but it's no use sir,
Cause my Jeannie's in love with me.

[Satchmo Distel]

Cliff was becoming a "family entertainer" (according to Welch) at the grand old age of 22, even before The Beatles kicked him off the regular #1 slot? He must have assumed the market for teenage pop (let alone rock) was dying on its arse in late 62.

[daf]

Third missed Melody Maker #1 now up in the 50's thread :

76b. (MM 31.)  The Everly Brothers - Bird Dog

[daf]

Twang On!, it's . . .

145.  The Shadows - Dance On



From : 20 – 26 January 1963
Weeks : 1
Flip side : All Day

In October 1962, The Shadows released their second album - "Out of the Shadows".

Recorded between January and June 1962, it features the work of two bass guitarists - as Jet Harris left, and was replaced by Brian 'Licorice' Locking, in April 1962. 

The album is also the first album for Brian Bennett - who replaced original drummer Tony Meehan in October 1961 to work as an arranger/producer and session drummer for Joe Meek.

The British public in 1961-62 anticipated an all instrumental second album but the Shadows and Paramor wanted to produce an album showcasing their numerous diverse talents instead. The album nevertheless features 6 (out of 13) all new original compositions written by all members of the Shadows in various permutations.

 

The record starts off with an instantly gripping snare drum roll, and there's not a wasted note or second in "The Rumble" two minutes as it settles into Marvin's unique rhythm, using a clean sound and distinctive echo. This is swiftly followed by "The Bandit" - a rare vocal outing by Hank Marvin.

Two further numbers on the album feature Hank's pipes : "Are They All Like You?", and "Bo Diddley" - in which he shares the vocal chores with Bruce Welch.

Other highlights include 'South of the Border', with Marvin showcasing his precise and elegant picking, 'Tales of a Raggy Tramline', recorded when Harris was still in the band, and "Little B" which was the only track released to promote the record when on tour in 1962, as there were no other singles released.

The record ends with a Marvin-Welch's jazzy 'Kinda Cool', on which Marvin's piano interweaves around the melodic bass lines of new bug, Brian Locking.

The album reached the no. 1 slot in the UK album charts in 1962. No singles were released from it, though 2 EPs  : "Out of the Shadows" and "Out of the Shadows no.2" were released in both in mono and stereo.

Following their 8 week number one, 'Wonderful Land', in the Spring of 1962, The Shadows released the single 'Guitar Tango' (b/w 'What A Lovely Tune') which climbed to a respectable Top 4 position in August 1962.

Having spent their Summer Holidays trapped on a Double Decker bus with Cliff Richard, they toppled the 'Bachelor Boy' from the Top Spot to claim their fourth instrumental number 1 with 'Dance On'.

"Dance On" was written by sisters Valerie and Elaine Murtagh and (Elaine's husband) Raymond S. Adams. It was recorded by the Shadows, and produced by the ubiquitous Norrie Paramor. It went to number one in the UK and Irish Singles Chart in January 1963.

At this point, the band consisted of : Brian 'Licorice' Locking — bass  /  Brian 'Pontefract Cake' Bennett — drums  /  Hank 'Sherbet dib-dab' Marvin — lead guitar  /  and Bruce 'Uncle Joe's Mintballs' Welch — rhythm guitar.

A vocal version, with lyrics by Marcel Stellman, was recorded by British female vocalist Kathy Kirby, whose version reached number 11 in the UK chart in September 1963.

Petula Clark recorded the song in French ("Je me sens bien auprès de toi") and Italian ("Sto volentieri con te") which made the Top 5 of the French and Italian charts.

Other Versions include : Bud Ashton and His Group (1962)  /  The Eagles (1963)  /  The Alan Moor Four (1963)  /  "Warum gehst du an mir vorbei" by Volkmar Böhm (1964)  /  Petula Clark (1964)  /  "Je me sens bien" by Pierre Lalonde (1964)  /  The Jet Blacks (1965)  /  Ambrus Kyri (1965)  /  Rocking Ghosts (1975)  /  Bert Weedon (1976)  /  Svein Finjarn (1977)  /  Alex Bollard (1990)  /  Keith Urban (1996)  /  Lex Vandyke (1997)  /  Korsuorkesteri (2003)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)   /  Lasse Johansen (2012)  /  Steve Reynolds (2015)  /  ATSUSHI BEATPOPS (2016)  /  a robot (2019)

On This Day :

26 January : "Milk & Honey" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 543 performances
26 January : Andrew Ridgeley, (Wham), born in Windlesham, Surrey
26 January : Jazzie B, born Trevor Beresford Romeo in Hornsey, London

[purlieu]

Another second-tier Shadows single that I was always surprised made number one when many of their better tracks failed to hit the top spot.

[daf]

Probably due to timing - what with Summer Holiday acting as a massive promo, any old twt by Cliff or The Shads would have been wafted up to the top spot regardless of quality. *

Una Stubbs would probably have got in the Top Ten if she'd put something out at this point!

- - - - - -
* (as it happens, I quite like this one - particularly the detuned 'rubber band' intro)

[purlieu]

Oh, it's not a bad one - far better than 'Kon Tiki', for example - but it still staggers me that the likes of Man of Mystery and Frightened City didn't do as well.

On the plus side, they only had one more number one after this, so I only have to make this post once more.

[daf]

On the plus side, they only had one more number one after this,

Been working on that one all evening - think I'm just about twanged out!

[machotrouts]

This is good actually. I like the bass drops. Sorry I don't remember a time before EDM so I don't know what to call it. The bits where there isn't a tune going on and it's all deep and rumbly and bouncy. It's at 0:00 and some times after that. I'm not sleeping a lot lately but it;s fine.

[daf]

Carried away by a Moonlighting Shadow, it's . . .

146.  Jet Harris and Tony Meehan - Diamonds



From : 27 January –16  February 1963
Weeks : 3
Flip side : Footstomp
bonus : NME Poll Winners Concert 1964

Jet Harris was born Terence Harris on 6 July 1939 at Willesden Maternity Hospital, Honeypot Lane, Kingsbury, North West London. His prowess as a sprinter at Dudden Hill secondary modern school earned him the nickname Jet.

Although he learned to play clarinet as a teenager, he made his own four-string double bass to play in a jazz group and later graduated to a professionally made double bass. In 1958, while playing jazz with drummer Tony Crombie and his group the Rockets, Crombie got a Framus bass guitar for Harris, making him one of the first British exponents of the instrument.

He played in several groups including the Vipers Skiffle Group and the Most Brothers before, in 1959, joining Cliff Richard's backing group, the Drifters, who changed their name to The Shadows at Harris's suggestion, to avoid confusion with the U.S. band.

After the neck of his Framus was terminally damaged in a dressing room accident, Cliff Richard gave Jet the first Fender Precision Bass (sunburst) guitar in the UK in 1960, about a year after band-mate Hank Marvin got his first red Fender Stratocaster guitar. Both instruments were eventually replaced with matching versions which were used in the film The Young Ones, in which The Shadows played "The Savage" to an invited audience of teenagers.

Harris also contributed vocally, adding backup harmonies and occasional lead vocals. He had a trademark scream, used in the Shadows' "Feeling Fine" and Cliff Richard's "Do You Wanna Dance?"

Harris attributed the start of his depression and related alcohol addiction to discovering that Cliff Richard had had an affair with his wife Carol Costa (whom he had married in 1959) after they were separated, and in 1962 Harris left The Shadows following disagreements, mostly with Bruce Welch, over his boozing habit.



He signed with Decca and released solo instrumental and vocal work with some success, "Besame Mucho" and "The Man with the Golden Arm" featuring a Fender VI six-string bass guitar.

Then, as part of a duo with former Shadows drummer Tony Meehan, he topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in early 1963 with "Diamonds".

Tracks from "Diamonds" onward were recorded with Harris using standard Fender Jaguar and Gretsch guitars, usually de-tuned to D instead of E. Harris was partly responsible for helping Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones break into the music business. Page's first major session was as a rhythm guitarist on "Diamonds" in late 1962. After "Diamonds" became a hit, Harris and Meehan hired Jones to play bass in their touring band.

Harris and Meehan made two short cameo appearances in the black and white film Just for Fun, released in 1963. In the film, Jet and the Jetblacks played "Man From Nowhere", whilst the duo performed "Doing The Hully Gully", a vocal track released as the flipside of their hit "Scarlett O'Hara".

There were several court appearances involving drunkenness and violent behaviour before the partnership with Meehan came to an abrupt end in September 1963 when a car crash on the A44 near Evesham, Worcestershire, in which his 17 year old girlfriend, singer Billie Davis, was also injured, meant that this success did not last long.

Harris attempted a comeback as the Jet Harris Band in 1966 and was briefly in the line-up of The Jeff Beck Group in 1967, but somewhat fell out of the music industry. He then worked variously as a labourer, bricklayer, porter in a hospital, bus conductor, and as a seller of cockles on the beach in Jersey.

He recorded continuously from the late 1980s with a variety of collaborators, including Tangent, Alan Jones (also an ex-Shadows bassist), Bobby Graham and the Local Heroes. His previous problems with stage nerves had seemingly disappeared, and 2006 saw Harris' first single release in over forty years, "San Antonio".

Harris, a heavy smoker, died on 18 March 2011, two years after being diagnosed with cancer, at the home of his partner Janet Hemingway, in Winchester.

Tony Meehan was born Daniel Joseph Anthony Meehan on 2 March 1943 to Irish parents at New End Hospital, New End, Hampstead, North London.

By 13, he had his first job with a band playing in a dance hall at Willesden, London. He also played timpani with the London Youth Orchestra.

Meehan was professionally nicknamed "The Baron" by his many admirers and friends within the British pop/rock music industry. He is reckoned to have influenced many thousands of teenage boys and adolescents to take up music as a career. His drumming style (cf. Bongo Blues, Apache) is noticeably different from that of other Shadows drummers, Brian Bennett, Clem Cattini and Trevor Spencer - preferring a simpler 1950s jazz style kit



Meehan left the Shadows in October 1961 to work as an arranger/producer and session drummer for Joe Meek, and from early 1962 at Decca Records. He teamed up again with Harris (who had also left the Shadows and moved to Decca) and as a duo had success with the number one hit instrumental "Diamonds.

Harris and Meehan followed this with two further hit singles, "Scarlett O'Hara" - a UK No. 2 in May 1963, and "Applejack" (b/w "The Tall Texan") - a UK No. 4 in September 1963.

On 1 January 1962, The Beatles were auditioned at Decca by Meehan, performing a selection of covers they had performed in various clubs over the years, interspersed with three Lennon–McCartney originals. Decca rejected the Beatles, prefering the Tremeloes, who had auditioned the same day as the Beatles.

After talks with Epstein, Decca did arrange for Tony Meehan to produce the Beatles at Decca if the Beatles manager agreed to cover the expenses of about £100. On 7 February 1962 Brian Epstein met Meehan. Meehan expressed condescending comments about the Beatles’ audition. With the meeting not going very well, Epstein rejected the Decca offer.

Meehan briefly played with the Shadows some years later when Brian Bennett was in hospital. At one point, John Rostill was in hospital at the same time, and the Shadows were playing live with Brian Locking on bass and Meehan on drums.

Meehan quit the music industry in the 1990s for a major career change as a psychologist, as a result of a lifelong hobby/interest, and worked in London at a local college lecturing in psychology.

On 28 November 2005,  Meehan died at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, following a fall down the main staircase at his London flat in Maida Vale. 

"Diamonds" was written by Jerry Lordan - the composer of "Apache" and "Wonderful Land". In 1963, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan's recording of the piece became a number one hit, where it spent three weeks at the top of the UK chart.

Other Versions include : Bud Ashton (1963)  / The Busy Bodies (1963)  /  The Ventures (1963)  /  The Spotnicks (1969)  /  Jet Harris (1979)  /   The Shadows (1983)  /  The Cliffters (1994)  /  Nathan Minski (2010)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  Dave Monk (2013)  /  David Snell (2017)   

On This Day :

29 January : Robert Frost, American poet, dies at 88
2 February : Eva Cassidy, singer, born in Washington D.C
2 February : Helen Shapiro begins tour with The Beatles as support act.
11 February : The Beatles tape 10 tracks for their debut album in a 12 hour session.
11 February : Sylvia Plath, American poet, commits suicide at 30
14 February : US launches communications satellite Syncom 1

[Satchmo Distel]

This thread has made me realize Sylvia Plath killed herself on the same day The Beatles made their first album - Monday 11.2.63

Her last poem was "I Don't Like Mondays"

[daf]

Her last poem was "I Don't Like Mondays"

Yeah, she was always more of a Stone Roses fan.

[Satchmo Distel]

Carol Costa, the woman Cliff shagged:

https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/carol-costa-former-wife-of-guitarist-jet-harris-pictured-after-obtaining-her-a-decree-nisi-897996a

[purlieu]

Wow, I had no idea this existed. Starts in a very good Shadowsy way, not keen on the brass in the middle though.

[daf]

Three variants of Cliff, The Shadows and Ex-Shadows all one after the other - must be some sort of "Triple variant" record there.

(Stay tuned to find out if the lovely Una Stubbs makes it four in a row! . . .)

[Satchmo Distel]

I wonder if any of these acts had heard Please Please Me yet and started fretting over the new competition?*  Or would it still have been seen a one-off novelty at this point?

*It went top 3 in the 2nd week of the Meehan/Harris spell at No. 1

[daf]

The 'beat groups' must have been circling the wagons for a while in their own local scenes - probably aware of the competition from playing in clubs - so, once the rotting remnants of the Fifties* gets kicked off it's hinges by four pairs of Beatle Boots, they all rush into the charts pretty much fully formed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* (Sifties? / Fixties?)

[Satchmo Distel]

Totally agree but I just wonder if someone from the old school like Tony Meehan*, who was both a performer and a producer, saw this coming by Jan-Feb 63.

*Only 19 at the time but clearly playing by the old rules.

On Meehan and Harris, what is the most recent #1 duo where both performers are dead?

[daf]

Only 19 at the time

Bloody hell - He looks around 35 in the pic!

I blame National Service - knock the stuffing out of them for 18 months, and poured into an itchy old man's suit at the end of it hooked on booze and fags = Generation Knackered.

call-ups formally ended on 31 December 1960, and the last National Servicemen left the armed forces in May 1963

What I don't understand is how The Beatles managed to dodge it - Lennon and Starr were 20 in December 1960, and McCartney 18 - so should have been called up - only George would have been too young for the 17-21 call-up bracket.

[The Culture Bunker]

'Diamonds' was used over a montage of Man United goals from the 60s on the "Official History Of..." video the BBC put together in 1988. For that reason, I've a lot of warmth for it, and Jet Harris looks rather dashing in that pic of him playing his axe, quiff flopping over in very nice style.

What I don't understand is how the Beatles managed to dodge it - Lennon and Starr were 20 in December 1960, and McCartney 18 - so should have been called up - only George would have been too young for the 17-21 call-up bracket.

Ringo had a lot of childhood illnesses, didn't he? So maybe he dodged it for health reasons... as for McCartney and Lennon, maybe by being students?

[Satchmo Distel]

Explanation

**A White Paper** approved on 17th April 1957 outlined radical changes in defence policy and a progressive reduction in National Service intakes, ending at the end of 1960.
Over 6 months from April 1957 National Service intake actually increased by 1500 men, forcing the period of basic training to be reduced to 7 weeks. Eventually it was decided that the threshold date of birth which would determine eligibility for National service would be 30th September 1939; if he was born on or after the 1st October 1939 he would not be required.
However to sweep up a large number of people who had not been called up on their expected dates due to a temporary surplus OR who had been deferred on the grounds of apprenticeship, for example, intake continued for over 3 more years, until the last week of January 1961.

https://web.archive.org/web/20180617065830/http://www.nsrafa.org/%5CGetSome.aspx

Students had to do their national service after they left college. Source:

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1955/jul/05/national-service-exemptions