There was a familiar looking panel of four for heat eighteen of the third series of New Faces.  The judges watching the following seven new acts were Mickie Most, Jack Parnell, John Smith, and Clifford Davis.

• Bosworth (five-piece group) from Holyhead
• Eddie Idris (comedian / juggler) from Cheshire
• Joey Kaye (comedian) from Liverpool
• McGee McNamara (vocalist) from London
• Cromwell (comedian) from Glossop
• Jo Ann Love (vocalist) from London
• Sounds Familiar (four-piece vocal harmony group) from Liverpool

After the judges had scored all the performers the top scoring act was ex-busker McGee McNamara who would appear again in the next All Winners Final.

McGee McNamara was following in the footsteps of fellow street entertainers turned stars like Don Partridge. He released his self-penned debut disc Music Man (b/w The Oldest Groupie In The World) in February 1975 on the EMI label.

The TV viewers vote went to Liverpool group Sounds Familiar who would get another chance later in the series in another Viewers Winners Final.

From Maghull on Merseyside, Sounds Familiar were housewife and mother Lyn Mountain, finance company rep Derek Edwards and print workers Mike Coyne and Keith Puckie.  They had been in the business for around 10 years, originally starting out as a joke, before appearing on New Faces. Their show featured many classic tunes such as Amazing Grace, Sweet Caroline, Downtown and Jesus Christ Superstar, the song they performed in this heat.

Eddie Idris, also know as The Mad Hatter, received the highest marks from the judging panel for a speciality act since New Faces began.  Following his appearance he had a number of summer season offers including the New Faces Summer Show in Morecambe, but he was already fully committed for the summer season to Pontin’s Holiday Camps, so he was unable to take up the wonderful booking offers.

Vocalist Jo Ann Love had spent the previous summer performing in a twenty- four week summer season show in Skegness. She was no stranger to television as in July 1972 she sang Everything I Need for her TV singing debut on ITV’s Lift Off With Ayshea with Ken Goodwin, Fred Barker, The Feet, Vanity Fare and Festival.

The comedian Cromwell had made an appearance in the previous series (show 2.4) but it is not clear if they had auditioned again, had been invited back by the producers or won some kind of audience vote to return to the show.

A few months before their New Faces appearance Bosworth were launched on to the cabaret scene. Their debut at the Broadway Club in Failsworth was not all that it was hoped to be, but after great deal of hard work and a few changes in the line-up, the group improved immensely. 

The members of Bosworth who appeared on the show were John Palmer Roberts (keyboards/vocals), Glyn Parsonage (lead guitar/vocals), Robert Williams (congas/vocals), David Pratt (bass guitar/vocals) and Albert Gregory (drums/vocals), who performed on the show dressed in full cavalier regalia.

Following their New Faces appearance Chas Mills and the star vocalist and song writer, Stephanie De Sykes co-wrote the group’s first record, I Am A Pilgrim, which was released on the Pye record label.

Listen to Bosworth’s, I Am A Pilgrim on You Tube

Credits: Thanks to Al Gregory (Bosworth) for providing additional details of the group’s appearance on this show.