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"Liverpool became the first hotbed of the so-called "beat boom." Because Liverpool was Britain's major Atlantic
seaport, Liverpudlian merchant seamen often sailed to the U.S. and returned with the latest American rock-and-roll hits, often
before they were made widely available in Britain. With The Beatles, other exuberant male quartets such as The Searchers,
The Fourmost, and Gerry and the Pacemakers, and the quintet Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas launched Merseybeat, so named
for the estuary of the River Mersey that runs alongside Liverpool. The Beatles first reached the British record charts in
late 1962 (shortly after The Tornados' "Telstar," an instrumental smash that sent word of what was in store by becoming
the first British record by a group to top the American singles chart); the rest joined the hit parade in 1963." Not
all acts prominent in Britain by the early 1960s necessarily managed to develop a profile in the U.S. Cliff Richard, who remains
popular in Britain and active today, has only rarely had chart successes in America.
THE ANIMALS
-Songs include:
Baby Let Me Take You Home (1964)
House of the Rising Sun (1964)
I'm Crying (1965)
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (1965)
Bring It On Home to Me (1965)
We Gotta Get Out of This Place (1965)
It's My Life (1965)
Don't Bring Me Down (1966)
etc.
- Originally the Alan Price Combo, the Animals were so-called after
Newcastle bluesman Eric Burdon joined Price and their local musical
sets became known for excessive (if exciting) raucousness. Price was
the keyboard genius of the group with an appreciation for American
blues and folk music; Burdon had the voice. Other members included
Chas Chandler (from the Alan Price Combo), John Steele, and Hilton
Valentine; Dave Rowberry replaced Price in 1965. As a Northern group,
they had the exotic cast to make it big, once the Mersey Sound had been
accepted by the musical establishment. Price left the group in 1965
(partly artistic dispute, partly a fear of flying) and Burdon continued,
keeping pace with the changing psychedelic world.
THE ZOMBIES
- Songs include:
She's Not There (1964)
Tell Her No (1965)
- Rod Argent and his pals Colin Blunstone, Paul Atkinson, Hugh Grundy
(later Chris White), and Paul Arnold won a talent contest, which
gave them the chutzpah to challenge the men at Decca, who obviously
were still hurting from their rejection of the Beatles. In 1963, the
Zombies were signed up and wrote their two British hits. "She's Not
There" is notable for Colin Blunstone's out-of-breath delivery (at
least in the mono version; he calmed down for the stereo take) and
was only the second song Rod Argent ever wrote. Although Americans
are used to thinking of the band as representative of the British
invasion, the Zombies did poorly in their own country (like Peter &
Gordon, Chad & Jeremy) and though they were much appreciated by
American musicians like the Association and the Turtles, the band
gave up (after their late American hit "Time of the Season"). Argent
and White continued to make music, Atkinson and Grundy worked in
the music business; Blunstone's whereabouts are unknown.
THEM
- Songs include:
Don't Start Crying Now (1964)
Baby Please Don't Go (1965)
Here Comes The Night (1965)
Gloria (1965) (US charts only)
Mystic Eyes (1965) (US charts only)
I Can Only Give You Everything (1966)
etc.
- George Ivan Morrison was an Irish lad whose father owned a massive
collection of jazz and blues records, and who, thus inspired, joined a
group called Deanie Sands and the Javelins. Gradually another group,
The Monarchs, attracted Van Morrison, who was eighteen in 1963, and this
coalesced into Them, which played blues and rock from Muddy Waters to
Chuck Berry. They were popular in and around Belfast but came to London
in 1964 once they had been signed by Decca, eager to pick up any
competent pop band in the wake of the Beatles' success. Van Morrison
really made the band's name; his distinctive vocals lent a rakish
air to their repertoire ("Gloria", which was edited in certain sections
of the US, and "Mystic Eyes", didn't chart in England). Decca thought
they might be able to market Them as a nuevo-Stones, and the band enjoyed
a US tour in 1966, but internal turmoil split the group; Van Morrison
retired to rethink his position (and returned with a new, revitalized
career as a solo artist, as "Brown-Eyed Girl" and other songs would
suggest), while Them tried to tour with another, anonymous lead
singer before crashing and burning in 1967.
THE TROGGS
- Songs include:
Wild Thing (1966)
With a Girl Like You (1966)
I Can't Control Myself (1966)
Any Way That You Want Me (1967)
Love Is All Around (1967)
etc.
- Reg Ball was a bricklayer, and his pal Ronnie Bond were in a group
called Ten Foot Five, which included Tony Mansfield and Dave Wright.
After a minor tune-up, they became the Trogglodytes, with new members
Pete Staples and Chris Britton. They won over the heart of the Kinks'
manager Larry Page, who got them a contract with CBS Records, then
Fontana, where as The Troggs they covered a song called "Wild Thing".
Hard to tell what it was that did it: the ocarina (the high, piercing
instrument that looks like a potato)? the heavy, leering sigh from Reg
Ball, now Reg Presley ("You *mooove* me")? the heavy, leering guitars?
Whatever, it was a monstrous hit in the States. Their subsequent releases
were popular in the UK (especially "I Can't Control Myself" which the
BBC banned), though "Love Is All Around" charted in the US as a tender,
affectionate ballad. Though they ended up in the graveyard of many
a pop star---the cabaret/supper-club circuit---interest was revived
during the seventies when bootleg tapes of their often-incoherent
sessions surfaced.
DAVE BERRY
- Songs include:
Memphis (1963)
My Baby Left Me (1964)
Baby It's You (1964)
The Crying Game (1964)
One Heart Between Two (1964)
Little Things (1964)
This Strange Effect (1965)
Mama (1966)
- Mr. Berry (who changed his name from David Holgate Grundy) started
out in a duo, a la the Everly Bros., and teamed up with a backing group
called the Cruisers in 1961. After being introduced to the band by producer
Mickie Most (whose stable included Herman's Hermits), the dreaded Mike
Smith at Decca allowed Dave and the Cruisers to record "Memphis", then
insisted that subsequent recordings include a studio band in back of
Mr. Berry. He had a few hits, including a cover of Bobby Goldsboro's
"Little Things"; and a weird stage act which emphasized Mr. Berry's
penchant for black clothing and odd hand and microphone "ballets". In
the eighties, he rerecorded several of his hits, to no success.
CILLA BLACK
- Songs include:
Love of the Loved (1963)
Anyone Who Had a Heart (1964)
You're My World (1964)
It's For You (1964)
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (1965)
I've Been Wrong Before (1965)
Alfie (1966)
Step Inside Love (1968)
etc.
- "Swingin' Cilla"---so named by Brian Epstein---was a local Liverpool
lass who hung out at the Cavern (in some stories she denies being the
hatcheck girl there) and wanted to sing. After hearing Priscilla White
at the Cavern microphone, Brian decided that she would be perfect as
his "girl singer", and he groomed her paternally to that end. Luckily
she possessed a strong voice and George Martin created the arrangements
to back it up (or tone it down). The Beatles were particularly close
to Cilla; she covered their early "Love of the Loved" and they wrote
"It's For You" and "Step Inside, Love" for her.
MAX BYGRAVES
- Songs include (1953-1959):
Cowpuncher's Cantata
Tulips from Amsterdam
Meet Me on the Corner
You Need Hands
- Mr. Bygraves had made his career as a comedian in London's East
End and turned to a recording career in 1953, after his personality-
filled act was already well established. He was a predecessor of other
comedians and groups (like the Goons) who turned to music to further
their popularity; remarkably (or perhaps not so), he was one of several
singers to reach the charts ahead of established balladeers like Dickie
Valentine of the early fifties.
EDDIE CALVERT
- Songs include:
Oh Mein Papa (1953)
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White (1955)
Stranger in Paradise (1955)
John and Julie (1955)
Zambesi (1956)
Mandy (1958)
etc.
- The self-proclaimed "man with the golden trumpet", Calvert was a
sort of proto-Herb-Alpert who covered big hits of the day (Perez Prado's
"Cherry Pink...") and made a big smash on BBC and burgeoning television
entertainment markets. In British pop he was something of an anomaly,
since trumpeters were not big in pop music at all.
CHAD AND JEREMY
- Songs include:
Yesterday's Gone (1964)
A Summer Song (1964)
Teenage Failure (1965)
Distant Shores (1966)
Rest in Peace (1967)
etc.
- Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde were a duo much in the mold of Peter and
Gordon. Chad actually played guitar but Jeremy was really a would-be actor
singing for want of something better to do. Astonishingly, they had *no*
chart hits in Britain, their native land, but found fame in the US. They
rode the first wave of the British Invasion and are barely remembered today,
though their output included several little-known gems such as "Teenage
Failure", a sort of light satiric view of themes better stated in Eddie
Cochran's "Summertime Blues"; and a real rarity in the "Within You/Without
You" mode called "Rest In Peace", the duo's attempt to explain the
philosophy of life and death, all in a seven-minute song.
BERNARD CRIBBINS
- Songs include:
Hole in the Ground (1962)
Right Said Fred (1962)
Gossip Calypso (1962)
- Cribbins had a limited range of success in the music/comedy mode. Like
Max Bygraves, the Goons, and Rolf Harris, his claim to fame comes from
comedic records released in 1962, though he was also a favorite occasional
funnyman on radio and telly with his musical portraits of the typical
British working class fellow.
JIM DALE
- Songs include:
The Picadilly Line (1956)
Be My Girl (1957)
Just Born (1958)
Crazy Dream (1958)
Sugartime (1958)
- Jim Smith showed up as Jim Dale on the "6.5 Special" show and,
with an ambition to be a comic, did his parody of Donegan's "Rock
Island Line" and came to the attention of Parlophone. George Martin,
who's done a little producing for at least one other group, was
assigned to Dale and engineered a string of semi-hits, though Dale
himself was much more interested in comedy and theatrical work. That
ambition finally realized when Jim Dale joined the National Theatre
Company; from the sixties to the eighties, Dale has been a regular
performer, including the lead in the seventies play "Scapino" and
the eighties revival of Noel Gay's 1937 cockney musical, "Me and My
Girl."
TERRY DENE
- Songs include:
A White Sport Coat (1957)
Start Movin' (1957)
Stairway of Love (1957)
- Terry Williams worked as a record-packer, had a desire to sing at
office parties (his Presely imitations were well received) and was
discovered by producer Jack Good of "6.5 Special". As Terry Dene, he
*almost* had respectable hits, but his cover of Marty Robbins' "White
Sport Coat" was a bigger hit for another British group, and his second
single was overshadowed by a Sal Mineo version. He was cast as a pop
singer in a film called "The Golden Disc" but the "hit song" that was
crafted for Dene wasn't a hit at all. And then, the inevitable: he was
drafted into the British Army. After much publicity (like Elvis'
celebrated military career), Dene reported for duty, only to be let
go after a nervous breakdown. From then on he was in virtual disgrace,
and when last heard of, he was a preacher for the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Alas, such is the occasional cruel fate of pop music.
KARL DENVER TRIO
- Songs include:
Marcheta (1961)
Mexicali Rose (1961)
Wimoweh (1962)
Never Goodbye (1962)
etc.
- Why did this man change his name from Angus MacKenzie? :-) This
Glaswegian gentleman spent some time in the Merchant Navy before
finding a quiet niche at the American Grand Old Opry; immigration
authorities shipped him back to England, where he befriended Jack
Good of "6.5-Special" fame (apparently a good contact to have) and
started his recording career. Denver claimed that his version of
"Wimoweh" was most authentic, as he'd heard it while in South
Africa from Kikuyu tribesmen, but the damndest thing is that
The Weavers and the Kingston Trio had already recorded duplicate
versions of the song before Denver released his, and the American
group The Tokens had already had a hit with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight",
a slightly more commercial record. Oh well...those funny coincidences.
DONOVAN
- Songs include:
Catch the Wind (1965)
Colours (1965)
Sunshine Superman (1966)
Mellow Yellow (1967)
There Is A Mountain (1967)
Jennifer Juniper (1968)
Hurdy Gurdy Man (1968)
Atlantis (1968)
etc.
- Donovan Leitch had a gentle Scots manner and a profound reverence
for Bob Dylan---so much so that he wore the same style of clothes,
used the same instrumentation and honored the same antecedents, Woody
Guthrie among them. If you look closely at the Pennebaker film "Don't
Look Back," you can see Dylan mocking poor Donovan mercilessly. But
Donovan's music was respectable and even innovative after about 1966,
achieving top-ten hit status in both the UK and US throughout the
British Invasion and even afterwards. Donovan now lives in the US and
occasionally does a well-received concert.
CRAIG DOUGLAS
- Songs include:
A Teenager in Love (1959)
Only Sixteen (1959)
Pretty Blue Eyes (1960)
The Heart of a Teenage Girl (1960)
A Hundred Pounds of Clay (1961)
Time (1961)
When My Little Girl is Smiling (1962)
Our Favorite Melodies (1962)
- Craig Douglas was another "6.5-Special" discovery, and his greatest
moments in British pop came from semi-successful covers of songs
by mostly insipid American artists. He was privileged to star alongside
the inimitable Helen Shapiro (who later toured with the Beatles) in an
early Richard Lester music film, "It's Trad, Dad" (sometimes seen in
the States under the absurd title "Ring-A-Ding Rhythm"), in 1962. Other
than that, his fame is not lasting.
ADAM FAITH
- Songs include:
What Do You Want (1959)
Poor Me (1960)
Someone Else's Baby (1960)
When Johnny Comes Marching Home/Made You (1960)
How About That (1960)
Lonely Pup (in a Christmas Shop) (1960)
This is It/Who Am I (1961)
The Time Has Come (1961)
As You Like It (1962)
Don't That Beat All (1962)
The First Time (1963)
etc.
- Adam Faith was Terry Nelhams originally. He was playing in the
Worried Men, a skiffle group, when he began to get notice on the
"6.5 Special" in 1958. "What Do You Want?" was his big hit, complete
with Buddy-Holly hiccup. He was described by rock writers as part
of the Holy Trinity (Adam Faith, Billy Fury and Cliff Richard) and was
the first British pop star to admit to premarital sex. After his
pop career, he was successful in a British TV show in 1972 called
"Budgie", then played David Essex's sidekick in the follow-up to
"That'll Be The Day" called "Stardust."
GEORGIE FAME AND THE BLUE FLAMES
- Songs include:
Yeh Yeh (1964)
In the Meantime (1965)
Like We Used to Be 91965)
Something (1965)
Get Away (1966)
Ballad of Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
etc.
- An enterprising Manchester lad, Clive Powell entered music by playing
at one of the ubiquitous Butlin's Holiday Camps, then made for London
to hone his craft. Upon meeting that master names-smith and manager
extraordinaire, Larry Parnes, Mr. Powell was renamed Georgie Fame;
after a disappointing tryout as a lead man, Parnes put Fame behind
Billy Fury, then playing with the Blue Flames. In 1961 the Tornados
began to back up Billy, and Fame and his Blue Flames were off and
running---not back into the harmless niceties of pop, but into
American blues, ska, and even jazz. Fame attracted a listenership
that was more beatnik than teenage, and his following gradually
evolved into Mods while he made his first chart appearance with
jazz-vocalese great Jon Hendrick's "Yeh Yeh". His association
with ex-Animal Alan Price led to some further musical whimsy in
the mid to late sixties, but for the rest of his career he just
missed being terminally hip.
WAYNE FONTANA AND THE MINDBENDERS
- Songs include:
Hello Josephine (1963)
Stop Look & Listen (1964)
Um Um Um Um Um Um (1964)
The Game of Love (1965)
Just a Little Bit Too Late (1965)
She Needs Love (1965)
- Glyn Ellis had fair talent for beat music (i.e. tambourine), following
the interests of the Liverpool/Manchester fans, and basically threw
himself together with a preexisting group, The Mindbenders, after
his own group The Jets became too unreliable for regular touring.
The basic problem from then on was that the newly-renamed Fontana
considered the Mindbenders his own backup group, although they
didn't think so. The two had a few hits separately and concurrently,
though the Mindbenders has the better chart action; Fontana fancied
himself a Cliff Richard sort, but had limited success on the comeback
trail until his eventual quiescence in the early eighties.
EMILE FORD AND THE CHECKMATES
- Songs include:
What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For? (1959)
On a Slow Boat to China (1960)
You'll Never Know What You're Missing (1960)
Them There Eyes (1960)
Counting Teardrops (1960)
etc.
- Born in Nassau, the Bahamas, Ford was a British subject and one
of the first British black pop singers. Starting out as a sound
engineer, he won a talent contest in 1959 and made his career
basically covering old, familiar hits of the past. His recording
career diminished early in the sixties but his stage presence
was enough to keep him active on the cabaret and live-convert
circuit after that.
THE FOURMOST
- Songs include:
Hello Little Girl (1963)
I'm in Love (1963)
A Little Loving (1964)
How Can I Tell Her (1964)
etc.
- The Fourmost came from Ringo's old neighborhood, a run-down locale in
west Liverpool called the Dingle; the Fourmost also used to welcome
Ronnie Wycherley as a singing partner before he went off to be Billy Fury.
They included Joey Bower, Billy Hatton, Mike Millward, and Dave Redman
(later replaced by Dave Lovelady, who had played for Ted "King Size"
Taylor.) They soon became one of the Nems artists, incorporating
some questionable comedy into their act as well as music; the
contemporary audiences liked it, anyway. Their first two hits
were Lennon-McCartney numbers, but without that ballast there
was no guaranteed success. The band was virtually defunct after
the late 1960'
BILLY FURY AND THE TORNADOES
- Songs include:
Maybe Tomorrow (1959)
Margot (1959)
Colette (1960)
That's Love (1960)
Wondrous Place (1960)
A Thousand Stars (1961)
Halfway to Paradise (1961)
Jealousy (1961)
I'll Never Find Another You (1961)
Last Night Was Made For Love (1962)
Once Upon a Dream (1962)
etc.
- Ronnie Wycherley was from the Dingle area of Liverpool, like
Richard Starkey, but he managed to find gigs playing in Birkenhead,
the more posh section of town across the Mersey. It was there
that the famed star-maker Larry Parnes saw him and put him on
regular concert tours. Fury's stage movements were somewhat
reminiscent of the famed Elvis but he had some songwriting
talent (several of his early records were his own compositions).
The success of his compatriots basically forced Fury out of the
limelight; there wasn't much of a calling for his sort of
singer after the Beatles hit it big. He attempted several
comebacks in the early seventies but to no avail.
THE GOONS Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers (also Michael Bentine, who left in 1953)
- Songs include:
I'm Walking Backwards for Christmas/Bluebottle Blues (1956)
Bloodnok's Rock and Roll (1956)
Ying Tong Song (1973)
etc.
- For a Yank, it's hard to understand the appeal of the Goons in
staid post-war Britain of the fifties; they're as near as one
comes to national absurdist humor, with a touch of the surreal
thrown in. But their nonsense rhymes and funny voices, impersonations
and wildly funny skits kept the country in hysterics (the kind you
get from laughter) for much of the decade. They did a few short films
and released a few records, but much of their influence was felt over
their popular radio shows. John Lennon, for one, claims that much of
his approach to humor (especially in his two books) came from the
Goons. And the Boys were terribly impressed when told that the A&R
man who would be handling their production at EMI was George Martin,
recording manager for the individual Goons among other comedy acts.
RUSS HAMILTON
- Songs include:
We Will Make Love (1957)
Wedding Ring (1957)
Rainbow (1957)
- Liverpool was responsible for far more singers than just the
Fabs and their ilk. Russ Hamilton grew up there as Ronnie Hulme
and in 1957 had a fairly big hit with "We Will Make Love", which
is reported to have been such a big hit that the BBC decided he
couldn't have meant anything suggestive by it (lovely logic!).
Perhaps America is more puritanical; here he had a hit with
"Rainbow", and Hamilton became only the sixth British performer
to earn an American gold disc. After his next record, Hamilton
apparently dropped from musical sight.
HEDGEHOPPERS ANONYMOUS
- Song (only one!):
It's Good News Week (1965)
-Some of us in the States remember this as a good-natured protest
song, with an infectiously cheery Gerry-Marsden-like vocal warbling
about "Someone's dropping bombs somewhere/Contaminating atmosphere/And
blackening the sky...". But Hedgehoppers Anonymous were really five
boys on active duty in the Royal Air Force, masterminded by mid-sixties
pop mini-mogul Jonathan King (who sang "Everyone's Gone to the Moon").
The lads, originally The Trendsetters, were spotted by King at the
Bedford R.A.F. and reformed as the Hedgehoppers (an obscure air
force slang), with King's amendment to their name in the form of
"Anonymous." At one point, in fact, it was assumed that they were
just Jonathan King in funny suits. King wrote this one hit, and it
enjoyed a few weeks on the charts before the group collapsed into
obscurity.
HERMAN'S HERMITS
- Songs include:
I'm Into Something Good (1964)
Show Me Girl (1964)
Silhouettes (1965)
Wonderful World (1965)
Just a Little Bit Better (1965)
A Must to Avoid (1965)
This Door Swings Both Ways (1966)
No Milk Today (1966)
There's a Kind of Hush (1966)
etc.
- Peter Blair Dennis Bernard Noone was a Manchester lad much taken
by Liverpool beat groups such as the Beatles, whenever he wasn't
engaged in his primary career in the late fifties, that of a child
character in Granada TV's famous "Coronation Street" prime-time
soap. He managed to involve himself a tad in music, fronting for
his backup group as Peter Novack, his TV stage name. They became
much the rage of the Lancashire area, eventually being discovered
by producer Mickie Most, who renamed Peter "Herman" after the "Sherman"
character in the Jay Ward then-popular cartoon series. Peter Novack and
the Heartbeats had been much enamoured of groups like the Everlys, Buddy
Holly and Merseybeat faves, so stepping into this mould wasn't at all
a problem. With his band renamed the Hermits, Herman and his group were
carefully tailored by Most for triumph in the American market...which
is where most of it happened. Some of his hits here catered to an
inauthentic cockney persona ("Mrs. Brown", "Henry VIIIth") and some
took advantage of the latest trends ("No Milk Today" was written by
Hollies genius Graham Nash). Peter Noone outlived it all, managing to
circumvent certain pop-star death by reinventing himself in cabarets
and on the acting circuit in the '70s and '80s.
MICHAEL HOLLIDAY
- Songs include:
Yellow Rose of Texas (1955)
Starry-eyed (1950's)
Story of My Life (1950's)
- A merchant seaman, born in Dublin but raised in Liverpool,
Holliday won a talent contest and began his climb up the fickle
ladder of success. He had his own television series, featuring
his singing and guitar playing, in the fifties, and was described
as sounding rather like his idol Bing Crosby, but in 1963 killed
himself, perhaps out of despair over the changing scene of
British music.
THE HONEYCOMBS
- Songs include:
Have I the Right (1964)
Is It Because (1964)
Something Better Beginning (1965)
That's the Way (1965)
- Why is it that Britain had so many passable rock 'n' roll stars
with a mania for hairdressing? First Ringo, then the Honeycombs. At
least this group had an interesting gimmick: a female drummer named
Honey Lantree who worked in a hairdressing salon owned by Martin Murray,
the group's drummer. Ms. Lantree's brother was bass player; nice and
cozy. The group had one major hit ("Have I The Right?") and a few
halfhearted followups.
FRANK IFIELD
- Songs include:
Lucky Devil (1960)
Gotta Get a Date (1960)
I Remember You (1962)
Lovesick Blues (1962)
Wayward Wind (1963)
Nobody's Darlin' But Mine (1963)
Confessin' (1963)
Don't Blame Me (1964)
etc.
- Ifield was English by birth but grew up in Australia, began a modest
singing career there, and decided to try the home country for the
really big one...if it existed. In between delivering milk, he
managed a few chart entries but made his name with a cover of an
old, soppy standard, "I Remember You". He dressed it up with some
distinctive yodelling and plaintive harmonica---a sound that was
so pervasive that at one time (irrespective of the Bruce Chanel
influence) John Lennon said he was moved to try harmonica on many
of their early hits. The Beatles, in fact, pushed him off the charts
in 1963, and thereafter he hit those heights only occasionally.
TOM JONES
-Songs include:
It's Not Unusual (1965)
What's New, Pussycat? (1965)
Thunderball (1966)
Green, Green Grass of Home (1966)
Detroit City (1967)
etc.
- Jones was a lad from Glamorgan in Wales who wanted to be a pop
star rather than a vacuum-cleaner salesman...a noble ambition.
He had several strong hits in 1965, then moved more into the
realm of ballads and cabarets, eventually catering to a group
of middle-to-old aged fans...much the same as he does today.
EDEN KANE
-Songs include:
Well I Ask You (1961)
Get Lost (1961)
Forget Me Not (1962)
I Don't Know Why (1962)
Boys Cry (1964)
- Richard Graham Sarstedt was one of the more innocuous singers
to come out of the British pop mill, in signature all-white
suits and sensual posturing. "Well I Ask You" was written by
Adam Faith's songwriter, Johnny Worth, and made something of
a sensation in 1961; after a few years and a few tepid songs,
Kane lost his carefully-invested money and foundered until he
teamed up with his brothers Peter and Clive in the early
seventies, when they made a minor impression on the nightclub
circuit.
JONATHAN KING
- Songs include:
Everyone's Gone to the Moon (1965)
Let It All Hang Out (1970)
Lazy Bones (1971)
etc.
- Kenneth "Jonathan" King was a Cambridge student when he wrote and
performed a song in the style of Dylan, a mock-protest ditty called
"Everyone's Gone To The Moon", which surprisingly became a hit in
the US as well as England. He was also the force behind Hedgehoppers
Anonymous, writing their "It's Good News Week" the same year (it was
sung by some RAF fellows). Despite a driving interest in other
productions (he discovered Genesis and produced some of the Bay
Cit Rollers' hits), he continued to release songs of questionable
merit under a variety of pseudonyms during the seventies (The Piglets,
Shag, St. Cecilia) and was on the music scene occasionally into the
eighties as a DJ and TV show host.
THE KINKS
- Songs include:
You Really Got Me (1964)
All Day and All of the Night (1964)
Tired of Waiting For You (1965)
Everybody's Gonna Be Happy (1965)
Set Me Free (1965)
See My Friend (1965)
Till the End of the Day (1965)
Dedicated Follower of Fashion (1966)
Sunny Afternoon (1966)
Dead End Street (1966)
Waterloo Sunset (1967)
Autumn Almanac (1967)
Wonderboy (1968)
Victoria (1970)
Lola (1970)
etc.
- It's almost impossible to see the Kinks just as pop stars of the
sixties. Ray Davies, lead singer and lead songwriter, has made his
presence felt throughout so many media: films, operettas, plays,
scoring...along with the Stones, the Who, and the Yardbirds, the
Kinks were much more than a cornerstone of British invasion rock.
Ray and his brother Dave (who, BTW, apparently pronounce their
surname "Davis") grew up in Muswell Hill in London, exposed not
to the dreary upperclass twits of the posh set but enamoured of
American blues, country-western music, and black artists of New
York. With Peter Quaife, the three formed a trio and exhibited
themselves as pop artists of a hybridized type till meeting
Mick Avory and becoming The Kinks, finally. American producer
Shel Talmy was with them throughout their formative years, even as
they recycled the same guitar riff; "See My Friend" was the first
legitimate Indian-influenced pop song (beating out "Norwegian
Wood" by several months). Ray mixed devastating, detached social
commentary with Dave's wicked guitar leads and catchy arrangements.
"Face to Face", their 1966 offering, is generally considered the
first concept album.
Ray and Dave didn't exactly get along; and fights with drummer Avory
gave the group the reputation of being "unprofessional" on stage. But
in later years the social and historical commentary took the lead,
intermixed with music hall and ballad influences. The Kinks' music
even in times of lesser productivity was regularly covered by the
likes of David Bowie and ultimate fan Chrissie Hynde and her
Pretenders. Ray had a surprise hit in 1983 with "Come Dancing",
a nostalgic tale, and appeared as the protagonist's beleaguered
dad in the musical version of British pop history, "Absolute
Beginners", where he sang his own composition "Quiet Life."
LAURIE LONDON
- Song:
He's Got the Whole World In His Hands (1957)
- Little Laurie London was just 13 when the kid from the East End
won a radio talent contest with a borrowed guitar. Impressing the
listeners, he also made points with the BBC and was signed for an
appearance on 6.5 Special, a television show showcasing pop novelties
and mainstream artists. His success in England was moderate but for
some reason his "He's Got The Whole World...." became a smash hit
in America during April 1958 and received wide airplay. But he
never repeated his conquest of the cash Box charts and made no more
waves.
JOE LOSS BAND
- Songs include:
Wheels Cha Cha (1961)
Sucu Sucu (1961)
The Maigret Theme (1962)
Must Be Madison (1962)
March of the Mods (1964)
- Another representative of the British big-band sound, Loss became
popular in the thirties and remained a standard fixture in the
field throughout the ensuing decades. He adapted his band to the
fads of the moment (the "cha cha" craze and even the British Beat
bands not being sacrosanct) and was rumored to be among the favorite
bands of the British royal family.
VERA LYNN
- Songs include:
Homing Waltz (1952)
Auf Wiedersehen (1952)
Forget Me Not (1952)
My Son My Son (1954)
The Faithful Hussar (1957)
- Lynn was known through the War (WWII, of course---the one that
required such British pluck) as The Forces' Sweetheart; her "We'll
Meet Again" and "White Cliffs of Dover" were her signature tunes. Her
fame continued into the benign fifties, with several chart hits
(including several in the States), radio and TV appearances. The
Beatles may have had their MBEs, but Dame Vera was awarded the more
prestigious OBE in 1969.
CHARLES MCDEVITT SKIFFLE GROUP (with Nancy Whiskey)
- Songs include:
Freight Train (1957)
Greenback Dollar (1957)
- One of the four major skiffle groups of the British fifties (the
other three being Lonnie Donegan, The Vipers, and Johnny Duncan),
McDevitt and pals had goatees and plaid shirts, perhaps in pale
imitation of American hillbilly bands they admired. Their diminuitive
"girl" singer was Nancy Whiskey, who sang the passionless vocals
on "Freight Train". Nancy left in 1957, was replaced by one Babs
Douglas, whose only claim to fame was in marrying Mr. McDevitt, and
the band slipped into obscurity at the close of the skiffle craze.
MANFRED MANN
- Songs include:
5-4-3-2-1 (1964)
Hubble Bubble Toil and Trouble (1964)
Do Wah Diddy Diddy (1964)
Sha La La (1964)
If You Gotta Go Go Now (1965)
Pretty Flamingo (1965)
Ha Ha Said the Clown (1967)
Mighty Quinn (1967)
etc.
- Manfred Mann was a fellow as well as a group---a nifty accomplishment!
>From South Africa originally, he had studied at Julliard and the Vienna
State Academy and had backgrounds in jazz. He joined up with two R&B
enthusiasts, Paul Pond and Mike Hugg to form The Mann-Hugg Blues
Bros. in 1962; Pond---later Jones was at the time still an undergrad at
Oxford, thus giving the group pretensions toward intellectuality. Jones
had also traveled in R&B circles frequented by Alexis Korner and Cyril
Davies, and with one Tom McGuiness and Eric Clapton there was a short-
lived group. McGuiness joined Pond/Jones in Manfred Mann the group (often
known as The Manfreds to avoid confusion). The ensemble was commissioned
to write the theme song for the British TV pop show "Ready, Steady, Go!",
which also became a top ten hit in England ("5-4-3-2-1"), and their
career took off. They became regulars at the Marquee Club in London and
were generally lumped together with other prominent London groups
(The Stones, The Kinks, etc.) In 1966 Jones left for a solo career,
but Manfred Mann scarcely registered the strain and in fact gave
temporary home to several big names in British blues and pop---Jack Bruce,
Klaus Voorman, Mike D'Abo---and embarked upon a more controversial pursuit
of music, incorporating Dylan songs into their repertoire and getting
banned by the Beeb for it. Even after disbanding several times into
the late sixties and early seventies, Manfred Mann's influence continued
in groups like Mann's Earth Band and Tom McGuiness' McGuiness-Flint; Mann
and McGuiness later formed the Blues Band to play in London pubs in the
eighties.
MILLIE
- Songs include:
My Boy Lollipop (1964)
Sweet William (1964)
- Millie was Millie Small, a 16 year old girl from Jamaica, who had
a hit within a musical milieu known as Bluebeat, a forerunner of
Reggae. There were Bluebeat artists in England too, emigrees from
the West Indian communities, but although their music achieved some
note (Ezz Reco, Prince Buster Campbell), it was Millie (as she was
called) who broke through to the mainstream charts. These two songs
were Millie's only claims to fame, and on the wave of British Invasion
they reached American ears as well.
THE MINDBENDERS
- Songs include:
Groovy Kind of Love (1966)
Can't Live With You (Can't Live Without You) (1966)
Ashes to Ashes (1966)
The Letter (1967)
- The Mindbenders backed singer Wayne Fontana (Glynn Ellis) though
it was somewhat reluctantly that they admitted to being second
to anyone; they had begun as The Jets and later changed their
name under the influence of a Dirk Bogarde film "The Mind Benders".
Mythology leads us to believe that Bob Lang, Eric Stewart and Rick
Rothwell were pressed into service as Fontana's backing group when
his own group failed to show at an audition. With Fontana, of course,
they did "Game Of Love" in '65, but scored on their own as a solo
group with "Groovy Kind Of Love" in '66 once Wayne had left for
his own solo career. The band disbanded after 1967, though Eric
Stewart continued in Hotlegs and later 10cc with Graham Gouldman.
THE MOVE
- Songs include:
Night of Fear (1967)
I Can Hear the Grass Grow (1967)
Flowers in the Rain (1967)
Fire Brigade (1968)
Blackberry Way (1968)
etc.
- Birmingham was a popular place! Or perhaps the pop muse was particularly
active there. Roy Wood had been with Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders;
other members included Trevor Burton, Carl Wayne, Chris "Ace" Kefford and
Bev Bevan. Their stage dress was rather theatrical (from gangster to
psychedelic) and they had a reputation (like The Who) for trashing
their equipment. Wood's writing was solid, however, and much of it
was hitbound in the UK. Wood had quite a thing for classical and
Beatles references, with suitable results in his music. By 1969 most
members had left, and Wood recruited Idle Race singer and guitarist
Jeff Lynne to join him and Bevan in what was left of The Move. They
shortly transformed into Electric Light Orchestra (eventually with
a whole new cast of characters), and once that petered out, Wood formed
Wizzard and Lynne kept on with ELO, thence solo and eventually (with
his Lennonesque voice, a talent he and Wood shared) The Traveling
Wilburys.
ANTHONY NEWLEY
- Songs include:
I've Waited So Long (1959)
Personality (1959)
Why (1960)
Do You Mind (1960)
If She Should Come to You (1960)
And The Heavens Cried (1961)
What Kind of Fool Am I? (1961)
etc.
- Originally an actor (he'd been the Artful Dodger in the '48 film of
"Oliver Twist"), Newley played a pop star in the '50's film "Idle On
Parade"; it must have inspired him to try it for real. His songs
made the top ten readily, even with cover versions of American
artists' hits (Lloyd Price and Frankie Avalon provided the material).
Moving into television (a series called "Gurney Slade") with some
disdain for his erstwhile hitmaker image, he experimented with
surrealistic images and music, eventually writing (with Leslie
Bricuse) "Stop The World, I Want To Get Off". It wasn't a hit,
exactly, but a somewhat-repected oddity, and one of its songs,
"What Kind Of Fool Am I?" flopped in England but reached the
US pop charts in 1961. He concentrated on theatrical music from
then on (co-writing "Goldfinger" and "Who Can I Turn To" in the
sixties), plus theatrical production, though had another hit (via
Sammy Davis Jr.) with "The Candy Man" in the seventies.
BRIAN POOLE AND THE TREMELOES
- Songs include:
Twist and Shout (1963)
Do You Love Me? (1963)
I Can Dance (1963)
Candy Man (1964)
Someone Someone (1964)
etc.
- Brian Poole was a raving nut about Buddy Holly (who was almost
bigger in the UK---if that's possible---than in the US) and
forswore the life of a butcher's son from Dagenham in order
to become a pop star. He formed his own group in 1959 with a
few friends (Ricky West, Alan Blakely, Dave Munden) and called
them The Tremilos (a guitar-handle that altered notes) and, at
his mum's insistence, promoted himself to group leader. They
worked Butlin's Holiday Camps (like Rory Storm and the Hurricanes,
Ringo's old group) and even got a spot on the BBC's Saturday
Club in 1961 (where the Beatles were not due to give their
radio debut until 1962). Their extraordinary good luck in being
based near London (and perhaps a touch of professionalism as well)
resulted in Decca chosing Brian Poole and the (now-spelled) Tremeloes
*over* the Beatles. Once Merseybeat began to prevail, Poole exploited
his name (people thought it was *Liver*poole) and abandoned his Holly
specs, covered the Isley's "Twist And Shout", and were on their way...
but curiously they failed to fulfill Decca's dreams. They had only
two big hits in the UK, a cover of The Contours' "Do You Love Me?"
and The Crickets' "Someone, Someone". By 1966 Poole and the Tremeloes
were recording separately; the latter began to chart in the US (see
separate entry for The Tremeloes). Poole, his worst fears realized,
ended up a butcher after all.
PROCOL HARUM
- Songs include:
A Whiter Shade of Pale (1967)
Homburg (1967)
Quite Rightly So (1968)
A Salty Dog (1969)
Conquistador (1972)
etc.
- Gary Brooker had been a member of The Paramounts but obviously had
more talent than that venue would provide. With lyricist Keith Reid
(who played no instrument and could often be seen lurking in the
curtains on stage during concerts), Robin Trower, Barrie Wilson,
Chris Copping, the group (named Procol Harum, allegedly Latin for
"beyond these things") had a monstrously popular hit in mid 1967
with "Whiter Shade of Pale". So big was this song that it often
overshadows the group's respectable LP output over the next few
years. Brooker and Reid remained a solid part of the group though
other members changed throughout the seventies. Reid eventually
abandoned songwriting for management positions; Brooker did solo
work, as did Trower. In 1991 the band (minus Trower) reformed for
a brief tour.
TOMMY QUICKLY
- Songs include:
Tip of My Tongue (1964)
Wild Side of Life (1964)
- Perhaps the most relentlessly poor singer in the Nems stable
of stars, Tommy Quigley was renamed by Brian Epstein and groomed
for stardom, which Epstein was convinced was just around the corner.
They never did find that corner, even with a discarded Beatles song
(the egregious "Tip of My Tongue", which the Beatles themselves had
the sense to abandon). Quickly faded quickly from view soon after his
moment of fame.
THE ROCKIN' BERRIES
- Songs include:
I Didn't Mean to Hurt You (1964)
He's In Town (1964)
Poor Man's Son (1965)
- From Birmingham, the Rockin' Berries had a singer, Clive Lea, who
looked like Elvis Presley (always a smart move), but never saw a single
hit with him, so they encouraged their rhythm guitarist, Geoff Turton,
to try his luck at vocals, and that seemed to be the ticket to minor
fame. "He's In Town" and "Poor Man's Son" actually got airplay in the
US during the craze for any and all British Invasion bands. Clive Lea
retained an interest in music after the band split in 1966, exploiting the
band's sense of satirical comedy (for which they were famed on "Ready,
Steady, Go!") and doing impressions of more famous rock stars. Turton went
into the hotel business.
THE ROLLING STONES
- Songs include:
Come On (1963)
I Wanna Be Your Man (1963)
Not Fade Away (1964)
It's All Over Now (1964)
Little Red Rooster (1964)
The Last Time (1965)
I Can't Get No Satisfaction (1965)
Get Off My Cloud (1965)
Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown (1966)
Paint It Black (1966)
Let's Spend the Night Together (1967)
etc.
- Like the Beatles, it's almost impossible to attempt a succinct
history of the Stones; their presence is still as fresh today as
when they first began in the early sixties, and concert dates prove
the Stones are still dynamic as ever. Second only to the Fabs in
terms of fame, the boys from London created a raucous alternative
to British rock and roll. Their roots were more blusey than the
Beatles. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (as his last name was then)
were schoolchums, both ardent R&B fans. They were exposed to some
of the hotttest blues in London at Alexis Korner's music club; here
Jagger and Richards began to play, with Charlie Watts and/or Mick
Avory (later the Kinks' drummer). In 1962 Bill Wyman joined, and they
began to play at a club in Richmond outside London. There Andrew Loog
Oldham discovered them and resolved to promote them as British rock's
bad boys; they took to it easily. After having The Beatles write them
a song, Jagger and Richards decided it was easier than it looked and
gave it a try themselves.... The rest is remarkable history.
MICHAEL SARNE
- Songs include:
Come Out and Play (1962)
Will I What (1962)
Just For Kicks (1963)
Code of love (1963)
- Michael Scheur could speak German and was instrumental in providing
phonetic transcriptions for British pop singers (like Adam Faith and
Johnny Leyton) to sing in German. He decided to try the pop field
himself with a novelty tune "Come Out And Play", which attempted to
entice a young lady outdoors; the female voice was Wendy Richards; his
followup was a similar number with Billie Davis as the female vocalist.
This was a short-lived technique, however, and Sarne eventually abandoned
the pop world for that of musicals and film direction (his 1968 "Joanna"
being notable for introducing Donald Sutherland).
THE SEARCHERS
- Songs include:
Sweets for my Sweet (1963)
Sugar and Spice (1963)
Needles and Pins (1964)
Don't Throw Your Love Away (1964)
When You Walk In the Room (1964)
Goodbye My Love (1965)
etc.
- The Searchers were one of the most Liverpudlian of beat groups, but
spent some time establishing themselves. Their roots were in American
R&B but their harmonies and guitar playing transformed the sound to
something quite different; the Byrds are said to have been influenced
by the thick, vibrant guitar presence. Member Tony Jackson temporarily
gave up his lead singing spot to Johnny Sandon, but Sandon left for
a place in the San Remo Four, another Liverpool group, and Jackson's
vocals were heard on their cover of the Drifters' "Sweets For My
Sweet"; this was one track from an album they recorded on their own
and sent most hopefully to record producer Tony Hatch (who also produced
Petulia Clark). He was impressed and got them a contract with his label
Pye; and their career took off. They made the charts in the US covering
not only black groups but also Pete Seeger and Jackie DeShannon, adding
in their distinctive ringing guitar; but a lack of musical progress
made evolution impossible. Their lineup changed throughout the sixties
(Jackson being the first to leave in 1964) and a new lineup even recorded
in the eighties, but their best work remained entrenched in the sixties.
PETER SELLERS
- Songs include:
Any Old Iron (1957)
- with Sophia Loren:
Goodness Gracious Me (1960)
Bangers and Mash (1961)
- and solo again:
A Hard Day's Night (1965)
etc.
- Peter Sellers was also a member of The Goons, but had a more active
role in novelty and dialect songs, some of which he recorded with
Beatles producer George Martin. He teamed up with Sophia Loren for
a few numbers but relied on his Goon background for much of his funniness
on record.
HELEN SHAPIRO
- Songs include:
Don't Treat Me Like a Child (1961)
You Don't Know (1961)
Walkin' Back to Happiness (1961)
Tell Me What He Said (1962)
Little Miss Lonely (1962)
etc.
- Like the British version of Brenda Lee, Helen Shapiro achieved
fame with her mature voice (she was called "Foghorn" in school) at
the diminutive age of fourteen, when "Don't Treat Me Like A Child"
reached the British top ten. With teased hair and dressed in her
school uniform, Shapiro was an instant favorite with the mums and
dads, not to mention some of their kids. She entered the film world
with a few tentative starring roles (notably in Richard Lester's
first feature "It's Trad, Dad". Once she grew up, however, interest
flagged and the hits tailed off. She was in virtual retirement by
the seventies after minor club work, but found a revitalized career
in London musical comedy.
SANDI SHAW
- Songs include:
(There's) Always Someone There to Remind Me (1964)
Girl Don't Come (1964)
I'll Stop At Nothing (1964)
Long Live Love (1965)
etc.
- From Dagenham, just like Brian Poole, Sandra Goodrich was besotted
by Adam Faith, and in pursuit of her idol she auditioned for him
backstage one night, sans shoes; her shoeless status became her
trademark once Faith (who must have been impressed) helped usher
her into the music business. Shaw had a distinctly mod look and a
voice much like Cilla Black's but achieved success by emphasizing
strongly written material in her musical repertoire (covers of
hits included as well as originals from Chris Andrews, a pop writer
of note). She retired in the late sixties to raise a family but
made some concert and film appearances in the eighties.
TONY SHERIDAN (AND THE BEAT BROTHERS)
- Song:
My Bonnie (1961; charted 1963)
- Sheridan's main claim to fame was via his backing band, retitled
The Beat Brothers for their appearance with him but, as everyone
knows, really The Beatles. Sheridan achieved some regional fame as
a crooner on British teen TV shows like "Oh Boy!" (1959) but made
quite an impact in Hamburg, where British music was seen as a good-enough
substitute for American rock and roll. Sheridan played host to other
guest backing bands includings Ian Hines' Jets and Gerry and the
Pacemakers. Sheridan sings the lead on "My Bonnie" but was nice
enough (or was this producer Bert Kaempfert's idea?) to let John
have a bash at "Ain't She Sweet". Once the Beatles' fame was established,
Sheridan went back into the recording studio and cut several more rock
standards to fill out an album with the five 1961-recordings of The
Beat Brothers (of course no matter whom Sheridan had as his backing
group, they always seemed to be called The Beat Brothers!) Sheridan
never had another chart hit and spent much of his time in German
cabarets or British revival tours.
SOUNDS INCORPORATED
- Songs include:
The Spartans (1964)
Spanish Harlem (1964)
- In the tradition of skiffle bands, Sounds sometimes dressed in
trad-jazz duds (plaid shirts and jeans), sometimes in Shadows-style
matching suits, but they were clearly hangers-on to the Beatles
phenomenon. Nevertheless they included some novel instrumentation---
flute and saxes in addition to guitars. Members included Alan Holmes,
Griff West, Barry Cameron, Tony Newman (who later joined the Jeff
Beck Group), John St. John and Wesley Hunter. They accompanied The
Beatles on 1964 tours and provided the brass section for the Boys'
"Good Morning, Good Morning" in 1967.
THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP
- Songs include:
I Can't Stand It (1964)
Every Little Bit Hurts (1965)
Strong Love (1965)
Keep On Running (1965)
Somebody Help Me (1966)
When I Come Home (1966)
Gimme Some Loving (1966)
I'm A Man (1967)
Time Seller (1967)
Mr. Second Class (1968)
etc.
- Spencer Davis was a teacher in the Birmingham area whose lust for
blues got the better of him; in 1964 he formed a group with the Winwood
Brothers (Stevie and Muff), and drummer Peter York. Stevie Winwood was
but a slip of a lad (16 when the band was formed), yet his voice carried
the group through the top ten in both the UK and US. Stevie, however, had
his sights set on greener pastures and left to form Traffic in 1967; later
Muff became a producer (for Dire Straits, among others), and Spencer
Davis played host to a plethora of occasional members (Eddie Hardin, Dee
Murray, Dave Hines). Their hits diminished after the departure of the
Winwoods and tried other musical combinations before eventually settling
into production.
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD
- Songs include:
I Only Want to Be With You (1963)
I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself (1964)
Losing You (1964)
In the Middle of Nowhere (1965)
Some of Your Lovin' (1965)
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (1966)
etc.
- After leaving the Springfields, Dusty was fortunate to ride the
wave, so to speak, of the British Invasion. Though she had considerable
chart success in Britain, she also made a splash in the US, where she
often beat out other English "girl" singers like Petulia Clark, Cilla
Black, and Lulu. Dusty's range was broader than theirs, extending
into soul and blues. Her career took an downturn toward the late
sixties as she failed to evolve; she moved to the US in 1973 but
never really made much of an impression thenceforward.
CAT STEVENS
- Songs include:
I Love My Dog (1966)
Matthew and Son (1967)
I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun (1967)
Lady D'Arbanville (1970)
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