This little known music venue, situated on the Middlesex bank of the River Thames, a few miles west of Hampton Court Palace, put on some fascinating shows from the early to late 1960s. Judging by the few gigs I’ve managed to find below, the club operated from at least early 1965 to mid-1968, possibly longer. The hotel was demolished in 1971.
Alan Wherry, who played with The Richard Henry Sensation (later Richard Henry & The Zig Zag Band) remembers that his group started out playing this venue in the summer of 1966, and continued on and off until October. The band’s guitarist David O’List then left and soon after formed The Attack.
Wherry describes the Crawdaddy’s Casino Ballroom Hotel as a fabulous place: “It had been built by Fred Karno, a famous West End impresario. It looked like a Mississippi riverboat and it bankrupted Mr Karno. The guy who booked us there paid us poorly. His bouncers, a team of seriously hard men, got double what we got and it was his idea to call us the Zig Zag Band. He wanted us to wear white suits with a big black zig zag on them, which he would supply. He wanted us to swing our saxes and do fancy dance steps a la Hank Marvin and The Shadows.”
The most notable acts that I’ve found who played the venue were Chris Farlowe, The Shotgun Express (with Rod Stewart, Mick Fleetwood and Peter Bardens; Peter Green had left before their September 1966 gig) and Pink Floyd.
Melody Maker occasionally listed groups in its gig section but I would love to hear from anyone who can add shows and memories of the venue below.
GIG LISTING:
12 February 1965 – Mike Dee & The Prophets with Roger and Caroline (annual press ball) (Don Martin’s gig diary)
30 July 1966 – Richard Henry & The Zig Zag Band (Melody Maker)
Photo: Melody Maker
13 August 1966 – Jimmy James & The Vagabonds (Melody Maker)
10 September 1966 – Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds (Melody Maker)
Photo: Melody Maker
24 September 1966 – The Shotgun Express (Melody Maker)
25 September 1966 – Richard Henry & The Zig Zag Band (Melody Maker)
16 October 1966 – Richard Henry & The Zig Zag Band (Melody Maker)
26 March 1967 – The New Jump Band (Bob Hodges’ gig diary)
7 April 1967 – The Maroons (Melody Maker)
8 April 1967 – The System Soul Band with Ivan St Clair (Melody Maker)
9 April 1967 – The Flies (Melody Maker)
15 April 1967 – The Leaders featuring Norma Fay and introducing Delroy Williams (Melody Maker)
System Soul Band featuring Mike Piggott on lead guitar (right). Photo: Mike Piggott
16 April 1967 – The System Soul Band with Ivan St Clair (Melody Maker)
2 December 1967 – Ronnie Jones & The Q-Set (Melody Maker)
Photo: Melody Maker
9 December 1967 – Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames (Melody Maker)
16 December 1967 – The Shevelles (Melody Maker)
16 March 1968 – Pink Floyd (Melody Maker)
Interesting guitarist David Gilmour later bought the Astoria on Taggs Island and converted it into a floating studio
Welcome to another posting of a series of gig listings for 1960s bands. None of these lists is exhaustive and my idea is to add to them in the comments section below over time. They are here for future researchers to draw on. I have also added a few interesting bits of information and will add images in time.
I’d like to encourage band members to get in touch to share memories, or for anyone to send corrections/clarifications to my email: Warchive@aol.com
Equally important, if you attended any of the gigs below or played in the support band, please do leave your memories below in the comments section for future historians to use. If you know of any missing gigs, please add them too, if possible, with the sources.
Sands, 1966
Paul Stewart – lead vocals
Pete Hammerton – lead guitar
Bob Freeman (aka Rob Tolchard) – rhythm guitar
Ian McIntock – bass
Ray Cook – drums
Sands were formed from the remnants of Hampton, Middlesex R&B outfit, The Others around June/July 1965.
They first worked as The Emotions and then The Army before adopting Sands, named after a coffee bar in New Bond Street, around March 1966. Apart from Cook, who had worked in The Tridents with Jeff Beck, the rest had played in The Others.
8 April 1966 – Marquee, London with Gary Farr & The T-Bones (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
15 April 1966 – Links R&B Club, Maxwell Park Youth Centre, Borehamwood, Herts with Alan Price Set (Simon Gee research)
22 April 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Bluesology (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
23 April 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester with Gary Farr & The T-Bones (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle)
6 May 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Emeralds (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
13 May 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Move (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
23 May 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Steampacket (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
27 May 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Move (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
Around early June 1966, the group headed to Hamburg to play the Top Ten Club with Irish showband The Woodpeckers but it was not a positive experience and they cut the residency short after briefly rehearsing with Scottish singer Barry St John.
17 June 1966 – Coronation Ballroom, Ramsgate, Kent with Episode Six and Steve & The Corvettes (East Kent Times)
20 June 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Shotgun Express (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
25 June 1966 – Club de Danse, Colchester, Essex (Evening Star, Ipswich)
28 June 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Small Faces (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
1 July 1966 – Cellar Club, Latin Quarter, Leicester with Legay (Leicester debut) (Leicester Mercury)
2 July 1966 – Farnborough Technical College, Farnborough, Hampshire with The Graham Bond Organisation (Aldershot News)
7 July 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Move (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
15 July 1966 – Market Hall, St Albans, Herts (Welwyn Advertiser)
4 August 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Move (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
6 August 1966 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Solomon Burke with The Senate, David Garrick & The Iveys, John McCoy’s Crawdaddies and The Ferryboys (Lincolnshire Standard)
13 August 1966 – Co-op, Rainbow Suite, Birmingham with The Outer Limits (Birmingham Evening Mail)
18 August 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Move (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
20 August 1966 – Burlesque, Leicester with Roaring ‘60s (Leicester Mercury)
28 August 1966 – Starlite, Greenford, northwest London with The Pretty Things (Melody Maker)
Around this time, Sands played the Hi-Fi club in Toulon in the South of France. They also embarked on a short Belgium tour in the second half of the year.
17 September 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)
22 September 1966 – Thorngate Ballroom, Gosport, Hampshire (Portsmouth News)
1 October 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Herd (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
13 October 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Move (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
28 October 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Gary Farr & The T-Bones (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
2 November 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)
4 November 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Duffy Power’s Nucleus (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
5 November 1966 – Shoreline, Bognor Regis, West Sussex with Duffy Power (Melody Maker)
19 November 1966 – Weymouth Pavilion, Weymouth, Dorset with Chapter IV (Dorset Evening Echo/Western Gazette)
20 November 1966 – Pavilion Ballroom, Southampton (Dorset Evening Echo)
21 November 1966 – Discotheque Club, Salisbury (Dorset Evening Echo)
25 November 1966 – Marquee,Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Summer Set (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
2 December 1966 – Starlite Ballroom, Greenford, northwest London with The All Night Workers (Melody Maker)
6 December 1966 – New Sandon Village Hall, Essex (Essex Chronicle) Is this likely with the gig below?
6 December 1966 – Concorde, Southampton, Hampshire (Southern Echo)
9 December 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Iveys (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
16 December 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Ultimate (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
18 December 1966 – Cromer Olympia, Cromer, Norfolk with News (North Norfolk News)
7-8 January 1967 – Old Barn Club, Penzance, Cornwall (West Briton & Royal Cornish Gazette)
13 January 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Roscoe Brown Combo (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
27 January 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Mark Barry (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
28 January 1967 – Lion Hotel, Warrington, Cheshire with Beachwoods and Principles (Warrington Guardian)
29 January 1967 – Carlton Club, Warrington, Cheshire (Warrington Guardian)
5 February 1967 – Saville Theatre, Shaftsbury Avenue, London with Cream and Edwin Starr (Melody Maker) Disc & Music Echo had Billy Stewart instead of Edwin Starr originally
17 February 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Condors (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
During late February Ray Cook left to work with Jeff Beck who he’d played with in The Tridents and B J Wilson joined (possibly from Freddie Mack’s Mack Sound). Cook worked with Jeff Beck in the first week of March but left on 6 March
1 April 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)
22 April 1967 – Lion Hotel, Warrington, Cheshire with Klue and Georgie Germs (Warrington Guardian)
23 April 1967 – Carlton Club, Warrington, Cheshire (Warrington Guardian)
6 May 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)
13-14 May 1967 – Old Barn Club, Penzance, Cornwall (West Briton & Royal Cornish Gazette)
28 May 1967 – Heaven Club, Angel Hotel, Godalming, Surrey with The Other Two Thousand (Surrey Advertiser)
2 June 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Wages of Sin (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
3 June 1967 – Britannia Rowing Club, Nottingham with The Montanas (Nottingham Evening Post)
9 June 1967 – Club Rado, Belfast, Northern Ireland with Few (City Week)
17 June 1967 – Lion Hotel, Warrington, Cheshire with Beachwoods and Georgie Germs (Warrington Guardian)
18 June 1967 – Carlton Club, Warrington, Cheshire (Warrington Guardian)
24 June 1967 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, central London (Evening Standard)
Around this time B J Wilson joined Procol Harum. Bob Freeman (aka Rob Tolchard) took over the drum stool
Sands, four-piece, late 1967
1 July 1967 – Beachcomber, Nottingham with Sons & Lovers (Nottingham Evening Post)
3 July 1967 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, central London (Evening Standard)
8 July 1967 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
29 July 1967 – Beachcomber, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)
August 1967 – Three weeks at the Papagayo Club, Font Romeu, France (most likely starting second week of the month)
16 September 1967 – Lion Hotel, Warrington with The Fix and The Seftons (Warrington Guardian)
8 October 1967 – Colomba Club, West Wickham, south London (Fabulous 208)
Shortly after this gig, Paul Stewart and Pete Hammerton left and Rob Tolchard and Ian McIntock recorded as Sun Dragon.
Thanks to Mike Stax for his excellent interview with Rob Tolchard in Ugly Things #36 for some of the information. Thanks also to Rob for providing me with additional information.
The Others, circa 1964, from left to right Pete Hammerton, Geoff Coxon, Bob Freeman (Rob Tolchard), Paul Stewart and Ian McLintock.
The Others, 1963-64
By Rob Tolchard
Formed in the summer of 1963 in the rural riverside south-west London suburb of Hampton, The Others were originally a bunch of rebellious schoolmates. Fired up by the Richmond Sound, spearheaded by the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds – the south’s answer to the Liverpool Sound – The Others picked up the baton and ran with it, swiftly building a devoted fan-base of their own and a circuit of regular gigs, hot on the heels of the slightly more senior bands who had inspired them before leaving town for international acclaim.
The look was long-haired bohemian, the music was Chicago rhythm’n’blues and the interest from local and national media secured them a London management/agency contract, a record deal and teen-magazine features by the fistfull as they tore up and down the length of Britain in a van covered in adoring messages written in lipstick. They were still not even old enough to drive legally.
In the summer of 1964, they recorded their one and only record, Bo Diddley’s “Oh Yeah”, on Polydor (TF 501) but by the time of its release, parental pressure had forced two of their number, John Standley (lead guitar) and Nigel Baldwin (drums) to quit the band and return to school to study for their “A”-level exams. They were replaced by Peter Hammerton on guitar and Geoff Coxon on drums, who feature in the promotional shots for the record. The band attained a new excellence, “very much in the same class as the Yardbirds” according to Brian May of Queen, a former schoolmate and the record was a turntable hit on the rock radio programmes of the day and was highly praised by Jimmy Saville in his national press pop column.
But it wasn’t to last. Paul Stewart, their charismatic lead singer and mouth-harp player was also under extreme parental pressure to return to academic endeavours and, tired of living in a car in a rented garage, he gave in, cut his hair, was allowed back home and returned to Hampton Grammar School in late October 1964.
That was effectively the end of The Others, who should have achieved so much more. Their record has become a collectors’ item and Brian May’s early band, “1984” (later “Smile”) used to include The Others’ self-penned “B”-side, “I’m Taking Her Home” in their own repertoire. The other two original members of The Others, Bob Freeman (rhythm guitar/harp) and Ian McLintock (bass) remained in the industry and continued to make music, but never again came as close to stardom as did their first band.
Pete Hammerton, Geoff Coxon, Bob Freeman (now re-named Rob Tolchard to avoid confusion with the Beatles’ photographer) and Paul Stewart remained in touch and have reformed The Others, in order to perform heavily re-arranged revisitations of the old classic repertoire. What a vintage.
1964 gig (see comments below)1965 gig (see comments below)
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
I am dedicated to making this site a center for research about '60s music scenes. Please consider donating archival materials such as photos, records, news clippings, scrapbooks or other material from the '60s. Please contact me at rchrisbishop@gmail.com if you can loan or donate original materials
