Category Archives: England

The Action gigs 1965-1968

September 11, 2017 Nick Warburton 19 Comments

Welcome to another posting in 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 and, where possible, I have added the sources used, whether they are newspapers or websites. 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.

THE ACTION:

1965

17 April 1965 – Goldhawk Social Club, Shepherd’s Bush, London (poster) Billed as The Boys

5 June 1965 – Ticky Rick and Rang-A-Tang Club, Carnival Hall, Basingstoke, Hampshire (Hampshire & Berkshire Gazette) Billed as The Boys

6 June 1965 – Tavern Club, Dereham, Norfolk with The Morons (Lynn News/North Norfolk News)

11 July 1965 – Tavern Club, Dereham, Norfolk with The Rockin’ Roosters (Lynn News/North Norfolk News)

15 July 1965 – Birdcage, Kimbells Ballroom, Southsea, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

17 July 1965 – Bolton Palais, Bolton, Greater Manchester (Bolton Evening News)

24 July 1965 – Pontiac, Zeeta House, Putney, London, SW15 with Peter Fenton & The Tasty Mob (NME)

19 August 1965 – Birdcage, Kimbells Ballroom, Southsea, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

21 August 1965 – Pontiac, Zeeta House, Putney, London, SW15 with Sonny Childe & The Cool School (NME)

26 August 1965 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire with Steampacket, Long John Baldry and Brian Auger Trinity (Dave Allen research)

27 August 1965 – Goldhawk Social Club, Shepherd’s Bush, London with The Birds (Ron Wood’s 1965 diary)

3 September 1965 – The Cavern, Liverpool with The Masterminds and Fritz, Mike and Mo (Phil Thompson’s Story of the Cavern book)

4 September 1965 – Beachcomber, Bolton, Greater Manchester (Bolton Evening News)

5 September 1965 – Pontiac Club, Zeeta House, Putney, London, SW15 (Melody Maker)

12 September 1965 – Pontiac Club, Zeeta House, Putney, London, SW15 (Melody Maker)

16 September 1965 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire with Goldie & The Gingerbreads (Dave Allen research)

19 September 1965 – Pontiac Club, Zeeta House, Putney, London, SW15 (Melody Maker)

26 September 1965 – Pontiac Club, Zeeta House, Putney, London, SW15 (Melody Maker)

3 October 1965 – Pontiac, Zeeta House, Putney, London (Melody Maker)

15 October 1965 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

21 October 1965 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds and Johnny B Great & The Quotations (Dave Allen research)

23 October 1965 – Royal Links Pavilion, Cromer, Norfolk with The Cheaters (Julie Fielder book: What Flo Said Next)

23 October 1965 – Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage, Herts with The Living Legends (Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire Express)

24 October 1965 – Pontiac, Zeeta House, Putney, London (Melody Maker)

31 October 1965 – Pontiac, Zeeta House, Putney, London (Melody Maker)

5 November 1965 – The Cavern, Liverpool with Earl Preston’s Realms (Phil Thompson’s Story of the Cavern book)

7 November 1965 – Pontiac, Zeeta House, Putney, London (Melody Maker)

20 November 1965 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

27 November 1965 – Blue Moon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen)

28 November 1965 – Sunshine Floor, Tavern, Dereham, Norfolk with Ian and Danny Eves & Sound Reformed (Eastern Evening News/North Norfolk News)

5 December 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with The Who (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live) Billed as The Boys

14 December 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with The Mark Leeman Five (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

17 December 1965 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

18 December 1965 – Harpenden Public Hall, Harpenden, Herts with The Spectrum (Welwyn & Hatfield Advertiser)

24 December 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with The Roscoe Brown Combo (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

27 December 1965 – Goldhawk Social Club, Shepherd’s Bush, London (Melody Maker)

30 December 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

31 December 1965 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

1966

1 January 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

2 January 1966 – Nottingham Boat Club, Nottingham (Down at the Boat book)

4 January 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

8 January 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

11 January 1966 – Bristol Corn Exchange, Bristol (Western Scene)

18 January 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

21 January 1966 – Carousel Club, 1 Camp Road, Farnborough, Hampshire with The Soul Pushers (Aldershot News/Camberley News) David Else also has the band playing at the Ricky Tick at Staines Town Hall, Middlesex on this day which is feasible

22 January 1966 – Blue Moon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen)

23 January 1966 – Ricky Tick, Plaza, Guildford, Surrey (David Else’s research)

28 January 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

3 February 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

8 February 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Roscoe Brown Combo (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

12 February 1966 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire (Nuneaton Evening Tribune)

13 February 1966 – Dungeon Club, Nottingham (website: https://dungeonmods.wordpress.com/)

15 February 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Bo Street Runners (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

18 February 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

20 February 1966 – The Downs, Hassocks, West Sussex with Nocturnal (Mid Sussex Times)

27 February 1966 – Dungeon Club, Nottingham (website: https://dungeonmods.wordpress.com/)

2 March 1966 – Bromel Club, Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (Melody Maker)

6 March 1966 – Black Prince, Bexley, southeast London (Fabulous 208/Mick Capewell’s Marmalade Skies)

8 March 1966 – Bristol Chinese R&B Club, Corn Exchange, Bristol (Western Scene)

11 March 1966 – Mr McCoys, Middlesbrough with Jazzboard (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

13 March 1966 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire with St Louis Union (The Star)

18 March 1966 – Armco Sports & Social Club, Letchworth, Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Herts with various others (Hertfordshire Express)

19 March 1966 – City Hall, Sheffield, South Yorkshire with P J Proby, The Searchers, Thane Russell & Three and The Shelley (The Star)

29 March 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Loose Ends (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

30 March 1966 – Bromel Club, Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (Melody Maker)

5 April 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

8 April 1966 – Links R&B Club, Boreham Wood, Herts with The Vagabonds and The Fairies (Welwyn Advertiser)

8-9 April 1966 – Blue Moon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen)

10 April 1966 – Ultra Club, Downs, Hassocks, West Sussex with Cops ‘N’ Robbers (Mid Sussex Times)

17 April 1966 – Dungeon Club, Nottingham (website: https://dungeonmods.wordpress.com/)

21 April 1966 – The Village, Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire (Disc & Music Echo)

25 April 1966 – Bridgwater Town Hall, Bridgwater, Somerset (Disc & Music Echo)

26 April 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Clayton Squares (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

29 April 1966 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London (Melody Maker)

30 April 1966 – Union, Manchester University, Manchester with The Lonely Ones (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle)

1 May 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester (Beat Instrumental)

4 May 1966 – Stourbridge Town Hall, Stourbridge, Worcestershire (Beat Instrumental)

5 May 1966 – Kidderminster Town Hall, Kidderminster, Worcestershire (Beat Instrumental)

6 May 1966 – Bluesville, Manor House, north London (Beat Instrumental)

8 May 1966 – Downs Hotel, Hassocks, West Sussex (Beat Instrumental)

13 May 1966 – Ricky Tick, Staines Town Hall, Staines, Middlesex (Disc & Music Echo)

14 May 1966 – Cadillac, Brighton, Sussex (Disc & Music Echo)

15 May 1966 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (The Star)

16 May 1966 – Chatham Town Hall, Chatham, Kent (Beat Instrumental)

17 May 1966 – Corn Exchange, Bristol (Beat Instrumental)

19 May 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Herd (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

20 May 1966 – Zambesi, Hounslow, west London (Melody Maker)

21 May 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester (Beat Instrumental)

23 May 1966 – Bluesville, Ipswich, Suffolk (Beat Instrumental)

24 May 1966 – Links, Borehamwood, Herts (Beat Instrumental)

25 May 1966 – Tower Ballroom, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk (Beat Instrumental)

26 May 1966 – Starlight, Crawley, West Sussex with The Powerhouse Six (Caterham Weekly Press)

27 May 1966 – Glenlyn Ballroom, Forest Hill, London (South East London Mercury) Beat Instrumental has Acton Town Hall on this date but it’s possible they played both

28 May 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

9 June 1966 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (South East London Mercury)

12 June 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester (Beat Instrumental)

13 June 1966 – Queen’s Ballroom, Wolverhampton, West Midlands (Express & Star)

14 June 1966 – Grand Black Daffodil, Odeon Ballroom, Chesterfield, Derbyshire (The Star)

16 June 1966 – Bath Pavilion, Bath (Fabulous 208)

17 June 1966 – Ready Steady Go Club, Market Hall, St Albans, Herts (Welwyn Advertiser)

18 June 1966 – Uxbridge Blues Festival, Hillingdon Borough Show Ground, Hillingdon, west London with Manfred Mann, The Alan Walker Group and the Steampacket (Middlesex Chronicle)

19 June 1966 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Fabulous 208)

22 June 1966 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, London (South East London Mercury)

23 June 1966 – KD Club, Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

24 June 1966 – Durham University, Durham (Fabulous 208)

25 June 1966 – Leeds University, Leeds, West Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

28 June 1966 – Corn Exchange, Bristol (Fabulous 208)

30 June 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Alan Bown Set (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

1 July 1966 – Iron Curtain Club, St Mary’s Cray, southeast London (Fabulous 208)

2 July 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

4 July 1966 – Atlanta Ballroom, Woking, Surrey (Aldershot News/Camberley News) Says Straight from the Marquee in the advert

9 July 1966 – Ricky Tick, Windsor, Berkshire (Fabulous 208)

10 July 1966 – Central Hotel, Gillingham, Kent (Fabulous 208)

10 July 1966 – The Catacombe, Eastbourne, East Sussex with Dion Five (Eastbourne Herald Chronicle)

12 July 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with The Creation (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

14 July 1966 – Assembly Room, Worthing, West Sussex (Evening Argus/Worthing Herald)

15 July 1966 – Chislehurst Caves, Chislehurst, London (Fabulous 208)

16 July 1966 – Trade Union Hall, Watford, Herts (Fabulous 208)

17 July 1966 – Dungeon, Nottingham (Fabulous 208)

18 July 1966 – Shoreline Club, Bognor Regis, West Sussex (Fabulous 208)

23 July 1966 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Paul & Barry Ryan, James Royal Set, Rob Storme & The Whispers and The Ferry Boys (Lincolnshire Standard)

26 July 1966 – Town Hall, High Wycombe, Bucks (Fabulous 208)

29 July 1966 – Chislehurst Caves, Chislehurst, London (Fabulous 208)

30 July 1966 – Refectory Fields, Blackheath, London (Fabulous 208)

6 August 1966 – Blue Moon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen)

7 August 1966 – Agincourt Ballroom, Camberley, Surrey (Aldershot News/Camberley News)

12 August 1966 – Benn Memorial Hall, Rugby, Warwickshire (Fabulous 208)

13 August 1966 – Community Centre, Gosport, Hampshire (Fabulous 208)

14 August 1966 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

15-19 August 1966 – Witch Doctor, Marine Court, St Leonards, East Sussex (Hastings & St Leonards Observer) Says every Monday-Friday

20 August 1966 – Grantham Drill Hall, Grantham with The Carpetbaggers and The Beathovens (Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph)

21 August 1966 – Starlite, Greenford, London with The Mode (Melody Maker)

23 August 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with The Clayton Squares (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

25 August 1966 – Locarno Ballroom, Bristol with Strange Fruits (Evening Post)

26 August 1966 – Flamingo Club, Folkestone, Kent (Fabulous 208)

27 August 1966 – Shoreline Club, Bognor Regis, West Sussex (Fabulous 208)

27 August 1966 – Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage, Hertfordshire (Hertfordshire Express/Welwyn Times)

30 August 1966 – Winter Gardens, Malvern, Worcestershire (Fabulous 208)

2 September 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

3 September 1966 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with supporting groups (website: www.california-ballroom.info/gigs/)

6 September 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with The Graham Bell Trend (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

9 September 1966 – Chesterfield Ballroom, Chesterfield, Derbyshire (Fabulous 208)

10 September 1966 – Dungeon Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)

15 September 1966 – Mayfair Ballroom, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear with The Fenman (Fabulous 208)

17 September 1966 – Dreamland, Margate, Kent with The Symbols (East Kent Times)

18 September 1966 – Redcar Jazz Club, Redcar, North Yorkshire with The Johnny Rogers Band (Dennis Weller, Chris Scott Wilson and Graham Lowe’s book)

21 September 1966 – Top Rank Ballroom, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire (Fabulous 208)

23 September 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with The Syn (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

24 September 1966 – Blue Moon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen)

25 September 1966 – King’s Arms, Wood Green, London (Fabulous 208)

29 September 1966 – Wykenham Hall, Romford, London (Fabulous 208)

6 October 1966 – Assembly Hall, Worthing, West Sussex (Worthing Herald)

7 October 1966 – Fakenham Corn Hall and Cattle Market, Fakenham, Norfolk with Humphrey Lyttleton and His Band (North Norfolk News/Fabulous 208)

8 October 1966 – Reading University, Reading, Berkshire (Fabulous 208)

10 October 1966 – Top Rank Suite, Southampton, Hampshire (Southern Evening Echo)

13 October 1966 – Dino’s Club, Derby, Derbyshire (Fabulous 208)

16 October 1966 – George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire (Fabulous 208)

18 October 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with Episode Six (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

20 October 1966 – Grove Hall, Market Drayton, Staffordshire with The Denims and Frankie & The Countdowns (Evening Sentinel

21 October 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire with The Move (Dave Allen research)

21 October 1966 – Cadillac Club, Brighton, Sussex (Fabulous 208)

22 October 1966 – Bristol University, Bristol (Fabulous 208)

25 October 1966 – The Kazzoo Discotheque, Public Hall, Wallington, south London (Fabulous 208/Beckenham & Penge Advertiser)

27 October 1966 – Le Metro Club, Birmingham, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail/Fabulous 208)

28 October 1966 – Benn Memorial Hall, Rugby, Warwickshire (Fabulous 208)

29 October 1966 – Marquee at the Shoreline, Bognor Regis, West Sussex with Long John Baldry and Bluesology and David Bowie & The Buzz (Melody Maker)

1 November 1966 – Ricky Tick, Borough Assembly Hall, Aylesbury, Bucks with The Neat Change (website: http://aylesburymusictown.co.uk/)

2 November 1966 – The Cavern, Liverpool (Phil Thompson’s Story of the Cavern book)

2 November 1966 – Falcon Hotel, Eltham, London (Fabulous 208)

5 November 1966 – Watford Trade Hall, Watford, Hertfordshire (Fabulous 208)

6 November 1966 – Le Discotheque, Grimsby, Humberside (Grimsby Evening Telegraph)

9 November 1966 – Adam & Eve, Southampton, Hampshire (Southern Echo)

11 November 1966 – Goldsmith College, New Cross, London (Fabulous 208)

12 November 1966 – Regent Street Polytechnic, London (Fabulous 208)

16 November 1966 – Grandstand, Derby, Derbyshire (Fabulous 208)

16 November 1966 – Eight-day tour of Scandinavia starts in Oslo, Norway (Melody Maker)

The next two gigs would not have happened if the band’s Scandinavian tour went ahead from 16 November

19 November 1966 – St Mary’s College, Twickenham, London (Fabulous 208)

20 November 1966 – Dolly’s Club, Jermyn Street, London (Fabulous 208)

22 November 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with Episode Six (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

24 November 1966 – Ram Jam, Brixton, London (Melody Maker)

8 December 1966 – Concorde, Southampton, Hampshire (Southern Evening Echo)

10 December 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research) Last gig as a five piece

13 December 1966 – Kent University, Canterbury, Kent with Alan Bown Set (Fabulous 208)

16 December 1966 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Fabulous 208)

17 December 1966 – Smethwick Baths, Bearwood, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)

18 December 1966 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

19 December 1966 – Ram Jam, Brixton, London (Melody Maker)

22 December 1966 – Wykeham Hall, Romford, London (Fabulous 208)

23 December 1966 – Harpenden Public Hall, Harpenden, Hertfordshire (Fabulous 208)

1967

21 January 1967 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire (Nuneaton Evening Tribune)

27 January 1967 – 1600, Hereford, Herefordshire (Worcester Evening News)

30 January 1967 – Bluesville, Ipswich, Suffolk (Evening Star)

31 January 1967 – Winter Gardens, Malvern, Worcestershire (Fabulous 208)

1 February 1967 – Hemel Hempstead Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, Herts with The New Conchords (Berkhamstead Gazette, Tring and District News)

3 February 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with Marmalade (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

4 February 1967 – Dreamland, Margate, Kent with The First Light (East Kent Times & Mail)

9 February 1967 – Clifton Hall, Rotherham, South Yorkshire (South Yorkshire & Rotherham Advertiser)

17 February 1967 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Fabulous 208)

18 February 1967 – Blue Moon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Worcester Evening News)

19 February 1967 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (The Star)

21 February 1967 – Top Rank Suite, Bristol (Fabulous 208) Debut of new four-piece

22 February 1967 – Decorum House, Hemel Hempstead, Herts (Fabulous 208)

23 February 1967 – Salisbury City Hall, Salisbury, Wiltshire with Systems Go (Frogg Moody and Richard Nash’s book Hold Tight!/Western Gazette)

25 February 1967 – Dacorum College, Hemel Hempstead, Herts with The New Conchords (Berkhamstead Gazette, Tring & District News)

28 February 1967 – Ritz, Bournemouth, Dorset with The Bossmen (Bournemouth Evening Echo)

1 March 1967 – Bromel Club, Downham, London (South East London Mercury)

4 March 1967 – Dunelm House, Durham, County Durham (Fabulous 208)

11 March 1967 – University of London, Malet Street, London (Fabulous 208)

16 March 1967 – New Locarno Ballroom, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (The Star)

19 March 1967 – Nottingham Boat Club, Nottingham (Down at the Boat book)

22 March 1967 – College of Art, Hornsey, London (Fabulous 208)

25 March 1967 – Blue Moon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen)

27 March 1967 – Nite Owl, Leicester (Leicester Mercury)

1 April 1967 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with The Cortinas (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)

3 April 1967 – Adelphi Ballroom, West Brom, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)

4 April 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with The Stalkers (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

7 April 1967 – Rugby Town Hall, Rugby, Warwickshire with The Moodoos (Coventry Evening Telegraph/Leicester Mercury)

8 April 1967 – Lewes FC Beat Rave, Lewes Town Hall, Lewes, East Sussex with TD Backus and The Powerhouse and The Teen Team (Sussex Express)

14 April 1967 – Civic Hall, Wulfun Halls, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with The Vogues, Cyril Stapleton & His Band and Reg Bradley & His Band (Express and Star)

6 May 1967 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire (Fabulous 208)

19 May 1967 – Memorial Hall, Barry, Wales (Fabulous 208)

20 May 1967 – University of Tech, Loughborough, Leicestershire (Fabulous 208)

25 May 1967 – Garden Club, London (Fabulous 208) This might be in Covent Garden

26 May 1967 – Il Rondo Ballroom, Leicester (Leicester Mercury)

27 May 1967 – Hertford Balls, Oxford with Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Swinging Blue Jeans, Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers and Hamilton & The Movement (Cherwell)

3 June 1967 – Victoria Cross Gallery, Wantage, Oxfordshire (Wiltshire Gazette)

13 June 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with The Prime Apples (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

16 June 1967 – Town Hall, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Fabulous 208)

21 June 1967 – Adam & Eve, Southampton, Hampshire (Southern Evening Echo)

24 June 1967 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

1 July 1967 – Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon with Package Deal and Sixth Sense (Torquay Times)

8 July 1967 – Royal Lido Ballroom, Prestatyn, Wales with The Raynes (website: www.45worlds.com/live)

15 July 1967 – Floral Hall, Gorleston, Norfolk with St Willie Cool School (North Norfolk News)

23 July 1967 – Starlite, Greenford, London with The Syn (Melody Maker)

1 August 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with Timebox (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

5 August 1967 – Town Hall, Clacton, Essex with The Mojos and First Movement (Essex County Standard)

7 August 1967 – Park Hall Hotel, Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with The Del Roy Good Good Band and Dual Purpose (Express & Star)

8 August 1967 – Holywell Community Centre, West Watford, Hertfordshire with Gene & The Cossacks (West Herts & Watford Observer)

10 August 1967 – Cleveland Technical College, James Finegan Hall, Eston, Teesside with The Clockwork Orange and The Real McCoy (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

13 August 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)

19 August 1967 – South Bank Jazz Club, Grimsby, Humberside (Grimsby Evening Telegraph)

27 August 1967 – Rowley Rag, Whiteheath, West Midlands with The Acoustics (Express & Star)

9 September 1967 – Britannia Rowing Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Mail)

12 September 1967 – Concord, Bassett Hotel, Southampton, Hampshire (Southern Evening Echo)

21 September 1967 – Hanley Suite, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)

23 September 1967 – Twisted Wheel, Manchester (Manchester Evening News and Chronicle)

3 October 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with Timebox (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

21 October 1967 – City University, London with Episode Six (Melody Maker)

23 October 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, London with Nite People (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

4 November 1967 – Broken Wheel, Retford, Nottinghamshire (Retford Times)

5 November 1967 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

8 November 1967 – Britannia Rowing Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Mail)

13 November 1967 – The Parlour, North End, Hampshire (Portsmouth News)

9 December 1967 – Boulevard, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire Evening Post)

16 December 1967 – St Joseph’s College, Trent Vale, Staffordshire with Tamla Express (Evening Sentinel)

17 December 1967 – Samantha’s, Bournemouth, Dorset (website: https://bournemouthbeatboom.wordpress.com/)

21 December 1967 – Savoy Ballroom, South Parade, Southsea, Hampshire with Amen Corner and The St Louis Checks (Portsmouth News)

1968

7 January 1968 – The South Bank, Grimsby (Grimsby Evening Telegraph)

12 January 1968 – Candlelight Club, Scarborough, North Yorkshire (Scarborough News)

21 January 1968 – Le Metro Club, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)

27 January 1968 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear (website: http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle-2/)

28 January 1968 – Cosmopolitan, Carlisle, Cumbria with Klue (Cumberland News)

2 February 1968 – Middle Earth, Covent Garden, London with Mabel Greer’s Toyshop (Melody Maker)

9 February 1968 – Hammersmith College Student Union, Hammersmith, London with Chicken Shack (Melody Maker)

17 February 1968 – Britannia Rowing Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)

9 March 1968 – Hastings Pier, Hastings, East Sussex with Next In Line (Roger Bistow’s research at Dizzy Tiger Music website)

13 March 1968 – Middle Earth, Covent Garden, London with The Pretty Things, Fairport Convention, Blossom Toes and The Track (Melody Maker)

27 March 1968 – Cheltenham Spa Lounge and Ballroom, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen)

29 March 1968 – Candlelight Club, Scarborough, North Yorkshire (Scarborough News)

11 April 1968 – Jigsaw, Manchester (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle)

20 April 1968 – Royal Lido Ballroom, Prestatyn, Wales with The Konda Group (website: www.45worlds.com/live)

10 May 1968 – Middle Earth, Covent Garden, London with Family (Melody Maker)

13 May 1968 – Domino Club, Lion Hotel, Cambridge (Cambridge News)

18 May 1968 – St Joseph’s Hall, Archway, London with Mabel Greer’s Toyshop (Melody Maker)

24 May 1968 – METC Student’s Union, College Refectory, Essex with The Clear Blue Cloud (Essex Chronicle)

3 June 1968 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall with Fantastics (West Briton & The Royal Cornwall Gazette)

15 June 1968 – St Mary’s College of Education, Twickenham, London (Fabulous 208)

22 June 1968 – Hastings Pier, Hastings, East Sussex (Roger Bistow’s research at Dizzy Tiger Music website)

4 September 1968 – Eel Pie Island, Twickenham, west London (Melody Maker)

13 September 1968 – The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London with The Small Faces, Barclay James Harvest, Love Sculpture, Bakerloo Blues Band, Skin, Pete Drummond (Melody Maker)

29 November 1968 – East London Tech, London (Time Out)

30 November 1968 – Imperial College, London (Time Out)

13 December 1968 – Fishmongers Hall, Wood Green, London with Sundae Times (Melody Maker)

Hastings Pier, 9 March 1968. Image may be subject to copyright

Categories: England, London

Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds’ gigs 1963-1969

September 10, 2017 Nick Warburton 18 Comments

Welcome to the first 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 and, where possible, I have added the sources used, whether they are newspapers or websites. 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

Formed in late 1959, Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds comprises the following line-up by spring 1963:

Chris Farlowe (lead vocals)

Bobby Taylor (lead guitar)

Ricky Charman (bass)

Vic Cooper (organ, sax, piano)

? Hines (drums)

1962

25 August 1962 – Hi-Fi Hop, Weybridge Hall, Weybridge, Surrey (Woking Herald)

1963

9 March 1963 – Long’s Ballroom, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with Ron Diamond & The Cutters (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)

Jimmy Campbell joined on drums around May 1963.

19 May 1963 – New Central Ballroom, Aldershot, Hampshire with Don Lenon Trio (Aldershot News)

31 May 1963 – Whitehall, East Grinstead, West Sussex with Lee Paris & The LPs (Brighton Evening Argus) Billed as Chris Farler & The Thunderbirds

1 June 1963 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire (Cambridgeshire Times)

29 July 1963 – Marquee, Oxford Street, London with (Mann-Hugg) Blues Brothers (Tony Bacon book: London Live)

9 August 1963 – Green Man, Blackheath, London (Melody Maker)

18 October 1963 – Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, London with Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames (Melody Maker)

Johnny Wiseman replaced Jimmy Campbell on drums around about now.

2 November 1963 – Long’s Ballroom, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with Brian Poole & The Tremeloes (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)

17 November 1963 – Blue Moon, Hayes, Middlesex (Harrow Weekly Post)

6 December 1963 – Ricky Tick, Reading St John Ambulance Hall, Reading, Berkshire (David Else’s research)

27 December 1963 – Ricky Tick, Guildford Civic Hall, Guildford, Surrey (Ricky Tick website: https://www.rickytick.com/) Surrey Advertiser has Plaza Ballroom

1964

18 February 1964 – Stereo Club, Woking, Surrey (Woking News & Mail)

Vic Cooper left around March.

29 March 1964 – Riverside Club, Cricketers Hotel, Chertsey, Surrey (Woking Herald)

5 April 1964 – Savoy Rooms, Catford, southeast London (Kentish Mercury)

12 April 1964 – Ricky Tick, Olympia Ballroom, Reading, Berkshire (Bucks Free Press)

18 April 1964 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, Tony Holland & The Pack-A-Beats and The Renegades (website: www.california-ballroom.info/gigs/)

19 April 1964 – Blue Moon, Hayes, Middlesex with The Impacts (Dorothy Bullock list)

21 April 1964 – Fender Club, Kenton, Middlesex with Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band (Harrow Observer & Gazette)

22 April 1964 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

30 April 1964 – Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, Essex with Dean Austen & The Dominators (Essex Chronicle)

15 May 1964 – Pussycat Club, Bruce Grove Ballroom, N17, London with The Zephyrs (Tottenham Weekly Herald)

25 May 1964 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

David Greenslade joined on keyboards around June and Albert Lee took over from Bobby Taylor on lead guitar.

9 June 1964 – Jumbo Club, King George’s Hall, Esher, Surrey with Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band (Melody Maker)

18 June 1964 – Civic Hall, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames (Luton News)

27 June 1964 – Continental Dancing Club, Edmonton, Middlesex (Tottenham Weekly Herald)

29 June 1964 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

11 July 1964 – Galaxy Club, Haymarket Lounge, Basingstoke, Hampshire (Hampshire & Berkshire Gazette)

Photo: Boyfriend magazine, 15 August 1964

1 August 1964 – Attic Club, 1a High Street, Hounslow, Middlesex with The Ray Clevelands (Kingston & Malden Borough News)

4 August 1964 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

22 August 1964 – West Runton Pavilion, West Runton, Norfolk (North Norfolk News)

3 October 1964 – 2-3-4 R&B Club, Britannia Hotel, Barking, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)

4 October 1964 – Trend Club, Colchester, Essex (Essex County Standard)

6 October 1964 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

9 October 1964 – Trend Club, Colchester, Essex (Essex County Standard)

13 October 1964 – Nurses Club, Jolly Gardners, Isleworth, Middlesex with Preacher Brown & The Witnesses (Middlesex Chronicle)

3 October 1964 – 2-3-4 R&B Club, Britannia Hotel, Barking, east London (Rebridge & Ilford Recorder)

30 October 1964 – Trend Club, Colchester, Essex (Essex Chronicle)

9 November 1964 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

13 December 1964 – Alley Club, Cambridge (Cambridge News)

15 December 1964 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

1965

10 January 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, London (Melody Maker)

17 January 1965 – Blue Moon, Hayes, Middlesex (Harrow Weekly Post/Greenford Weekly Post)

23 January 1965 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with The Shakedowns (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)

Ian Hague took over from Johnny Wiseman on drums in February.

11 February 1965 – Rocky Rivers’ Top 20 Club, Conservative Club, Bedford (Ampthill News & Weekly Record)

14 February 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, London (Melody Maker)

4 March 1965 – Birdcage, Kimbells Ballroom, Southsea, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

14 March 1965 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, London (Melody Maker)

16 March 1965 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

18 March 1965 – Birdcage, Kimbells Ballroom, Southsea, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

Bernie Greenwood joined on sax and Gerry Temple joined on congas and vocals during April.

8 April 1965 – Birdcage, Kimbells Ballroom, Southsea, Hampshire with Brian Auger Trinity (Dave Allen research)

11 April 1965 – Riverside Club, Cricketers Hotel, Chertsey, Surrey (Woking Herald)

18 April 1965 – Studio, Westcliffe, Essex with The Flowerpots (Southend Standard & Essex Weekly Advertiser)

24 April 1965 – New Georgian Club, Uxbridge, northwest London (Ruislip & Northwood Gazette)

30 April 1965 – Ricky Tick, Guildford Civic Hall, Guildford, Surrey with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds (Ricky Tick website: https://www.rickytick.com/)

2 May 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, London (Melody Maker)

7 May 1965 – Ricky Tick, Plaza Ballroom, Guildford, Surrey (Surrey Advertiser)

11 May 1965 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

23 May 1965 – Riverside Club, Cricketers Hotel, Chertsey, Surrey (Woking Herald)

25 May 1965 – The Bluesday Club, Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)

27 May 1965 – Ettington Park Hotel, Alderminster, Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire (Coventry Evening Telegraph)

7 June 1965 – Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, London (Melody Maker)

10 June 1965 – Birdcage, Kimbells Ballroom, Southsea, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

11-12 June 1965 – Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, London with Doris Troy (Melody Maker)

1 July 1965 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

11 July 1965– Nottingham Boat Club, Nottingham (Down at the Boat book)

16 July 1965 – Birdcage, Kimbells Ballroom, Southsea, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

24 July 1965 – Dungeon Club, Nottingham (website: https://dungeonmods.wordpress.com/)

25 July 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, London (Melody Maker)

29 July 1965 – Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage, Hertfordshire with The Saracens (website: http://www.coda-uk.co.uk/60’s_music_scene.htm)

31 July 1965 – Birdcage, Kimbells Ballroom, Southsea, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

Dave Quincy took over from Bernie Greenwood on sax during August.

7 August 1965 – Dungeon Club, Nottingham (website: https://dungeonmods.wordpress.com/)

21 August 1965 – Milford R&B, Strutt Arms, Milford, Derbyshire (Derby Evening Telegraph)

22 August 1965 – Nottingham Boat Club, Nottingham (Down at the Boat book)

3 September 1965 – Pontiac, Zeeta House, southwest London (NME)

9 September 1965 – Ritz Club, Skewen, south Wales with The Applejacks and The Eyes of Blue (South Wales Evening Post)

David Else notes that the band was due to play at the Ricky Tick at Guildford Civic Hall on 10 September but were replaced by The Alan Price Set

11 September 1965 – Pontiac, Zeeta House, Putney, southwest London (Melody Maker)

12 September 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (Melody Maker)

13 September 1965 – Garden of Eden Club, Blackbird Leys Community Centre, Wheatley, Oxfordshire with The Un-named (Oxford Mail)

16 September 1965 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

17 September 1965 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Leicester Mercury)

24 September 1965 – Archer Hall, Billericay, Essex with The Trends (Southend Standard & Essex Weekly Advertiser)

26 September 1965 – Galaxy Club, Woburn Park Hotel, Addlestone, Surrey (Woking Herald)

30 September 1965 – Farnborough Rag Week, RAE Assembly Hall, Farnborough, Hampshire with Sounds Incorporated and The Thee (Aldershot News)

3 October 1965 – Dungeon Club, Nottingham (website: https://dungeonmods.wordpress.com/)

14 October 1965 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

23 October 1965 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

24 October 1965 – Ricky Tick, Plaza Ballroom, Guildford, Surrey (Ricky Tick website: https://www.rickytick.com/)

2 November 1965 – Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage, Herts with Colin Wilkie and Shirley Hart (Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire Express)

5 November 1965 – Redcar Jazz Club, Coatham Hotel, Redcar, North Yorkshire with The Artwoods, Tony Knight’s Chessmen and The Crawdaddies (Dennis Weller, Chris Scott Wilson and Graham Lowe’s book/Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

11 November 1965 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

12 November 1965 – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham with The Spencer Davis Group, The King Bees and The Cock O Hoops (Birmingham Evening Mail)

14 November 1965 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

15 November 1965 – Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton, north London (Tottenham Weekly Herald)

16 November 1965 – Ricky Tick, Borough Assembly Hall, Aylesbury, Bucks (website: http://aylesburymusictown.co.uk/)

19 November 1965 – Armco Sports & Social Club, Letchworth, Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Herts with The Various Others (Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire Express) Colin Jamies, bass player with The Various Others, got in touch to say his group was called The Various Others

21 November 1965 – Nottingham Boat Club, Nottingham (Down at the Boat book)

21 November 1965 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear (website: http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle-2/)

24 November 1965 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

26 November 1965 – Beachcomber, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)

27 November 1965 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear (website: http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle-2/)

6 December 1965 – Star Hotel, Croydon, south London (Chris Broom book: Rockin’ and Around Croydon)

8 December 1965 – Farnborough Town Hall, Farnborough, Hampshire (Aldershot News)

12 December 1965 – The Downs, Hassocks, West Sussex with John L Kingdon’s Humperdinks (Mid Sussex Times)

24 December 1965 – Manor House (most likely north London) (Beat Instrumental)

25 December 1965 – Cavern Club, Manchester (Beat Instrumental)

26 December 1965 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire with Jimmy Cliff, Ayshea, Pete Hodges and The New Generation and The Tribe (Evening Sentinel)

27 December 1965 – Dreamland, Margate, Kent with The Javelins (East Kent Times)

28 December 1965 – High Wycombe Town Hall, High Wycombe, Bucks (Bucks Free Press)

29 December 1965 – Starlight Ballroom, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk (Beat Instrumental)

31 December 1965 – Starlight Ballroom, Greenford, west London (Beat Instrumental)

1966

Bruce Waddell took over from Ricky Charman on bass in January

1 January 1966 – King Edward School, Southampton, Hants (Beat Instrumental)

2 January 1966 – Stonecross Hall, Harlow, Herts (Beat Instrumental)

5 January 1966 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (Melody Maker)

7 January 1966 – Beachcomber, Nottingham (Beat Instrumental)

8 January 1966 – Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, Essex (Beat Instrumental)

9 January 1966 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (The Star)

12 January 1966 – Orford Cellar, Norwich (Eastern Evening News)

14 January 1966 – Exeter University, Exeter, Devon (Beat Instrumental)

15 January 1966 – Flamingo, Soho, Wardour Street, central London (Beat Instrumental)

16 January 1966 – Blue Moon, Hayes, west London (Beat Instrumental)

18 January 1966 – Burton’s, Uxbridge, west London (Beat Instrumental)

20 January 1966 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Beat Instrumental)

21 January 1966 – Rialto Club, Derby (Beat Instrumental)

22 January 1966 – Chelsea College, Chelsea, southwest London (Beat Instrumental)

23 January 1966 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

25 January 1966 – College of Advanced Technology, Birmingham (Beat Instrumental)

27 January 1966 – BRC Club, Stafford (Boyfriend magazine)

28 January 1966 – Leeds University, Leeds, West Yorkshire (Beat Instrumental)

29 January 1966 – Big Beat Club, the Ballroom, Two Puddings Hotel, Hackney, north London (Beat Instrumental) Boyfriend magazine also has In Crowd, Hackney as second gig on this night

30 January 1966 – Youth Club, Portland (most likely London) (Beat Instrumental)

31 January 1966 – Star Hotel, Croydon, south London (Beat Instrumental)

2 February 1966 – Farnborough Town Hall, Farnborough, Hampshire (Aldershot News)

3 February 1966 – Blue Moon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen)

3 February 1966 – Star Hotel, Croydon, London (Chris Broom book: Rockin’ and Around Croydon) Beat Instrumental has this on 31 January and says the band play Blue Moon in Cheltenham today

4 February 1966 – Iron Curtain Club, Sidcup, Kent (Beat Instrumental)

5 February 1966 – Big Beat Club, Stratford (possibly London) (Beat Instrumental)

6 February 1966 – Nottingham Boat Club, Nottingham (Down at the Boat book)

10 February 1966 – Blue Triangle Club, Ealing, west London (Beat Instrumental)

11 February 1966 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Beat Instrumental)

12 February 1966 – Reading University, Reading, Berkshire (Beat Instrumental)

13 February 1966 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, London (Melody Maker)

14 February 1966 – Manor House, Ipswich, Suffolk (Beat Instrumental)

15 February 1966 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Beat Instrumental)

18 February 1966 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Boyfriend magazine)

19 February 1966 – Marcam Hall, March, Cambridgeshire (Beat Instrumental) Advertised as Markham Hall so just needs confirmation/Boyfriend magazine has the band at Leascliff Hall, Folkestone on this date

23 February 1966 – Orford Cellar, Norwich (Eastern Evening News)

25 February 1966 – Beachcomber, Nottingham (Beat Instrumental)

26 February 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester (Beat Instrumental)

27 February 1966 – Cosmo Club, Carlisle, Cumbria (Beat Instrumental)

28 February 1966 – Top Rank, Queen’s Ballroom, Wolverhampton, West Midlands (Beat Instrumental)

1 March 1966 – Top Rank, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear (Beat Instrumental)

2 March 1966 – Rag Week ’66, College of Advanced Technology, Great Hall, Gosta Green, West Midlands with Acker Bilk (Birmingham Evening Mail)

3 March 1966 – Plebeians Jazz Club, Halifax, West Yorkshire with Thursday’s Children (website: http://www.musictrailuk.com/index.php/venues/the-plebeians-jazz-club) Beat Instrumental has BR3 Club in Stafford on this date

4 March 1966 – Mr McCoys, Middlesbrough (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

5 March 1966 – Leeds University, Leeds, West Yorkshire (Beat Instrumental)

6 March 1966 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (The Star)

7 March 1966 – Barratts Youth Centre, South Ockenden (Beat Instrumental)

8 March 1966 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

10 March 1966 – Thorngate Hall, Gosport, Hants (Beat Instrumental)

11 March 1966 – Digbeth Hall, Digbeth, Birmingham (Beat Instrumental)

12 March 1966 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with The Fleur De Lys and The Essex Five (website: www.california-ballroom.info/gigs/)

13 March 1966 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, London (South East London Mercury) Beat Instrumental has Top Rank in Southampton on this date

14 March 1966 – Woodhall Community Centre, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire with Trekkas (website: http://www.coda-uk.co.uk/60’s_music_scene.htm)

15 March 1966 – Civic Hall, Grays, Essex (Beat Instrumental)

17 March 1966 – Locarno Ballroom, Burnley, Lancashire (Beat Instrumental)

18 March 1966 – Durham University, Durham (Beat Instrumental)

19 March 1966 – Burton’s, Uxbridge, west London (Beat Instrumental)

20 March 1966 – Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Beat Instrumental)

21 March 1966 – Majestic Ballroom, Reading, Berkshire (Beat Instrumental)

23 March 1966 – Swansea University, Swansea, Wales (Beat Instrumental)

24 March 1966 – Brighton University, Brighton, Sussex (Beat Instrumental)

27 March 1966 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

Dave Quincy and Gerry Temple both left around about now reduced the band to a quintet.

6 April 1966 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, London (Melody Maker)

11 April 1966 – Redcar Jazz Club, Coatham Hotel, Redcar, North Yorkshire with The Artwoods, Jimmy James & The Vagabonds and The Rockhouse Band (Dennis Weller, Chris Scott Wilson and Graham Lowe’s book/Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

14 April 1966 – West Bromwich Baths, West Bromwich, West Midlands (Trend & Boyfriend)

15 April 1966 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Trend & Boyfriend)

18 April 1966 – Carousel Club, 1 Camp Road, Farnborough, Hampshire (Aldershot News/Camberley News)

24 April 1966 – Central R&B Club, Central Hotel, Gillingham, Kent (Chatham, Rochester and Gillingham News)

During May, Dave Greenslade briefly left to join Julian Covey & The Machine as they support John Lee Hooker on a UK tour but returned to The Thunderbirds soon after.

1 May 1966 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, London (South East London Mercury)

7 May 1966 – RAE Assembly Hall, Farnborough, Hampshire with Five Proud Walkers (Aldershot News)

8 May 1966 – Dereham Tavern, Dereham, Norfolk with Ian and Danny Eves with Sounds Reformed (Eastern Evening News)

14 May 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

15 May 1966 – Downs Hotel, Hassocks, West Sussex with Mike Stuart Span (Mid Sussex Times)

17 May 1966 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

18 May 1966 – Orford Cellar, Norwich (Eastern Evening News)

20 May 1966 – Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, Herts with The Cherokees (Berkhamsted Gazette & Tring and District News)

22 May 1966 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (South East London Mercury)

25 May 1966 – Top Rank Ballroom, Cardiff, Wales (Beat Instrumental)

27 May 1966 – Starlite Ballroom, Greenford, west London (Melody Maker)

28 May 1966 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London with The Stormsville Shakers (Melody Maker)

29 May 1966 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Beat Instrumental)

30 May 1966 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire with John McCoy’s Crawdaddies (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

31 May 1966 – Corn Exchange, Bristol (Disc & Music Echo)

1 June 1966 – Farnborough Town Hall, Farnborough, Hampshire (Aldershot News/Camberley News)

3 June 1966 – Bruce Grove Ballroom (Beat Instrumental)

4 June 1966 – Co-op Hall, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire and Beachcomber, Nottingham (Beat Instrumental)

5 June 1966 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Beat Instrumental)

6 June 1966 – Atlanta Ballroom, Woking, Surrey (Aldershot News)

9 June 1966 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire (Beat Instrumental)

10 June 1966 – Mr McCoys, Middlesbrough (Beat Instrumental)

11 June 1966 – Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage, Hertfordshire with Saracens (website: http://www.coda-uk.co.uk/60’s_music_scene.htm) This is missing from Beat Instrumental/Trend and Boyfriend has Drill Hall, Stamford Links on this date. However, Hertfordshire Express does

13 June 1966 – The Catacombe, Eastbourne, East Sussex with 4-Bidden (Eastbourne Herald Chronicle)

15 June 1966 – Top Rank Ballroom, Doncaster, South Yorkshire (Beat Instrumental)

16 June 1966 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear (Beat Instrumental)

17 June 1966 – Keeble College, Oxford (Beat Instrumental)

18 June 1966 – Toft’s, Folkestone, Kent (Folkestone, Hythe & District Herald)

19 June 1966 – Sunshine Ballroom, East Dereham, Norfolk (Beat Instrumental)

20 June 1966 – Christ College, Oxford (Beat Instrumental)

23 June 1966 – Hastings College 1066 Rag Appeal Dances, Pier Ballroom, Hastings, East Sussex with The In Crowd (Roger Bistow’s research at Dizzy Tiger Music website/Beat Instrumental/Hastings and St Leonards Observer)

24 June 1966 – Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Beat Instrumental)

25 June 1966 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with The Wreckers (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)

25 June 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Beat Instrumental)

26 June 1966 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London (Fabulous 208)

27 June 1966 – Manor House, St Matthew’s Baths, Ipswich, Suffolk (Fabulous 208)

30 June 1966 – Ritz Ballroom, Skewen, South Wales (Fabulous 208)

1 July 1966 – Gaiety Ballroom, Grimsby (Beat Instrumental)

2 July 1966 – Spa Ballroom, Bridlington (Beat Instrumental)

3 July 1966 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

4 July 1966 – Top Rank, Wolverhampton, West Midlands (Beat Instrumental)

6 July 1966 – Orchid Ballroom, Purley, London (Chris Broom book: Rockin’ and Around Croydon) Beat Instrumental has Bromley Court Hotel on this date which is still possible

8 July 1966 – Portland Buildings, Nottingham University, Nottingham (Fabulous 208/Beat Instrumental)

8 July 1966 – High Wycombe Town Hall, High Wycombe, Bucks (Bucks Free Press) This must be another date or was moved

9 July 1966 – Dreamland, Margate, Kent with The Nite People (East Kent Times)

10 July 1966 – Agincourt Ballroom, Camberley, Surrey (Aldershot News/Camberley News)

11 July 1966 – Top Rank Ballroom, Wolverhampton, West Midlands (Fabulous 208)

13 July 1966 – Top Rank Ballroom, Doncaster, South Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

14 July 1966 – Mayfair Ballroom, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear (Beat Instrumental)

16 July 1966 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with Billy Storm & The Original Falcons (Cambridgeshire Times)

17 July 1966 – Beachcomber Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)

19 July 1966 – Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon with Raynors’ Secrets and The Travellers (Herald Express)

23 July 1966 – Blue Lagoon, Kimbells, Southsea, Hampshire (Portsmouth News)

24 July 1966 – Starlite, Greenford, northwest London with The En-Devers Ltd (Melody Maker)

29 July 1966 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Fabulous 208)

The South East London Mercury’s 29 July 1966 edition, page 1, has a good band story and picture. The line up is Chris Farlowe, Albert Lee, Bruce Waddell, Ian Hague and Dave Greenslade

30 July 1966 – New Cornish Riviera Lido, St Austell, Cornwall (West Briton & Royal Cornwall Gazette)

31 July 1966 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (South East London Mercury)

2 August 1966 – Locarno Ballroom, Bristol (Evening Post)

4 August 1966 – Locarno Ballroom, Bristol (Evening Post)

5 August 1966 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with The Washington DCs (website: www.california-ballroom.info/gigs/)

6 August 1966 – Floral Hall, Southport, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)

9 August 1966 – Ram Jam, Brixton, London (Melody Maker)

11 August 1966 – Ricky Tick, Harpenden Public Hall, Harpenden, Hertfordshire (Poster)

12 August 1966 – The Gaff, North Bar, Banbury, Oxfordshire (Fabulous 208)

13 August 1966 – Drill Hall, Grantham, Lincolnshire with The Delcounts and Breed (Grantham Journal)

18 August 1966 – Bedford Corn Exchange, Bedford (Bigglewade Chronicle)

23 August 1966 – Kinema, Dunfermline, Scotland (Fabulous 208)

25 August 1966 – Palais, Dundee, Scotland (Fabulous 208)

26 August 1966 – City Hall, Perth, Scotland (Fabulous 208)

27 August 1966 – Market Assembly Hall, Carlisle, Cumbria with The Atoms and The Conquests (Cumberland News)

28 August 1966 – Redcar Jazz Club, Coatham Hotel, Redcar, North Yorkshire with The Skyliners (Dennis Weller, Chris Scott Wilson and Graham Lowe’s book/Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

29 August 1966 – Grays Club, Grays Court, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear (Fabulous 208/Beat Instrumental)

31 August 1966 – Mr Magoos, Edinburgh, Scotland (Beat Instrumental)

1 September 1966 – Mr Magoos, Edinburgh, Scotland (Beat Instrumental)

2 September 1966 – Grimsby Mecca, Grimsby, Humberside (Grimsby Evening Telegraph)

3 September 1966 – King Mojo Club, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Beat Instrumental)

4 September 1966 – Olympia Ballroom, Cromer, Norfolk (Beat Instrumental)

8 September 1966 – Assembly Hall, Worthing, West Sussex (Worthing Herald)

9 September 1966 – Beat Festival, Scunthorpe United Football Ground, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire with Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, The Troggs, Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas, The Ram Jam Band, The Creation, The Mindbenders and The Fenmen (Grimsby Evening Telegraph)

10 September 1966 – Casino Ballroom, Taggs Island, Hampton Court, Middlesex (Fabulous 208)

11 September 1966 – Agincourt Ballroom, Camberley, Surrey (Aldershot News/Camberley News)

16 September 1966 – Corn Exchange, Newbury, Berkshire (Fabulous 208)

17 September 1966 – Starlight Room, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Otis Redding & his American Band, The Gates of Eden, The Rising Sons and The Ferryboys (Lincolnshire Standard)

18 September 1966 – The New Scene, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)

18 September 1966 – Beachcomber, Nottingham with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds (Nottingham Evening Post)

22 September 1966 – Salisbury City Hall, Salisbury, Wiltshire with The Impacts (Frogg Moody and Richard Nash’s book Hold Tight!)

23 September 1966 – Top Spot, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire with Mike Starr & The Citizens (Gloucester Citizen)

24 September 1966 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London (Beat Instrumental)

29 September 1966 – New Yorker Discotheque, Swindon, Wiltshire with The Soul Men (Swindon Evening Advertiser)

30 September 1966 – Tiles, Oxford Street, central London with Good Time Band (Melody Maker)

1 October 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

1 October 1966 – Paris Olympia, Paris, France with The Alan Price Set (Disc & Music Echo) Clashes with Birdcage gig above so may not have happened

2 October 1966 – Dereham Tavern, Dereham, Norfolk with Eyes of Blond (Eastern Evening News) Fabulous 208 refers to this venue as The Sunshine Floor

7 October 1966 – Marine Ballroom, Morecambe, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)

8 October 1966 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire with The Invasion (Fabulous 208/Evening Sentinel)

8 October 1966 – King’s Hall, Stoke, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)

14 October 1966 – Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with The Rogues (Fabulous 208/Evening Star)

15 October 1966 – Floral Hall, Southport, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)

In mid October, the band joined The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Georgie Fame, Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, Eric Burdon & The New Animals and The Eyes of Blue for a package tour (see details in comments)

10 November 1966 – Dorothy Ballroom, Cambridge with The Original Dyaks (Cambridge News/Fabulous 208)

11 November 1966 – Hoverton Village Hall, Hoverton, Norfolk (Eastern Evening News)

12 November 1966 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

12 November 1966 – Pavilion Ballroom, Buxton, Derbyshire with Finders Keepers (Alderley & Wilmslow & Knutsford Advertiser)

13 November 1966 – Central Hotel, Gillingham, Kent (Fabulous 208)

17 November 1966 – Victoria Ballroom, Chesterfield, Derbyshire (Fabulous 208)

18 November 1966 – Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, London (Melody Maker) This may not have happened

18 November 1966 – St Malachy’s Hall, Edenork, Dungannon, Northern Ireland (City Week)

18 November 1966 – Strand Ballroom, Portstewart, Northern Ireland (City Week)

19 November 1966 – Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland (City Week)

19 November 1966 – Flamingo, Ballymena, Northern Ireland with Hi Seas (City Week)

20 November 1966 – Plaza, Belfast, Northern Ireland (City Week)

20 November 1966 – St Teresa’s, Belfast, Northern Ireland (City Week)

23 November 1966 – Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)

24 November 1966 – Burnley Locarno, Burnley, Lancashire (Disc & Music Echo)

25 November 1966 – Regal Ammanford, Wales (Disc & Music Echo)

26 November 1966 – Manchester University (Disc & Music Echo)

26 November 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester (Manchester Evening News and Chronicle)

2 December 1966 – Leeds University, Leeds, West Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

3 December 1966 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Apex R&B All Stars (Cambridgeshire Times)

5-8 December 1966 – Carousel Club, Copenhagen, Denmark (Melody Maker) Disc & Music Echo says the band arrives back in the UK on 11 December

11 December 1966 – Gig in Shrewsbury (possibly Severn Club), Shropshire then Midnight City, Birmingham (Disc & Music Echo)

12 December 1966 – Oxfam Charity Show, Albert Hall, London (Melody Maker)

15 December 1966 – Aston University, Aston, West Midlands (Fabulous 208)

16 December 1966 – Twisted Wheel, Manchester (Manchester Evening News and Chronicle)

17 December 1966 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire (Fabulous 208)

17 December 1966 – Nite Owl, Leicester (Leicester Mercury) Opening night of the venue

18 December 1966 – Beachcomber Club, Nottingham with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (Nottingham Evening Post)

23 December 1966 – Twisted Wheel, Manchester (Manchester Evening News and Chronicle)

24 December 1966 – Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich, West Midlands with New Street Station and Barmy Barry (Birmingham Evening Mail/Express & Star)

24 December 1966 – Civic Hall, Southport, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)

31 December 1966 – Severn Club, Shrewsbury, Shropshire (Fabulous 208)

31 December 1966 – Midnight City, Digbeth, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)

1967

6 January 1967 – Ricky Tick, Newbury, Berkshire (Fabulous 208)

13 January 1967 – St Luke’s College, Exeter, Devon (Fabulous 208)

14 January 1967 – Crystal Bowl Ballroom, Castleford, West Yorkshire with The Mydnites and The Squeeze (Wakefield Express/Yorkshire Evening Post)

14 January 1967 – Boulevard, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire with The Sweet Image (Yorkshire Evening Post)

15-21 January 1967 – Towers Theatre Club, Warrington, Cheshire (St Helens Newspaper/Fabulous 208)

15-21 January 1967 – Garrick, Leigh, Greater Manchester (St Helens Newspaper/Fabulous 208)

22-23 January 1967 – Club Latino, South Shields, Tyne & Wear (Fabulous 208)

22-23 January 1967 – Dolce Vita, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear (Fabulous 208)

3 February 1967 – Leicester University, Leicester, Leicestershire (Fabulous 208)

4 February 1967 – University Park, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire (Fabulous 208)

10 February 1967 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London (Fabulous 208)

10 February 1967 – Battersea College, Battersea, south London (Fabulous 208)

11 February 1967 – Queen Mary’s College, Mile End, east London (Fabulous 208)

13 February 1967 – Liverpool University, Liverpool with The Searchers (Fabulous 208)

18 February 1967 – Town Hall, Morley, West Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

19 February 1967 – Redcar Jazz Club, Redcar, North Yorkshire with The Bluecaps (Dennis Weller, Chris Scott Wilson and Graham Lowe’s book)

24 February 1967 – Durham University, Durham with Alan Price Set (Fabulous 208)

3 March 1967 – Clouds, Derby, Derbyshire (Fabulous 208)

4 March 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Edwin Starr and The Cool Combination, Root and Jenny Jackson & The Hightimers and Ray Bones (Fabulous 208 and Lincolnshire Standard)

4 March 1967 – Beachcomber, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)

7 March 1967 – St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, Norfolk with Sensational Anglians (Eastern Evening News)

9 March 1967 – Locarno Ballroom, Coventry, West Midlands (Fabulous 208)

10 March 1967 – Public Baths, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire with The Alan Price Set (The Star)

10 March 1967 – Nottingham Tech College, Nottingham with Robert Hirst & The Big Taste, Our Young and The In Crowd (Nottingham Evening Post)

11 March 1967 – Dreamland, Margate, Kent with The Nite People (East Kent Times & Mail)

15 March 1967 – Dorothy Ballroom, Cambridge with The Question (Cambridge News)

18 March 1967 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London (Melody Maker)

20 March 1967 – Star Hotel, Croydon, south London (Fabulous 208)

23 March 1967 – The Cavern, Liverpool with The Fix and The Klubs (Fabulous 208/Phil Thompson’s Story of the Cavern book)

25 March 1967 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire with The Academy (Dave Allen research)

26 March 1967 – Ricky Tick, Newbuy Plaza, Newbury, Berks (Ricky Tick website: https://www.rickytick.com/)

27 March 1967 – Barnsley Civic Hall, Barnsley, South Yorkshire with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, The Tiles Big Band, The Pityful and Moss’s Mixtures (Barnsley Chronicle & South Yorkshire News/Melody Maker)

27 March 1967 – Northwich Memorial Hall, Northwich, Cheshire (Crewe Chronicle)

31 March 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex (Crawley Advertiser)

5 April 1967 – St Michael’s Youth Centre, Sydenham, southeast London with Citations (Fabulous 208)

7 April 1967 – Ricky Tick, Assembly Borough Hall, Aylesbury, Bucks (Melody Maker)

8 April 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Lunar-2 Honey Band (Melody Maker)

9 April 1967 – Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, central London (Fabulous 208)

14 April 1967 – Il Rondo, Leicester, Leicestershire (Fabulous 208)

15 April 1967 – Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich, West Midlands (Express and Star)

18 April 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Wynder K Frog (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)

20 April 1967 – Town Hall, Loughborough, Leicestershire (Fabulous 208)

21 April 1967 – Gondola Club, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

22 April 1967 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire (Nuneaton Evening Tribune)

24 April 1967 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

30 April 1967 – Starlite, Greenford, northwest London with Shinn (Melody Maker)

In early May, Dave Greenslade left to join Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band. Ian Hague departed about the same time to join PP Arnold & The Nice. Carl Palmer took his place on drums.

5 May 1967 – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham (Fabulous 208)

7 May 1967 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London (Melody Maker)

12 May 1967 – Central Pier, Morecambe, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)

13 May 1967 – Nottingham University, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire (Fabulous 208)

14 May 1967 – Ricky Tick, Newbury Plaza, Berkshire (Melody Maker/Newbury Weekly News)

19 May 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with The Crew (website: www.california-ballroom.info/gigs/)

20 May 1967 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Motown Trinity (Cambridgeshire Times)

20 May 1967 – Night Owl, Leicester with Pesky Gee (Fabulous 208/Leicester Mercury)

21 May 1967 – Union Rowing Club, Nottingham (Fabulous 208)

23 May 1967 – Swansea College, Swansea, Wales (Fabulous 208)

26 May 1967 – Town Hall, Loughborough, Leicestershire with Mike Stuart Band (Fabulous 208/Leicester Mercury)

27 May 1967 – The Belfry, Wishaw, West Midlands with The Protection Racket (Birmingham Evening Mail)

10 June 1967 – Supreme Eastern Esplanade, Ramsgate, Kent with Len Marshall Show (East Kent Times & Mail)

11 June 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)

13 June 1967 – Caius College, Oxford, Cambridge with Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band (Fabulous 208) Disc & Music Echo has 14 June

17 June 1967 – Toft’s, Folkestone, Kent (Fabulous 208/Melody Maker)

18 June 1967 – Brands Hatch Radio London Motor Racing and Pop Festival, Brands Hatch, Kent with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich and Episode Six (Sutton & Cheam Advertiser)

23 June 1967 – Benn Memorial Hall, Rugby, Warwickshire (Fabulous 208)

24 June 1967 – Hull University, Hull (Disc & Music Echo)

25 June 1967 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

30 June 1967 – Tiles, Oxford Street, central London with Syrian Blues and All Night Workers (Melody Maker)

7 July 1967 – Tiles, Oxford Street, central London with The Chanters (Melody Maker)

9 July 1967 – Pavilion, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk (Fabulous 208)

11 July 1967 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

12 July 1967 – Corn Exchange, King’s Lynn, Norfolk (Fabulous 208)

13 July 1967 – Oak Leaf Ballroom, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire with The Denmen and Steve Brown Soul Sect (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

15 July 1967 – Swan, Yardley, West Midlands with The Flowers (Birmingham Evening Mail/Coventry Evening Telegraph/Fabulous 208)

16 July 1967 – Union Rowing Club, Trent Bridge, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)

21 July 1967 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Fabulous 208)

22 July 1967 – Town Hall, Clacton, Essex with The Martells and St Willie Cool School (Essex County Standard)

28 July 1967 – Palace Ballroom, Douglas, Isle of Man (Fabulous 208)

29 July 1967 – Riviera Club, Carlyon Bay, Cornwall (Fabulous 208)

30 July 1967 – Central R&B Club, Central Hotel, Gillingham, Kent (Fabulous 208)

4 August 1967 – Nautilus, South Pier, Lowestoft, Norfolk (Eastern Evening News)

5 August 1967 – Pier Pavilion, Hastings, East Sussex (Fabulous 208)

24 August 1967 – Dreamland, Margate, Kent (East Kent Times & Mail)

26 August 1967 – Matlock Bath Pavilion, Matlock, Derbyshire with The Vip Vop Band (Derby Evening Telegraph/Derbyshire Times)

27 August 1967 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

1 September 1967 – Marine Ballroom, Morecambe, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)

1 September 1967 – Twisted Wheel, Manchester (Manchester Evening News and Chronicle)

9 September 1967 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire with The Taylor Upton Big Jump Band (Nuneaton Evening Tribune)

11 September 1967 – Queen’s Ballroom, Wolverhampton, West Midlands (Express & Star)

12 September 1967 – Lotus Ballroom, Forest Gate, east London (Newham & Stratford Express)

13 September 1967 – Cosmo, Carlisle, Cumbria (Cumberland News)

16 September 1967 – Nautilus, South Pier, Lowestoft, Norfolk (Eastern Evening News)

17 September 1967 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London (Poster)

20 September 1967 – Fifth Dimension Club, Leicester, Leicestershire (Fabulous 208)

23 September 1967 – Winter Gardens, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset (Fabulous 208)

24 September 1967 – Hotel Leofric, Coventry, West Midlands with Legay (Coventry Evening Telegraph)

30 September 1967 – Bracknell Sports Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire with The Ziggy Turner Mob (Windsor, Slough and Eton Express/Bracknell News)

5 October 1967 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear (Fabulous 208)

6 October 1967 – Queens Rink Ballroom, Hartlepool, County Durham with The Sect and The Tony King Sound (Hartlepool Mail)

7 October 1967 – Reading University, Reading, Berkshire (Fabulous 208)

8 October 1967 – Starlite Ballroom, Greenford, northwest London (Fabulous 208)

14 October 1967 – Southampton University, Southampton, Hampshire (Fabulous 208)
15 October 1967 – Beau Brummel Club, Alvaston Hall Hotel, Nantwich, Cheshire with Phil Ryan & The Scorpions (Crewe Chronicle)

20 October 1967 – Locarno Ballroom, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear (Fabulous 208)

21 October 1967 – At the Union, Manchester with The Waterboard (Manchester Evening News and Chronicle)

22 October 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)

23 October 1967 – Staffordshire Yeoman, Stafford (Stafford Newsletter)

28 October 1967 – Sheffield University, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

29 October 1967 – Redcar Jazz Club, Redcar, North Yorkshire with The Skyliners (Dennis Weller, Chris Scott Wilson and Graham Lowe’s book)

17 November 1967 – Salford University, Salford, Greater Manchester (Fabulous 208)

18 November 1967 – Dreamland, Margate, Kent with The Dual Purpose (East Kent Times & Mail)

22 November 1967 – Elbow Room, Aston, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)

25 November 1967 – St James’ Spectacular, Chesterfield, Derbyshire with The Shape of The Rain (Derbyshire Times)

30 November 1967 – Queen’s Hall, Wolverhampton, West Midlands (Fabulous 208)

During December Pete Solley joined on keyboards.

1 December 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex (Fabulous 208)

7 December 1967 – Marimba, Middlesbrough (Disc & Music Echo)

8 December 1967 – Crown & Cushion, Perry Barr, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)

16 December 1967 – Westminster Technical College, Westminster, central London with Hamilton’s Blues Messengers (Melody Maker)

21 December 1967 – Central Hall, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire (The Star)

23 December 1967 – Leyton Baths, Leyton, east London (Disc & Music Echo)

23 December 1967 – Lotus Ballroom, Forest Gate, east London (Newham & Stratford Express)

31 December 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)

31 December 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Old Hill, Bearwood, West Midlands (Express & Star)

1968

5 January 1968 – Chateau Impney, Droitwich, Worcestershire (Fabulous 208)

6 January 1968 – Southend gig (but not sure of venue) with support (Southend Standard)

7 January 1968 – Tudor Club, Mercers Arms, Coventry, West Midlands (Coventry Evening Telegraph)

8 January 1968 – Park Hall Hotel, Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with Finders Keepers and Barmy Barry Show (Express & Star)

12 January 1968 – Leicester College of Education (Scraptoft), Leicester with Deuce Coupe and Pandoras Box (Fabulous 208/Leicester Mercury)

13 January 1968 – Alex’s Disco, Salisbury, Wiltshire (Frogg Moody and Richard Nash’s book Hold Tight!)

14 January 1968 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex (Crawley Advertiser)

28 January 1968 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)

30 January 1968 – Cheltenham Spa Lounge and Ballroom, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen)

2 February 1968 – Queen’s Hall, Leeds, West Yorkshire with Chuck Berry, The Herd, The Move, Edwin Starr, Brian Auger Trinity, Julie Driscoll, Sammy Small, The Union Blues Rave Band, Th Accent (Yorkshire Evening Post)

9 February 1968 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear (website: http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle-2/)

10 February 1968 – Drill Hall, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire with Pesky Gee (Grantham Journal)

16 February 1968 – Impsela Club, Chateau Impney, Droitwich, Worcestershire (Redditch Indicator)

17 February 1968 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with supporting groups (website: www.california-ballroom.info/gigs/)

18 February 1968 – Pavilion Ballroom, Bournemouth, Dorset with The Blackouts (website: https://bournemouthbeatboom.wordpress.com/)

19 February 1968 – Mercers Arms, Coventry, West Midlands (Coventry Evening Telegraph)

25 February 1968 – Swan, Yardley, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)

29 February 1968 – Zodiac Club, Eden Park Hotel, Beckenham, southeast London (Melody Maker)

3 March 1968 – Redcar Jazz Club, Coatham Hotel, Redcar, North Yorkshire with The Friendly Apple (Dennis Weller, Chris Scott Wilson and Graham Lowe’s book/Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

7 March 1968 – City of Coventry Confederation of Colleges, Locarno Ballroom, Coventry, West Midlands with The Spencer Davis Group, St Louis Union and Piccadilly Line (Coventry Evening Telegraph)

8 March 1968 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Leicester Mercury)

9 March 1968 – Cat-Balou Club, Grantham, Lincolnshire (Melody Maker/Grantham Journal)

16 March 1968 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with The New England Mood (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)

16 March 1968 – Glastonbury Town Hall, Glastonbury with Generation (Somerset County Gazette)

23 March 1968 – Glastonbury Town Hall, Glastonbury, Somerset with Generation (Western Gazette)

29 March 1968 – Crown and Cushion, Perry Barr, West Midlands with The Vogues (Birmingham Evening Mail)

31 March 1968 – 76 Club, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire (Burton Daily Mail)

1 April 1968 – Mercers Arms, Coventry, West Midlands with The Soul Express (Coventry Evening Telegraph)

12 April 1968 – Club Rado, Belfast, Northern Ireland with The Shades of Blue (City Week)

13 April 1968 – Club Rado, Belfast, Northern Ireland with Taste (City Week)

20 April 1968 – Winter Gardens, Banbury, Oxfordshire with Wages of Sin (Brackley Advertiser)

21 April 1968 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)

27 April 1968 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with Le Gaye (East Kent Times)

28 April 1968 – Hotel Leofric, Coventry, West Midlands (Coventry Evening Telegraph)

6 May 1968 – Queen Mary Ballroom, Dudley Zoo, West Midlands with Sound Syndicate (Express & Star)

8 May 1968 – Top Rank Suite, Leicester with Simon Peters (Leicester Mercury)

11 May 1968 – Kesteven College, Grantham, Lincolnshire with The Cortinas (Paul Griggs book)

According to Paul Griggs, Albert Lee did not appear at the above gig and he recommended his friend Alan Shacklock as a replacement when Lee left soon after.

17 May 1968 – Mistrale Club, Beckenham Junction, southeast London with The Purple Dream (Coulsdon & Purley Advertiser)

Shacklock auditioned at a pub in Islington around this time, by which point bass player Bruce Wadell had departed and Solley played the bass pedals on his Hammond.

24 May 1968 – Victoria & Bull, Dartford, Kent (Fabulous 208)

25 May 1968 – College of Technology, Slough, Berkshire (Fabulous 208)

1 June 1968 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with Granny’s Attic (Cambridgeshire Times)

9 June 1968 – Redcar Jazz Club, Redcar, North Yorkshire with The Keith Herd Group (Dennis Weller, Chris Scott Wilson and Graham Lowe’s book)

Around this time Pete Solley left to join Los Bravos and Peter Robinson took over on keyboards. Bruce Waddell also returned to play bass.

14 June 1968 – Club Rado, Belfast, Northern Ireland (City Week)

22 June 1968 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire (website: www.california-ballroom.info/gigs/)

28 June 1968 – Kursaal Ballroom, Southend, Essex with Coloured Raisins (Southend Standard)

29 June 1968 – Nags Head, Motown Club, Wollaston, Northamptonshire (Northamptsonshire Evening Telegraph)

In mid July, Carl Palmer left to join The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Palmer recommended his friend John Bonham, who has been working with Tim Rose.

Bonham has already been approached to form a new band that will become Led Zeppelin but will perform with Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds until late August.

20 July 1968 – Condor Club, Arbroath, Scotland (Fabulous 208)

27 July 1968 – Alex’s Disco, Salisbury, Wiltshire (Frogg Moody and Richard Nash’s book Hold Tight!)

1 August 1968 – Fishmonger’s Arms, Wood Green, north London (Melody Maker)

2 August 1968 – Mistrale Club, Beckenham, southeast London (Fabulous 208)

3 August 1968 – Seagull Ballroom, Ryde, Isle of Wight (Fabulous 208)

8 August 1968 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with The Candy Choir (Folkestone, Hythe & District Herald)

10 August 1968 – The Factory, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)

16 August 1968 – Boat House, Kew, west London (Thames Valley Times)

17 August 1968 – The Factory, Birmingham (Fabulous 208)

John Bonham left at the end of August to join The New Yardbirds who soon change name to Led Zeppelin.

Colin Davy, who has been playing with Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, took his place.

31 August 1968 – Elms Court, Botley, Oxford (Fabulous 208)

2 September 1968 – Bank Holiday, Bluesology Festival, Chateau Impney, Droitwich, Worcestershire with Fleetwood Mac, The Move, The Freddy Mack Show and Family (Melody Maker)

2 September 1968 – Billing Aquadrome, Northamptonshire with Joe Cocker and Soul Committee (Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph)

13 September 1968 – Victoria Cross, Wantage, Berkshire (Fabulous 208)

13 September 1968 – Carlton Club, Warrington, Cheshire with The Curiosity Shoppe (Warrington Guardian)

14 September 1968 – Drill Hall, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire with Donell Jackson and Broadway Crowd (Grantham Journal)

18 September 1968 – YMCA, Tunbridge Wells, Kent (Fabulous 208)

21 September 1968 – Drill Hall, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire with Donnell Jackson and The Broadway Crowd (Grantham Journal/Leicester Mercury)

22 September 1968 – Tudor Club, Mercer’s Arms, Coventry, West Midlands (Coventry Evening Telegraph)

2 October 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Fabulous 208)

3 October 1968 – Broken Wheel, Macclesfield (Fabulous 208)

4 October 1968 – Goldsmith College, New Cross Gate, London (Fabulous 208)

13 October 1968 – Union Rowing Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)

18 October 1968 – Chelsea College, Chelsea, London (Fabulous 208)

19 October 1968 – Bangor University, Bangor, Wales (Fabulous 208)

1 November 1968 – Brunel University, Uxbridge, London (Melody Maker)

3 November 1968 – Bridge Place Country Club, Bridge near Canterbury, Kent (Kent Herald)

8 November 1968 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire (website: www.california-ballroom.info/gigs/)

9 November 1968 – Gala Ballroom, Norwich, Norfolk with Journey Within (Fabulous 208/Eastern Evening News)

16 November 1968 – Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, Essex (Southend Standard)

22 November 1968 – Top Rank Suite, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

23 November 1968 – The Factory, Birmingham (Fabulous 208)

28-29 November 1968 – Annabel’s, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear (Fabulous 208)

30 November 1968 – Borough Assembly Hall, Aylesbury, Bucks with Paper Lemon (website: http://aylesburymusictown.co.uk/)

6 December 1968 – Ranmore House, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

8 December 1968 – Central R&B Club, Central Hotel, Gillingham, Kent (Chatham, Rochester & Gillingham Evening Post)

9 December 1968 – Leicester University, Leicester (Fabulous 208)

11 December 1968 – King’s Lynn Tech College, King’s Lynn, Norfolk (Fabulous 208)

13-14 December 1968 – Scene Two, Scarborough, North Yorkshire (Scarborough Evening News)

19 December 1968 – Shipley Club, Watton, Norfolk (Fabulous 208)

22 December 1968 – Bird Cage, Harlow, Essex (Fabulous 208)

28 December 1968 – Malvern Winter Gardens, Malvern, Worcestershire with The Basin Street Jump Band (Malvern Gazette)

1969

17 January 1969 – Teachers Training College, Edgbaston, West Midlands (Fabulous 208)

18 January 1969 – St Mary’s Technical College, Twickenham, west London (Fabulous 208)

19 January 1969 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Fabulous 208)

23 January 1969 – Alex’s Disco, Salisbury, Wiltshire (Frogg Moody and Richard Nash’s book Hold Tight!)

1 February 1969 – Hatfield College, Hatfield, Herts (Fabulous 208)

7 February 1969 – The Factory, Birmingham (Fabulous 208)

8 February 1969 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with Dream Police (Folkestone & Hythe District Herald)

14 February 1969 – Leeds University, Leeds, West Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)

16 February 1969 – Carousel Club, Piccadilly, central London (Fabulous 208)

1 March 1969 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)

9 March 1969 – 76 Club, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire (website: http://www.76club.org.uk/gigs.html) This may be Farlowe’s final gig with The Thunderbirds – Melody Maker notes 9 March was the last one.

When the band split, Alan Shacklock went on to play with Babe Ruth. The rest of the band recorded as The Hill.

Many thanks to Alan Shacklock for his help in clarifying the band’s final lineups.

Categories: England, London

Cats Pyjamas

April 23, 2017 Nick Warburton 8 Comments

Left to right: Colin Pullen, Roy Manderson, Kenny Bernard, Phil Lanzon and Alan Griffin. Thanks to Colin for the image.

Kenny Bernard – lead vocals
Alan Griffin – lead guitar
Colin Pullen – bass
Phil Lanzon – keyboards
Roy Manderson – drums

Hailing from South London Cats Pyjamas released two highly inventive yet extremely rare and collectable 45s for the Direction label during 1968. The quintet’s music bridged psychedelia and progressive rock with hints of soul/R&B and both releases were notable for their top notch production and the superlative musicianship of its players.

Trinidad-born singer Kenny Bernard had first come to prominence with R&B outfit The Wranglers during 1963. Formed around the Lewisham area, the previous year, the group subsequently recorded a lone single for the Pye label, “The Tracker”, which was released in August 1965. Around the same time, the musicians were captured live at the Ad Lib Club in Leicester Square for a rare acetate that years later found its way into the hands of Mark Lamarr. The DJ passed the live tracks to the Acid Jazz label, which released the recordings as the Kenny Bernard & The Wranglers Live ’65 CD in 2011.

When The Wranglers splintered a few months later, Bernard stayed with Pye Records and recorded a cache of stylish R&B/soul-inspired singles during 1966 and 1967, none of which troubled the charts. However, as Bernard noted in his autobiography, You Came Into My Life, he found going solo a daunting experience and missed working with a band on stage.

One night (the most plausible date is sometime in June 1967), the singer was out at the Scotch of St James nightclub in Mayfair with his old friend Pete Gage, former guitarist in Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, when he heard that South London group, The Loose Ends, were looking for a singer to front the band.

Originally from Bexley Heath in Kent, The Loose Ends had cut a couple of singles for Decca Records with singer Alan Marshall at the helm before undergoing a major overhaul in October 1966, which left the singer with the name. Marshall’s manager Bryan Mason then linked him with Croydon outfit, The Subjects, who featured guitarist Alan Griffin, keyboard player Phil Lanzon and drummer Roy Manderson.

The Subjects, 1966. Left to right: John Manderson, Malcolm Rudkin, Roy Manderson, Phil Lanzon and Alan Griffin. Thanks to Alan for the image.

Over the next few months, The Loose Ends’ manager also started to bring in musicians from Bexley band, Bob ‘N’ All to replace outgoing musicians. These included new bass player Colin Pullen and second singer Bob Saker. However, shortly before taking up a residency at the Bang Bang Club in Milan in mid-January 1967, first Roy Manderson and then Alan Griffin dropped out to make way for new recruits. Both, however, kept in touch with Phil Lanzon.

Fast forward to early March and The Loose Ends were back in London, and with Alan Griffin back in the fold, the group performed at the Scotch of St James and the Speakeasy. Shortly after a gig at the Central London Polytechnic on 15 April, where they opened for The Savoy Brown Blues Band, singers Alan Marshall and Bob Saker took up soul legend Otis Redding’s offer to fly to the US to record at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals.

Left without their two front men, The Loose Ends, who’d brought Roy Manderson back on board after his replacement Tony Glyde had left to join first The Fenmen and then Simon K & The Meantimers, put out feelers for another singer. With Marshall and Saker out of the picture, the musicians also decided to revamp themselves as Cats Pyjamas.

After spending a month or so working up a stage set with Kenny Bernard, Colin Pullen recalls that the group’s debut gig took place at a college in Epsom, Surrey, which quite possibly could have been nearby Ewell Technical College Refectory, a popular local venue for up and coming bands to perform at.

Over the next few months, Cats Pyjamas gigged fairly incessantly, and one of the band’s most notable gigs during this period was an appearance at the Starlight Room at Boston Gliderdrome in September with The Original Drifters. Pullen also recalls playing in Bournemouth’s Winter Gardens during the first few months of the group’s existence.

However, in early December, Cats Pyjamas secured a crucial deal with the Rik Gunnell Agency, which most likely was brokered by their manager Pete Gage, who’d co-written one of the band’s standout songs, “Virginia Water” with Kenny Bernard and had previous dealings with the agency during his time with The Ram Jam Band.

Selected gigs:

According to the Reading Evening Post, 12 August, Kenny Bernard plays at the Bag O’Nails around this time (and this would be with Cats Pyjamas).

13 August 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with The Geranium Pond (Crawley Advertiser)

30 September 1967 – Starlight Room, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Original Drifters and The Magic Roundabout (Lincolnshire Standard)

7 October 1967 – Clouds, Derby (Derby Evening Telegraph)

22 October 1967 – Elm Hotel, Southend, Essex (Southend Standard)

4 November 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire with Scots of St James (Evening Sentinel)

11 November 1967 – Cesar’s Club, Bedford, Bedfordshire with Geranium Pond (Bedfordshire Times)

2 December 1967 – Cliff’s Pavilion, Southend, Essex with John Walker and The Timebox and The Seychells (Southend Standard)

2 December 1967 – Luton Boys Club, Luton, Bedfordshire with Tramline (Evening Post: Hemel Hempstead)

8 December 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire with The Wafer Board (Evening Sentinel)

The link-up with the Rik Gunnell Agency brought in steady stream of live work and importantly gave the band a regular spot to shine at the agency’s top Soho club, the Bag O’Nails on Kingley Street. It also led to a recording deal with the Direction label and, that same month, the musicians recorded a superb version of Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector’s “Baby, I Love You”, originally a top 30 US hit for The Ronettes in 1963, at Olympic Studio’s in Barnes.

To this listener’s ears, however, it is the flip, the Pete Gage/Kenny Bernard penned “Virginia Water” that is the more impressive recording. A psych/prog-rock masterpiece, the song, named after the Surrey commuter town, benefits greatly from Mervyn Conn’s excellent production and demonstrates the inventiveness of a band that is only a few months old.

Alan Griffin sets the scene with a sizzling “nosediving” guitar effect, which is soon buried in the rhythm section’s intricate, syncopated bass and percussion lines. The action then cuts back to the guitarist, who interjects with a series of strident riffs, signalling the arrival of Phil Lanzon’s majestic, prog-rock Hammond fills. As the brooding atmosphere threatens to spill over, Kenny Bernard joins the fray with his distinctive, powerful and soulful lead vocals.

The single, when released on 26 January 1968, should have been a massive hit, but instead sank without a trace. Perhaps “Virginia Water” would have fared better had it been promoted as the A-side but then again the band’s unique style, marrying psych-progressive rock with soul influences was probably far too inventive and dare I say it, “ahead of its time” to meet the narrow demands of the pop charts. Needless to say, breaking into top echelons of the charts was practically an impossibility anyway given The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and others’ virtual stranglehold.

Interestingly, “Virginia Water” caught the attention of Scottish progressive-rock band, Writing on The Wall, who later recorded the track under an “unknown” title for their Power of The Picts LP.

Selected gigs:

15 December 1967 – Sibyllas, Swallow Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

16 December 1967 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

18 December 1967 – Kettering Working Men’s Club, Kettering, Northamptonshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings/Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph)

19 December 1967 – Pantiles, Bagshot, Surrey (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

22 December 1967 – Roaring 20’s, Carnaby Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

23 December 1967 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

24 December 1967 – Beachcomber, Nottingham (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

26 December 1967 – Pantiles, Bagshot, Surrey (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

28 December 1967 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

29-30 December 1967 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

31 December 1967 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

2 January 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

5 January 1968 – “Big C”, 1 Camp Road, Farnborough, Hampshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

6 January 1968 – Cliff’s Pavilion, Southend (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

9 January 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

11-12 January 1968 – Sibyllas, Swallow Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

13 January 1968 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Gods (Tony Bacon’s Book: London Live)

13-14 January 1968 – Il Grotto, Ilford, Essex (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings/Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)

15 January 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

17 January 1968 – Sibyllas, Swallow Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

19 January 1968 – Pantiles, Bagshot, Surrey (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

20 January 1968 – Margon’s College, King’s Road, Chelsea, southwest London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

21 January 1968 – Alex’s Disco, Salisbury, Wiltshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings/Salisbury Journal)

25-26 January 1968 – Sibyllas, Swallow Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

27 January 1968 – Holborn College of Law, Red Lion Square, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

28 January 1968 – Kettering Working Men’s Club, Kettering, Northamptonshire with Deuce Coupe (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

29 January 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

1 February 1968 – RAF Wyton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

2 February 1968 – Sibyllas, Swallow Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

3 February 1968 – Luton Boys Club, Luton, Bedfordshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

5 February 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

9-10 February 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

10 February 1968 – Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, Essex with The Merseys and North Sea Bubble (Southend Standard)

13-15 February 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

16 February 1968 – Pantiles, Bagshot, Surrey (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

17 February 1968 – Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, Essex with Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

18 February 1968 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands with The Amboy Dukes (Birmingham Evening Mail/Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

20 February 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

23 February 1968 – Boat 27, Sibyllas, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

24 February 1968 – Ceasar’s, Bedford, Bedfordshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

28 February 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

2 March 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

3 March 1968 – Beachcomber, Nottingham (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

Undeterred by the chart failure of their debut 45, Cats Pyjamas returned to Olympic Studios in Barnes with Mervyn Conn to record a follow up release. According to Rik Gunnell’s agency bookings, the group spent two days recording (4 and 5 March).

Colin Pullen remembers that The Steve Miller Band were recording tracks for Children of The Future in the studio next door and when Cats Pyjamas had finished their session they watched the San Francisco group at work.

During the sessions, Cats Pyjamas recorded two new Kenny Bernard songs, “Camera Man” and “Houses”. Bernard would revisit the pedestrian “Houses” in later years and but here the rest of the band give the song a semi-acoustic treatment complete with progressive organ fills. To this listener’s ears, the track wouldn’t sound out of place on The Small Faces’ Autumn Stone or Family’s Music From a Doll’s House. Far better is the raving Mod/prog cross-over “Camera Man” with its infectious chorus and stomping, driving beat.

Like “Virginia Water”, “Camera Man” demonstrates just how innovative Cats Pyjamas could be in the studio; unfortunately the group’s second outing would follow its predecessor into obscurity. The tragedy is that the group never got the opportunity to cut more material towards an LP.

Selected gigs:

7 March 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

8 March 1968 – Meridan Youth Club, Royston, Hertfordshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

9 March 1968 – Locarno, Swindon, Wiltshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

11-12 March 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

16 March 1968 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Friction (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings/Cambridgeshire Times)

17 March 1968 – King Alfred, Bellingham, southeast London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

20 March 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

23 March 1968 – Central School of Art, Southampton Row, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

24 March 1968 – Foseco Sports & Social Club, Drayton Manor, Tamworth, Staffordshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

25-27 March 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

25-27 March 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

29 March 1968 – Pantiles, Bagshot, Surrey (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

30 March 1968 – Twickenham College, Twickenham, west London with Mystie Romance (Melody Maker)

3 April 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, central London (Melody Maker)

5 April 1968 – Ministry of Health, Alexander Fleming House, Elephant & Castle, London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

6 April 1968 – Stax Club, Cirencester, Gloucestershire with The Purple Barrier (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

7 April 1968 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

9 April 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

11 April 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, central London (Melody Maker)

13 April 1968 – White Tiles Disco, Swindon, Wiltshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

14-15 April 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

19-20 April 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

21 April 1968 – Tower Ballroom, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings/Yarmouth Mercury)

25 April 1968 – Station Hotel, Selly Oak, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings/Birmingham Evening Mail)

26 April 1968 – Bolero Club, Wednesbury, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

27 April 1968 – Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich, West Midlands with The Happiness (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings/Express & Star)

27 April 1968 – Elbow Room, Aston, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings/Birmingham Evening Mail)

28 April 1968 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

29 April-3 May 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

4 May 1968 – Brave New World, Eastney, Hampshire (Website: http://michaelcooper.org.uk/C/birdcage.htm)

9-10 May 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

11 May 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

12 May 1968 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

13 May 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

17 May 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

18 May 1968 – Dandylion Club, Cross Hands Inn, Brockworth, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen/Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

20 May 1968 – Yeoman, Stafford, Staffordshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

21-22 May 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

24 May 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

30-31 May 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

Released on 24 May 1968, “Camera Man” c/w “Houses” was another creative step forward but all was not well within the band. As Bernard later admitted in his autobiography, the singer was increasingly coming to blows with the rest of the group, both musically and personally. A rare high point was a month-long residency at the Stones Club in Madrid during June where Cats Pyjamas took over from Carl Douglas & The Big Stampede.

Selected gigs:

June 1968 – Stones Club, Madrid, Spain (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

3 July 1968 – Hyde Park Hotel, Debs Ball, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

4 July 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

5 July 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

6 July 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

7 July 1968 – King Alfred, Bellingham, southeast London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

10 July 1968 – Elbow Room, Aston, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

11 July 1968 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

12 July 1968 – Bolero Club, Wednesbury, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

13 July 1968 – Mothers, Erdington, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

14 July 1968 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

15-19 July 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

20 July 1968 – Fellowship Inn, Bellingham, southeast London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

26 July 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

27 July 1968 – Petersfield Town Hall, Petersfield, Hampshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

3 August 1968 – Kirklevington Country Club, North Yorkshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings/Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

4 August 1968 – Beau Brummell Club, Alvaston Hall Hotel, Nantwich, Cheshire with The Scorpions (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings/Chester Chronicle)

5 August 1968 – Manor House Ballroom, Ipswich, Suffolk (Ipswich Evening Star) This is missing from Colin’s diary

9 August 1968 – Ship Hotel, Weybridge, Surrey (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings/Woking Herald)

10 August 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

12 August 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

17 August 1968 – Swan Hotel, Yardley, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

23 August 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, central London (Melody Maker)

24 August 1968 – Twisted Wheel, Manchester with Ben E King (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

25 August 1968 – Excel Bowling Alley, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

25 August 1968 – Cellar Club, Hartlepool, County Durham (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

30-31 August 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

2 September 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

5 September 1968 – John Gunnell’s Wedding Reception, 55, Jermyn St, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

8 September 1968 – Surrey Rooms, Kennington, Oval, south London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

11-13 September 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

14 September 1968 – Britannia Club, Nottingham (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

15 September 1968 – Pantiles, Bagshot, Surrey (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

20-21 September 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

28 September 1968 – Rainbow Suite, Co-op, Birmingham (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

29 September 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

4 October 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

5 October 1968 – Fellowship Inn, Bellingham, southeast London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

6 October 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

11 October 1968 – Kingston College of Art, Kingston Upon Thames, southwest London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

18-19 October 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

20 October 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

21 October 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Bond Street, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

25 October 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

26 October 1968 – White Hart, Acton, west London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

27 October 1968 – Mercer’s Arms, Swan Lane, Coventry, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

28-31 October 1968 – Playboy Club, Park Lane, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

1-9 November 1968 – Playboy Club, Park Lane, central London (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

10 November 1968 – Swan Hotel, Yardley, West Midlands (Rik Gunnell Agency bookings)

16 November 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder) Missing from Colin’s diary

The band late 1968. Left to right: Phil Lanzon, Alan Griffin, Kenny Bernard, Roy Manderson (back) and Colin Pullen. Thanks to Alan for the photo.

Having returned to the UK after working in Madrid for a month during June 1968, tensions between Kenny Bernard and the rest of the band continued to grow and following some final gigs for Rik Gunnell in mid-November, the singer parted ways to resume a solo career.

Cats Pyjamas stuck together a bit longer but sometime in 1969 Colin Pullen left. Around November of that year, remaining members Alan Griffin, Phil Lanzon and Roy Manderson joined Geno Washington and worked as his Ram Jam Band until the spring of 1970. Griffin remained with the singer when he put together a new version that year.

Phil Lanzon, however, maintained the greatest profile over the succeeding years, later working with Grand Prix, Chris Spedding and Sweet among others before joining Uriah Heep in 1986 with whom he continues to play.

Huge thanks to Colin Pullen (who kindly shared the Rik Gunnell Agency booking list), Alan Griffin and Phil Lanzon for providing information about the band.

Categories: England

One

April 23, 2017 Nick Warburton 6 Comments

One 1969. Left to right: Alan Marshall, Bobby Sass, Kevin Fogerty, Conrad Isidore, Brent Forbes and Norman Leppard

Alan Marshall – lead vocals/guitar

Bobby Sass – keyboards

Kevin Fogerty – lead guitar

Brent Forbes – bass

Norman Leppard – horns

Conrad Isadore – drums

In late 1969/early 1970, a motley crew of London-based musicians entered Trident Studios in the heart of Soho to record a lone, rare album for Fontana Records. Helmed by Indian-born musicians and childhood friends, singer Alan Marshall and keyboard player Bobby Sass, One had initially formed in early 1969 after a series of jam sessions at Marshall’s studio flat, located at 6 Denmark Street which he shared with manager Roger Burrow, a friend of Graham Nash’s.

Born in Lahore, Alan Marshall had quite the musical pedigree. Starting out with Bexley Heath, Kent R&B outfit The Loose Ends in the early 1960s, Marshall had cut two excellent singles on Decca before the original formation splintered in October 1966. Forming a new version with members of Croydon band The Subjects and another Bexley Heath area aggregation, Bob ‘N’ All, the new-look Loose Ends landed a short residency at the Bang Bang Club in Milan during January-February 1967.

When the musicians returned to London that March, they were spotted by Otis Redding at the Scotch of St James (or Speakeasy depending on who you speak to) and, ‘blown away’ by Marshall and co-vocalist Bob Saker’s duets, the soul legend took both singers back to the States to record two tracks at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals – “Johnny B Goode” and “Keep Pushing”. The plan was to couple the two recordings for a single on Atlantic but internal politics led to the tracks being shelved. Tragically, Redding died later that year.

Back in the UK, Alan Marshall reunited with guitarist Peter Kirtley who’d been playing with Alan Price’s band after leaving The Loose Ends the previous October. The pair decided to form a new group, Happy Magazine, and Marshall recommended his childhood friend Bobby Sass (not Bobby Tench under an alias which has often been misreported) to play keyboards. Unfortunately, after some tentative rehearsals, it was decided that Sass didn’t fit the band concept and he was dropped.

“He was a tremendous piano player and he loved Errol Garner. He and I grew up together in Karachi,” says Marshall. “Bobby didn’t make it in Happy Magazine. They didn’t like his style; he was too jazzy.”

Happy Magazine, 1968. Alan Marshall (back left). Peter Kirtley (second right). Thanks to Peter for the image

Signed to Polydor, Happy Magazine cut three singles with Alan Price in the producer’s chair before splitting in early 1969. By this point, Marshall had moved into a studio flat on Denmark Street (aka as Tin Pan Alley) with his friend and manager Roger Burrow; Bobby Sass was a regular visitor. As the singer recalls, the doors were always open and musicians used to wander in.

This is the most likely explanation for how Dominica-born drummer and percussionist Conrad Isidore entered the picture that spring. An incredibly gifted musician, Isidore had first come to prominence working with noted R&B outfit Joe E Young & The Tonics during 1967 after playing with The Links and The Grendades. It was with The Toniks that Isidore worked with bass player Calvin ‘Fuzzy’ Samuels, a former member of The Blue-Act-Unit, who also featured future Bob Marley sideman, Junior Kerr (aka Junior Marvin).

Conrad Isidore (bottom right) with Joe E Young & The Toniks, 1968

Isidore and Samuels soon moved on to form The Sundae Times with singer/guitarist Wendell Richardson. Produced by The Equals’ Eddy Grant, the trio recorded three singles and an LP, Us Coloured Kids, during 1968-1969 before the musicians went their separate ways. Somehow Isidore’s path crossed with Marshall and Sass and the drummer threw in his lot with the two Indian musicians.

Not long after, bass player Brent Forbes also joined the loose-knit set up. Originally from Salford, Greater Manchester, Forbes had previously played with The Rogues, who cut a lone single for Decca in December 1967. After changing their name to Sunshine in February 1968, the musicians turned pro and landed a residency in Turkey of all places. This was followed by a six-month stint playing clubs in Crete before the musicians returned to the drizzle of Greater Manchester.

At this point, Forbes joined a short-lived group called Zac, who moved down to London and cut an album’s worth of material at IBC Studios near Marble Arch. When this project failed to materialise, Forbes’s former band mate from Sunshine, guitarist Rod Alexander, who was managing Sound City on Shaftsbury Avenue, directed him to Marshall’s nearby studio flat.

The next musician to join was guitarist Kevin Fogerty, who had first come to prominence with Southport R&B group, Timebox. Fogerty appeared on the band’s early recordings but around October 1967, he jumped ship and signed up with The Dave Davani Four, which is where he later met tenor saxophonist and flutist Norman Leppard.

Originally from Handscross in West Sussex, Leppard was 23 years old when he turned professional. “I was mainly a freelance musician, working with different bands, touring all over the place,” he says. “I was always busy. I did a fortnight tour with The Temptations”.

Sometime in 1968, Leppard auditioned for The Dave Davani Four and landed the gig, despite being up against about 20 sax players. “Kevin was with them before I joined them,” he adds. “I ended up sharing a flat with Kevin and his then girlfriend Jenny in Kennington.”

According to Forbes, the loose-knit group of musicians spent ages rehearsing material before album sessions commenced at Trident Studios in St Anne’s Court, Soho, encompassing the latest in 16-track technology.

“We spent weeks, months, it felt like forever, in this studio [in Denmark Street] and the band would go in and play,” recalls the bass player. “We’d do an arrangement one day and go in the next day and it would be totally different as music should be. Depending on the mood of everybody it would be totally different.”

Production was split between the band’s manager Roger Burrow and Alan Marshall and Bobby Sass, working with sound engineers Robin Cable and Roy Baker. Production supervision meanwhile was handled by Lee Hallyday, who’d recently recorded his brother Johnny’s self-titled LP in France. According to several band members, the sessions at Trident’s studios also featured Alan Marshall’s former band mate from The Loose Ends and Happy Magazine, Peter Kirtley, who provided lead guitar on several cuts.

“Kevin was on some of the tracks,” explains Leppard. “He was mainly on rhythm guitar I think. I am not sure he’s on all the tracks, but he’s definitely on most of them.”

Brent Forbes is quick to credit Isidore and Marshall as the key inspirations during the recording process.

“Whether he’s playing guitar, percussion, drums or singing, [Marshall’s] just a warm spirit,” he says. “Conrad was [also] a fantastic influence for me. Great feel. He sat down one day and said: ‘Brent the notes are all right but the feel’. He made me think about that and I managed to maintain it and got a reputation for it over the years.”

Judging by the track listing, Richie Havens was a huge influence on the singer, but Marshall is not entirely happy with how some tracks turned out. “There are a couple that I am not too keen on,” says Marshall. “It was marijuana fuelled and they went on and on like ‘Run, Shaker Run’ but we didn’t know any better. We were young guys.”

That may well be, but One’s storming cover of Havens’ “Don’t Listen To Me”, which opens the LP and third track, “Stop Pulling and Pushing Me” are inspired, extended workouts full of inventive playing and powerful instrumental passages. The musicians also do justice to “Cautiously”, an atmospheric reading of the ballad written by Maurey Hayden, singer, stand-up comedian and wife of Lenny Bruce. Alan Marshall and Bobby Sass’s “Near The Bone”, the band’s lone contribution to the song-writing stakes is also noteworthy.

According to Forbes, there were no left-overs from the album sessions, which is perhaps surprising considering how long the musicians spent rehearsing material.

With the sessions complete, Norman Leppard was invited to become a fully-fledged member of One. “After the album was done, they asked me to join the band, which I then did for quite a long time,” remembers the session player.

Fontana duly released the LP in the UK in late 1969, followed by continental releases in France, Germany and Spain. The label also issued several singles but like the LP, none of the releases charted, which is perhaps not surprising considering that One undertook very little live work to promote the records. One notable gig took place on 7 October 1969 when the musicians made a rare appearance on stage at Hatchettes Playground in Piccadilly.

During March-April 1970, the musicians got to meet Stephen Stills, who was in London to record sessions for his first solo LP. It’s not clear who in the band made the initial contact. Marshall says that he used to leave the flat door open and musicians used to wander in. One strong possibility is Roger Burrow, who of course was a friend of Graham Nash’s. Alan Marshall, however, is pretty certain that it was Bobby Sass who ran into Stills.

“I don’t know how he met Stephen [but] we used to go over to the house [in Elstead],” says Marshall. “[Stills] had Peter Sellers’ old house and we used to go out there and hang out.”

Impressed by Conrad Isidore and his friend Calvin Samuels, Stills recruited both for his solo LP sessions. In May 1970, no doubt concerned about the shortage of live work, the drummer jumped ship to join Manfred Mann Chapter 3.

“We didn’t do as many gigs as we should have,” admits Forbes. “We did a hop or two to [West] Germany and we probably did the Marquee. We never did enough work really. How on earth we existed [I don’t know] – I think Roger [Burrow] the manager helped support everybody.”

The German club in question was the Happy Cat in Eschollbrucken near Darmstadt, which is close to Frankfurt. However, the shortage of live work soon led to cracks in the group and by the summer of 1970 both Kevin Fogerty and Norman Leppard had also moved on.

Interestingly, while One’s revolving door of personnel changes continued at pace, Fontana issued a French-only ‘45, ‘How Much Do You Know” (adapted from Adagio Royal by F de Boivallee), which was credited solely to Alan Marshall backed by One’s ‘Don’t Listen To Me”.

By the time the single appeared, Alan Marshall, Bobby Sass and Brent Forbes had pieced together a new formation which included guitarist Jack Lancaster and drummer Terry Stannard.

“There was a guitar player called Jack Lancaster, [who had] the same name as the famous one in Blodwyn Pig and he came from Swindon. He came in and took [Kevin Fogerty’s place],” says Forbes.

“God knows what we did after that. I can’t remember doing many gigs. It was a time when Fat Mattress got £200,000 advance and just sat rehearsing. It was a time when groups could afford to do that.”

Stannard, meanwhile, also originated from Wiltshire where he’d worked with Calne group, The Pack during late 1966. In the summer of 1967, the drummer moved up to London where he briefly landed a gig with Freddie Mack & The Mack Sound (and may have spent a short stint with Herbie Goins). He then moved on to join Junior Kerr (aka Junior Marvin) and Linda Lewis in the short-lived White Rabbit. By mid-1968, however, Stannard had moved on. While it’s not clear who he played with in the interim, one of the bands was Mirrors featuring Boz Burrell and Nick Judd.

Forbes remembers the new formation cutting an LP for Johnny Hallyday at a studio near Marble Arch, which could well have been IBC, towards the end of the year. “I remember getting session money for it because I went home to my uncle’s and had a very nice Christmas,” says the bass player.

Not long after, in early 1971, One underwent yet another reshuffle. On this occasion, Alan Marshall and Bobby Sass put together a short-lived version featuring former Them/Trader Horne guitarist/singer Jackie McAuley, future Traffic bass player Roscoe Gee and drummer Glenn LeFleur, who like his predecessor Terry Stannard, went on to play with Kokomo.

“I don’t know how I met Roscoe and Jackie,” says Marshall. “I used to meet so many musicians because I used to leave the door open in summer and musicians would drift in. We had a PA and Hammond organ and drums all set up.”

The new formation played at the Speakeasy and also Strawberry Fields where according to Marshall, “Paul McCartney and those guys used to love hearing us.”

During 1972/1973, Marshall’s old friend Ron Bryer, the original guitarist with The Loose Ends, joined after returning from Switzerland and playing with Brainticket.

Unfortunately, the group wound down in 1973/1974 after with the musicians scattering to work in a diverse range of projects.

Marshall ended up joining Strabismus, which subsequently changed its name to Riff Raff when the singer’s former band mate from The Loose Ends/Happy Magazine, Peter Kirtley joined and also featured bass player Roger Sutton and keyboard player Tommy Eyre. However, Marshall quit before Riff Raff’s debut album was recorded and pursued a solo career before recording with Zzebra. He then joined Gonzalez in the late Seventies in time for their 1979 release, Move It To The Music. Based in Thames Mead, he has become a pastor but continues to busk in Stratford, East London.

His school friend Bobby Sass later moved to Australia but died in the 2000s. Kevin Fogerty also passed away, in December 2010. During the early 1970s, he worked for a while in The Tommy Hunt Band.

As for Norman Leppard, he joined Eric Delaney’s band after leaving One and also appeared on Jack McDuff’s Blue Note LP, issued in late 1970. He continues to work as a session player.

Conrad Isidore meanwhile became a noted session player, working with the likes of Joe Cocker, Linda Lewis, Terry Reid, Vinegar Joe and Eddy Grant to name a few. He also later played with Junior Marvin in his band Hanson and with Hummingbird. Isidore later moved to Porvoo near Helsinki in Finland but died in 2019.

Brent Forbes also landed on his feet and, immediately on leaving One, joined the West End show, Catch My Soul. Like Isidore, he later moved into session work, playing with Doris Troy, Jimmy Helms, Lulu, Locus, Jim Capaldi and Hudson Ford among others. From 1975-1980, he also landed regular work on West End shows like Rocky Horror Picture Show and Les Miserables. During this period, he also briefly performed with Herbie Goins and Zzebra. Later, he moved into TV session work, providing music for Young Ones, the Lenny Henry Show, Victoria Wood among others.

As for One, the group remains something of an obscurity. While the LP has been issued on CD by two different labels, neither appear to be official releases. Given the collectability of the record and the fact that a mint copy will probably fetch you close to £100, perhaps it’s time that the band was given a proper re-issue treatment, complete with detailed liner notes.

Many thanks to the following for their help with the story: Alan Marshall, Brent Forbes, Norman Leppard and Jackie McAuley.

Categories: England, London

Joe E Young & The Toniks

March 26, 2017 Nick Warburton 20 Comments

Colin Young – lead vocals

Oscar Knight – lead guitar

Calvin ‘Fuzzy’ Samuel – bass

Ken Cumberbatch – keyboards

Tony Bauman – saxophone

Denis Overton – saxophone

Conrad Isidore – drums

London-based West Indian soul outfit, Joe E Young & The Toniks recorded a superb, ultra-rare, and highly collectable, LP called Soul Buster! for Vicki Wickham’s small Toast label during 1968 before splintering when singer Colin Young joined British chart toppers The Foundations, subsequently singing lead on the UK #2 hit, “Build Me Up A Buttercup” and UK #8 hit, “In The Bad Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me)”.

The band’s career is shrouded in mystery and very little is known about its tangled history, not to mention its origins. What we do know, however, is that Colin Young was born in Barbados on 12 September 1944 (although some sources suggest the United States) and first came to London for a holiday with his father in the mid-Sixties (possibly in late 1965).

It seems likely that the original Toniks were formed around the Stoke Newington area as that was a hotbed for musicians from the Caribbean, who had moved to London.

Colin Young formed the group with guitarist Oscar Knight; sax player Anthony Barman (aka Bauman); bass player Sam Southwell; and drummer John Seally.

However, at some point in late 1966/early 1967 Calvin ‘Fuzzy’ Samuel took over from Sam Southwell; Conrad Isidore replaced John Seally; and keyboard player Ken Cumberbatch and second sax player Denis Overton joined. Samuel and Cumberbatch knew sax player Anthony Bauman from The Blue-Ace-Unit.

Antigua-born London-raised Calvin Samuel’s first notable musical outfit appears to have been The Blue-Ace-Unit, formed around early 1965 by future Bob Marley sideman, Junior Marvin, who at the time used the name Junior Kerr. Apparently, it was Kerr who coined Samuel’s nickname ‘Fuzzy’ after the musician used a fuzz box on his bass. Samuel replaced the original bass player in The Blue-Ace-Unit around the same time that Ken Cumberbatch joined Kerr’s group on keyboards.

Blue Ace Unit gig from 31 October 1965. Photo: Melody Maker. Photo may be subject to copyright

In mid-1966, Samuel briefly joined The Rick ‘N’ Beckers before hooking up with another Antigua immigrant, guitarist Wendell Richardson, who’d grown up in Tottenham after moving to the UK at the age of 11. This may (or may not) be the same band that Richardson refers to on his website as The Four Aces, who could also have been The Blue-Ace-Unit (aka Blue Aces) after Junior Kerr joined Herbie Goins & The Night-timers.

When that group folded, Samuel reunited with Cumberbatch in the new version of The Toniks. Also on-board were Dominica-born Conrad Isidore, who had previously played with The Grenades and The Links.

Around the same time, a second sax player, Denis Overton also joined. Overton is most likely the same South African-born musician who had previously played with John O’Hara & His New Playboys during 1965-1966 and then briefly worked with Liverpool band, The Roadrunners.

Incidentally, Samuel was also close friends with The Equals and apparently Eddy Grant used Calvin ‘Fuzzy’ Samuel as a session bass player on many of The Equals’ recordings. Grant would later produce and pen material for Samuel’s post-Toniks band, The Sundae Times.

Billed as either The Toniks or The Tonicks, the sextet quickly found work gigging across the north London club scene in venues that catered for the city’s burgeoning West Indian population.

The New All-Star Club near Liverpool Street railway station became a favourite haunt. The Toniks also became regulars at Count Suckle’s Cue Club in Paddington and the Roaring 20’s in Carnaby Street, Soho.

According to Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band guitarist Pete Gage, who would work with the band in late 1967, it was Colin Young’s manager Ken Edwards, who owned the Cue Club who renamed the singer Joe E Young.

Some of the gigs below (particularly the early ones) didn’t list Joe E Young, but Colin Young was there from start to finish.

British music magazine, Melody Maker, lists the following gigs for the band (unless otherwise noted). Some of the earlier gigs from 1966 were probably by the original formation.

Selected gigs:

7 September 1966 – Tiles, Oxford Street, central London

11 September 1966 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London with The Pilgrims

2 October 1966 – Toft’s, Folkestone, Kent (Folkestone, Hythe & District Herald)

5 October 1966 – Zebra Club, W1, central London

8 October 1966 – Club West Indies, Stonebridge Park, northwest London

9 October 1966 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

17 November 1966 – Starlite, Greenford, northwest London

17 November 1966 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, central London

3 December 1966 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

9 December 1966 – Beachcomber Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)

17 December 1966 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

25 December 1966 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

26 December 1966 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London with The Sugar Simone Show

8 January 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

27 January 1967 – Starlite, Greenford, northwest London with Inez and Charlie Foxx

28 January 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

28 January 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with Dave Berry & The Crusiers and The Crestas (website: www.california-ballroom.info/gigs/)

28 January 1967 – Chalk Farm, north London with The Vaudeville Band, The Soft Machine and The Hectic Poets (Billed as the band only)

3 February 1967 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder) (Billed as The Tonics)

4 February 1967 – Ricky Tick, Hounslow, west London (Poster) (Billed as The Tonicks featuring Joey Young)

5 February 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Joey Young & The Tonicks Band)

11 February 1967 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)

11 February 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

17 February 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

17 February 1967 – Roaring 20’s, Carnaby Street, Soho, central London

19 February 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Tonicks Band)

24 February 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Tonicks Band)

25 February 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

25 February 1967 – Roaring 20’s, Carnaby Street, Soho, central London

Photo: Aldershot News. Photo may be subject to copyright

4 March 1967 – Harvest Moon Club, Guildford, Surrey (Aldershot News)

4 March 1967 – Roaring 20’s, Carnaby Street, Soho, central London

5 March 1967 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder) (Billed as The Tonics)

5 March 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Tonicks Band)

7 March 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Poster)

10 March 1967 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder) (Billed as The Tonics)

16 March 1967 – Roaring 20’s, Carnaby Street, Soho, central London

18 March 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

23 March 1967 – Roaring 20’s, Carnaby Street, Soho, central London

23 March 1967 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book)

24 March 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Tonicks Band)

25 March 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

27 March 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

30 March 1967 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire with The Drifters, The Senate and Jimmy Cliff (Evening Sentinel)

31 March 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

7 April 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire with Les Fleur De Lys (Evening Sentinel)

Photo: Essex Chronicle. Photo may be subject to copyright

8 April 1967 – Bluesville, St Thomas’ Hall, Brentwood, Essex (Essex Chronicle)

9 April 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Tonicks Band)

9 April 1967 – Flamingo, Soho, central London

Photo: Folkestone, Hythe & District Herald. Photo may be subject to copyright

15 April 1967 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with The Tribe (Folkestone, Hythe & District Herald)

16 April 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

21 April 1967 – Mr McCoys, Middlesbrough (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette) Billed as The Tonicks

29 April 1967 – Tabernacle, Stockport, Greater Manchester (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle)

14 May 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Tonicks Band)

Photo: Evening Sentinel. Photo may be subject to copyright

21 May 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)

22 May 1967 – Queen’s Ballroom, Wolverhampton, West Midlands (Express & Star)

29 May 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London with Nyla Rose

2 June 1967 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)

2 June 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

17 June 1967 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Kinsmen (Cambridgeshire Times) (Billed as the band only)

17 June 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London (Billed as John Lee Hooker & The Tonicks)

24 June 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London with The Toys (Billed as the band only)

22 July 1967 – Nite Owl, Leicester (Disc & Music Echo)

The Nite Owl gig may not have happened as it took place during the period that the band played at Snoopys in Palma, Majorca which was from around late June to late August 1967.

Photo: Melody Maker. Photo may be subject to copyright

9 September 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

9 September 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Tonicks Band)

15 September 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

Photo: North Norfolk News. Photo may be subject to copyright

23 September 1967 – Royal Links Pavilion, Cromer, Norfolk with Soul Concern (North Norfolk News)

24 September 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

28 September 1967 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London

13 October 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as The Tonicks Band)

From late October-mid-November 1967, Melody Maker reports that Joe E Young & The Toniks were resident band at the New All-Star Club but did not say if this was every night. In early November, Ruby James & The Stax were also residents.

20 October 1967 – Rendevous Club, Margate, Kent with The Coloured Raisins (East Kent Times & Mail)

21 October 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as The Tonicks with Joey Young)

21 October 1967 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London

Photo: Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph. Photo may be subject to copyright

22 October 1967 – Kettering Working Men’s Club, Kettering, Northamptonshire with Lloyd Alexander Blues Band (Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph)

27 October 1967 – Railway Hotel, Wealdstone, Harrow, northwest London

28 October 1967 – Leeds International Club, Leeds, West Yorkshire

31 October 1967 – Adelphi Ballroom, Slough, Berkshire

Photo: Possibly Swindon Advertiser. Photo may be subject to copyright

3 November 1967 – Deers Leap, Penhill, Wiltshire (possibly Swindon Advertiser)

4 November 1967 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with The Vogues (East Kent Times & Mail)

Sometime around early-to-mid November 1967, Calvin ‘Fuzzy’ Samuel departed to form The Sundae Times with guitarist Wendell Richardson. The Sundae Times later landed a record deal with President Records thanks to their friendship with Eddy Grant. Conrad Isidore also participated but continued to play with Joe E Young & The Toniks simultaneously.

Ken Cumberbatch left around the same time and moved into session work, including working with Junior Marvin. Oscar Knight also departed at the same time.

Trinidad and Tobago-born siblings Kelvin Bullen (lead guitar) and Hugh Bullen (bass), who had started out with Reading, Berkshire band, The Soul Trinity, took Knight and Samuel’s places. Richard London came in from south London bands The Heads and The Stax for Ken Cumberbatch.

Left to right: Kelvin Bullen, Richard London, Hugh Bullen, Colin Young, Conrad Isidore (sitting), Denis Overton and Tony Bauman

Colin Young – lead vocals

Kelvin Bullen – lead guitar

Hugh Bullen – bass

Richard London – keyboards

Tony Bauman – saxophone

Denis Overton – saxophone

Conrad Isidore – drums

Sometime in November, Joe E Young & The Toniks landed a recording deal with Vicki Wickham’s Toast label. Paired with former Ram Jam Band guitarist Pete Gage as an arranger, the band started to record material for an LP with producer Tommy Scott, which appears to have been cut over several sessions, starting in late 1967 and culminating with a final session in mid-1968.

According to Gage, it was Vicki Wickham (Dusty Springfield’s manager) who approached him via Rik Gunnell to arrange and produce Joe E Young & The Toniks. Gage believes that session players, which possibly included keyboard player Tim Hinkley and guitarist Ivan Zagni, who’d previously played with Mike Patto in The Chicago Blues Line and worked with his girlfriend Elkie Brooks in early 1968, may have been employed on some tracks. He also thinks that Colin Young’s friend Jimmy Chambers and Trinidad-born singer Ebony Keyes may have contributed vocals to the sessions.

Two of the earliest tracks to be recorded were two Pete Gage songs, co-written with Ebony Keyes (aka Kenrick Pitt), “Lifetime of Lovin’” c/w “Flower In My Hand”. Paired as a single, the tracks were issued on Toast in January 1968 but did not chart. Incidentally, the single also saw a South African release on the Continental label.

Debut single promotion. Courtesy Dave Else

Selected gigs:

23 November 1967 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London

Photo: Hull Daily Mail. Photo may be subject to copyright

8 December 1967 – Burton Constable Stately Home, Hull, Humberside with The Amboy Dukes, Ferris Wheel, Roger Bloom’s Hammer, Gospel Garden and The Mandrakes (Hull Daily Mail)

9 December 1967 – Enfield Technical College, Enfield, north London with Ten Years After (Poster)

9 December 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

10 December 1967 – Ram Jam Club, Brixton, south London

11 December 1967 – Hull University Union at the Skyline Ballroom, Hull, Humberside with The Moody Blues and The Gods (Hull Daily Mail)

16 December 1967 – Royal Links Pavilion, Cromer, Norfolk with The Rubber Band (North Norfolk News)

23 December 1967 – Royal Lido, Central Beach, North Wales (needs source)

Photo: Woking Herald. Photo may be subject to copyright

24 December 1967 – Sunday club, Addlestone, Surrey with Art Movement (Woking Herald)

25 December 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London with Ronnie Jones, Owen Grey, The Youth and Herbie Goins

26 December 1967 – Shelimar Club, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

30 December 1967 – Israeli Student Association, West Hampstead, north London

30 December 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London

31 December 1967 – “Big C”, 1 Camp Road, Farnborough, Hampshire

31 December 1967 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

6 January 1968 – Dorothy Ballroom, Cambridge with The Reformation and The Apricot Jazz Band (Cambridge News)

13 January 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Tonicks Band)

Photo: Northwich Chronicle. Photo may be subject to copyright

21 January 1968 – Alvaston Hall Hotel, Middlewich Road, Nantwich, Cheshire (Northwich Chronicle)

3 February 1968 – Cosmo, Carlisle, Cumbria with The Gallavanters (Cumberland News)

4 February 1968 – Cosmo, Carlisle, Cumbria with Freddie Mack and The Mack Sound (Cumberland News)

9 February 1968 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Page, east London with James and Bobby Purify

10 February 1968 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear with Hylton Ks (http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle-2/)

24 February 1968 – Tinned Chicken Club, Castleford, West Yorkshire with Max Bear & The Chicago Setback (Sheffield Star)

Photo: Harrow Weekly Post. Photo may be subject to copyright

2 March 1968 – Burton’s, Uxbridge, London (Harrow Weekly Post)

2 March 1968 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

8 March 1968 – Drill Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire (Stratford upon Avon Herald)

15 March 1968 – Camberwell Rag Ball, Camberwell, southeast London with George Bean & The Runners and The James Stewart Dance Band (South East London Mercury)

24 March 1968 – Downbeat Club, the Swan, Maldon, Essex (Essex Chronicle)

30 March 1968 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

31 March 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London with Count Suckle Sound System (Billed as Tonicks Band)

Photo: Ipswich Evening Star. Photo may be subject to copyright

2 April 1968 – Ready Steady Go Club, Pier Pavilion, Felixstowe, Suffolk with Tony Jackson & The Vibrations (Ipswich Evening Star)

Photo: Leicester Mercury. Photo may be subject to copyright

5 April 1968 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Leicester Mercury)

12 April 1968 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

Photo: Western Gazette. Photo may be subject to copyright

20 April 1968 – Princes Theatre & Ballroom, Yeovil, Somerset with Satan’s Chase and The Pandas (Western Gazette)

21 April 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Tonicks Band)

22-25 April 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London with Count Suckle Sound System

Photo: Middlesbrough Evening Gazette. Photo may be subject to copyright

25 April 1968 – James Finegan Hall, Eston, Teesside with The Engine and Chelfont Line (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

26 April 1968 – New All-Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, east London

30 April 1968 – Falcon Hotel, Eltham, southeast London (South East London Mercury)

Soon after Joe E Young & The Toniks participated in a tour supporting American soul legend Aretha Franklin. Also on the bill were Johnnie Walker, Robert Knight and Lucas with The Mike Cotton Sound. One of the highlights was a show at what later became the Hammersmith Odeon in May 1968.

4 May 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Tonicks Band)

Photo: Redbridge & Ilford Recorder. Photo may be subject to copyright

10 May 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)

17 June 1968 – Barn Club, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)

Photo: Cambridgeshire Times. Photo may be subject to copyright

22 June 1968 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Soul Mates (Cambridgeshire Times)

22 June 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London

Photo: Cumberland News. Photo may be subject to copyright

6-7 July 1968 – Cosmo, Carlisle, Cumbria (Cumberland News)

14 July 1968 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)

20 July 1968 – Club LaBamba, Tunbridge Wells, Kent (Kent & Sussex Courier)

Photo: East Kent Times & Mail. Photo may be subject to copyright

27 July 1968 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with Magic Roundabout (East Kent Times & Mail)

27 July 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, west London (Billed as Joey Young & The Tonicks Band)

17 August 1968 – Nags Head, Motown Club, Wollaston, Northamptonshire (Northamptsonshire Evening Telegraph)

18 August 1968 – Railway Hotel, Wealdstone, northwest London

Melody Maker lists some gigs under the name The New Toniks, which may or may not be the same band. The ‘new’ prefix suggests that a new formation was put together and this writer would welcome any further information.

Selected gigs (New Toniks):

22 August 1968 – White Hart, London

23-25 August 1968 – Scotland

25-26 August 1968 – Manchester

27-28 August 1968 – Recording

Colin Young joins The Foundations. Courtesy Dave Else

According to Melody Maker, Colin Young joined The Foundations in late September and made his debut at Aberdeen University on 4 October 1968. By this point, Conrad Isidore had already jumped ship to commit to The Sundae Times full-time. With the band splitting, the Bullen siblings ended up joining Herbie Goins & The Night-Timers.

With the album ready to release, Toast quickly shipped a second single in November 1968, pairing the soul classic, “Sixty Minutes of Your Love” with Lennon & McCartney’s “Good Day Sunshine”.

Around the same time, the label also belatedly issued the Soul Buster! LP, highlights of which include one of the best covers of Darrell Banks’ “Open The Door To Your Heart”. Sadly, it was all too little, too late. With few copies pressed and scant promotion, the LP slipped out unnoticed. In subsequent years, however, it became a highly prized collector’s item, not least due to the band’s personnel and individual members’ post-Toniks career.

In a final, last gasp, Toast paired “Good Day Sunshine” with the year old “Lifetime of Lovin’” for a final single, issued on 31 January 1969, but it also failed to dent the charts.

Besides Colin Young’s chart success with The Foundations, Calvin ‘Fuzzy’ Samuel and Conrad Isidore also went on to greater things.

During his time with The Sundae Times, Isidore also played and recorded with Alan Marshall’s band One, who released a rare eponymous LP for Fontana. After a stint with Manfred Mann Chapter 3 during 1970, he became a noted session player, working with the likes of Joe Cocker, Linda Lewis, Terry Reid, Vinegar Joe and Eddy Grant to name a few. He also later played with Junior Marvin in his band Hanson and with Hummingbird.

Samuel appeared on Stephen Stills’ first two solo albums, thanks to his connections with Conrad Isidore, who landed the gig after Stephen Stills caught the drummer playing at the Speakeasy in March 1970.

The bass player was hired for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, appearing on the single, “Ohio” and subsequently worked in Stephen Stills’s Manassas before also finding work as a session player, including with Graham Nash, Rita Coolidge and Taj Mahal. Samuel later wrote and recorded songs with Marianne Faithfull and Stevie Winwood and worked with The Alvin Lee Band and Tumbling Dice with Mick Taylor and Nicky Hopkins. In 1999, he self-released two CDs, This Train Still Runs and Love Don’t Taste Like Chicken.

Latter day member Kelvin Bullen went on to work with Swiss rock band, Toad, while his brother Hugh found success with the highly revered British funk band, Gonzalez after a spell in Italy with Herbie Goins. Hugh Bullen also cut an Italian solo LP, Feeling, in 1978.

Colin Young meanwhile went solo and recorded for Pye Records. He later joined UK group Mercy, Mercy who had a hit with “It Must Be Heaven” in the 1980s. Since then he has participated in various Foundations reunions.

Many thanks to Pete Gage for his recollections. I would be particularly interested to hear from anyone who can add or correct any of the information here.

Categories: England, London

The Sundae Times

March 26, 2017 Nick Warburton 2 Comments

Wendell Richardson – guitar/vocals

Calvin “Fuzzy” Samuel – bass

Conrad Isidore – drums

A noted yet relatively obscure late 1960s rock/soul outfit formed by two former members of Joe E Young & The Toniks around late 1967/early 1968, who cut a great lone LP, Us Coloured Kids, and a handful of singles for President Records.

Born in Antigua, guitarist Wendell Richardson had moved to London at the age of 11 and grown up in Tottenham. During 1965, he befriended fellow Antiguan-born musician Calvin “Fuzzy” Samuel and later Dominica-born Conrad Isidore. In 1967, Samuel and Isidore both played with The Toniks fronted by singer Colin Young aka Joe E Young). Through the local West Indian population, the trio got to know Eddy Grant and his band The Equals and became firm friends.

Having lost interest in The Toniks, Samuel jumped ship around November 1967 shortly before the band’s debut single on Toast, “Lifetime of Lovin’” c/w “Flower In My Hand” had been released and started planning The Sundae Times with Richardson, who had worked with The Skatelites backing Edwin Starr in February 1967. Isidore, however, remained with The Toniks but agreed to help out on the pair’s next project, The Sundae Times, who landed a deal with President Records thanks to their connection with The Equals (Ed: Samuel played bass on many of their recordings).

With Eddy Grant producing and penning the trio’s first release, “Baby Don’t Cry” c/w “Aba-Aba”, The Sundae Times’ debut was issued by President on 7 June 1968 but failed to chart in the UK. In the US, the single appeared on the small Seville imprint the following month. German and Spanish releases also followed but somewhat bizarrely it was in Israel where The Sundae Times made the biggest impact. Released as the A-side, “Aba-Aba” broke into the top 10.

With The Sundae Times starting to pick up gigs and with further hits potentially in the pipeline, Conrad Isidore left The Toniks around September 1968 to commit to the project full-time. In retrospect, it was a sensible move as singer Colin Young quit The Toniks soon after to join British hit-makers, The Foundations.

With Isidore fully committed, The Sundae Times began work on an LP for President Records’ subsidiary Joy during the autumn of 1968 with Eddy Grant producing. Richardson dominated the song-writing, penning the tracks, “Angels In The Sky”, “Adam and Eve”, “Electric Tree” and “Jack Boy”, which graced the A-side of The Sundae Times’ second single, issued on President on 22 November 1968. Coupled with “I Don’t Want Nobody”, a Richardson co-write with Isidore and Samuel, the single failed to chart.

The three musicians also collaborated on three other tracks on the LP, “Take Me Back Again”, “Psychedelic Dream” and “Do You Know What Love Is”. Samuel meanwhile penned two tracks, “On The Run” and “Live Today”, which belatedly headed up The Sundae Times’ final single outing (issued on 13 March 1970), and was coupled with Eddy Grant’s “Take Me Higher Baby”.

By then, Samuel and Isidore had been snapped up by Stephen Stills for sessions for his debut solo LP. Samuel was working with PP Arnold at the time and Isidore was working with Alan Marshall’s band One, who’d cut a lone LP for Fontana during 1969. Marshall’s group were regular guests at Stills’ Elstead home in Surrey.

While Samuel subsequently landed a gig with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (replacing Greg Reeves), Richardson formed Osibisa and Isidore joined Manfred Mann Chapter 3.

The Sundae Times’ own LP, Us Coloured Kids, had slipped out on Joy Records during 1969 and has since become an extremely rare, yet highly collectable item thanks in part to the Eddy Grant connection.

Selected gigs:

7 September 1968 – Glen Ballroom, Llanelli, south Wales with Lyndia Lewis and The NMO (South Wales Evening Post) Lyndia Lewis was most likely Linda Lewis but was this with White Rabbit?

6 October 1968 – Mistrale Club, Beckenham Junction, Kent (Poster)

2 November 1968 – Weymouth Pavilion Ballroom, Weymouth, Dorset with The Firestones (Dorset Evening Echo)

13 December 1968 – Fishmongers Hall, Wood Green, Middlesex with The Action (Melody Maker)

For more on the band members’ post career, see the Joe E Young & The Toniks entry on Garage Hangover. I’d be interested if anyone can add or correct any information below.

Categories: England, London

Junior Kerr’s 1960s bands

March 26, 2017 Nick Warburton 3 Comments

Junior Kerr (second left) with White Rabbit in early 1968. Photo courtesy of Rod Goodway

Born in Kingston, Jamaica on 3 May 1947, Donald Hanson Marvin Kerr Richards Jr, started to learn the piano at the age of two. When he was nine years old, he moved to London to live with his mother in Stoke Newington. In mid-1965, he starred in The Beatles’ movie, Help! Kerr only appeared briefly, playing one of the policemen who chase Ringo Starr in a beach scene.

Growing up on Kyverdale Road in Stoke Newington, Kerr learnt to play guitar and also further developed his keyboard skills, inspired by Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff and Booker T, among others.

During late 1964, he formed his first group, The Blue-Ace-Unit, with keyboard player Reo Dayes, a school friend from Tyssen community primary school in Cazenove. With Kerr on lead guitar and vocals, the group also included Ian McLaughlin (rhythm guitar), Errol Pennant (bass) and Alvin Campbell (drums).

The following year, Ken Cumberbatch replaced Dayes on Hammond organ. Kerr also met Calvin Samuel, who he allegedly nicknamed “Fuzzy” because the musician played his bass through a “fuzz box”. Blown away by his bass playing, Kerr invited Samuel to take over from Pennant on bass. The Blue-Ace-Unit auditioned for a gig at the Flamingo in Soho but lost out to The Gass who secured the residency. Around June 1966, the group, which had changed name to The Blue Aces, split up and Kerr began to hang out at Soho clubs, the Roaring ‘20s and later the Bag O’Nails.

Around October 1966 (some sources say as late as March 1967), he joined Herbie Goins & The Night-Timers (where he later met guest singer Linda Lewis) and it was during this early period that Kerr saw Jimi Hendrix playing at the Bag O’Nails in Soho. Inspired by his incendiary guitar work, Kerr started to practise guitar in his free time.

Around September 1967, Kerr left Herbie Goins to form The Junior (Pretty Boy Kerr) Group. The Aldershot News lists the band playing at the “Big C”, a popular club on 1 Camp Road, Farnborough in Hampshire on 4 November. It’s not clear who else was involved in this band and whether it was the same line-up of musicians that became White Rabbit but Linda Lewis was featured as singer.

In July 1967, Polydor Records had issued Linda Lewis’ debut solo single, “You Turned My Bitter Into Sweet” but it had not been a chart success.

Towards the end of the year, Kerr and Lewis put together White Rabbit, which comprised lead guitarist Andy Rickell from Calne, Wiltshire groups, The Pack and J P Sunshine, and his friend (and former Pack member) drummer Terry Stannard, who’d recently been working with Freddie Mack & The Mack Sound. The remaining members were rhythm guitarist/singer Brian Henderson and bass player Ralph Richardson from Lisa Strike & The Jet Set. Henderson had also worked with Nirvana.

Managed by Ian Samwell (Lewis’ manager) and Laurie O’Leary who managed the Speakeasy, the group played a month’s residency in Biarritz, the south of France, at the Canasta Club. Then, in the early months of 1968, White Rabbit toured Italy and France, but after their return (around late March), Kerr decided to leave.

Although he is rumoured to have re-joined Herbie Goins briefly (Ed. he appears on French TV on 4 April; this is more likely to have been a recording from the previous year), he in fact formed a new band that debuted in early April. 1968.

At some point in early 1968, Kerr ran into guitarist Mike Piggott in London, who had just left The System Soul Band, led by singer Ivan Sinclair.

The pair formed a new outfit, Junior’s Conquest, who landed a regular gig at the Pheasantry on the King’s Road in Chelsea.

According to the Redbridge & Ilford Recorder, the band also performed at the El Grotto in Ilford, east London on 7 April 1968, which may have been the group’s debut show.

Junior’s Conquest, late 1968. Courtesy of Mike Piggott. Pete Dobson is far left, Mike Piggott (top) and Junior Kerr. The person on the right might be John Best

It’s possible that while at the Pheasantry the group was invited to perform at a club in Stockholm, Sweden that summer called Alexandra’s, kicking off with a show on 17 May billed as Don Kerr & The Conquests.

Advertised in paper on 31 May. Billed as The Conquest. Thanks to Mats Jarl for the clipping

With drummer Pete Dobson and a bass player, who was replaced by John Best, Junior’s Conquest played together for about six months, including a show at the Victoriana in Liverpool with Sinbad on 11 September 1968.

They also appeared at the Broken Wheel in Retford, Nottinghamshire on 5 October 1968 and the popular West End club, Hatchettes in Piccadilly on 22-23 November 1968.

Sometime in early 1969, however, the band split up. While he was fronting Junior’s Conquest, Kerr had also participated in the London production of Hair on Shaftsbury Avenue, which debuted on 27 September. It was here that he met singer Marsha Hunt whose band he briefly worked with in 1969.

During the early 1970s, Kerr would work with Keef Hartley and then move to the US before subsequently changing his name to Junior Marvin and finding fame with Bob Marley during the late 1970s.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who can add any further details to Kerr’s 1960s career.

Categories: England, London

White Rabbit

March 26, 2017 Nick Warburton 11 Comments

A fascinating, yet short-lived band that included a number of notable musicians who went on to greater things.

The original White Rabbit line-up came together about November 1967 around singers Junior Kerr and Linda Lewis, who’d met earlier that year as members of Herbie Goins & The Night Timers.

Junior Kerr, incidentally, had started out with The Blue-Ace-Unit while Lewis had performed with John Lee Hooker in 1964 and sung with The Q-Set before they backed Maxine Brown and then Ronnie Jones.

White Rabbit was managed jointly by Ian Samwell (Lewis’ manager) and Laurie O’Leary, who managed the Speakeasy club in London.

Linda Lewis in Record Mirror. Thanks to David Else for the cutting

The band’s guitarist Andy Rickell and drummer Terry Stannard had both previously worked together in Calne, Wiltshire band, The Pack during 1966 with future White Rabbit singer Rod Goodway. The trio had also played with another, albeit short-lived, Wiltshire group, Flower of Wisdom between February-June 1967.

When Flower of Wisdom broke up, Terry Stannard moved to London where he joined Freddie Mack & The Mack Sound, which is probably how he ran into Junior Kerr, who’d formed his own band, The Junior ‘Pretty Boy’ Kerr Group around October 1967. In fact, Stannard may well have been a member of this band after working with Freddie Mack (and possibly may have been with Herbie Goins briefly).

Meanwhile, Rickell and Goodway began working with the studio project J P Sunshine, which they kept together after Rickell joined White Rabbit (possibly also after a short stint with Herbie Goins) and Goodway was invited to replace Art Wood in the post-Artwoods band, St Valentine’s Day Massacre between January-April 1968.

The original version of White Rabbit was completed with two additional musicians, rhythm guitarist/singer Brian Henderson, who’d recently been part of Nirvana’s backing band and was previously in The Soul Mates and Liza Strike & The Jet Set, and bass player Ralph Richardson, who’d worked with Henderson in The Jet Set.

According to the Redbridge & Ilford Recorder, White Rabbit played at El Grotto in Ilford, east London on 9-10 December 1967.

After a short Italian tour, which included playing in Turin (see poster above) and billed as Junior Kerr and Linda Lewis and White Rabbit, they performed at the “Big C” club in Farnborough on 24 February 1968.

On 10 March, White Rabbit returned to play at El Grotto in Ilford, east London, according to the Redbridge & Ilford Recorder.

The band also played at the Revolution Club in central London before travelling to France to perform, which included a few weeks in Biarritz (most likely the Canasta Club).

On their return in late March, Terry Stannard departed, later working with Mirrors (with Boz Burrell and Nick Judd), Alan Marshall’s band One and Kokomo among others. Kerr remembers a Jewish drummer called Mick, who briefly filled in.

However, Junior Kerr also departed in late March and formed his own band, Junior’s Conquest who debuted in early April. (Ed. He is seen on French TV playing with Herbie Goins in April 1968 but this must be a recording from 1967.) In later years, he would change his name to Junior Marvin and work alongside Bob Marley.

Brian Henderson, who later worked with J J Jackson, and Ralph Richardson also departed.

On 6 April, the group was advertised playing on the French TV show Bouton Rouge but it’s not clear if this definitely happened. If they did appear, this would have been the broadcast date and would have been recorded in March while they were working in France.

Linda Lewis and Andy Rickell meanwhile pieced together a new version of White Rabbit in late March 1968. Rickell recruited his former Pack and J P Sunshine colleague, singer Rod Goodway, who’d left St Valentine’s Day Massacre, to replace Junior Kerr.

Rod Goodway shortly after joining White Rabbit

The pair also recruited drummer Ron Berg, who interestingly had also played with Freddie Mack & The Mack Sound (alongside Stannard) during mid-late 1967.

To complete the new version, they added Cyprus-born bass player Pete Pavli and organist Mick Aron.

Redbridge & Ilford Recorder has them playing at the El Grotto in Ilford on 4 April. It is possible this may have been just with Linda Lewis singing before Rod Goodway joined.

White Rabbit in St Tropez. Left to right: Ron Berg, Rod Goodway, Linda Lewis and Peter Pavli. Courtesy Rod Goodway

Almost immediately, the new White Rabbit left the UK for the south of France and performed at the Papagayo Club in St Tropez for three weeks, starting in the first week of May.

The musicians were back in London for a notable gig at the Middle Earth club in Covent Garden, opening for Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band on 25 May. The group also opened for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown around August.

Around August/September 1968, however, Rod Goodway and Linda Lewis both left, the latter to embark on a successful solo career after fronting Ferris Wheel where she played alongside future Foreigner drummer Dennis Elliott.

Pete Pavli also left to join High Tide while Mick Aron went on to work with Pete Brown.

Andy Rickell and Ron Berg kept the band going until around November/December of that year, bringing in a number of musicians, including Hammond organist Peter Jennings, who subsequently joined Cressida in September 1969.

Jennings says that he worked with Berg at Sidney Bron’s ‘Bron’s Orchestral Service’ in Oxford Street and then Newman Street, collecting music from publishers in the area and sending them to customers.

The Hammond organist recalls that they also had a singer, who he thinks came from Leicester and a trumpet player from Wales.

He remembers that Laurie O’Leary was still managing the group and that they rehearsed in a gym on Tottenham Court Road. Jennings recalls a gig in Ilford (most likely El Grotto; there is a guest group appearing there on 14 November 1968) one at Sybilla’s in Swallow Street, central London before splitting.

On the band’s demise, Ron Berg joined Mick Abrahams’ post-Jethro Tull group, Blodwyn Pig while Rickell later joined The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.

Jennings worked with several bands before joining Cressida, including one with guitarist Ged Peck called Storm. The others were Van Dyke and Luther Morgan.

This author would be interested to hear from anyone who can add any further information. Huge thanks to Rod Goodway for photos and background information.

The band live in St Tropez. Left to right: Andy Rickell, Pete Pavli and Mick Aron. Photo courtesy of Rod Goodway

Categories: England, Essex, Parlophone, Southend-on-Sea, Westcliff-on-Sea

Nigel Basham (Mark Loyd of the Monotones)

December 29, 2016 Chris Bishop 3 Comments

Westcliff High School for Boys circa 1958: Nigel Basham, Arthur Walker, Martin Bayley, Chris Winch, Selwyn, Ian Crawshaw. — Westcliff High School for Boys circa 1958. Nigel Basham is third from the left, with Arthur Walker on Nigel’s right doing the V-sign. Others in the group include Martin Bayley, Chris Winch, Selwyn, and seated, smoking, Ian Crawshaw.

Tim Wainwright sent in this photo of Nigel Basham with school friends at at Westcliff High School for Boys, circa 1958. Not bad quality from a worn 3″ x 2″ print. Tim wrote the caption above and adds, “the pic is a group from the school having a smoke by the bike sheds, totally against school rules.”

Nigel Basham was part of the Monotones, covered extensively on this site in a main post and a second focused on photos of their early days. In the Monotones, Nigel took the professional name of Mark Loyd, sometimes spelled Mark Lloyd.

As Mark Loyd, he released three singles on Parlophone, timeless British soul music that is highly valued now. Mark Loyd passed away on April 4, 2012 in Sydney, Australia, where he ran a successful event and performance management company called Popset.

Categories: England, Middlesex

Orange Rainbow

December 6, 2016 Nick Warburton 35 Comments

Alan Ray – lead vocals

Kenny Surmon – lead guitar (replaced by Geoff Foster)

Terry May – keyboards

Dave Goodman – bass

Martin Hayles – trumpet

Robin Lawrence – tenor sax

Rodney Barrett – trombone

Tony Hampton – drums (replaced by Martin Bryan)

George Russell – alto sax (played on and off 1969-1970)

John Barter – tenor and baritone sax (played on and off 1969-1970)

Orange Rainbow at the Railway Hotel (Iron Bridge), Southall, Middlesex — Orange Rainbow at the Railway Hotel (Iron Bridge), Southall, west London

Orange Rainbow were a west London soul band that had worked as The Bluesville Soul Band, changing name around late March 1969.

Little is known about the group and Garage Hangover would welcome any additional information.

According to tributes to the late Dave Goodman, who went on to become sound engineer for the Sex Pistols, Orange Rainbow began as seven-piece group.

Frinton Bassett Blues in Feltham in 1967. Photo from Scot and Patricia Whetton

Goodman had started out with The Frinton Bassett Blues band, who were profiled in the 22 September 1967 edition (page 2) of the Middlesex Chronicle, Hounslow Edition.

The article lists the band’s seven-piece line up as Steve Crawford (lead vocals); Alan Cook (lead guitar); Dave Goodman (bass); Denis Smithers (drums); Pete Watson (alto sax); Ray Johnson (tenor sax) and an unnamed keyboard player.

According to the newspaper, The Frinton Bassett Blues Band had been formed around the spring of 1966 and added the sax players in the summer of 1967, prompting the slight name change to New Frinton Bassett Blues Band.

Goodman and Martin Hayles (who had joined later) subsequently worked with The Bluesville Soul Band, which formed the nucleus of Orange Rainbow.

Article on The Bluesville Show Band, Kingston and Malden Borough News, 12 July 1968

Alan Ray had started out with The Keyes (sometimes spelt Keys), who also included guitarist Geoff Foster and keyboard player Terry May.

However, around December 1967, Geoff Foster left to play with west Londoners The Casuals (Frankie Reid’s former group) and Terry May joined The James Royal Set and then The Huckle Buck Band.

Alan Ray put together The Bluesville Soul Band with lead guitarist Kenny Surmon; sax player Robin Lawrence; trumpet player Martin Hayles; bass player Dave Goodman; and drummer Tony Hampton. Terry May joined in July 1968. Rodney Barrett joined soon after.

Alan Ray and Kenny Surmon (plus Geoff Foster who was playing in The Army after Steve Priest left to join The Sweet) all auditioned for Tangerine Peel around this time but turned the offer to join down.

The Kingston & Malden Borough News, which profiled the band in its 12 July 1968 issue, lists the following gigs:

20 July 1968 – Excel Bowl, Tolworth, southwest London

3 August 1968 – Apple Tree Club, Kingston Hotel, Kingston Upon Thames, southwest London

17 August 1968 – Apple Tree Land, Staines, Middlesex with Way In and Souvenir Badge Factory (Staines & Egham News)

27 September 1968 – Apple Tree Club, Kingston Hotel, Kingston Upon Thames, southwest London

21 December 1968 – Excel Bowl, Tolworth, southwest London

Around March 1969, Geoff Foster took over from Kenny Surmon and Martin Bryan replaced Tony Hampton. Later this month they became Orange Rainbow.

According to Goodman’s webpages, Orange Rainbow toured the UK extensively and even worked on the continent. They also backed Ben E King, The Drifters, Nicky Thomas, The Flirtations and The Fantastics (from mid-1970 onwards after Pip Williams’ band, The House of Orange). Orange Rainbow also supported The Four Seasons and The Jackson Five on UK tours.

Left to right: Rodney Barrett, Martin Hayles and Robin Lawrence

From mid-July to early August 1969, the band was booked to perform at the Ye Ye Club in Rimini, Italy for three weeks. Geoff Foster also remembers the musicians playing at Sloopy’s Disco in Manchester, the Place in Hanley, Staffordshire and the Pavilion Ballroom in Gillingham, Kent.

Orange Rainbow played Sunday lunchtimes at the Railway Hotel in Southall, west London and were also regulars at Samantha’s in central London.

orange-rainbow-from-1968 Geoff Foster’s former band mates in the Army, George Russell and John Barter worked with the band on and off throughout 1969-1970 but never officially joined as permanent members. All three left during 1970.

Orange Rainbow continued into the early Seventies during which time the group underwent many personnel changes (see comments below). Dave Rose took over from Terry May on keyboards and Graham Board replaced Martin Bryan on drums. Eventually, the group morphed into Polecat.

Left to right: Martin Bryan, Dave Goodman and Geoff Foster

Selected gigs

5 April 1969 – Hay Makers Hoedown, Lake Farm, Blechingley, Surrey (Surrey Mirror and County Post)

18 April 1969 – Addlestone Community Centre, Addlestone, Surrey (Woking Herald)

26 April 1969 – Kingston College of Technology, Kingston Upon Thames, southwest London with Episode Six and The Giant (Melody Maker)

10 May 1969 – Pavilion Ballroom, Gillingham, Kent

8 June 1969 – Woodhall Community Centre, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

28 June 1969 – Railway Hotel, Southall, west London

28 July 1969 – Ye Ye Scandinavian Club, Rimini, Italy with Root and Jenny Jackson (Poster)

6 August 1969 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire with Sunnyside (Evening Sentinel)

7-8 August 1969 – Samantha’s, Burlington Street, central London (Poster)

11 August 1969 – Samantha’s, Burlington Street, central London (Poster)

14 August 1969 – Samantha’s, Burlington Street, central London (Poster)

17 August 1969 – Le Metro, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)

26 August 1969 – Samantha’s, Burlington Street, central London (Poster)

29 August 1969 – George Hotel, Walsall, West Midlands (Walsall Observer & South Staffordshire Chronicle)

31 August 1969 – Samantha’s, Burlington Street, central London (Poster)

10 September 1969 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire with The All-Round (Evening Sentinel)

An article in the Horncastle Target, dated 26 September 1969, page 2, says the band are due to play in Denmark in November. It also says that they have played the Scotch of St James.

15 November 1969 – Walton Playhouse, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey (Woking Herald)

16 January 1970 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)

1 February 1970 – Broken Wheel, Retford, Nottinghamshire (Retford Times/John Kirk’s book “Another Saturday Night”)

5 February 1970 – Acorn Club, RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire with The Stack (Cambridge Evening News)

14 February 1970 – Barn Dance Hall, Penzance, Cornwall (West Briton and Royal Cornwall Gazette)

21 March 1970 – Rebecca’s, Birmingham with James King (Birmingham Evening Mail)

2 April 1970 – Rebecca’s, Birmingham with Rare Bird (Birmingham Evening Mail)

6 May 1970 – Mackadown, Birmingham with Toyshop (Birmingham Evening Mail)

An article in the Horncastle Target, dated 8 May 1970, page 2, says the band has played gigs in Wigan, Birmingham and Wolverhampton and have just been booked to back US vocal group, The Invatations (formerly The Original Drifters).

The line up is listed as:

Alan Ray – lead vocals

Peter Wrigley – lead guitar

David Rose – keyboards/vocals

Dave Goodman – bass

Martin Hughes – trumpet/vocals

Robin Lawrence – tenor sax

Rodney Barrett – trombone

Graham Broad – drums

28 June 1970 – Up the Junction, Crewe, Cheshire (Chester Chronicle)

1 August 1970 – Starlight Room, Gliderdrome Boston, Lincolnshire with Nicky Thomas (Lincolnshire Echo)

8 August 1970 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Leicester Mercury) They play next four Saturdays

15 August 1970 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Leicester Mercury)

22 August 1970 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Leicester Mercury)

29 August 1970 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Leicester Mercury)

20 September 1970 – Blue Orchid, Nottingham (Guardian Journal)

December 1970 – Broken Wheel, Retford, Nottinghamshire with The Fantastics (Retford Times/John Kirk’s book “Another Saturday Night”)

7 February 1971 – Theatre Royal, Nottingham with Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, The Fantastics and Mike Felix (Nottingham Evening Post)

19 February 1971 – Odeon Birmingham, Birmingham with Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, The Fantastics and Mike Felix (Birmingham Evening Mail)

20 February 1971 – Odeon Hammersmith, Hammersmith, west London with Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, The Fantastics and Mike Felix (Marylebone & Paddington Mercury)

16 May 1971 – Wallsend Rising Sun Welfare Club, Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear (Newcastle Evening Chronicle)

20 May 1971 – Skyline Ballroom, Hull with The Fantastics and The Incredible Station (Hull Daily Mail)

24 July 1971 – Whitchurch Civic Centre, Whitchurch, Cheshire with The Fantastics (Chester Chronicle)

11 December 1971 – Drill Hall, Lincoln, Lincolnshire with The Fantastics (Lincolnshire Echo)

1 January 1972 – Birtley Rex Social Club, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear (Newcastle Evening Chronicle)

An article in the Horncastle Target, dated 23 June 1972, page 22, lists the band playing at the London Palladium with The Four Seasons and The Fantastics

16 July 1972 – White Horse Inn, Cranswick, Hull with The Fantastics (Hull Daily Mail)

I would like to thank Geoff Foster for helping with the story and supplying the excellent photos.

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