This band evolved out of The Bunch of Fives in late 1966 after drummer Viv Prince moved on to join Denny Laine’s Electric Sring Band.
The Tickle comprised Mick Wayne (guitar), Mike Docker (vocals), Dave Williams (keyboards), Richard Dowling (bass guitar), John Beckerman (drums).
The Hillingdon Mirror ran a photo and story on the band in its 9 January 1968, page 11 (see below).
We’d be interested to hear from anyone who can add more information on this group, photographed in late 1967.
I have to give a great big thank you to David Else for supplying most of the information on this very obscure band, who featured some fascinating musicians during their short time together.
David Else believes that the original line-up may have come together towards the end of 1965 and may have been formed as a “pick-up” band to play odd gigs.
He has the following line-up and we’d welcome any further information from readers:
Pat Willoughby – vocals
Bobby Harrison – vocals
Keith DeGroot – vocals
Vince ? – vocals
Alan Spenner – guitar
Tex Makins – bass
Roy Edwards – trumpet
Rudy Jones – saxophone
Barry ? – organ
Red Reece – drums
Pat Willoughby, Bobby Harrison and Alan Spenner had previously played together in The Golden Apples of The Sun, recording a lone 45 issued in October 1965. Before that, they had worked together in The Jimmy Ritchie Combo.
Tex Makins and Red Reece meanwhile had been with Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames.
Keith DeGroot had previously worked as singer Gerry Temple.
I believe that Roy Edwards and Rudy Jones may have been from the Caribbean originally and were probably recruited from the London club scene. Edwards may have been with The Del Vikings.
Else notes that Makins left in December 1965 to join The Sidewinders while Harrison formed The Powerpack, who recorded for CBS and was then an original member of Procul Harum. He adds that Reece joined Graham Bond. I’ve read that he worked briefly with south London band, The Kingpins.
A revised line-up of the band comprised the following musicians who were responsible for the band’s lone 45, “Precious Words” c/w “Ba Boo”, released on Island Records in 1966.
Pat Willoughby – vocals
Keith DeGroot – vocals
Alan Spenner – guitar
Roy Edwards – trumpet
Rudy Jones – saxophone
Mike O’Neill – organ
Billy Law – drums (replaced by Bruce Rowland)
Of the new members, Mike O’Neill had previously been a member of Nero & The Gladiators while Billy Law had drummed for Long John Baldry.
David Else found the following gigs for the band, either credited as Creepers, Leapers, Sleepers Band or Leepers Weepers Sleepers Band:
11 September 1966 – Cue Club, Paddington, London (Melody Maker)
23 September 1966 – Cue Club, Paddington, London (Melody Maker)
16 October 1966 – Cue Club, Paddington, London (Melody Maker)
4 November 1966 – Ricky Tick, Hounslow, west London
It’s not clear when the band split, but during 1967 Alan Spenner and Bruce Rowland ended up with Wynder K Frog and later worked with The Grease Band backing Joe Cocker.
DeGroot meanwhile went solo and recorded for RCA Records.
Roy Edwards and Rudy Jones stuck together and somehow ended up in either France or Spain where they worked and recorded with US soul singer Eddie Lee Mattison during 1968. It’s possible that before that, they may have worked with Otis Redding during his 1967 UK tour.
After Eddie Lee Mattison they both spent a very short period playing with Berry Window & The Movements, a Swiss-based international band who were recording in Italy when Edwards and Jones briefly joined them.
Edwards subsequently returned to the UK where he recorded with J J Jackson and then played with Bandwagon and Sonority among others. Jones also returned to the UK and later played with The Trojans among others after working as a noted session player.
Welcome to another posting of a series of gig listings for 1960s bands. None of these lists is exhaustive and my idea is to add to them in the comments section below over time. They are here for future researchers to draw on. I have also added a few interesting bits of information and will add images in time.
I’d like to encourage band members to get in touch to share memories, or for anyone to send corrections/clarifications to my email: Warchive@aol.com
Equally important, if you attended any of the gigs below or played in the support band, please do leave your memories below in the comments section for future historians to use. If you know of any missing gigs, please add them too, if possible, with the sources.
THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP:
Stevie Winwood (guitar/keyboards/vocals)
Spencer Davis (guitar/vocals
Muff Winwood (bass/vocals)
Pete York (drums)
1964
28 June 1964 – Beat City, central London with The Clayton Squares (Melody Maker)
7 July 1964 – Attic Club, 1a High Street, Hounslow, Middlesex with Charlie & Inez Foxx and Them (aka Themselves) (Kingston & Malden Borough News/Gray Newell)
25 July 1964 – Corn Exchange, Cambridge with The Prestons (Cambridge News)
17 August 1964 – Clacton Town Hall, Clacton, Essex with The Animals (Essex County Stanard)
12 September 1964 – Attic Club, 1a High Street, Hounslow, Middlesex with The Pitmen (Kingston & Malden Borough News)
13 October 1964 – Aylesbury Bluesville, Borough Assembly Hall, Market Square, Aylesbury, Bucks with Inez and Charlie Foxx (Bucks Advertiser)
6 November 1964 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear with The Falling Leaves (Newcastle Evening Echo)
19 November 1964 – Granada, Aylesbury, Bucks with Manfred Mann, The Soul Sisters, Wayne (Kellie) Gibson and The Dynamic Sounds, Bern Elliott & His Klan, The Mark Leeman Five, The Downliners Sect, Blues By Five and Dave Kaffey (Bucks Advertiser)
4 December 1964 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear (http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle-2/)
5 December 1964 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear with The Keys (http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle-2/)
29 December 1964 – Aylesbury Bluesville, Borough Assembly Hall, Market Square, Aylesbury, Bucks (Bucks Advertiser)
1965
2 January 1965 – Chelmsford Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, Essex (Essex Chronicle)
17 January 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, Kent (Melody Maker)
19 January 1965 – Aylesbury Bluesville, Market Square, Aylesbury, Bucks (http://aylesburymusictown.co.uk/)
23 January 1965 – Clacton Town Hall, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex with Mark IV and The Blue Berries (Essex County Standard/Poster)
31 January 1965 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, Kent (Melody Maker)
13 February 1965 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear with The VIPs (http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle-2/)
16 February 1965 – Bluesville, Aylesbury, Bucks (http://aylesburymusictown.co.uk/)
17 February 1965 – Farnborough Town Hall, Farnborough, Hampshire with support (Camberley News)
1 March 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Mark Leeman Five (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
3 March 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, Kent (Melody Maker)
4 March 1965 – Smethwick Baths, Smethwick, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
7 March 1965 – Blue Moon, Hayes, Middlesex (Harrow Weekly Post/Greenford Weekly Post)
11 March 1965 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands with The Sombreros (Birmingham Evening Mail)
15 March 1965 – Crazy E, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)
17 March 1965 – Mackadown, Kitts Green, West Midlands with The Mike Sheridan Show (Birmingham Evening Mail)
21 March 1965 – Le Metro, Birmingham with The Hookey Walkers (Birmingham Evening Mail)
22 March 1965 – ‘Bluesville’, Manor House Ballroom, Ipswich, Suffolk (Essex County Standard)
23 March 1965 – Midland Institute, Birmingham with The Johnny Patrick Big Band (Birmingham Evening Mail)
28 March 1965 – Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, West Midlands with The Moody Blues and The King Bees (Birmingham Evening Mail)
1 April 1965 – Crazy E, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)
8 April 1965 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands with The Uglys (Birmingham Evening Mail)
10 April 1965 – Chelmsford Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, Essex with support (Essex Chronicle)
11 April 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, Kent (Melody Maker)
17 April 1965 – Marqee Dance Club, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)
18 April 1965 – Dungeon Club, Nottingham (https://dungeonmods.wordpress.com/)
29 April 1965 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands with Lee Stevens & The Satellites (Birmingham Evening Mail)
30 April 1965 – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham with The Sheffields, Hogs Snort Rupert and His Good Good Band and Roy Everitt’s Blues Hounds (Birmingham Evening Mail)
3 May 1965 – Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
4 May 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Julian Covey & The Machine (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
7 May 1965 – Ricky Tick, Guildford Civic Hall, Guildford, Surrey (David Else’s research)
9 May 1965 – Blue Moon, Hayes, west London with The Vagabonds (Harrow Weekly Post/Greenford Weekly Post)
10 May 1965 – Beachcomber, Bolton, Greater Manchester (Bolton Evening News)
13 May 1965 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent (East Kent Times & Mail)
16 May 1965 – Blue Moon, Hayes, west London (Harrow Weekly Post/Greenford Weekly Post)
19 May 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (Melody Maker)
30 May 1965 – Silver Beat Club, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)
31 May 1965 – Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
2 June 1965 – Agincourt Ballroom, Camberley, Surrey (Camberley News)
2 June 1965 – Farnborough Town Hall, Farnborough, Hampshire (Aldershot News)
14 June 1965 – Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
15 June 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Mark Leeman Five (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
17 June 1965 – Le Metro, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)
19 June 1965 – Jazz & Blues Festival, Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London with The Dutch Swing College, Solomon Burke, Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band, Unit 4 Plus 2, The Loose Ends, The Downliners Sect, Alan Elsdon’s Jazzband, Brian Green New-O-Stompers and The Epitaph Soul Band (Bexley Heath & Welling Observer and Kentish Times)
19 June 1965 – Uxbridge Blues Festival, Uxbridge, northwest London with Marianne Faithfull, The Who, Solomon Burke, Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, Long John Baldry, Zoot Money, The Birds, John Mayall, Ray Martin Group and Dave Whittling (Ruislip & Northwood Gazette)
20 June 1965 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with Brothers Julius (East Kent Times & Mail)
26 June 1965 – Bure Club, Mudeford, Dorset (website: https://bournemouthbeatboom.wordpress.com/)
27 June 1965 – Blue Moon Hayes, west London (Hayes Gazette)
29 June 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Mark Leeman Five (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
7 July 1965 – High Wycombe Town Hall, High Wycombe, Bucks (Bucks Free Press)
12 July 1965 – Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
15 July 1965 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands with Roy Everett’s Blues Hounds (Birmingham Evening Mail)
20 July 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Mark Leeman Five (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
21 July 1965 – Bristol Corn Exchange, Bristol (Western Scene)
25 July 1965 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London with The Epitaphs Soul Band (Melody Maker)
26 July 1965 – Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton, north London (Wood Green & Southgate Weekly Herald)
28 July 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (Melody Maker)
3 August 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Mark Leeman Five (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
6 August 1965 – Droitwich Winter Gardens, Droitwich, Worcestershire with The Ravons (Worcester Evening News)
27 August 1965 – Galaxy Club, Town Hall, Basingstoke, Hampshire (Hampshire & Berkshire Gazette)
28 August 1965 – Dreamland, Margate, Kent with The Subjects (East Kent Times)
31 August 1965 – High Wycombe Town Hall, High Wycombe, Bucks (Bucks Free Press)
4 September 1965 – Georgian Club, Uxbridge, west London (Hayes Gazette)
5 September 1965 – Blue Moon, Hayes, west London (Harrow Weekly Post/Greenford Weekly Post)
7 September 1965 – High Wycombe Town Hall, High Wycombe, Bucks (Bucks Free Press)
9 September 1965 – Gay Tower Ballroom, Edgbaston, West Midlands with Brian Pearshall Showband (Birmingham Evening Mail)
10 September 1965 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with The Soundtrekkers and Blues By Five (website: www.california-ballroom.info/gigs/)
12 September 1965 – Beachcomber, Preston, Lancashire with The Warriors (Lancashire Evening Post)
16 September 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Bo Street Runners (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
20 September 1965 – Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton, north London (Walthamstow Guardian)
21 September 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Mark Leeman Five (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
22 September 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (Melody Maker)
24 September 1965 – Astoria, Finsbury Park, north London with The Rolling Stones, The Checkmates, Unit 4 Plus 2, Ray Cameron, Charles Dickens & The Habits and The End (Tottenham Weekly Herald)
15 October 1965 – Regal Cambridge, Cambridge with The Rolling Stones, Unit 4 Plus 2, The Checkmates, Charles Dickens & The Habits, The End and Ray Cameron (Cambridge News)
19 October 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Mark Leeman Five (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
22 October 1965 – Ricky Tick, Staines Town Hall, Staines, Middlesex (David Else’s research)
24 October 1965 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London (Melody Maker)
3 November 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (Melody Maker)
9 November 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Mark Leeman Five (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
12 November 1965 – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham with Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds, The King Bees and The Cock O Hoops (Birmingham Evening Mail)
15 November 1965 – ‘Bluesville’, Manor House Ballroom, Ipswich, Suffolk (Essex County Standard)
16 November 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Mark Leeman Five (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
20 November 1965 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear with Junco Partners (http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle-2/)
22 November 1965 – Parr Hall, Warrington, Cheshire with The Times (Warrington Guardian)
25 November 1965 – Smethwick Baths, Smethwick, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
27 November 1965 – Marcam Hall, March, Cambridgeshire (Lynn News)
5 December 1965 – Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, West Midlands with The Alex Harvey Soul Band (Birmingham Evening Mail)
6 December 1965 – Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton, north London (Walthamstow Guardian)
7 December 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Alex Harvey Group (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
16 December 1965 – Smethwick Baths, Smethwick, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
17 December 1965 – Mr McCoys, Middlesbrough with The Crawdaddies (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
19 December 1965 – Blue Moon, Hayes, west London (Hayes Gazette)
20 December 1965 – Bath Pavilion, Bath (Western Scene) Rescheduled for 14 February 1966 (and then 7 February)
31 December 1965 – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham with Johnny Neal & Co, The Little People and The Chucks (Birmingham Evening Mail)
1966
2 January 1966 – Chelmsford Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, Essex (Essex Chronicle)
8 January 1966 – Dreamland, Margate, Kent with The Berkeley Squares (East Kent Times)
11 January 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Alex Harvey Group (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
15 January 1966 – Market Hall, Carlisle, Cumbria (Dumfries and Galloway Standard)
20 January 1966 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear (http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle-2/)
21 January 1966 – Redcar Jazz Club, Coatham Hotel, Redcar, North Yorkshire with The Rockhouse Band and The Skyliners (Dennis Weller, Chris Scott Wilson and Graham Lowe’s book/Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
22 January 1966 – Astoria Ballroom, Rawtenstall, Lancashire with The Estelles and The Eddie G Martin Combo (Burnley Express and News)
23 January 1966 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (The Star)
26 January 1966 – University of Warwick, Coventry (Beat Instrumental)
28 January 1966 – Bluesville, Manor House, north London (Beat Instrumental)
29 January 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire with The Motovations (David Allen research)
30 January 1966 – Black Prince, Bexley, southeast London (Fabulous 208/South East London Mercury/Mick Capewell’s Marmalade Skies)
31 January 1966 – Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton, north London (Beat Instrumental)
1 February 1966 – High Wycombe Town Hall, High Wycombe, Bucks (Bucks Free Press)
3 February 1966 – Willenhall Baths, Willenhall (Beat Instrumental)
5 February 1966 – Chelsea College, Chelsea, southwest London (Beat Instrumental)
6 February 1966 – Agincourt Ballroom, Camberley, Surrey with The Alley Cats (Aldershot News/Camberley News)
7 February 1966 – Bath Pavilion, Bath (Beat Instrumental/Western Scene)
10 February 1966 – Smethwick Baths, Smethwick, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
11 February 1966 – Nottingham University, Nottingham (Beat Instrumental)
12 February 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester (Beat Instrumental)
15 February 1966 – Walsall Town Hall, Walsall, West Midlands (Beat Instrumental)
16 February 1966 – Mecca Ballroom, Royal Pier, Southampton, Hants (Beat Instrumental)
17 February 1966 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts (Beat Instrumental)
19 February 1966 – Pavilion Ballroom, Buxton, Derbyshire (Alderley & Wilmslow & Knutsford Advertiser) Either this or the date below is incorrect
19 February 1966 – Pier Ballroom, Worthing, West Sussex (Boyfriend magazine)
22 February 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Bluesology (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
23 February 1966 – Stevenage Mecca, Locarno, Stevenage, Hertfordshire (http://www.coda-uk.co.uk/60’s_music_scene.htm)
24 February 1966 – Pier Pavilion, Worthing, West Sussex (Worthing Herald)
25 February 1966 – Iron Curtain Club, St Mary’s Cray, Kent (Beat Instrumental) Looks like this was moved to 4 March
25-27 February 1966 – Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Hamburg, West Germany (Beat Instrumental)
3 March 1966 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London with Paul Fenton & The Crowd (Melody Maker)
4 March 1966 – Iron Curtain Club, St Mary’s Cray, Kent (Beat Instrumental)
5 March 1966 – Twisted Wheel, Manchester (Beat Instrumental)
7 March 1966 – Bluesville, St Matthew’s Baths Hall, Ipswich, Suffolk (Evening Star, Ipswich)
8 March 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
11 March 1966 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear (http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle-2/)
12 March 1966 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire (Steve Chapples research: www.lankybeat.com)
18 March 1966 – Bluesville, Manor House, north London (Beat Instrumental)
19 March 1966 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with The Soundtrack (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)
20 March 1966 – Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
20 March 1966 – Ritz and Palais, Nottingham (Beat Instrumental)
22 March 1966 – Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne &Wear (Beat Instrumental)
23 March 1966 – Parr Hall, Warrington, Cheshire with Ivan Meads and Mark Peters Method (Warrington Guardian) Beat Instrumental has this on 28th March
25 March 1966 – Gig in Harrogate, Yorkshire (Beat Instrumental)
26 March 1966 – Floral Hall, Southport, Lancashire (Lancashire Evening Post)
29 March 1966 – Hippodrome, Dudley, West Midlands (Beat Instrumental)
31 March 1966 – Gig in Swansea, Wales (Beat Instrumental)
2 April 1966 – Smethwick Baths, Smethwick, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
6 April 1966 – Orchid Ballroom, Purley, Surrey (Coulson & Purley Advertiser)
7 April 1966 – Carousel Club, Camp Road, Farnbrough, Hampshire with support (Aldershot News)
10 April 1966 – Chelmsford Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, Essex (Essex Chronicle)
14 April 1966 – Gaumont, Southampton, Hampshire with The Who, The Merseys, Mike Sarne and The Band of Angels (Western Gazette)
15 April 1966 – Fairfield Hall, Croydon, south London with The Who, The Merseys and The Band of Angels (Chris Broom book: Rockin’ and Around Croydon)
16 April 1966 – Odeon, Watford, Herts with The Who, The Merseys, Mike Sarne and The Band of Angles (Welwyn Advertiser)
17 April 1966 – The Regal, Edmonton, north London with The Rolling Stones, The New Merseys, Mike Sarne & The Band of Angels (Tottenham Weekly Herald)
22 April 1966 – Odeon, Derby with The Who (Disc & Music Echo)
23 April 1966 – Hippodrome, Birmingham with The Who (Disc & Music Echo)
23 April 1966 – Odeon, Rochester, Kent with The Who, The Merseys, Mike Sarne and The Band of Angels (Kent Messenger)
26-30 April 1966 – Gigs in Paris, France (Beat Instrumental)
1 May 1966 – NME Poll Concert, Wembley, west London (Beat Instrumental)
2-7 May 1966 – Gigs in West Germany (Beat Instrumental)
10 May 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Jimmy Cliff Sound (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
11 May 1966 – Wimbledon Palais, Wimbledon, southwest London (Balham & Tooting News and Mercury)
13 May 1966 – Kirkcaldy, Raith and Whitburn Ballrooms, Scotland (Disc & Music Echo)
14 May 1966 – City Hall, Perth, Scotland (Disc & Music Echo)
15 May 1966 – Lido, Lennox Bank, Scotland (Disc & Music Echo)
16 May 1966 – Mr McGoos, Edinburgh, Scotland (Disc & Music Echo)
19-22 May 1966 – Big Apple, Munich, West Germany and then Star Club, Hamburg, West Germany (Beat Instrumental)
25-26 May 1966 – Gigs in West Germany (Beat Instrumental)
28 May 1966 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire with The Outsiders and The Dean Collins Sound (Burnley Express & News)
28 May 1966 – Richmond Athletic Ground, Richmond upon Thames, southwest London (Beat Instrumental)
29 May 1966 – Britannia Theatre, Britannia Pier, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk with Pinkerton’s Colours, Barry Fontoni, Ray Cameron and The Driftwood (Eastern Evening News) Beat Instrumental has North Pier, Blackpool, Lancashire
1-5 June 1966 – Gigs in Ireland (Beat Instrumental)
1 June 1966 – Arcadia, Cork, Republic of Ireland with Dinosaurs Showband (Cork Evening Echo/Cork Examiner)
10 June 1966 – Bluesville, Manor House, north London (Fabulous 208)
11 June 1966 – Pavilion Ballroom, Buxton, Derbyshire with The Blueberries (Alderley & Wilmslow & Knutsford Advertiser)
13 June 1966 – Bluesville, St Matthew’s Baths Hall, Ipswich (Evening Star, Ipswich)
14 June 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with the Jimmy Cliff Sound (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
16 June 1966 – Isle of Man (probably Palace Ballroom, Douglas) (Beat Instrumental) Worthing Gazette lists the band at the Assembly Hall, Worthing replacing The Moody Blues
18 June 1966 – Starlite Ballroom, Greenford, west London (Fabulous 208/Melody Maker)
20 June 1966 – Supreme Ballroom, Ramsgate, Kent (Fabulous 208)
21 June 1966 – Merton College, Oxford (Fabulous 208)
24 June 1966 – Leicester College of Tech, Scraptoft, Leicester (Fabulous 208)
24 June 1966 – Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich, West Midlands with The Uglys (Express & Star)
25 June 1966 – Floral Hall, Southport, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)
3 July 1966 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire (Steve Chapples research: www.lankybeat.com)
16 July 1966 – Ritz Ballroom, King’s Heath and Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, West Midlands (Fabulous 208/Birmingham Evening Mail) World Cup Special
16 July 1966 – Plaza Ballroom, Old Hill, West Midlands (Express & Star)
17 July 1966 – North Pier, Blackpool, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)
19 July 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Habits (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
23 July 1966 – The New Scene, Corn Exchange, Leicester (club’s opening night) (Leicester Mercury)
24 July 1966 – North Pier, Blackpool, Lancashire with Dave Berry and Manfred Mann (Fabulous 208)
29 July 1966 – Blues Festival, Windsor, Berkshire (Beat Instrumental)
30 July 1966 – Spa Royal Ballroom, Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)
19 August 1966 – Race Ballroom, Kirkcaldy, Scotland (Beat Instrumental)
20 August 1966 – Caird Hall, Dundee, Scotland with The Searchers, The Settlers and Eden Kane (Fabulous 208)
21-23 August 1966 – Magoo’s Club, Edinburgh (Fabulous 208)
25 August 1966 – Palace Ballroom, Douglas, Isle of Man (Fabulous 208)
27 August 1966 – St George’s Ballroom, Guernsey, Channel Islands (Fabulous 208)
1 September 1966 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London (Melody Maker)
2 September 1966 – Starlite, Greenford, west London (Melody Maker)
3 September 1966 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)
4 September 1966 – North Pier, Blackpool, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)
8 September 1966 – Locarno Ballroom, Burnley, Lancashire (Beat Instrumental)
8 September 1966 – Winter Gardens Pavilion, Weston Super Mare, Somerset with The Ken Birch Band and The Raiders (Weston Mercury)
10 September 1966 – Floral Hall, Southport, Lancashire (Beat Instrumental)
15 September 1966 – Dorothy Ballroom, Cambridge (Beat Instrumental)
16 September 1966 – Bluesville, Manor House, north London (Beat Instrumental)
19 September 1966 – Queen’s Ballroom, Wolverhampton, West Midlands (Beat Instrumental/Birmingham Evening Mail/Express & Star)
20 September 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Wynder K Frog (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
22 September 1966 – Locarno, Streatham, southwest London (Fabulous 208)
6 October 1966 – Locarno Ballroom, Burnley, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)
10 October 1966 – Locarno Ballroom, Bristol (Evening Post, Bristol/Fabulous 208)
21 October 1966 – The Marquee Show, Fairfield Hall, south Croydon, London with The Move, Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, Wynder K Frog, The Herd and The VIPs (Chris Broom book: Rockin’ and Around Croydon)
24 October 1966 – Pavilion, Bath (Fabulous 208)
25 October 1966 – Winter Gardens, Malvern, Worcestershire (Fabulous 208)
28 October 1966 – ‘The Manor’, Newington Public Hall, Walworth Road, Southwark, London with The Only Ones (South East London Mercury)
29 October 1966 – Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich, West Midlands (Fabulous 208)
1 November 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Episode Six (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
5 November 1966 – Leeds University, Leeds, West Yorkshire (Fabulous 208)
11 November 1966 – Metropole, Brighton, Sussex with Zoot Money & The Big Roll Band (Fabulous 208)
12 November 1966 – University College, London (Fabulous 208)
22-25 November 1966 – Gigs in Geneva, Switzerland (Disc & Music Echo)
1-17 December 1966 – Gigs in West Germany (Disc & Music Echo)
19 December 1966 – Sliver Blades, Streatham, southwest London (Coulson & Purley Advertiser)
20 December 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Syn (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
30 December 1966 – R&B Club, Forest Gate, Essex (Fabulous 208) This was probably the Upper Cut as they played with The Mack Sound on this same date
31 December 1966 – Annabel’s, Berkeley Square, central London (Fabulous 208)
1967
6 January 1967 – Matrix Hall, Coventry, West Midlands with Tony Rivers & The Castaways, Jigsaw and Lovers Lot (Coventry Evening Telegraph)
7 January 1967 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire (Steve Chapples research: www.lankybeat.com)
8 January 1967 – Redcar Jazz Club, Coatham Hotel, Redcar, North Yorkshire with The Johnny Rogers Band (Dennis Weller, Chris Scott Wilson and Graham Lowe’s book)
13 January 1967 – Birmingham University, Birmingham (Disc & Music Echo)
14 January 1967 – Floral Hall, Southport, Lancashire (Lancashire Evening Post)
16 January 1967 – Bluesville, Ipswich, Suffolk (Evening Star)
21 January 1967 – Gaiety Ballroom, Grimsby, Humberside (Grimsby Evening Telegraph)
21 January 1967 – Queen Mary’s College, London University (Fabulous 208)
22 January 1967 – Toft’s, Folkestone, Kent (Melody Maker)
28 January 1967 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire (Nuneaton Evening Tribune)
31 January 1967 – Town Hall, High Wycombe, Bucks (Fabulous 208)
3 February 1967 – ICI, Pontypool, Wales (Fabulous 208)
4 February 1967 – Liverpool University, Liverpool (Record Mirror)
7 February 1967 – Manchester University, Manchester (Record Mirror)
7 February 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Syn (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
8 February 1967 – Kingsway Theatre, Hadleigh, Essex with Sounds Incorporated, The Fourmost, The Human Instinct and The James Royal Set (Essex Chronicle/Southend Standard)
9 February 1967 – Top Deck, Purfleet, Essex (Record Mirror)
11 February 1967 – Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Wynder K Frog, The Equals and Ray Bones (Lincolnshire Standard)
13 Februay 1967 – Birmingham University, Birmingham (Fabulous 208)
14 February 1967 – Sherwood Rooms, Nottingham (Record Mirror)
17 February 1967 – Sheffield University, Sheffield (Record Mirror)
18 February 1967 – Dudley Technical College, Dudley, West Midlands (Record Mirror)
21 February 1967 – King’s Hall, Aberystwyth, Wales (Record Mirror)
24 February-2 March 1967 – Scandinavian tour (Disc & Music Echo)
Disc & Music Echo’s 4 March issue, page 6, notes that Stevie and Muff Winwood are leaving. The magazine’s 11 March issue adds that Stevie will depart on 2 April.
11 March 1967 – Granada, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire with Paul Jones, The Hollies, The Tremeloes and The Young Idea (Fabulous 208)
12 March 1967 – City Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear with Paul Jones, The Hollies, The Tremeloes and The Young Idea (Fabulous 208)
13 March 1967 – Odeon, Glasgow, Scotland with Paul Jones, The Hollies, The Tremeloes and The Young Idea (Fabulous 208)
14 March 1967 – Gaumont, Doncaster, South Yorkshire with Paul Jones, The Hollies, The Tremeloes and The Young Idea (Fabulous 208)
15 March 1967 – Odeon Leeds, West Yorkshire with The Hollies, The Tremeloes, The Richard Kent Style, The Young Idea and Paul Jones (Yorkshire Evening Post)
16 March 1967 – Granada, Bedford, Bedfordshire with Paul Jones, The Hollies, The Tremeloes and The Young Idea (Fabulous 208)
17 March 1967 – Granada, Maidstone, Kent with Paul Jones, The Hollies, The Tremeloes and The Young Idea (Fabulous 208)
18 March 1967 – Granada, Kingston upon Thames, southwest London with Paul Jones, The Hollies, The Tremeloes and The Young Idea (Fabulous 208)
19 March 1967 – De Montfort, Leicester with Paul Jones, The Hollies, The Tremeloes and The Young Idea (Fabulous 208)
22 March 1967 – Granada, Kettering, Northamptonshire with Paul Jones, The Hollies, The Tremeloes, The Young Idea and Richard Kent Style (Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph)
23 March 1967 – Astoria, Finsbury Park, north London with The Hollies, The Tremeloes and Paul Jones (Hackney Gazette)
28 March 1967 – Gaumont, Southampton, Hampshire with Paul Jones, The Hollies, The Tremeloes (Southern Evening Echo)
24-28 March 1967 – Scandinavian tour
The Eastern Evening News (27 February 1967, page 12): Steve Winwood announces he’s leaving. He parts company on 2 April at the end of the Hollies tour. Five strong new SDG due to appear at St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich on 16 May 1967. The current line up is currently in Scandinavia.
Disc & Music Echo’s 15 April issue notes that Spencer Davis has already signed one new band member. He’s looking to sign two more and debut new formation on 7 May.
Disc & Music Echo’s 29 April issue reports Phil Sawyer and Eddie Hardin as new members. It also says there will be four members not five. A later issue notes that Terry Reid from Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers was invited to join but turned the offer down.
7 May 1967 – New line up debut at Wembley, west London (venue?) (Disc & Music Echo)
May 1967 – Albert Hall, central London (Disc & Music Echo)
May – The band flies to Paris shortly after this debut and plays at Akou Akou Club, Cannes, France (Disc & Music Echo)
19 May 1967 – Marine Ballroom, Morecambe, Lancashire (Fabulous 208)
19 May 1967 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire (Steve Chapples research: www.lankybeat.com)
Disc & Music Echo’s 20 May issue notes that Eddie Hardin collapsed at the band’s Albert Hall gig before they flew to Paris.
21 May 1967 – Fiesta Club, Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham (Fabulous 208)
22 May 1967 – Top Hat, Spennymoor, County Durham (Fabulous 208)
23-27 May 1967 – Fiesta Club, Stockton-on-Tees and Top Hat, Spennymoor, Durham (Fabulous 208)
South East London Mercury (25 May 1967, page 2) contains a great article on Eddie Hardin (see above).
30 May 1967 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Wynder K Frog (Disc & Music Echo says this is debut of new line up)
Disc & Music Echo’s 15 July issue notes that the group returns from Hungary on 13 July.
The Kingston and Malden Borough News (28 July 1967, page 7) has a fantastic photo of the new line-up.
Disc & Music Echo’s 5 August issue notes that the band are on a US tour. On the first night at the Cheetah Club below, Spencer Davis had an accident. The magazine says they return to the UK on 4 September.
30 July 1967 – Cheetah Club, NYC, US (Disc & Music Echo)
Portsmouth News has a photo of the band in its 17 August 1967 issue, page 10 (above)
7 November 1967 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire (Steve Chapples research: www.lankybeat.com)
17-18 November 1967 – Palais Des Sports, Paris, France with others (Melody Maker)
26 Novembr 1967 – Southampton University, Southampton, Hampshire (Melody Maker) Disc & Music Echo reports that this was Phil Sawyer’s final gig
Ray Fenwick replaced Phil Sawyer on lead guitar.
According to Melody Maker, The Spencer Davis Group went to Madrid, Spain for cabaret for 3-4 December 1967.
1968
13 February 1968 – Glen Ballroom, Llanelli, Wales with Simon Dupree & The Big Sound, Tony Rivers & The Castaways, Fleetwood Mac and The Dream (Herald of Wales)
17 February 1968 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire with The Trendmen (Nuneaton Evening Tribune)
2 March 1968 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire (Steve Chapples research: www.lankybeat.com)
7 March 1968 – City of Coventry Confederation of Colleges, Locarno Ballroom, Coventry, West Midlands with Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds, St Louis Union and Piccadilly Line (Coventry Evening Telegraph)
10 March 1968 – Excel Bowl, Middlesbrough with The Zephrons (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
13 March 1968 – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham with Manfred Mann, The Moody Blues, Don Partridge and The Piccadilly Line (Birmingham Evening Mail)
16 March 1968 – Civic Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire with Jason T Alexandra & The Soulettes (Evening Sentinel/Nantwich Chronicle/Crewe Chronicle)
23 March 1968 – Spa Royal Hall, Bridlington, North Yorkshire with The Sons of Witch and The ABC (Scarborough News)
According to Melody Maker, The Spencer Davis Group return from their debut US tour on 6 May 1968. Later this month, they play shows in Sweden, according to the music paper.
11 June 1968 – Jesus College, Cambridge (Melody Maker)
12 June 1968 – Locarno, Hull (Melody Maker)
14 June 1968 – Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead with Mud (Melody Maker/Welwyn & Hatfield Advertiser)
22 June 1968 – Oxford University gig, Oxford with Traffic (Melody Maker)
According to Melody Maker says Spencer Davis Group flies out to Yugoslavia on 24 June.
28 June 1968 – The Factory, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)
7 August 1968 – Ritz, Bournemouth, Dorset (Bournemouth Evening Echo)
16 August 1968 – Hemel Hempstead Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, Herts (Welwyn & Hatfield Advertiser)
20 August 1968 – Middle Earth, Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon with The Fire, Indiana Highway and Phaze (Herald Express)
14 September 1968 – Spa Royal Hall, Hull with The Matchbox and The Coastal Erosion (Hull Daily Mail)
20 September 1968 – 400 Ballroom, Torquay, Devon (Torquay Times)
21 September 1968 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with Chicago Line (Cambridgeshire Times)
23 September 1968 – Bluesville, Manor House, Ipswich, Suffolk (Ipswich Evening Star)
4 October 1968 – Swansea University, Swansea, south Wales with The Californians and The Pyramids (South Wales Evening Post)
12 October 1968 – UEA Students’ Union, Norwich, Norfolk with The Technique (Eastern Evening News)
19 October 1968 – Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone, Kent (Kentish Express)
Melody Maker’s 26 October issue notes that Eddie Hardin and Pete York left the previous week and Dee Murray (bass) and David Hynes (drums) from Mirage had joined. The group flies to Munich the following Thursday followed by Bremen.
New Musical Express, however, notes that Hardin and York left on 26 October and the new line up flies to West Germany on the same day.
19 December 1968 – Grafton Club, RAF Marham with The Individual Set (Lynn News)
27 December 1968 – Bridge Place Country Club, Canterbury, Kent (Canterbury Advertiser)
1969
15 February 1969 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with The Candy Choir (Folkestone & Hythe District Herald)
20 February 1969 – Imperial College, Charity Concert, Royal Albert Hall with The Move, Status Quo, East of Eden and The Nashville Teens (Melody Maker)
Copyright © Nick Warburton. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any from or by any means, without prior permission from the author.
Welcome to another posting of a series of gig listings for 1960s bands. None of these lists is exhaustive and my idea is to add to them in the comments section below over time. They are here for future researchers to draw on. I have also added a few interesting bits of information and will add images in time.
I’d like to encourage band members to get in touch to share memories, or for anyone to send corrections/clarifications to my email: Warchive@aol.com
Equally important, if you attended any of the gigs below or played in the support band, please do leave your memories below in the comments section for future historians to use. If you know of any missing gigs, please add them too, if possible, with the sources.
Stu James (real name: Stuart Slater) (lead vocals)
Terry O’Toole (piano)
Adrian Wilkinson (lead guitar)
Keith Karlson (real name: Keith Alcock) (bass)
Jon “Bob” Conrad (drums)
Formed as The Nomads in early 1962 by lead guitarist Roy Woods and bass player Keith Karlson, the group briefly included future Easybeats drummer Snowy Fleet before he emigrated to Australia; his place taken by Jon Conrad.
The Nomads were subsequently joined by singer/pianist Stu James and rhythm guitarist Adrian Wilkinson (who moved to lead when Woods departed) that September.
Terry O’Toole joined on piano (with James focusing on singing) in August 1963 and the band became The Mojos.
That September, Nicky Crouch replaced Adrian Wilkinson. This formation was responsible for recording the band’s three UK charting singles, including top 10 hit, “Everything’s Alright”.
Selected gigs:
20 November 1963 – Bristol Corn Exchange, Bristol
24 November 1963 – Agincourt Ballroom, Camberley, Surrey with The Dynamos
26 November 1963 – Town Hall, High Wycombe, Bucks
16 December 1963 – Bath Pavilion, Bath
1964
11 March 1964 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Herts with Bryan & The Hangmen
14 March 1964 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with Johnny Washington & The Congressmen and Sonny with The Stylos
16 April 1964 – Colchester Odeon, Colchester, Essex with The Kinks, The Dave Clark 5, The Hollies, The Treble Tones and Mark Wynter
2 May 1964 – Astoria, Finsbury Park, north London with The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies, Mark Wynter, The Kinks and Trebletones
3 May 1964 – Odeon, Lewisham, southeast London with The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies, Mark Wynter, The Kinks and Trebletones
10 May 1964 – Granada, Walthamstow, north London with The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies, Mark Wynter, The Kinks and Trebletones
16 May 1964 – Pavilion Gardens, Buxton
17 May 1964 – Oasis, Manchester
20 May 1964 – Club 99, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
21 May 1964 – Top Rank, Birkenhead
22 May 1964 – New Court, Wigan
23 May 1964 – Memorial Hall, Northwich, Cheshire
24 May 1964 – Charity show, Pigalle, central London
28 May 1964 – Locarno, Swindon, Wiltshire
29 May 1964 – Continental, Edmonton, Middlesex
30 May 1964 – Goldhawk Social Club, Shepherd’s Bush, west London
31 May 1964 – Sunday Dance Club, Addlestone, Surrey
3 June 1964 – Salisbury City Hall, Salisbury, Wiltshire
5 June 1964 – Oasis, Manchester
7 June 1964 – Princess of Wales (Kingsbury?) north London
13 June 1964 – Town Hall, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex with Screaming Lord Sutch and The Beatfinders
14 June 1964 – JLB Charity, Manchester
17 June 1964 – Top Rank, Bradford
18 June 1964 – Top Rank, Birkenhead
19 June 1964 – Leicester University
20 June 1964 – Floral Hall, Morecambe, Lancashire (more likely Southport)
22 June 1964 – Bure Club, Mudeford, Dorset (Beat Monthly has The Windmill, Rushden)
24 June 1964 – Agincourt Ballroom, Camberley, Surrey (Beat Monthly has Town Hall, Farnborough, Hants)
25 June 1964 – Assembly Hall, Worthing, West Sussex
26 June 1964 – Town Hall, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
27 June 1964 – The Royalty, Chester, Cheshire
28 June 1964 – Britannia Theatre, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
1 July 1964 – Top Rank, Bristol
3 July 1964 – The Palace, Maryport
4 July 1964 – Loughborough College, Loughborough
5 July 1964 – Britannia Theatre, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk with The Karl Denver Trio, Mark Wynter, Marty Wilde, Daryl Quist & The Gamblers, The Crestas, The Plebs and Larry Burns
8 July 1964 – Top Rank, Preston
9 July 1964 – The Palace, Douglas, Isle of Man
10 July 1964 – Oasis, Manchester
11 July 1964 – Civic Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire
12 July 1964 – Britannia Theatre, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
17 July 1964 – Sankey’s, Wellington
18 July 1964 – The Astoria, Rawtenstall
19 July 1964 – Britannia Theatre, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
20 July 1964 – Assembly Rooms, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
22 July 1964 – Attic Club, 1a High Street, Hounslow, Middlesex with The Soundcasters
23 July 1964 – Town Hall, Kidderminster, Worcestershire
24 July 1964 – Palladium, Pembroke Dock
25 July 1964 – The Palace, Wolverton
25 July 1964 – Wilton Hall, Bletchley, Bucks with The Vandell Blues
26 July 1964 – Commodore, Rhyde
29 July 1964 – Bristol Corn Exchange, Bristol with support
1-9 August 1964 – Tour of Scotland
10 August 1964 – Bath Pavilion, Bath
14 August 1964 – Queen’s, Burslem
17 August 1964 – Cellar Club, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey
22 August 1964 – Hastings Pier, Hastings, East Sussex
28 August 1964 – Wimbledon Palais, Wimbledon, southwest London with Demons and UK’s
29 August 1964 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Phantoms and Banger & The Hermits
7 September 1964 – Cellar, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey
8 September 1964 – Colchester Odeon, Colchester, Essex with The Rolling Stones, Mike Berry & The Innocents, Simon Scott & The Le Roys and Inez and Charlie Foxx
10 September 1964 – Odeon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire with The Rolling Stones, Inez & Charlie Foxx, Simon Scott & The Le Roys and Mike Berry & The Innocents
25 September 1964 – Gaumont, Hanley, Staffordshire
26 September 1964 – Odeon, Bradford
27 September 1964 – Hippodrome, Birmingham
28 September 1964 – Odeon, Romford
29 September 1964 – Odeon, Guildford, Surrey
1 October 1964 – Colston Hall, Bristol
2 October 1964 – Odeon, Exeter, Devon
3 October 1964 – Regal Edmonton, Edmonton, Middlesex with The Rolling Stones, Inez & The Charlie Foxx, Simon Scott & The Le Roys and Mike Berry & The Innocents
4 October 1964 – Gaumont, Southampton, Hants
5 October 1964 – Gaumont, Wolverhamton, West Midlands
6 October 1964 – Gaumount, Watford, Herts
8 October 1964 – Lewisham Odeon, Lewisham, southeast London with The Rolling Stones, Mike Berry & The Innocents, Charlie & Inez Foxx and Simon Scott & The Leroys
9 October 1964 – Gaumont, Ipswich, Suffolk
10 October 1964 – Southend Odeon, Southend, Essex with The Rolling Stones, Mike Berry & The Innocents, Charlie & Inez Foxx and Simon Scott & The Leroys
11 October 1964 – Hippodrome, Brighton, Sussex
Around this time, Conrad, Karlson and O’Toole departed to form The Epics.
James and Crouch continued with The Mojos name bringing in drummer Aynsley Dunbar and bass player Lewis Collins. The quartet recorded two singles for Decca as Stu James & The Mojos: “Comin’ On To Cry” and “Wait a Minute”.
16 October 1964 – Gig in Nelson, Lancashire (probably Imperial Ballroom)
17 October 1964 – Gig in Dunstable, Bedfordshire (probably California Ballroom)
18 October 1964 – Gig in Hampstead, north London
19 October 1964 – Gig in Willenhall
23 October 1964 – Sankey’s, Wellington
24 October 1964 – Pier, Portsmouth, Hants
25 October 1964 – Gig in Wembley, Middlesex (possibly Starlite Ballroom, Greenford)
30 October 1964 – Central Pier, Morecambe, Lancashire
31 October 1964 – Oasis, Manchester
1 November 1964 – North End Working Men’s Club, Kettering, Northamptonshire
6 November 1964 – The Tower, New Brighton
7 November 1964 – Spa Royal, Bridlington
8 November 1964 – Oasis, Manchester
9 November 1964 – Streatham Silver Links, Streatham, southwest London
11 November 1964 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall
13 November 1964 – Co-op Hall, Gravesend, Kent
14 November 1964 – Drill Hall, Grantham, Lincolnshire
18 November 1964 – Bristol Corn Exchange, Bristol
20 November 1964 – Winchester Lido, Winchester, Hampshire with Pete Rivers and The Kingfishers
21 November 1964 – Market Hall, Redhill, Surrey
22 November 1964 – Gig in Mudeford, Dorset
24 November 1964 – Subscription Rooms, Stroud, Gloucestershire with The Roadhogs
25 November 1964 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Hertfordshire with The King Bees
26 November 1964 – Maple Ballroom, Northampton with The Manta Men
27 November 1964 – Starlite Ballroom, Greenford, Middlesex
28 November 1964 – Leas Cliff, Folkestone, Kent
29 November 1964 – Gaiety, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Phantoms, The Crystal Tones and The Hermitts
29 November 1964 – Southall Community Centre, Southall, Middlesex
1 December 1964 – New Civic Hall, Grays, Essex
4 December 1964 – Hillside Ballroom, Hereford
5 December 1964 – Baths, Scunthorpe
6 December 1964 – Dungeon Club, Nottingham
7 December 1964 – The Cavern, Liverpool
9 December 1964 – Town Hall, Farnborough, Hampshire with support
11 December 1964 – County Hall, LCC, central London
12 December 1964 – Whitehall, East Grinstead, West Sussex with The Zinging Zabres
17 December 1964 – Grafton Club, RAF Marham with Peter Fenn & The Fenmen and Ricky Wilson & The Three Quarters
18 December 1964 – Queen’s, Tredegar
19 December 1964 – George Hotel, Hinckley, Leicestershire
23 December 1964 – Town Hall, Birmingham
26 December 1964 – Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, Essex
1965
9 January 1965 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with The Sneakers
17 January 1965 – Carlton Ballroom, Slough, Berkshire
21 January 1965 – Pier Pavilion, Worthing, West Sussex
23 January 1965 – Conservative Club, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire with The Rumble Blue Men, The Ancestors and Requests
25 January 1965 – Atlanta Ballroom, Woking, Surrey
There’s a great article on The Mojos in the Staines and Egham News, 29/1/65, page 12
5 February 1965 – Kooky-Nook, Windsor, Berkshire
5 February 1965 – Town Hall, Lydney, Gloucestershire with The Buddies
5 February 1965 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with Ten Feet Five (is this likely?)
17 February 1965 – Big Daddy’s, Halifax, West Yorkshire
6 March 1965 – Penzance Winter Gardens, Penzance, Cornwall with The Individuals
23 March 1965 – St Joseph’s Hall, Basingstoke, Hampshire with The Muleskinners
25 March 1965 – Parkside Hall, Ampthill, Bedfordshire with The King Snakes
29 March 1965 – Coed Eva Community College, Cwmbran, south Wales and The Pieces of Mind
5 April 1965 – Bath Pavilion, Bath with The Sherridans
8 April 1965 – The Downs, Hassocks, West Sussex with The Shufflers
11 April 1965 – Nottingham Boat Club, Nottingham
14 April 1965 – Boulevard, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire
22 May 1965 – Glastonbury Town Hall, Glastonbury, Somerset with The Riots with Paul Vernon
5 June 1965 – Corn Exchange, Cambridge with The Various Others (Colin Jamies, bass player with The Various Others, got in touch to say his group was called The Various Others)
14 June 1965 – Beachcomber, Bolton, Greater Manchester
24 June 1965 – Assembly Hall, Worthing, West Sussex
2 July 1965 – Morgue Club, Kings Head, Bearwood, West Midlands
3 July 1965 – Clacton Town Hall, Clacton, Essex with The Birds and The Blue Jades
6 July 1965 – Gala Ballroom, Norwich with The Crowd
7 July 1965 – Top Hat, Littlehampton, West Sussex
24 July 1965 – Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone, Kent with The Vikings
7 August 1965 – Galaxy Club, Town Hall, Basingstoke, Hampshire (billed as Stu James & The Mojos)
15 August 1965 – Manor Lounge, Stockport, Greater Manchester
21 August 1965 – Coronation Ballroom, Ramsgate, Kent with The Cygnets
31 August 1965 – Witham Public Hall, Witham, Essex with The Pentad (billed as Stu James & The Mojos)
9 September 1965 – Dorothy Ballroom, Cambridge
18 September 1965 – Whitehall, East Grinstead, West Sussex with The Zombies, Eden Kane, Group Survival and The Hounds
19 September 1965 – Agincourt Ballroom, Camberley, Surrey with The Alleycats
24 September 1965 – The Cavern, Liverpool
30 October 1965 – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, south Wales with The Sons of Adam
1 November 1965 – Shoreline Club, Bognor Regis, West Sussex
13 November 1965 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire
19 November 1965 – Cricketers Inn, Westcliff, Southend, Essex with The Orioles
20 November 1965 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Hertfordshire with Trekkers
6 December 1965 – Labour Hall, Bletchley, Buckinghamshire
10 December 1965 – 400 Ballroom, Torquay, Devon
13 December 1965 – Woodhall Community Centre, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
17 December 1965 – Guildhall, Axminster, Devon
18 December 1965 – The Catacombe, Eastbourne, East Sussex
1966
4 January 1966 – St Benedict’s Club, Sketty, south Wales with The Staggerlees
12 January 1966 – Top Spot, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire with The Sinners
23 January 1966 – Cromer Olympia, Cromer, Norfolk with The Persuasions
27 January 1966 – Afan Lido, Port Talbot, Wales with The Smokestacks
5 March 1966 – Pier Pavilion, Colwyn Bay, Wales with Rob Storme & The Whispers
14 March 1966 – Cricketers Inn, Westcliff, Southend, Essex
25 March 1966 – Parkside, Ampthill, Bedfordshire with The King Snakes
11 April 1966 – Ashton Palais, Greater Manchester
16 April 1966 – King’s Lynn Corn Exchange, King’s Lynn, Norfolk with The Mike Beaver Five
17 April 1966 – 76 Club, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire with Memphis Five
28 April 1966 – The Pilgrim, Hayward’s Heath, West Sussex with The Motion
21 May 1966 – Town Hall, Louth, Lincolnshire with The Moonspinners
3 June 1966 – Diss Corn Hall, Diss, Norfolk with Unit 4
4 June 1966 – Victoria Cross Gallery, Wantage, Oxfordshire
10 June 1966 – Royal Albion Hotel, Walton-on-Naze, Essex
8 July 1966 – Salvation College Hall, Harrow Weald, northwest London with The Mode
23 July 1966 – Disc Club, St Martin’s Centre, Colchester, Essex with The She Trinity
30 July 1966 – Corby Civic Centre, Corby, Northamptonshire with Traffic
10 August 1966 – Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, Herts with The Reasons
25 August 1966 – Dooley Fort, Felixstowe, Suffolk
27 August 1966 – Grimsby Rugby Union Football Ground, Grimsby, Humberside with Mike Taylor Jazz Band
2 September 1966 – Penthouse Suite, Civic & Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with Lord Sutch & The Savages, Zuider Zee and The Derry Ryan Foundation
10 September 1966 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire
Record Mirror’s 10 September issue noted that Lew Collins had joined Robb Storme’s band. In fact, he had left the previous month.
Record Mirror’s 24 September issue noted that Aynsley Dunbar had left. He joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers before the month was out.
Crouch and James replaced them with drummer Stan Bennett and bass player Deke Vernon from Birmingham.
Bennett was subsequently replaced by drummer Martin “Cuddles” Smith from Southampton. This line-up recorded the band’s final Decca single, “Good-Bye Dolly Grey”.
9 October 1966 – Waggon & Horses, Wall Heath, West Midlands
14 October 1966 – 3 Men in a Boat, Walsall, West Midlands
13 November 1966 – Union Rowing Club, Nottingham
27 November 1966 – Pink Elephant Club, Aspull, Wigan, Greater Manchester
2 December 1966 – Bluesette Club, Bridge Street, Leatherhead, Surrey
4 December 1966 – Casino Club, Burnley, Lancashire with The So On and So Forth
9 December 1966 – The ‘Manor’, Newington Public Hall, Walworth Road, London with Mike Berry & The Luvvers and Bobby King & The Sabres
18 December 1966 – Casino, Westhoughton, Greater Manchester with The Shymes
1967
7 January 1967 – Morley Town Hall, Morley, North Yorkshire
10 January 1967 – Walton Hop, Walton Playhouse, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey (billed as New Mojo Band)
28 January 1967 – Wilton Hall, Bletchley, Buckinghamshire with The Crush
9 February 1967 – Embassy Suite, Thursday Club Colchester, Essex with Rick and Us
13 February 1967 – Drill Hall, Newmarket, Suffolk
17 February 1967 – Town Hall, Haverhill, Suffolk
21 February 1967 – Walton Hop, Walton Playhouse, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
23 February 1967 – Cobweb, Marine Court, St Leonards, East Sussex with Fingers Lee
4 March 1967 – Lewes FC Beat Rave, Lewes Town Hall, Lewes, East Sussex with The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Individuals
26 March 1967 – Starlite, Greenford, west London with The Gods (Billed as The New Mojo’s)
1 April 1967 – Evington Boys’ Club, Evington, Leicestershire (billed as The New Mojos)
15 April 1967 – Walton Hop, Walton Playhouse, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
28 April 1967 – Tiger’s Head, Catford, southeast London (billed as New Mojo Band)
13 May 1967 – Alexandra Hall, Halifax with The Reaction
20 May 1967 – Spa Royal Hall, Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire with Paul & Barry Ryan, 21st Century and The Penjants (billed as The New Mojos)
22 June 1967 – Go Go Club, Labour Hall, Gillingham, Kent
7 July 1967 – Gaiety Ballroom, Grimsby, Humberside with Long John Baldry Show with Stewart A Brown, Alan Walker and Bluesology
5 August 1967 – Town Hall, Clacton, Essex with The Action and First Movement
It may have been around this time that the band spent a few months working at a luxury hotel in the Ivory Coast.
16 September 1967 – Lewes Town Hall, Lewes, West Sussex with The Individuals and The Tornados
30 September 1967 – White Buck Inn, Burley, Dorset with Nathan’s Ware
27 October 1967 – Regal Ballroom, Bonnyrigg, Scotland with The Riot Squad and The Klan
27 October 1967 – Whitburn Miners’ Welfare, West Lothian, Scotland with The Bo Weavols and Three’s a Crowd
29 October 1967 – Kinema Ballroom, Dunfermline, Scotland
30 October 1967 – Raith Ballroom, Kirkcaldy, Scotland
31 October 1967 – The Hub Club, Clydebank, Scotland
5 November 1967 – Kinema Ballroom, Dunfermline, Scotland
12 November 1967 – Kinema Ballroom, Dunfermline, Scotland
14 November 1967 – Kaleidoscope Discotheque, Odeon Ballroom, Ashford, Kent with The End (Kentish Express)
2 December 1967 – The Cavern, Liverpool with The Tee Time Shock, Fred Lloyd’s Bicycle and The Bare Essentials
9 December 1967 – The Night Prowler, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk with Soul Concern
15 December 1967 – Garden Village Youth Club, Wrexham, Wales with Legal Matter and Opposition
1968
24 January 1968 – The Cavern, Liverpool with The Perfumed Garden, The Beechwoods, Fred Lloyd and Gerry Shaw
Around this time Stu James relocated to the Southampton area and started performing under his real name Stuart Slater.
He retained Martin Smith but split from Nicky Crouch and Deke Vernon and added two new musicians from the local area: guitarist/singer Eddie Harnett and bass player singer/Duncan Campbell.
23 February 1968 – The Cobweb, St Leonards, East Sussex with Fingers Lee
30 March 1968 – Ritz, Bournemouth, Dorset with The Derek James Show
6 April 1968 – Weymouth Pavilion Ballroom, Weymouth, Dorset with The Lord Maurice Group
3 May 1968 – Steering Wheel, Weymouth, Dorset
10 May 1968 – Stonehenge Inn, Durrington, Wiltshire (billed as Stu James & The Mojo’s)
11 May 1968 – Il Rondo, Leicester
22 May 1968 – Walking Dog Club, White Horse Hotel, Quidhampton, Wiltshire
25 May 1968 – Mistrale Club, Beckenham Junction, south London with Sweet Rain
In June, the band released its new single on Liberty Records “Until My Baby Comes Home”.
15 June 1968 – Steering Wheel, Weymouth, Dorset
26 June 1968 – Mackadown, Kitts Green, West Midlands with Morning Dew
29 June 1968 – East Cliff YC, Bournemouth, Dorset with The Feel
Around this time drummer Tony House took over from Martin Smith on drums.
1 July 1968 – Belfry, Wishaw, West Midlands
11 July 1968 – Ravensbourne College, Bromley, southeast London with The Pretty Things
19 July 1968 – Weymouth Pavilion Ballroom, Weymouth, Dorset (billed as Mojos with Stu James)
20 July 1968 – The Crown, Midhurst, West Sussex
Beat Instrumental‘s July 1968 issue, page 31 listed the following line up:
Stu James – vocals/rhythm guitar (b. 14 June 1945, Liverpool)
Duncan Campbell – bass (b. 19 December 1947, Cheltenham)
Eddie Barnett – lead guitar (b. 19 June 1949, Southampton)
Tony House – drums (b. 19 March 1949, London)
4 August 1968 – Concorde, Southampton, Hampshire
9 August 1968 – Punchbowl, Latchworth, West Midlands
10 August 1968 – Il Rondo, Leicester
11 August 1968 – New Forest Hotel, Ashurst, Hampshire
23 August 1968 – Steering Wheel, Dorchester, Dorset
Fabulous 208 Magazine‘s 24 August 1968 issue, page 3, reported that Stu James and Nicky Crouch had gone to the Ivory Coast to play in a luxury hotel with a new group for three months (1967). It added that James now had a new version together and was working on an LP.
7 September 1968 – Lewes Town Hall, Lewes, East Sussex with The Carl Douglas & The Big Stampede and The Fascination
12 September 1968 – Southampton Pavilion, Southampton, Hampshire with Fusion
21 September 1968 – Crosfield Hall, Ramsey, Hampshire with The Poppies (billed as The Mojo featuring Stu James)
23 September 1968 – Empire Hall, Totton, Hampshire
3 October 1968 – Concorde, Southampton, Hampshire
12 October 1968 – East Cliff Youth Club, Bournemouth, Dorset
13 October 1968 – Byron, Greenford, west London
19 October 1968 – Union Rowing Club, Nottingham
27 October 1968 – Regal, Ringwood, Dorset
28 November 1968 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, central London
29 November 1968 – Mistrale, Beckenham, south London with Kaleidoscope
30 November 1968 – White Buck Inn, Burley, Dorset with The Axis
1 December 1968 – Industrial Club, Norwich, Norfolk
7 December 1968 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with Pure Medicine
8 December 1968 – Parley Sports Club, Parley, Dorset
13 December 1968 – Brockley County School, Brockley, southeast London with The New York Public Library
14 December 1968 – Fellowship Inn, Eltham, southeast London
22 December 1968 – Carlton Club, Warrington, Cheshire. Billed as Stewart James & The Mojos
26 December 1968 – Marine Ballroom, Lyme Regis, Dorset with support
1969
29 January 1969 – Reading University, Reading, Berkshire with The Inflatable Tags
6 February 1969 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, central London
6 March 1969 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, central London
8 March 1969 – Hastings Pier, Hastings, East Sussex with Beat Syndicate
4 April 1969 – Globetrotters Club, Poole, Dorset
12 April 1969 – Queen’s Hall, Cuckfield, West Sussex with Johnny Carr Show
2 May 1969 – The Royal Oak, Hockley Heath, West Midlands
9 May 1969 – Globetrotters Club, Poole, Dorset
23 May 1969 – Globetrotters Club, Poole, Dorset
4 June 1969 – Room at the Top Club, Redruth, Cornwall
9 November 1969 – Rebecca’s, Birmingham
27 December 1969 – Ritz, Bournemouth, Dorset
Sources include:
Aldershot News, Beat Instrumental, Beat Monthly, Bletchley & District Gazette, Bridport News, Fabulous 208 Magazine, Bolton Evening News, Burnley Express and News, Dorset Evening Echo, Eastern Evening News, Evening Argus (Brighton), Evening Tribune, Littlehampton Post, Hull Daily Mail, Halifax Daily Courier and Guardian, Melody Maker, Nottingham Evening Post, Southern Echo, Surrey Comet, Windsor, Slough and Eton Express, Woking Herald, Woking News & Mail, Birmingham Evening Mail, Essex County Standard, Southend Standard and Essex Weekly Advertiser, Sussex Express and County Herald, Mid Sussex Times, Warrington Guardian, Wrexham Leader, South Wales Argus, South Wales Evening Post, Streatham News, Gloucester Citizen, Express & Star, Evening Star (Ipswich), Lynn News, Tadcaster News, Welwyn Times, Bucks Free Press, Lyme Regis News, Tottenham Weekly Herald, Wessex Gazette, West Briton, Western Scene, and Yarmouth Mercury.
Many thanks to Stuart Slater for his help and for providing some of the band images. Thanks to Rolf Hannet for providing some of the Beat Monthly and Beat Instrumental gigs.
Copyright © Nick Warburton. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any from or by any means, without prior permission from the author.
Thanks to Dave Clemo for providing the contents of this entry, including the extensive gig list at the end
This is the story of The Tin Hat, Kettering’s legendary music venue. Between 1967 and 1969 many of the UK’s finest bands performed there.
This account is taken from Back Street Genius by Dave Clemo, with Roger Kinsey and Mavis Tompkins.
The book is the first of two books about legendary recording studio owner/engineer Derek Tompkins.
The roll call of musicians and producers who had their first studio experience at Derek’s Shield and Beck Studios include Queen bass player John Deacon; Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden; and world famous record producers of the calibre of Max Norman, Trevor Horn and David Foster.
Copies of Back Street Genius can be ordered from Waterstones and Rough Trade. It is also available as an eBook.
The Tin Hat was a corrugated iron clad steel framed building that had originally been opened in 1900 as the Athletic Club. It was nestled in the shadow of the town’s football ground. The facilities were almost non-existent and eventually the decision was taken to open a new club along the road.
The new building had a large car park and the rear doors opened onto the stage which made loading in very easy for the groups that performed there. It opened for business in April 1967 and the old hut was consigned to history.
A few weeks later Derek Tompkins’ brother Brian reopened The Tin Hat as a music venue. He removed the old central bar and built a stage at one end. It proved to be very popular from the outset, so much so that both Derek and his wife Mavis came in most Saturday nights to help behind the bar.
The opening night was June 10th, 1967. The club opened on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays with a live band (or two) on a Saturday night and discos on the other nights. This fitted in well with The Works, the other regular music venue in Wellington Street. Their live music nights were on Sunday and Monday nights.
Very few photos of the venue exist. The smell of the interior must have been a heady mixture of tobacco smoke and warm beer, and no doubt the floor would have been pretty sticky by the end of the evening.
The disco nights featured Brian (Tompkins Sound) and Mavis’ brother Alan (Allan D). They used Derek Tompkins’ hand built Shield disco gear and it wasn’t long before they were performing at other well-known venues like the Nag’s Head at Wollaston or the George at Wilby.
Mavis Tompkins wrote: “Brian used to book some of the most famous soul and Motown bands of the time. Most of the Tompkins family got involved, from Brian’s wife (another Mavis), on the door, to his older kids on the cloakroom and glass collecting duties.
Derek and I would help behind the bar with serving drinks and glass washing, which involved dunking empty beer glasses into an ice-cold sink full of murky water as fast as we were able.
Our tasks included sweeping the filthy debris and beer-soaked floors and toilets afterwards. Mavis, Brian’s wife, had to be a pretty tough cookie, dealing with clashes from mods and rockers etc., and was famous for knocking out one belligerent customer who ended up in hospital!”
Derek later wrote: “It was always full to capacity every Saturday night, supposedly with around 200-300 punters, but it was more like 600! Brian booked a host of big stars: including Fleetwood Mac and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.”
Fake bands
In the mid sixties the Roy Tempest Organisation was one of the UK’s biggest music promoters and agents. The Canadians (featuring a very young David Foster on keyboards) signed with them in late 1966 and went to work backing visiting US acts like Chuck Berry.
However, there was another side to the agency. They regularly brought in unknown US acts and passed them off as Motown groups. The groups were tribute acts, sometimes but not always containing an original band member.
Tempest got around the law by subtly changing their names, calling them ‘The Fabulous Temptations’ or the ‘Original Drifters’.
Bill Pinkney was an original member of The Drifters dating back to 1953 and sang bass on many of their hit records. He and the group toured the UK three times in 1966.
Pinkney was back in the UK in 1967, this time accompanied by three singers who had never been Drifters at all. They were the unknown US band The Invitations. This was the line-up that played the Tin Hat on Friday September 29th.
The music press was soon up in arms. A reporter from Disc took it up with Tempest who argued that the promoters knew only too well they are not getting the real group. He claimed it was OK because he knew of five sets of Drifters touring the US at that time.
Tempest supplied several more acts for the Tin Hat in 1967/8, including ‘The Fabulous Temptations’ on September 15th, 1967 (actually the Fantastics who had recently changed their name from The Velours).
James & Bobby Purify appeared on February 3rd, 1968. It’s quite possible that the February 17th appearance by Edwin Starr was yet another tribute act. Tempest also had a Mary Wells and a Fontella Bass act. They were the same singer.
My co-author Roger Kinsey remembers going to The Gaiety in Ramsey to see The Isley Brothers in February 1968. Were they the genuine article? Nobody knew what the genuine band looked like, and that was good enough for Tempest.
Motown eventually took legal action against him when they discovered that The Fantastics were being passed off as The Temptations and the resulting court case ended with Tempest’s bankruptcy.
Between 1967 and 1969 the Tin Hat was an important part of Kettering’s entertainment and night life. Every weekend the venue was packed to the rafters with people out to enjoy a good time. The acts that Brian booked covered almost every genre from Blues and Prog to Soul and Pop, and even jazz for a few weeks during the summer of 1967. The club was usually open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with live bands on Saturdays. Some of the descriptions of the groups make interesting reading half a century later.
People travelled to the venue from Rothwell, Desborough and Corby and from Christmas 1967 the club laid on late buses to get everyone home. The management of the club changed hands early in 1969 and an era was at an end. The venue continued for a few more years but mainly concentrated on Soul/Motown.
I looked through every back issue of the Kettering Evening Telegraph between 1962 and 1969 while researching Back Street Genius and photographed every advert for the Tin Hat.
Here is the complete list of shows
1967
Saturday, June 10th Horatio Soul & the Square Deals Show plus, Yvonne the limbo dancer and the Q Men (opening night)
Sunday, June 11th (Fontana recording artists) The Night People plus The Trax
Friday, June 16th (from Coventry) Inside Out
Saturday, June 17th (from the USA) Winston G backed by The Set plus The Ironsides
Sunday, June 18th (Top surfing performers) Deuce Coupe
Friday, June 23rd Dimples plus Updown Round Sound (from Oxford)
Saturday, June 24th (Surfing harmony group) The Symbols plus, The Swamp
Sunday, June 25th Gravy Train (from Birmingham) plus Disco
Friday, July 1st Disco
Saturday, July 2nd Sean Buckley Big Set plus Stumbling and Falling plus Rio Moody Dancers
Sunday, July 3rd (Radio TV and Recording stars) The Peeps
Friday, July 7th Disco
Saturday, July 8th (Coloured Colourful CBS Recorders) The Gass
Sunday, July 9th Disco
Fri day, July 14th Disco
Saturday, July 15th Joyce Bond (Do the Teasy) Band Show
Sunday, July 16th Jazz Disco
Saturday, July 22nd (From London) Shell Shock Tamla Show
Friday, July 28th Disco
Saturday, July 29th Wynder K Frog & his Frogmen plus, The Plastic Dreamboat light show
Saturday, August 5th The C.A.T. plus U.S.A. Flattop
Saturday, August 12th The Syn plus The Friction
Friday, August 18th Allan D Disco (Alan Dobson is Mavis’ brother)
Saturday, August 19th P P Arnold with her Nice. A few weeks later they had split from her. Organist Keith Emerson later became a global superstar with Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
Sunday, August 20th Disco
Friday, August 25th Disco
Saturday, August 26th The Reg James Explosion plus Crash Landing
Sunday, August 27th Disco
Friday, September 1st Allan D Disco
Saturday, September 2nd Ebony Keys with the Hip Hooray Band (Cat Stevens’ former backing group), plus The Unit Six
Saturday, September 9th John Mayall’s Blues Breakers with support from Pesky Gee
Friday, September 15th The ‘Fabulous’ Temptations (this was The Fantastics) plus The Invaders
Saturday, September 16th Root & Jenny Jackson with the Hightimers, plus Purple Barrier
Friday, September Sep 22nd Deuce Coupe
Saturday, September 23rd Disco
Friday, September 29th The Original Drifters (one of Roy Tempest’s fakes)
Saturday, September 30th Freddie Mac and the Mac Sound, plus The Survivors
Saturday, October 7th Nite People plus Stumblin ‘n Falling Blues Band
Sunday, October 8th Spencers Washboard Kings
Saturday, October 14th Disco
Sunday, October 15th Max Collie’s Rhythm Aces
Saturday, October 21st Riot Squad plus the Triads
Sunday, October 22nd Bill Nile’s Delta Jazzband
Friday, October 27th Image (Kettering’s 1st and Only Light Show Scene)
Saturday, October 28th The Gass supported by The Traxx
Friday, November 3rd Disco
Saturday, November 4th (From Detroit) Max Baer and the Chicago Setback support by Friction
Friday, November 10th Allan D Disco
Saturday, November 11th Mike Stuart Span supported by The Dream plus Rio Moody Style Dancers
Sunday, November 12th Allan D Disco
Friday, November 17th Allan D Disco
Saturday, November 18th Rob Storme and the Whispers
Saturday, November 25th Family with support from You Know Who
Saturday, December 2nd Sugar Simone and the Programme & Mo Brown and Hellions People
Sunday, December 3rd Allan Dee Disco
Saturday, December 9th Pinkertons Assorted Colours plus The Heretics
Sunday, December 10th Allan D Disco
Saturday, December 16th P P Arnold with the TNT, plus The Crew
Sunday, December 17th Allan D Disco
Saturday, December 23rd Shevelles plus the Kobalts
Sunday, December 24th Laverne West and the Fabulous Rangers Showband
Tuesday, December 26th Swinging Q Men & the Spectre Powerhouse
Saturday, December 30th King Ozzie, Earl Green, Honey Darling and the Coloured Raisings Show
Sunday, December 31st Sweethearts & the Adlib Group
1968
Saturday, January 6th Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac plus John James and the Swamp Band (from Northampton)
Saturday, January 13th Amboy Dukes plus Surrealist Adventure
Saturday, January 20th Triads plus the Ironsides
Saturday, January 27th Milton James and the Harlem Knock-out, plus Sweethearts
Saturday, February 3rd James & Bobby Purify plus Surrealist Adventure plus Rio Moody Dancers (Another Tempest fake?)
Saturday, February 10th Bobby Johnson and the Atoms plus Vfranie
Saturday, February 17th Edwin Starr plus Motiv (Another fake?)
Saturday, February 24th Equals plus Magic Roundabout
Saturday, March 2nd Guy Hamilton Sound plus Sweet Heart
Saturday, March 9th Jimmy Cliff with Wynder K Frog, plus The Heretics
Saturday, March 16th Pesky Gee! plus The Trade
Saturday, March 23rd Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation
Saturday, March 30th Chicken Shack with Christine Perfect
Saturday, April 6th La Pelle Nero plus Howling Robin and his Cool Cats Girls a go go
Sunday, April 7th The Symbols
Saturday, April 13th Riot Squad plus Blue Magnum
Saturday, April 20th Herbie Goins and the Nightimers, plus Howling Robin and his Cool Cats
Saturday, April 27th Showstoppers plus Rupert’s Rick N Beckers (NO SHOW)
Saturday, May 4th Nepenthe with backing group, plus The Trax
Saturday, May 11th Hal C Blake plus Adlib plus Owlin Robin
Saturday, May 18th Savoy Brown Blues Band plus The Friction
Saturday, May 25th Skip Bifferty plus disco
Saturday, June 1st Chantells plus Wild ‘n Silk Band, Sue Spencer, Kirk St James. Stage 2 Simon K and the Meantimes
Saturday, June 8th Family
Saturday, June 15th The Taste plus Soul Bucket Show
Saturday, June 22nd Honeybus plus Art (from Leicester with John Deacon on bass)
Saturday, June 29th Four Kents plus Submarines
Saturday, July 6th Freddie Fingers Lee plus Bubblegum
Saturday, July 13th Simon K & the Meantimers plus Trax
Saturday, July 20th Dr K’s Big Blues Band, plus Rupert’s Rick ‘n Beckers
Saturday, July 27th Pesky Gee! plus disco
Saturday, August 3rd Jethro Tull
Saturday, August 10th Vanity Fair plus disco
Saturday, August 17th Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation
Saturday, August 24th Freddie Mac & Mac Sound
Saturday, August 31st Lloyd Alexander Real Estate plus Donnell Jackson & Broadway Crowd
Saturday, September 7th The Taste plus the CAT Roadshow with US Flattop
Saturday, September 14th Lucas and the Mike Cotton Sound
Saturday, September 21st Billy Davis plus Bubblegum
Saturday, September 28th Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, plus The Krisis
Saturday, October 5th Cuby and The Blizzards (from Holland), plus Simon K and the Meantimers
Saturday, October 12th Fearns Brass Foundry
Saturday, October 19th Foundations plus The Market
Saturday, October 26th Fantastics (USA) plus The Trax (They had previously played the Tin Hat as the Fabulous Temptations)
Saturday, November 2nd Fleetwood Mac, Duster Bennett, plus Chris Shakespears Globe Show
Saturday, November 9th Oscar Toney Junior plus Apex Big Roll Band
Saturday, November 16th Flirtations plus Chris Bartley & group
Saturday, November 23rd Black Cat Bones plus Bubblegum
Saturday, November 20th The Taste plus Sonny Burke Show
Saturday, December 7th JJ Jackson backed by Kippington Lodge
Saturday, December 14th The CAT Roadshow feat US Flattop
Saturday, December 21st Wynder K Frog
Tuesday, December 24th New Formula
Saturday, December 28th Ferris Wheel? (no separate advert)
Tuesday, December 31st Bubblegum
1969
Saturday, January 4th Simon K & The Meantimers
Saturday, January 11th Radio1’s Mike Raven plus Hal C. Blake
Saturday, January 18th Ray Williams and his Grenades
Saturday, January 25th Sasparella
Saturday, February 1st Plastic Penny
Saturday, February 8th Paul Williams Set (Formerly the Alan Price Set)
Saturday, February 15th 20th Century Show
From February 22nd The adverts suggest that the venue had changed hands. The adverts have KAWMC printed on them. Had the club been taken over by the Kettering Athletic Working Mens Club? Within a few weeks the adverts had moved from the main entertainments page to the ‘Around the clubs’ page.
Saturday, February 22nd (KAWMC) The Decoys & Disco
Saturday, March 1st (KAWMC) Simon K & Meantimers
Saturday, March 8th Closed for redecorating. Re-open April 5th
Saturday, April 5th Soul Express plus The Ketas
Saturday, April 12th Noel & The Fireballs plus Shelley Tane
Saturday, April 19th Ruby James & Sound Trekkers
Saturday, April 26th Freddie Noaks & The Rudies, plus Herbal Remedy
Wednesday, April 30th Disco every Wednesday
Saturday, May 3rd Status Quo
Saturday, May 10th Killing Floor
Saturday, May 17th The Ebonies
Friday, May 23rd Sand
Saturday, May 24th Jerome Arnold Band
Saturday, May 31st Scorpions
June Mondays TTT Disco
Friday, June 6th Disco
Saturday, June 7th Mandrakes
Saturday, June 14th Wellington Kitch
Saturday, June 21st Moth
Friday, June 27th Theodore Green
Saturday, June 28th The Variations
July Fridays TTT Disco
Saturday, July 5th Monday Morning Glory Band
Saturday, July 12th Simon K & Meantimers
Saturday, July 19th Ace Kefford Stand (former Move bass player)
Saturday, July 26th The Axe with Rodger Bloom
Saturday, August 2nd No Advert in paper
Saturday, August 9th Cherry Blossom Clinic
Saturday, August 16th Sand
Saturday, August 23rd Ptarmigen
Saturday, August 30th Killing Floor
Saturday, September 6th Clouds
Saturday, September 13th Lions of Juda (from Israel)
Saturday, September 20th Herd (after Peter Frampton had left them)
Saturday, September 27th Pink Cheeks
Saturday, October 4th Epics
Saturday, October 11th Moth
Saturday, October 18th Max Romeo
Saturday, October 25th Orange Bicycle
Saturday, November 1st J J Jackson
Saturday, November 8th Solid State Stereo Disco
Saturday, November 15th Shirelles
Saturday, November 22nd Freddie Mac
Saturday, November 29th No advert in paper
Saturday, December 6th No advert in paper
Saturday, December 13th Diary
Saturday, December 20th Disco
Wednesday, December 24th Moth
Friday, December 26th Smoke
Wednesday, December 31st Barabus & Sand
Sarah Minney, who does military research at the National Archives, got in touch as she had come across some photos of an unknown British band(s), dating from the 1958-1961 period.
She very kindly passed on the photos, which I have included here. We would very much like to hear from anyone who might be able to identify the musicians and the band(s).
There are no details, although one photo is dated 13/4/58 and another is June 1961, which I have listed above.
The photos were bought at an auction and came with a photo of west London band Jeep Rongle but it’s not clear if any of these musicians were in this unknown band. Another photo has a Wrexham address on the back.
Topaz were a vocal harmony group formed in 1969 after Robert Valentine left The Button Hole Band.
The band comprised (left to right): Ian Edlin (vocals), Roy Burchell (drums), Jan Edlin (vocals), Keith Richard (lead guitar) and Robert Valentine (bass/vocals).
The Stardusters went professional in 1963 when they changed name to Unit 4 (no relation to the Ealing band nor the better known Unit 4 Plus 2) to back HMV recording artist Ricky Bowden.
The band comprised (as shown in the above photo, left to right):
Robert Valentine (rhythm guitar)
Brian Ranger (bass)
Graham Willeard (drums)
Richard Miles (lead guitar)
In 1964, Valentine went on to form The Clockwork Oranges.
Robert Valentine (lead vocals)
Brian Brockie (lead guitar)
John Hawksley (bass)
Alan Attridge (baritone sax)
Roger Shoesmith (tenor sax)
John Parish (drums)
Formed by Valentine and Parish in early 1968 when The Clockwork Oranges broke up, Brian Brockie had previously played with The Honey Band. The group played at the Witchdoctor in Catford and on one occasion (most likely 17 February), they supported Marmalade.
Thanks to Robert Valentine for the photo and history
Robert Valentine (rhythm guitar/vocals)
Roger Cotton (lead guitar/keyboards/vocals)
Harry Blakey (bass/vocals)
John Parish (drums)
