Little is known about this Bristol band, which was originally known as The Denims.
Keyboard player Ray Soper, who hailed from London, remembers that the singer was called Rick. He also recalls that Dudley, the lead guitarist, had previously auditioned for The Small Faces in late 1965.
Soper had worked with several bands before, notably Jeff Curtis & The Flames, but had left in May 1966 to form a new version of The Pirates.
The New Pirates (as they were called) supported Johnny Kidd throughout the summer but Soper stopped playing with the band in August.
Two months later, he joined The Denims who were playing US bases in France. After working in Strasbourg for two months as The Headline News, he returned to the UK in December 1966 and left the band, which carried on working (presumably with a replacement).
In July 1967, Soper found work playing in a band on the Cunard Cruise liner Carmania, which travelled between Southampton and Montreal on a six-week passage.
Marrying a Canadian, he subsequently immigrated to Canada in 1970 and later played with The Dusty Roads Band from his home in Ontario.
We would be interested to hear from anyone who can add more information about The Denims/Headline News in the comments below.
Not sure if it’s the same Bristol band but Western Scene, which covers west country bands, has an article on The Denims in its 30 April 1965 issue and says the band was formed in February 1964 with the following line-up:
Tony Hennessey – lead vocals (from Portsmouth originally)
Terry Sheppard – lead guitar
Tony Yates – bass (from Portsmouth originally)
Dennis Hicks – rhythm guitar
Cliff Jeferies – drums
The band was managed by Frank Voisey and it looks like they were still known as The Denims up to June 1966 at least.
The group spent quite a bit of time in West Germany in late 1965 and early-mid 1966.
When the group returned from Germany in February 1966, the band’s bass player and drummer left so it looks like there were quite a few personnel changes during the group’s time together.
Found this gig on The Denims (see comment above)
14 May 1966 – Gloucester Guildhall, Gloucester with The Corals (Gloucester Citizen)
Just wanted to add some information regarding the photo that you have posted of The Denims, Tony Hennessy is the one in the front (down on one knee). Tony Hennessy is my big brother by 9 years. I remember a trip to France with my parents to meet up with the band (The Denims). My father drove from Bristol to Strasbourg and when we arrived in Strasbourg we headed to the night club where they were playing that night, I remember myself & younger sister & brother being aloud to view their performance from the balcony. I have talked to my brother Tony who gave me permission to email you & to say he was extremely surprised to hear about the band being named on your website which has brought about many conversations / stories about his time in Europe with the band. I also have some promotion photos of The Denims which were taken in Europe.
Thanks so much for getting in touch. This is one of the great things about the internet; that it brings people out of the woodwork.
Would your brother be able to identify who is who in the image please and also by any chance do you have firmer dates of when the band was in France please? I am happy to add more photos with credits if you would like to send them in and identify who is who in the pics please?
Also, if your brother would like to add a short bio of the band, I can add that in at the end. It’s totally up to you.