TOMMYKNOCKERS' BEAT CLUB VOL. 4. KEEP-A-KNOCKIN'! THE RARE AND UNCOMPILED BRITISH SIXTIES BEAT BOOM BOOM GOES ON.

BEAT ON THE BRAT WITH A CRICKET BIT AND SILLY WALKING DOWN TO THE BASEMENT AGAIN... (Van Morrison before Them, Alvin Lee before TYA , Alex Harvey unsensational anyone?)

JUST WHAT YOU WANT - JUST WHAT YOU'LL GET: LISTEN NOW AND BELOW:

01.:I Don't Care - The Golden Crusaders (Columbia,65) 2'34

02.:I'm Taking Her Home - The Others (Fontana,64) 2'15

03.:Sometimes - Johnny Cliff & The Conquerors (CCA,66, released in Germany) 2'20

04.:When Love Means So Much To You - The Iveys (Columbia,66, released in Sweden) 2'12

05.:I've Done It All Wrong - The Washington D.C.'s - (Hit-Ton,68, released in Germany) 2'53

06.:Feel So Blue - Freddie & The Dreamers (Columbia,63) 1'51

07.:I'm Not Going To Cry - The Sages (aka The 4 Avengers) (RCA,66 released in USA) 2'13

08.:Hurt - The Liverpool Lads (VA-LP "England's Fab Sound", Pentagon,64, rel. in Canada) 2'14

09.:Making Love To Another - The Cymerons (Decca,64) 1'48

10.:I Can't Stand It - The Sinners (Columbia,63) 2'30

11.:She's A Yum Yum - The Memphis Three (Page One,68) 1'53

12.:The Train - The Kinetic (EP, Vogue,67, released in France) 3'06

13.:The Leaving Of Liverpool - The Roadrunners (EP "Pantomania", Cavern Sound,65) 2'53

14.:Stop Press - Hedgehoppers Anonymous (Decca,66) 2'46

15.:Set Me Free - The Jaybirds (VA-EP, Embassy,65) 1'58

16.:Boo Zooh - Georgie & The Monarchs (CBS,64, released in Germany) 1'55

17.:Ain't That Just Too Bad - Alex Harvey & his Soulband (Polydor,65) 2'20

18.:Love Me Baby - Peter & Gordon (Columbia,64) 2'10

19.:Party Doll - The Hullaballoos (Roulette,65, released in USA) 2'05

20.:Mighty Fine Girl - The Redcaps (Decca,64) 1'35

21.:Nights - The Originells Four (Columbia,64) 1'54

22.:Just To Be With You - Johnny Gustafson (aka Johnny Gus Set) (Polydor,65) 2'29

23.:Something I Can Always Do - The Pathfinders (Decca,64) 2'08

24.:Don't You Want Me No More - The Kirkbys (RCA,66, released in Finland) 2'23

25.:Please Be My Love - The Hillsiders (Decca,64) 2'10

26.:Holiday In Waikiki - Steve Darbishire (Decca,67) 2'31

27.:Please Don't Change Your Mind - The Poor Souls (Alp,66) 2'24

28.:Premeditation - Rey Anton & Pro Form (Parlophone, 65) 3'11

29.:Get It Right - Gary Walker (CBS, 66) 2'04

30.:I'll Cry Each Night - The Cockneys (Philips,64) 2'23

31.:There's A Place - Bobby Sansom & The Giants (Oriole,63) 1'42

32.:You Don't Love Me Anymore - Dave Curtiss & The Tremors (Philips,63) 2'25

33.:Love Come Shining Through - The Graham Bond Organisation (Columbia,.65) 2'05

34.:I Want To Dance - The Kavern Four (V.A.- LP "Brum Beat", Dial, 64) 1'50

WHAT?!

The Golden Crusaders came from West Lothian, Scotland and recorded three 45s for Columbia. This one was the last in 65, and they disbanded soon after. Rumours about some of them later reappearing in The Grease Band seem to be just that: rumours.

--- The Others from Middlesex had only one 7", but with the wild proto-R&B-punk of "Oh Yeah" they set standards in that field. The much tamer flip has been ignored so far, but it's worth a listen for the lyrics alone. Seems to be a tongue-in-cheek answer-song to coward ballads like "You Better Move On" and "Save The Last Dance For Me".

--- This one is here cause I forgot to put it on one of our PRAE-KRAUT-comps: Johnny Cliff, known to his mother as John Clough, was a British soldier on sevice in Westphalia, Germany, where he got together with the local Black Beats, who changed name to Conquerors when he joined. They had one single on CCA before Johnny sailed back to dear old Blighty.

--- These Iveys should be known from vol.2. This is the flip of their Scandinavian-only release. Later they were known as Fumble, not as Badfinger.

--- After three singles and a split-LP with The DC5, London's Washington D.C.'s recorded a last attempt for a German company. Produced by Mikki Dallon, who did a lot of work for the Deutsche Vogue group of labels, it was licenced to the small Domain label in the UK, but did nothing for the band on neither side of the Channel.

--- Took me about four decades to grasp what a terrific outfit Manchester's Freddie & The Dreamers were. O.K., you got to watch the (live) videos to get the picture, but man, as clowns they were unbeatable. Good musicians too, when given the opportunity...

--- The Sages from Kent were known as Four Avengers back home. Strange enough, the only record was released in the States, where they had to change the name due to the existence of the US-Avengers. They even toured over there, but the record didn't take off. They later mutated to sunshine poppers Vanity Fare. --- Whether or not The Liverpool Lads were a UK group is guess work. The track was found on a Canadian beatploitation LP alongside other fantasy names and a couple of Joe Brown tunes.

--- The Cymerons were another Manchester band with two 7"s. Here's the first one. It took them two years to get a follow-up released, this time on Polydor. --- Next is the debut of The Sinners, a combo who found some success a year later, when singer Linda Laine joined. They were more popular in Germany, where they played a lot and released three 45s which had no UK release.

--- The Memphis Three were a Larry Page studio creation for a quick cash-in at the beginning of the first British rock & roll revival. The recorded LP, full of meager Gene, Eddie, Jerry Lee and Little Richard covers, was only released in Germany on Hansa. (The best track, a speedy version of Reg Presley's "Gonna Make You", was part of one of our PRAE-KRAUT PANDAEMONIUMS on this blog.) In the UK (to my knowledge) only this single was released, and the decision to put a half-baked teddy boy version of "Wild Thing" on the plug side guaranteed a solid flop. These guys, of course, had as much to do with Memphis as The Nashville Teens had with Nashville.

--- The Kinetic (Andy Mowbray, Bob Weston, Geoffrey Capper, John Christopher and Michael Humby) were a British band, who spent their whole career in France. They had two EPs and the LP "Live Your Life" on French Vogue before they called it un jour.

--- Like The Undertakers and The Hideaways, The Roadrunners were one of Liverpool's few R&B bands. (As opposed to Merseybeat.) In Germany they had two singles and an LP on Ariola, plus a split-LP with Shorty & Them on Star Club, but the only domestic release was this strange, atypical EP on Cavern Sound. "The Leaving Of Liverpool" is one of these traditionals (some say that The Clancy Brothers wrote it), that drive water to my eyes immediately, no matter if The Dubliners, The Pogues or whoever else sing it, and not even The Seekers could murder it completely. Here we have a version with some totally new verses that paint a smile on my face. Leader Mike Hart later had two solo albums on Dandelion, of which the first is especially recommendable.

--- Hedgehoppers Anonymous were a group of RAF employees at Leighton Buzzard, when the notorious Jonathan King discovered them and wrote the instant hit "It's Good News Week" for them. The following four records didn't chart, and the last thing heard of The Hedgehoppers was the 1971 album "Hey" on CBS, which was only released in South Africa.

--- There's a bit of confusion about The Jaybirds on the Embassy label, but reliable sources confirm, that this was the combo with Alvin Lee and Leo Lyons, who recorded cover versions of top 20 hits for Woolworth's cheapo label. Ric Lee joined later, and Ten Years After was born. (And I hope I don't have to tell you where "Set Me Free" came from...)

--- Georgie & The Monarchs were one of many Irish Showbands, and would hardly be worth a mention, if not a young Van Morrison had his first payed gigs with a professional group here. Musically this is a bit sub-standard, but you hear Van on saxophone, not vocals, and that's at least of historical interest, I guess. The slightly better side of this German-only 45 can be found on PRAE-KRAUT vol. 18. (On this blog.)

--- Alex Harvey's Soulband from Glasgow had three singles on Polydor before Alex went solo. This is the last of these, and the only one not taken from the eponymous '64 LP. --- Peter & Gordon may not be the coolest choice for a comp like this, but this early b-side kicks ass!

--- The Hullaballoos from Hull went to the States early in their career and recorded two LPs and a lot of singles for Roulette there. Only three of these had a UK-release, and none charted at home. The fine Brit Invasion-treatment of Buddy Knox' "Party Doll" is the flip of their first 45, the biggest US-hit "I'm Gonna Love You Too", which had a different b-side in Great Britain.

--- Birmingham's Redcaps make the second appearrance on Tommyknockers here. "Mighty Fine Girl" is the b-side of their third and last 7". Most prominent member was Dave Walker, who - after a short stint with the last incarnation of The Idle Race - sang for Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac, and replaced Ozzie in Black Sabbath for some months in 1977 without recording with the band. --- An empty page in my book are The Originells Four. I only know that they had an earlier 7", also on Columbia, credited simply to The Originells.

--- Johnny Gustafson's sole solo-single was also released in Germany as by Johnny Gus on the cover, and The Johnny Gus Set on the label. He started in Liverpool with Cass & The Casanovas, who called themselves The Big Three after they sacked Cass, who made it big in Germany as Casey Jones with his Governors. He joined The Merseybeats in 64, and hung around high and dry a bit, when The Johnny Gus Set didn't really lift off. In 69 he co-founded the keyboard-heavy trio Quatermass, who should have been bigger than EL&P, but split after the first album. He joined Bullet and then Hard Stuff in the early 70s, before he played bass for Roxy Music from 73 to 76 and then for the Ian Gillan Band. But we've left our time frame now...

--- On Tommyknixers vol. 2 we had The Pathfinders' second 45, here's the first. They came from Birkenhead, Merseyside, and had no relations to the Scottish group of the same name.

--- From the same area were The Kirkbys (with Jimmy Campbell), best known for "It's A Crime". This is the - in Finland only - released version of "Don't You Want Me No More". They re-recorded it for a UK-45 that never happened. --- A little country in my beat is always welcome, since Ringo sang "Act Naturally" and "What Goes On". Liverpool's Sonny Webb had a soft spot for that kind of crossover, and recorded two singles for Decca plus an EP with some of his Cascades under the name of The Hillsiders in 64. I'm not sure whether further recordings on Strike and RCA are by the same Hillsiders. --- Although he had five singles on Decca between 65 and 67, nothing is known about Steve Darbishire. His last attempt for stardom was this charming rendition of one of my favourite Kinks-tracks. (But I have about a hundred...)

--- The Poor Souls from Dundee had two 45s. This one on the local Scottish Alp label is the rarer one, but their Decca 7" is nearly as hard to find. Good news is: it'll be on Tommy vol. 5. --- Though never in the charts, Rey Anton from Bournemouth had quite a prolific career with 11 domestic and a handful of continental-only singles from 62 to 66. His backing groups included The Batons, The Peppermint Men, and on the final three UK 45s, The Pro Form. The pretty weird "Premeditation" is his best self-written song, if you ask me. --- Gary Walker (aka Leeds) was the bored drummer of The Walker Brothers, the third wheel at the bike, who hardly ever had anything useful to do as part of the pathetic trio. He tried to compensate with a solo career that produced excellent music, but being stamped a Walker, he had a hard time with this project too, and got the boot from his brothers in 67. His magnum opus, the album with his group The Rain, was only released in Japan. "Get It Right" was the flip of his first effort in 66. Trivia: born in the States like all Walkers, he was the drummer in an early incarnation of The Standells. --- This is the third title of The Cockneys in our little series of comps. You know the name, look up the number...

--- Bobby Sansom & The Giants came from Brighton. Two 7"s on Oriole, and this short and bouncy version of a less known Beatles number is their best. Even The Flamin' Groovies, who covered it on "Now", couldn't add much to this rendition. They went to Hamburg in 64 and recorded "Let The Four Winds Blow" simply as The Giants. The track only appeared on the VA-LP "16 Beat Groups From The Hamburg Scene" (German Polydor). This way they're often confused with The Hamburg Giants, a band who started recording in 66 for Ariola, and had a single on Polydor in 67. Later on, back in the Kingdom, they gigged as Tony Grant & The Giants, but no records resulted.

--- Dave Curtiss & The Tremors from Essex had three recommendable singles on Philips 63/64, but split when none charted. A British group called The Tremors appeared on The German scene and also recorded here, but they have probably been from Scotland.

--- Graham Bond's Organisation needs no introduction. Here's a non-LP 45 still with the original line-up. --- In spite of the name, The Kavern Four came from the Birmingham area, and had one of the better tracks on the rare "Brum Beat" compilation. --- Sure 'nuff 'n yes, there's mo'. Stay tuned for the shake of auld lang sin: blessya all, saints and syners. But, if you want us to continue, use the comment department to tell us that we're not alone in space. Up yours! The Lolly Pope!!!

(and no augments at all: the westfauster) (and that's sturclub for all you bummerlunders out there!)

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