TOMMYKNOCKERS BEAT CLUB # 16 - THE KNOCK-ON EFFECT! More uncompiled UK Sixties Beat and R&B nuggets straight from the vaults of Fort Knocks, Vaticancan.

 

Among the yet unreleased stuff (back then, that is...) we this time have headliners like The Who, The Move and Remo Four, but also total unknowns like The Firebrands. And a lot of vinyl by British beatgroups only released in the diaspora, i.e. counties like Singapore, Greece, Germany, Belgium and the US of A. Urbi et orbi. Wunderbar!

01- I Decided - The Rackets (Elite Special,65, German 7")

02- Too Much Monkey Business - Keith Powell & The Valets (Columbia,64)

03- Watch Your Step - Earl Preston & The T-T's (Fontana,63)

04- Farmer John - Shorty & Them (Split-LP "Star Club Show 2",64, Star Club, German release)

05- Instant Party Mixture - The Who (projected b-side for Brunswick 65, unreleased)

06- When Will I Be Loved - The Monotones (US-only 7", Hickory,65)

07- I Can Tell - The Shake Spears (Ronnex,65, Belgian-promo only 7")

08- Dimples - Long John Baldry & The Hoochie Coochie Men (EP "Long John's Blues", United Artists,65)

09- Oh Never - The Split Image (Philips,66, Dutch pressing, released in Singapore)

10- Satisfaction Guaranteed - The Love Affair (Decca,67)

11- Hello Anne - The Rustiks (Decca,64)

12- Girl On My Mind - The Firebrands (unreleased acetate,66)

13- In The First Place - Remo Four (Unreleased,68, from soundtrack of "Wonderwall")

14- Here Today - The Robb Storme Group (Columbia,66)

15- Raindrops - Earl Preston & The Realms (Fontana,64)

16- Chicago Cottage - The Mirage (Page One,68)

17- Hey Little Lovin' Girl - Adam Faith & The Roulettes (Parlophone,68. Originally recorded in 64)

18- We Gotta Get Together - The Applejacks (Decca,65)

19- Boys - Pete Best (Cameo,66, US-only 7")

20- Run Back Home - Brian Poole & The Tremeloes (Decca,63)

21- Is It True- The Move (unreleased studio outtake,66)

22- What A Way - The Strangers (VA-LP "Brum Beat", Dial,64, also released on Decca,64)

23- If You Wish - Eddie King (Columbia,65)

24- So Sweet - The Fitz And Startz (Parlophone,64)

25- Roadrunner - The Prophets (Zodiac,67, released in Greece)

26- Last Night - Pete Best (LP "Best Of The Beatles", Savage,66, US-only)

27- Why Must It Be - The Emotions (Polydor,65)

28- Hole In The Head - Paul Dean & The Thoughts (Decca,65)

29- Dark Are The Shadows - Them (Tower,69, US-only 7")

30- Season Of The Witch - The Pandamonium (CBS,66)

31- You Need Someone To Love - The Loot (Page One, demoes only, and on French EP, Fontana,67)

32- Dizzy Miss Lizzy - Gerry & The Pacemakers (EP "Gerry In California", Columbia,65)

33- McLeans - The Yardbirds (ad)

We've already had some of (Jimmy &) The Rackets' German-only singles on this series. See vol. 13 and vol. 7, where you'll find the other side of "I Decided". They most probably were the band who recorded one 7" ("Young Woman"/"Black Eyes") under the name of The Hearts - at least leader Jimmy Duncombe was involved - for Parlophone in 64, before they came to Germany and stormed the charts with "Skinny Minnie". Jimmy settled down in Switzerland in the 70s.

Birmingham's Keith Powell & The Valets had three 45s on Columbia, before Powell went solo on Pye in 65, and produced a couple of less exciting records. Carl Wayne, who later led his own Vikings and joined The Move in 66, was the bass player of the group, but it's not sure that he still is on this Chuck Berry standard, as it was released in September 64, the same month the Vikings' debut appeared on the scene.

Earl Preston & The T-T's were Earl's first Liverpool band before he fronted The Realms. See vol. 10 and track 16 on this here tracklist.

Shorty & Them from Newcastle, who already had the excellent "Pills"/"Live Laugh And Love" 7" on Fontana, went to Hamburg in 64, were they didn't stay long, but made enough impression in the Star Club to be invited to record one of their sets for a live LP shared with The Liverpool Roadrunners on the other side. (Couldn't resist to include at least one version of The Premiers' "Farmer John", an old, old favourite of the Pope and Popeye Westfauster.)

The story of The Who's trouble with leaving the Brunswick label and the tug of war about who owns the rights to release the song "Instant Party" can be found elsewhere, a legal matter indeed, but go google yourself. Much confusion anyway, because the new label Reaction as well as the old Brunswick brought out different versions of "Circles" under the title "Instant Party" in 66, before Reaction had to withdraw "Substitute" and re-released it with the same song, this time called "Circles" on the flip. Brunswick again wasn't amused, and the third Reaction issue within one month of "Substitute" had "Waltz For A Pig", actually played by The Graham Bond Organisation, on the back. The real "Instant Party Mixture", planned - believe it or not - as the flip of a song called, yep, "Circles" a month before the whole catastrophe, stayed in the can until it showed up as a bonus on the deluxe edition of The Who's first album about 10 years ago.

Read about The Monotones' US-only single on vol. 3. Here's the a-side, better known by The Everly Brothers. The band had four more pretty good records on UK-Pye.

The Story of The Shake Spears aka Shakespears can be found on vol. 5. "I Can Tell", popularized by Bo Diddley, seems to be from a very rare Belgian promo 7", or a testpressing, that had no proper release.

Long John Baldry wasn't always the boring crooner he used to be for the rest of the 60s after the massive chart success of "Let The Heartaches Begin". He began as a singer in Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated and was a member of Cyril Davies' All Stars, before he fronted the rest of that group after Cyril's death and renamed them Hoochie Coochie Men, with a young Rod Stewart as a second singer. Not much of these London R&B pioneers' material has been recorded, but this EP is a good example of the sound of the band.

The Split Image were a Brit beatgroup based in Singapore or Hong Kong, where they recorded a 45 for the local branch of Philips, which was pressed in Holland (homestead of Philips), and immediately sent back to Asia, where the boys promoted it. At least that's what I've been told. The other, similarly moody side can be found on "Incredible Sound Show Stories vol. 9".

The Love Affair again... (See last volume.) This is the flip of the debut, their only effort for Decca. The slightly better side, a cover of The Stones' "She Smiles Sweetly" was one of the better tracks on "Fairytales Can Come True Vol. 5".

Although they made friends with The Beatles, and Brian Epstein had The Rustiks from Plymouth under his wings for a while, they never really made it and quit for good after two flopping 45s on Decca. And don't ask me why I more and more love such cheesy little ballads like "Hello Anne". Seems to be a work-related disease that's getting worse these days... But I guess we'll hear some rougher sounds by The Rustiks soon.

Not much known about The Firebrands from Coleford, West Country. I admittedly found this unreleased acetate (?) on the net.

Merseyside's Remo Four didn't make much impression at home, where they recorded two half decent singles and, sorry to say, a lot of semi-rubbish as backing band for singers like Johnny Sandon and Tommy Quickly. After that they were more or less based in Germany for a year and a half, where they showed their real potential and recorded one of the best albums of the decade. They easily were the best instrumentalists on the Hamburg scene, and unbeatable on stage. Back home again, among other things, they worked with George Harrison on the soundtrack of his experimental movie "Wonderwall", which didn't really take off. Harrison's album of the same title wasn't exactly the music of the film, and Remo Four's contributions stayed unreleased until 1998, when the small UK label Pilar released it as a single. The most prominent members were Tony Ashton and Roy Dyke, who in 69 formed Ashton, Gardner & Dyke with ex-Birds and ex-Creation bassist Kim Gardner.

Next is the a-side of Birmingham's Robb Storme Group's only single. See vol. 7. Robb Storme had ten more 45's from 60 to 65, either accompanied by The Whispers, or by studio orchestras as a solo artist. "Here Today" originally was one of many highlights on The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds".

Earl Preston again - see track 3 here with The T-T's - but this time with The Realms. "Raindrops", a Dee Clark composition, was the a-side of "That's For Sure" on vol. 10.

Here's another one that's missing on various retrospective CD-collections of The Mirage that have been released in the 90s. See also vol. 15.

This 68 single, credited to Adam Faith alone, had the back then usual Faith sound on the a-side "You Make Me Feel Worthwhile". But while the flip also had the credits "Arranged & Conducted by Ken Woodman", it actually was a number recorded live three years earlier and first released on the LP "Faith Alive!" with The Roulettes. I guess, at Parlophone they didn't have much faith in Adam anymore in 68, and saved the costs of recording a new b-side. Who would have listened anyway...

Nice flip of The Applejacks' seventh and last Decca 7" "I'm Through" here. They changed to CBS after that, but only had one more on that label. More on vols. 6 & 14.

"Boys" is the other side of Pete Best's US-only 45 on Cameo. Another one that's not on Cherry Red's commendable CD-collection "Beyond The Beatles". I'm not going to tell the story again, so please go back to vol. 14.

Brian Poole & The Tremeloes, originally from Dagenham: you can find all about them on the www in abundance. They were another of these clean pop-beatgroups, who always leered at the charts too much, rather than trying to gain some street credibility. But, hidden on some b-sides, they demonstrated that at least they could have. Tried, that is...

And another Move outtake. The earliest one I've found. Seems to be from audition tapes. "Is It True", a Carter-Lewis composition, was first recorded in England by Brenda Lee with Jimmy Page on guitar.

The entire recorded legacy of The Strangers from Dudley in the West Midlands (I guess...) are four tracks on the first "Brum Beat" compilation, and "What A Way" is by far the best. Should have been a 45. Would cost a fortune nowadays. In 66 they had evolved into Finders Keepers, who had at least three singles for CBS and Fontana 66 to 68. Close, but no cigar...

Empty page in my book is Eddie King, who of course is not the US R&B legend of the same name. He had two 45s on Columbia in 65, but no further information available whatsoever. Couldn't even find a photo of the guy. (So you get a pic here that will do nothing for Tommies, but a lot for Krauts. Lupo rules!)

Next is the other side of the only 7" by The Fitz & Startz from Farnworth. (See also vol. 10) While Jeff Beck is easily recognizable on "I'm Not Running Away", I haven't got a clue about whether or not he's also present on "So Sweet".

The Prophets were a Brit band marauding through Continental Europe, where they left some traces. Their first record was the irresistible "You Missed By A Mile", recorded and released by the German label Kerston in 66, and comped by the Lolly Pope & westfauster on our very first LP-release "Prae-Kraut Pandaemonium Vol. 1" back in the early 90s. (Back then we still thought they were a German band, but newer research brought to light, that they only had a German drummer for a while.) Southbound via Italy they ended up in Greece for about two years, where they recorded three 45s on the local Zodiac label. Bo Diddley's "Roadrunner", b-side of a nice, but rather tame version of "Sunny", certainly was the wildest track they put to wax. They might be the same band that recorded the acetate "My Little Girl" in London 65 (comped on "Purple Heart Surgery Vol. 2"), but I'm not sure about that.

Here's Pete Best again, this time with a track from the US-only LP "Best Of The Beatles" on Savage. An obvious cash-in effort, but a nice historical artefact nevertheless.

Now this one is a bit of a mystery: The Emotions in question possibly are not the ones who recorded "Line Shooter", although that song also was released on Polydor in 65. Look at the label that says "Manufactured by Deutsche Grammophon (Great Britain)". Deutsche Grammophon -founded by Emil Berliner, who invented nothing less than the record player in 1887 - was the German mother-label of Polydor worldwide, specialized in classical music, and I didn't even know they had a British branch. Strange thing is: this record also was released a year later in the USA on Century, and some people say the band was from St. Petersburg, Florida, where a band of that name was based. After researching a bit about the Century label I would say that they put out what ever they could get for small coins, and the fact that "Why Must It Be" was out in the UK a year earlier than in the States seems reason enough to suspect a British group behind this record, rare as a kosher pork pie. On the other hand: the Deutsche Grammophon connection even makes German origins imaginable, and the charmingly clumsy performance is reminiscent of a lot of German 60s bands. (Just my imagination running wild, probably...)

Paul Dean, known as Paul Beuselinck to his mother in Petersborough, recorded a single with The Soul Savages (more or less Lord Sutch's backing band) for Polydor in 64, which was announced, but never released. Two years later the songs were re-recorded with an orchestra and came out on Reaction. In between he had this single on Decca with The Soul Savages disguised as The Thoughts. Later on he had five singles as Oscar on Reaction and Polydor 66 to 68. With another change of name he started a successful career as an actor, now known as Paul Nicholas.

The story ot the post-Morrison Them in America is well documented elsewhere. Here is their last 7" for Tower, and to my knowledge the only one that wasn't also on one of the albums for that label. Not even as a bonus on the numerous re-releases.

(The) Pandamonium are best known for the second of three 45s on CBS, the beautiful paisley-psychish "No Presents For Me". Before that they recorded a tremendous version of Donovan's "Season Of The Witch", which was the first ever released interpretation of that song. It predated Donovan's version on the "Sunshine Superman" album by months, and was brought to the attention of a wider audience by Driscoll, Auger & The Trinity in 67.

Like The Troggs, The Loot came from Andover, and guitarist Dave Wright even was a member of the Troggs in their pre-recording days. Via that connection they got together with producer Larry Page, who recorded four of six singles for his own Page One label. The other two were on CBS. "You Need Someone To Love", the second 45, is the rarest, as it obviously was withdrawn after a couple of demoes had made the round to lukewarm reactions. But it also appeared on a French-only EP, where it was called "You Need Somebody To Love You", and that actually is what they sing.

If you'd need coaching for Gerry & The Pacemakers you wouldn't have read these liners to the end. One of the rarer pieces of plastic in their 45 checklist is "Gerry In California", a live EP recorded in... you guess it. This version of Larry Williams' "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", also recorded by an even more popular Liverpool group, is one of The Pacemakers' roughest uptempo recordings, and it shows, that they still could bring the house down with some firm Mersey Rock n' Roll in 65.

More next time. Stay tuned. The Lolly Pope and westfauster, the vandaale. 

DOWNLOAD TOMMYKNOCKERS #16

(mp3 / 256 kbps / all scans and more included / direct download)

(Comments please to encourage us. Or tell us that it's shit you're downloading all the time. I mean, we don't need much thanks or something, we need criticism! We want to know why you're obviously as keen on rare stuff as we are. C'mon, all you borderliners, tell us that we're not alone on the wrong planet...)