The Animals, Animals and Friends, Eric Burdon, John Steel and Hilton Valentine

The Troggs

Who can forget "Wild Thing"? The Troggs have always been remembered for this 60s anthem, but it is just one of their many UK hits. "With A Girl Like You", "I Can't Control Myself", "Anyway That You Want Me", "Give It To Me" and "Love Is All Around". They all followed in rapid succession to give The Troggs world-wide acclaim. Dubbed by many as the "first British punk band" they have continued playing in their own uncompromising style of good basic rock music. Never strangers to controversy, many of their records were considered by the "powers that be" too suggestive for the masses, and they consequently banned them. How anybody could judge Reg Presley's tongue-in-cheek delivery to be dangerous to the morals of the young is hard to believe. The Troggs still boast two founder members - with the perpetual Reg Presley fronting the band, and Chris Britton on lead guitar. They are now joined by Pete Lucas on bass and Dave Maggs on drums. Their popularity has never waned and they are still in great demand both in the UK and the rest of Europe, where they regularly headline festivals attracting thousands of fans. Their appeal hold no age barriers, fans ranging from the stalwarts who have supported them throughout the years to the many new fans from the younger generation.

Animals and friends

The concept of Animals and Friends began in the spring of 2000. Hilton Valentine had re-located to America but demand was high for the Animals. Peter Barton former Mindbender had been gigging in a band alongside John Williamson, former guitarist from Titanic. A suggestion was made to team the two units together. Pete had been involved with the Animals now for almost a decade on the management front. Due to the pedigree of the current band members the band was re-named Animals and friends. Jim Rodford was a well-known face from the Kinks and Argent. Johnnie guitar Williamson, again from his time with Titanic and Skeleton Cew had become a familiar face on the Blues and Rock circuit. Pete Barton had also served his apprenticeship alongside Wayne Fontana in The Mindbenders and with Trevor Burton from The Move. The final ingredient's to this rock & roll cocktail was of course original Animal members, Dave Rowberry and John Steel. Animals and Friends were born. The band toured extensively and in the winter of 2001 went into Lisa Stansfields studio to record the debut Animals and friends Album "Instinct". Friends had been called and recordings started. In June 2003 the band had a major shock, Dave Rowberry suddenly died at the age of 63. The band knew they had to finish the new album but was not sure if they would continue as a touring unit. Coincidently the day Dave died, Peter Barton was contacted by a venue in Harlow, who mentioned that an ex member of the Animals lived in the area. Being a curious chap, Peter took the relevant contact details and made the call. The chap was Mickey Gallagher who had joined the Animals in 1965 when Alan Price left. Mickey immediately took the offer on board and re-joined John Steel after almost forty years. (In the interim period Mickey had formed The Blockheads with Ian Dury, toured and recorded London calling with The Clash and worked alongside Paul McCartney and Robbie Williams to say the least). The circle was complete again. But the band would not have existed if not for Dave Rowberry. Dave's equipment is still in the band, and continues to make all the gigs. So if you come to any of our shows and see a battered old Roland Cube amplifier on stage, its Dave's. Jim Rodford had one year earlier been asked to team up with his old mate's Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone to perform a select number of dates. Jim obviously accepted due to his history with Rod in Argent. In the summer of 2004 it was decision time again. Argent dates and Animal dates had started to clash so Jim reluctantly left the band. Jim was a major force in the band and it was sad to see him go. He still appears on occasion as a special guest. The bands strength has grown over the last few years. Two major British tours under the belt. A major new album in the shops. A fantastic fan base, which is growing daily. The band will continue to perform as long as we have the audience that keeps coming out to see us. Line-ups change, sadly two of the original sixties members are no longer with us. Their music continues, as does their legacy. As long as we play the songs that people love we will continue. We will make more albums and continue this fantastic tradition. Eric Burdon, Alan Price and Hilton Valentine are still out there doing it. Lets hope we all can continue for years to come. Dave Rowberry and Chas Chandler RIP.

The Yardbirds

By now, everyone knows the Yardbirds legend, if not their music; the band graduated three of the great Ph.D.s of rock guitar: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. They created hard rock out of standard twelve-bar blues, doubling the tempos and whacking the amps up to ten. On the British club scene, the Yardbirds, the Animals, and the Rolling Stones ruled the stages. The Yardbirds expanded the range of the electric guitar, experimenting with feedback, sustain, and fuzztone. They also coined and popularized the rave-up, a kind of free-for-all where you jam long and hard, not as soloists, but in a tandem, until you reach an epiphany about 10 or 20 or 30 minutes later, a shuddering climax of decibels and pure energy, and then-back into the song for one more boom-boom chorus. The Yardbirds were the bridge between the tributary white R&B of early-sixties London and the pastures of fuzz-toned psychedelia and power-chorded heavy metal plowed much later in the decade and throughout the seventies. Yes, the Yardbirds laid the groundwork for Rock Guitar As We Know It.

The Spencer Davis Group

This rock star from Wales, who created the famed Spencer Davis Group in 1963, has close to a dozen top 10 hit songs, including "Gimme Some Lovin", "Somebody Help Me", "I'm A Man", and "Keep On Runnin", helping to bring British rock 'n roll to the rest of the world. The popularity of his songs live on and Spencer recently accepted an award from BMI in London for over 3 million broadcast performances of "Gimme Some Lovin." Starting out with degrees in modern languages (with fluency in German, French and Spanish), Spencer had left his teaching career to began his music career in Birmingham with drummer, Pete York and brothers, Steve and Muff Winwood. Touring with the Rolling Stones and The Who when they were still working clubs, having after-hour drinks with Beatles, John and Paul and the lads, jamming with Charlie Watts and Long John Baldry and Jack Bruce were heady days for Spencer. When the hits started to come one after the other, his momentum spurred major US success. Moving to America in 1970, Spencer went on to record a now-hard-to-find solo album, then played in an acoustic blues band, which included Richard Landis (former Juice Newton producer and manager) and Peter Jameson. By the mid-'70s Spencer worked at Island Records (his group's label) and, as a record company executive, worked to further the profiles of people like Robert Palmer and Bob Marley. In the early 80's Spencer was head of A&R for a small Hollywood-based independent label and the itch to play in a band again was coming back. That's when he made his next album, "Crossfire", with guests like Dusty Springfield, Flo and Eddie, and Booker T. Jones. In 1984 Spencer was back on the road with his own band in America. Then came European and Middle Eastern tours with Pete York, plus other British rock legends, Brian Auger and Chris Farlowe. It was during this time he recorded pioneering CD albums for German and Swiss release. Days on the road increased, as did the fans, and by 1987 he was performing well over 100 shows a year. For a rock and roll who's-who, he made guest appearances with the Grateful Dead, Gary US Bonds, Levon Helm, Springsteen's E Street Band, Peter Noone, Downchild, and Alvin Lee. In the early 90's. audiences watched Spencer pick up the pace at club and concert tours. His stature as a rock and roll 'legend' opened doors to a wide variety of benefits, telethons and special TV and radio appearances -- criss-crossing through the US and Canada with forays into Europe, including opening acts for Hall & Oates and the Marshall Tucker Band. His guest appearances on TV and radio talk shows mounted throughout most of 1990 as Spencer became involved promoting the definitive photo collection of Michael Cooper's book, "Blinds and Shutters," -- Spencer being one of many contributors to the book. His tours during that time took him through Australia, the US, Canada and Japan with his own group. In 1993, Spencer united with three other famed musicians to form one super group, The Classic Rock All-Stars (Mike Pinera-Iron Butterfly, Jerry Corbetta-Sugarloaf, and Pete Rivera-Rare Earth). The group released a CD together, simply titled, "The Classic Rock All-Stars" and they toured the US, Canada and Japan. Davis left the Classic Rock All-Stars in the summer of 1995, and continued touring in Europe and the US the rest of the year into 1996 and 1997. In Europe, he played with drummer Pete York (the original drummer of the Spencer Davis Group), and the Spencer Davis Group's popularity in Europe put Spencer on a World Tour with his European members, hitting Japan, the Far East, Middle East and Scandinavia. Spencer signed a record deal with CMC who released the recording initially throughout Europe. The recording consisted of a mix of many new originals, old hits and classic songs. In the Fall of 1996, Spencer teamed up with The World Classic Rockers, similar in concept to The Classic Rock All-Stars, but with a larger line-up, comprising of Carmine Appice-Vanilla Fudge, Bobby Kimball-Toto, Denny Laine-McCartney and Wings, Randy Meisner-The Eagles, and Michael Monarch-Steppenwolf. Spencer also contributed to the release of World Classic Rockers-Double CD and toured extensively with them. Spencer's songs continue to live on in movies, such as Iron Eagle, Big Chill, Mr. Destiny, Days of Thunder, Top Gun, Mr. Holland's Opus, Notting Hill, Flight of the Phoenix, just to name a few! The mid 90's also landed him on TV commercials, documentaries, and the TV special, "The History of Rock 'n Roll," as well as a co-starring role in the hit series, "Married with Children." 2001 proved to be as busy as any of the mid and late 90's. From state fairs to casinos throughout the USA and Canada, the Spencer Davis Group continued entertaining millions with their classic repertoire. Along with the spring and fall tours, Germany and Europe were thrown in for good measure. Spencer undertook a marathon tour with the Spencer Davis Group during the spring of 2002, with 47 shows over 60 days up and down jolly old England. Drawing upon his teaching skills from the past, Spencer was invited on the famous cruise ship QE2 in the summer of 2002 as a guest lecturer and performer. He then headed straight to Alaska and followed by a foray into the Middle East, with a mini tour of Europe right behind that. The first half of 2003 brought Spencer through tours of Italy, side-stepping into the studio to record three new songs for his new upcoming CD, and then back to Italy and Germany. There were more state fairs and concerts in the park, where Spencer hooked up with friend Alan White of Yes to guest with him in the Washington State area. Early in 2004, his U.S. tour led him to Illinois and Florida, with a jump over to tours through Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, and Austria until Spring. After a brief rest, the Spencer Davis Group headed out for a month-long tour of the U.K. starting in southern England, and going as far north as Scotland, and west into his native Wales homeland. He finishes up in the Royal Festival Hall in London and tours with his friends, the Yardbirds before heading back to Hungary and Germany again. Spencer is now teamed up with the Rock and Roll Army, consisting of Felix Cavaliere, Mitch Ryder, and Rick Derringer. He went to New Zealand in June, playing acoustic shows with Ed Tree for the British Lions Tour. Then on to Australia in July 2005 with his own SDG. October and November rounded out with tours in Germany. The Grand Finale of 2005 was a special guest appearance New Year's Eve at the Cologne Arena with Cologne's own Black Foess in front of 12,000 people -- a great time was had by all! This year 2006 kicked off with a special guest appearance at David Fishof's "Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp" at SIR in Hollywood, followed by a Battle of the Bands at the House of Blues and concert with Roger Daltry, Neal Schon, Jack Blades, among others. Spencer has completed twelve tracks, all original, for a new CD/DVD, titled SO FAR for a summer 2006 release. SDG has already made a quick foray into The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Scandinavia. In August he will be a counselor at the "Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp" in New York, followed by a three-week tour of the U.K. He will wrap up this year with three appearances in California in September, return to Germany in October, followed by an extensive tour of Australia in November As you can see this ol' rocker just CAN'T STAND STILL and KEEPS ON RUNNING... Check his concert itinerary and be on the lookout for the band to come your way!

Peter Tork of The Monkees (USA)

Peter Tork is a former member of the world-famous 1960s pop group, The Monkees. Peter has also put together a number of bands in the past, including The New Monks and The Peter Tork Project. He plays a myriad of instruments, including the 5-string banjo, piano/keyboard, drums, guitar, and bass. He performs on guitar, keys, banjo and lead vocals with SSB. Arnold Jacks is a much sought after and well respected side man who can hold down a bass line with the best in the business. AJ joined Shoe Suede Blues in the winter of 2006 and hit the ground running. He is simply one of the most phenomenal bass players around. Richard Mikuls has shared the stage and the recording studio with such legendary artists as Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, BB King, Ike and Tina Turner, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and The Pointer Sisters. Richard has also produced music for TV shows and movies such as Ellen, Home Improvement, Unhappily Ever After, Boy Meets World, Doctor Detroit, The Last Dance, as well as TV commercials for Paul Mitchell, Coors Beer, Isuzu, and Honda - Acura. Richard plays guitar and also adds some lead and back up vocals into the mix for SSB. History Long before "Peter Tork" became a legendary part of the prefab phenomenon known as the "The Monkees," he was a well-respected musician/artist in the burgeoning New York folk and blues scene. Peter's gift for playing a plethora of instruments generated high demand for his services as a sideman/back-up artist. Peter knocked around for several hungry years in the mid-60's, hanging and performing with the likes of John Phillips, Steven Stills, Dave Van Ronk, Van Dyke Parks and Arthur Lee. The list goes on. The fateful call, which would change Peter's life forever, came in June of 1965. Friend and confidant Steven Stills, not quite hitting the mark with his own audition, rang his buddy Peter, urging him to give it a go. Twice. Stills remarks to the producers that he knew 'just the man to fill the bill' were spot on. Peter aced the audition for a what was to become a ground breaking multimedia project centered on a zany, young, rock/pop band - styled as THE American answer to the Beatles. The results were stellar and changed the popular music and television biz forever. Peter, never totally satisfied with prefab fame, though at the height of his pop icon status, stuck to his roots as a starving artist. He could forever be found jamming with bands, learning and honing his chops. Music legend Jimi Hendrix jammed with Peter on several occasions, calling Peter "The most talented Monkee." Peter has continued his solo career through the years, performing with his own bands, writing and recording music, and also making numerous guest appearances on a variety of TV programs. Peter realized a real love affair with the blues sometime during the 1990's. The result of that love is called Shoe Suede Blues. Defining Peter Tork and Shoe Suede Blues is akin to describing the history of popular music. Band mates Richard Mikuls, John Palmer and Arnold Jacks have shared the stage with some of the most influential recording artists of the last 50 years. Through Peter's band of seasoned pros, Shoe Suede Blues delivers a heartfelt soulful, uplifting and quite unforgettable mixture, divined from their vision of what music is all about. Peter Tork and Shoe Suede Blues...witness that the heart and soul of music lives.

Hermans Hermits

The Mid-60's music scene was dominated by British Acts; three of which became household names - The Beatles - The Rolling Stones and...... Herman's Hermits, who are one of the most successful groups throughout the world. From their beginning in Manchester, England, on April 1st 1964, the band has chalked up over 23 hit singles, 10 hit albums, 3 major movies and countless television shows and concert tours all over the world - up to date they have total record sales of over 75 million. Since 1971 and the departure of Peter Noone to pursue a solo career in the entertainment business, the group has never stopped. Original member Barry (the Bean) Whitwam. has guided the band from strength to strength into one of the hardest working acts in the business - they still average more than 200 one-night stands per year - and reckon they maintain their stamina by having an amazing sense of humour. Their touring schedule takes them to Germany, Belgium, Holland, the Scandinavian countries, the U.S.A., Canada, Australia and New Zealand on a regular basis, and they still find time to perform in their home country the United Kingdom, packing in the audiences at every venue and delighting them with their solid musicianship, vocal ability and dynamic stage presence. The 'Golden Oldies' still make up a large part of their show - much to the enjoyment of their fans, who can't resist singing along to Mr.'s Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter, Silhouettes, Dandy, Henry VIII and others too numerous to mention. From the Sixties, though the Seventies, Eighties, Nineties and into the 21st century Herman's Hermits are still 'Into Something Good'.

Legends Of The Sixties featuring ex Kinks and Hollies originals

Former original members of the above classic bands, Mick Avory and Eric Haydock, have now combined and teamed up to perform as The Legends of The 60'S featuring guitarists,Telecaster Ted Tomlin and Graham Pollock. Between them they boast over 100 hit records. Their multi million selling set comprises of all the classic hits they enjoyed in three of the most important bands of the last millenium. You Really Got Me, I'm Alive, Look Through Any Window, Sunny Afternoon, Waterloo Sunset, Bus Stop, Stay, Lola, Till The End of The Day etc etc. The list is endless.

The Tremeloes

A very short story: The Tremeloes The band started in 1958 in Barking, Essex, UK. The line up was: Brian Poole (vocal), Dave Munden (drums + vocal), Alan Blakley (rhythm guitar + vocal), Alan Howard (bass guitar), Graham Scott (lead guitar). They had minor hits with "Twist Little Sister" and "Blue". Rick Westwood replaced Graham Scott in 1962. The hits with this line up include: July 1963 Twist & Shout 4 Sept 1963 Do You Love Me 1 Nov 1963 I Can Dance Jan 1964 Candy Man 6 May 1964 Someone 2 Aug 1964 Twelve Steps To Love 32 Jan 1965 Three Bells 17 Jul 1965 I Want Candy 25 Brian Poole left the band in 1966 and he and The Tremeloes went their separate ways. The Tremeloes own hits without Brian included: Feb 1967 Here Comes My Baby 4 Apr 1967 Silence Is Golden 1 Aug 1967 Even The Bad Times Are Good 4 Nov 1967 Be Mine 39 Jan 1968 Suddenly You Love Me 6 May 1968 Helule, Helule 14 Sep 1968 My Little Lady 6 Dec 1968 I Shall Be Released 29 Mar 1969 Hello World 29 Nov 1969 Call Me Number One 2 Mar 1970 By The Way 35 Sep 1970 Me And My Life 4 Jul 1971 Hello Buddy 32 Here is a short biography of The Tremeloes that you see on stage today Joe Gillingham (Keyboards and Vocals) Joe lives in Surrey, UK with his wife Lesley, son Kit, daughter Jodie and a dog called Muttley. Joe has always been in the music business. Many people don't know that Joe was once a Womble, the big furry creatures that were invented by Englishman Mike Batt. Joe starred as "Wellington". Joe was and still is a top class recording engineer. He engineers and produces all the new Trems tracks as well as playing keyboards and programming the drums on them. Before joining the Trems 11 years ago Joe had recorded many top names in the music business and was also the engineer for Stock, Aitken and Waterman. Dave Munden (Drums and Vocals) Dave lives in Berkshire, UK with his wife Andre, daughter Ciara, son Christian and two Scotty dogs. Dave has been the one and only Trems drummer since the band started in 1958 and has never played with another band. Rick Westwood (Guitar) Rick lives in Berkshire, UK with his wife Lynn, and a tortoise named Meat Pie. Their two grown up daughters, Helen and Heidi, live in their own houses. Rick and Lynn are only couple to have a grandchild, Kerry who is nearly 4 years old. Rick has many hobbies and interests and says that he finds it difficult to find time to do them all. Rick got into keeping unusual pets for many years. He has had 3 snakes, 3 Tarantula spiders, 6 Anolis lizards and a Horned Chameleon. Rick found a baby snake under a tree in his garden and took it into his house to look after it. The snake used to curl up along his arm when he was watching TV. Rick fed it and put it in the cage with the tortoise. It was later discovered that it was a Viper, a poisonous snake. Rick had to let it go. Rick is known as "The Gadget Man" because he is always buying the latest electronic equipment and carries small "gadgets" around with him. Rick loves The Spice Girls and hates anyone who says bad things about them. Jeff Brown (Bass Guitar and Vocals) (member since January 2005) Info available soon. As soon as Jeff wrote one. :)

The Marmalade

Unusually, Marmalade had two bass players, and were originally called Dean Ford & The Gaylords; they released several singles between 1964 and 1966, before changing their name. Their next few singles failed to chart in the UK, although one, "I See The Rain," was highly praised by Jimi Hendrix and became a Top 40 hit in the Netherlands in 1967. Marmalade's record label, CBS, threatened to drop them if they did not have a hit, and after the failure of another self-penned single later that year, "Man In A Shop", insisted they record more chart-oriented material. They rejected "Everlasting Love", which became a Number One for Love Affair, but later gave in to pressure and recorded a cover version of an American hit by The Grass Roots, "Lovin' Things", which reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart in the summer of 1968. After a lesser hit with the follow-up "Wait For Me Mary-Anne", which only made number 30, they enjoyed their greatest success with their cover of The Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", which topped the UK chart in January 1969. As the first Scottish group to ever top the UK chart, the week it went to the top spot, they celebrated by appearing on BBC1's music programme Top Of The Pops, dressed in kilts. This was followed by further successes with "Baby Make It Soon". After a change of record label to Decca Records, under a deal allowing them to write and produce their own songs, they recorded their only American hit, the melancholy "Reflections Of My Life", with its distinctive backwards guitar break. Other UK hits included "Rainbow", and "My Little One". They toured extensively and even gave rise to a cocktail - the Marmaladdie. They were managed by Peter Walsh, a 1960s and 1970s pop entrepreneur whose portfolio also included artists like the Bay City Rollers, Billy Ocean, The Troggs and Blue Mink. When Campbell, who co-wrote most of the group's original material with Ford, left the band in 1971, Marmalade suffered adverse publicity from the UK's newspaper, News of the World. They began a series of line-up changes including the loss of drummer Alan Whitehead, who was sacked in the middle of a self-promotion programme with his starlet girlfriend. A new guitarist Hugh Nicholson heralded an attempt to fit into the popular shift towards "progressive" music which met with limited success. However, Nicholson penned two of their last hits, "Cousin Norman" and "Radancer". He left in 1973 to form Blue (not to be confused with a much later boy band of the same name - Blue), and Dean Ford plus Graham Knight carried on with Marmalade. Nicholson was replaced by Mike Japp, a rock guitarist from the Welsh band 'Thank You'. Knight and Whitehead took over the name Marmalade with a new line-up, fronted by vocalist and guitarist Sandy Newman. They signed a deal with Target Records, and had another Top 10 hit in 1976 with the ominously entitled song, "Falling Apart At The Seams". Whitehead left the band in 1978 to manage other pop groups, which he does to this day. Graham Knight and Sandy Newman still continue the Marmalade Legacy along with Glenn Taylor (drums), and Alan Holmes (guitar).

The Swinging Blue Jeans

In 1963, the Swinging Blue Jeans blasted their way into the charts with 'Hippy Hippy Shake', which resulted them appearing on the very first show of the long running BBC Television series 'Top Of The Pops'. Amongst other new chart climbers on that show was a band calling themselves 'The Rolling Stones'.! Due to the incredible international success of 'Hippy Hippy Shake' the Jeans were featured on every major pop TV show in Great Britain, Scandinavia and Europe, they also featured in no less than 3 feature films. Hit singles were the norm, 'Good Golly Miss Molly', 'You're No Good', 'Don't Make Me Over' and 'It's Too Late Now' were all chart successes. Mixed in with the hit singles were two hit albums, 'Blue Jeans A Swinging' and 'Swinging Blue Jeans At The Cascade'. The Swinging Blue Jeans are still one of the most popular of the authentic 60's band their annual tour commitments take in such wide flung countries as Germany, Australia, Sweden, Spain, Norway, New Zealand, Denmark, UAE, Holland, Ireland, Poland, Canada, the USA, and of course Great Britain. 1994 was a particularly exiting year for the Blue Jeans. A major sell-out tour with Gerry and the Pacemakers and Helen Shapiro during the spring months was followed by a highly successful season at Windsor Golf and Country Club in Kenya: and a super tour with the Searchers, Billy J. Kramer and The Merseybeats in the autumn rounded off a busy year to perfection. Discussions are now in progress regarding a Blue Jeans tour of Australia and New Zealand, and it seems that Kenya, having now tasted 'Jeansomania' want the guys back again too!. Founder members of the Blue Jeans, Ray Ennis and Les Braid, often tend to look back and think themselves lucky to have been involved in a Liverpool explosion of popular music that played such a vital part in the exciting era now fondly referred to all who lived through it as .... the 'Swinging Sixties'.! The current line-up of the Swinging Blue Jeans features: Ray Ennis (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Les Braid ( Bass guitar and backing vocals), Alan Lovell (lead guitar and vocals) and Phil Thompson (drums and percussion). All members of the Swinging Blue Jeans hail from Liverpool, they were raised on the excitement of rock 'n' roll and the Swinging Sixties, and it's that type of background that remains in their live stage act .... when you see and hear them you will feel that excitement and understand what the early sixties were all about, it's an experience that will reach out and touch you!

The Searchers

If life were perfect then good things would never change and our memories would remain as pure and intact as the day when they were formed. But rarely are things that simple particularly in the world of pop music and groups. Pop groups are very much like many marriages. After a while the cracks begin to show and the strains of living in such close proximity to fellow human beings takes its toll. And like marriages separations occur, sometimes temporary and, more often than not for good. Small cracks might require just a touch of Polyfilla to make do and mend but when the cracks become chasms no amount of attempted restoration can bring about a reconciliation The Searchers have gone through a number of changes throughout their long history but they have managed by careful selection and attention to detail to keep the feeling of continuity and to present a product in which, like a good wig you can barely see the join. It would take far too long and too much space to elaborate on all the changes in the lineup. For this we have included a 'family tree' (borrowed from Frank's book Travelling Man) to show you where and when they came and went. What we are concerned with right now is the current membership of The Searchers as we head into the 21st century. John McNally. Without doubt John, a founder member of the group from its earliest days as a skiffle group in Liverpool towards the end of the fifties, is the engine of the outfit content to take a background stance for most of the time he is the motivator and a true workaholic who cannot bear to turn down the chance of a gig no matter how punishing the schedule or how few the days off. When the group first hit the charts with Sweets For Mv Sweet back in 1963 it was the distinctive sound of McNally's rhythm guitar chunking away in the background. A sound and a technique that has earned praise from many a renowned musician over the years who remember only a tiny number of impressive rhythm players. It is not an instrument that attracts a surfeit of attention. Bruce Welch comes to mind as another. And there the trail begins to get a bit thin. As the years wore on John was no longer content to settle for chords alone, no matter how well he played them. Through many weeks of diligent effort he extended his skills to the art of the lead guitar. the star performer of any group's instruments. If you have listened to the excellent Sire recordings of the early eighties you might be unaware that almost the entire content of guitar work is McNally overdubbing again and again to achieve the rich full sound that is such a distinct part of The Searchers identity. Six string. Twelve string. All of the lead figures and the majority of the rhythm parts are due to John's hours in the studios at Rockfield. On the early recordings John, like Ringo was allowed one solo piece per album. When the load had to be shared as the members changed and parts needed to be re-assigned John took over the falsetto role that once belonged to Chris Curtis and gradually gained the confidence to attempt more lead singing. Anyone who has attended one of the 'all evening' concerts can testify to the poignancy of John singing his own composition Till I Met You or providing the lead line to Frank's harmonies in Four Strong Winds. In both cases the original recordings featured other voices entirely but they still sound as perfect and as original as they always did. All this just goes to prove that no matter how beautiful or flashy the car may be, it's pretty useless without the engine. Frank Allen deserves to he called an original Searcher, for indeed he is in our eyes. To deny this would be like saying that Brian Bennett is not an original Shadow. As if Jet Harris's year ahead of him somehow relegated him to the position of an 'also ran'. Frank was still thumping the bass for Cliff Bennett's Rebel Rousers for the period from June 63 until his debut with The Searchers on August 3rd 64. Luckily for him the first record, When You Walk In The Room, was a memorable classic and one of the best pop songs ever written. While not as big a hit as Needles And Pins the years have proved it to be the winner, not only in the stage show when it is far and above the best received of the hits but also in that it has achieved the greatest number of cover versions from Bruce Springsteen to Paul Carrack. And Frank got to sing a dual lead voice with Mike on this one. They wanted to make the song a hit more distinctive and powerful than the previous releases. It certainly worked. So much so that if you ever get to hear the version by Tight Fit they managed to qet a Frank Allen 'sound-alike' for the session. Its uncanny and for years the group weren't quite convinced that Frank didn't slip away and do a bit of moonlighting. Wonder who it really was. In the early days when Curtis was still smacking the cowhide the other three Searchers were content to remain in the shadows when crowd control was required, while Chris utilised his zany, over-the-top personality to whip up the audience from the drum rostrum. This was an unusual situation in the world of pop where drummers usually took a background role. Even the eponymously named Dave Clark Five found its leader doing little more than announcing a title or two. But Chris was ever the exhibitionist and played the part to perfection. It was therefore a bitter blow when Curtis (nee Crummey) defected at the end of the Philippines/Australia tour 1966. It was decided that each of the front-line members would take an announcement each. It seemed a sensible proposition. In practice though it simply did not work out as they discovered on their debut when the new line-up, with the temporary John Blunt on drums, performed at the Savoy Ballroom in Southsea. Confusion reigned. John spoke a little too quickly, Mike a little too falteringly. In the end it seemed to come most naturally to Frank although in those embryo days the technique was extremely primitive and far from satisfactory. Over the years, with a training of the Northern cabaret club circuit. Frank's skills in this area improved immensely and in the nineties he has received the accolade of being voted Best Front Man on a number of occasions. Together John and Frank are the team behind the organisation and the operation of The Searchers and complement each other to perfection Frank, the theatrically orientated communicator and John, the workaholic. Spencer James, born Spencer Frederick James in 1953. he grew up coincidentally in Hayes, Middlesex the same town in which Frank was a resident. Although Frank doesn't remember meeting him before his joining The Searchers, apparently they did pass a few words in the seventies in the saloon bar of the Royal Standard pub. Always heavily involved in music from an early age, he was quite a precocious talent becoming not only more than proficient on the guitar but also possessing a fine, powerful vocal quality that makes his singing quite distinctive. A voice like that was never going to go unnoticed and when a group was required to become First Class (a studio project of former Ivy League member John Carter) he was the ideal candidate to front it. Their success was fairly short lived but Beach Baby is a summer classic while they also charted with Bobby Dazzler. When that had run its course Spencer went on to experiment with Zak Starkey and Boz Burrell as part of a band called Heyday. When that little adventure came to an end Spencer simply resorted to resurrecting The Spencer James Band, a group that he had on and off successfully toured the pub circuit in West London. One of those pubs was The Red Lion in Brentford as a support for The Searchers. The sixties were undergoing a fairly serious revival at the time and the repertoire Spencer had accumulated over the years contained enough from those heady days to complement the headlining act perfectly. John McNally, ever interested in the current bands and players watched Mr James from the audience and took note, ostensibly in case a suitable support might be required at another venue in the future. He did not realise at the time that his call to Spencer would be for another reason entirely. The defection of Mike Pender at the end of 1985 left an important position to be filled. As it turned out Spencer James was the ideal person to fill it. Audiences took to him immediately. He had a winning way and not one soul appeared to resent the change. They simply accepted this as another era in the history of the group. As he settled into the new line-up he augmented his guitar skills with the wizardry of the guitar synthesiser, enabling the sound to be filled out with strings and keyboards. In his spare time he built a professional recording studio in his new home (by this time he had relocated to Towcester in Northamptonshire) and it was a boon for the lads to nip in quickly and record tracks for television appearances as and when required. Spencer is never one to stand still. He is a ball of enthusiasm. And busy as The Searchers are he will still find time to run his studio, write songs and learn about every innovation in the world of electronics. Some people still think of him as the new boy. Until the end of 1998 he had been the new boy for about thirteen years. My how time does fly. Eddie Rothe. Eddie is actually a Wally. No offence intended. He was born Walter Edgar Rothe in Buckingham. Northamptonshire and not a spit away from where Spencer lives now. In the late seventies he became drummer with a band called Liquid Gold which was to shoot up to the number 2 spot in 1980 with the disco anthem Dance Yourself Dizzy. Anyone who actually remembers this group's appearances on Top Of The Pops must surely also remember the strange sight of one of its members prancing about in a pair of lurex hot pants. Yes. I'm afraid it was 'Wally'. Still those days are behind him now. Liquid Gold managed a follow up called Substitute which managed a respectable number 8 position but the next three. The Night. The Wine And The Roses. Don't Panic and the prophetic Where Did We Go Wrong? stayed outside the top twenty. Liquid Gold by the way also featured a girl singer called Ellie Hope who was, and still is. the sister of Gerry Hope, one-time sound engineer for The Searchers. When the hits stopped and work was hard to come by Wally/Eddie decided it was time to quit but soon after he was approached by Les Gray to join Mud and he spent the best part of a decade pounding out Tiger Feet, even appearing alongside The Searchers on a couple of occasions. But even that eventually ran out of steam and he was relegated to having to face the real world again The real world in this case being the Wipac factory in Buckingham where over the next year he became quite adept at knocking out a fairly decent car aerial. But fate was watching from over his shoulder and when Billy decided to leave the group Wally' s name was one of the first to come to mind. He was drafted in at very short notice and after a trial period he was found 'not guilty' and was kept on permanently. A tour of Australia/New Zealand and the Middle East gave him the necessary space to settle in and learn the complicated Searchers' repertoire and what a nice way to do it! Anyone who has been to see the group since 'Eddie's' arrival will have seen by the permanent grin on his face just how happy he is with his new position. Wally is dead. Long Live Eddie.