The Wild Ones

Here’s a collection of lesser-known originals of stone-cold pop classics, and quite a bit of background information to most of them. In fact, I suggest you make yourself a good cup of coffee, settle back and be engrossed in the stories of some of the most famous songs in pop history.

Wild Thing

One of rock’s most iconic songs was written by actor Jon Voight’s younger brother, James Wesley, who took the name Chip Taylor.

The first version of Wild Thing, by the New York band The Wild Ones,

was released in 1965. Headed by one Jordan Christopher, they are said to have been the houseband of what has been called New York’s first disco, The Office. Taylor wrote Wild Thing for them as a favour for A&R man Gerry Granagan. It’s not very good at all, certainly not in comparison to The Troggs version, which replaced the Wild Ones’ whistle interlude with an ocarina solo (the ocarina is an ancient ceramic wind instrument).
Taylor has recalled that he wrote the song in a few minutes (“the pauses and the hesitations are a result of not knowing what I was going to do next”) and had a low opinion of it. Likewise, The Troggs recorded it in 20 minutes, during the same session that produced their follow-up hit With A Girl Like You. They worked from Taylor’s demo, rather than the Wild Ones’ version. Chip Taylor also wrote Angel Of The Morning, which featured in The Originals – The 1980s.
Here is "Wild Thing" From 1965 Enjoy.

Diane & Annita

Here’s a collection of lesser-known originals of stone-cold pop classics, and quite a bit of background information to most of them. In fact, I suggest you make yourself a good cup of coffee, settle back and be engrossed in the stories of some of the most famous songs in pop history.

 A Groovy Kind Of Love

 A Groovy Kind Of Love was written in 20 minutes in 1965 by Carole Bayer Sager,

barely 21, and 17-year-old Toni Wine. The song, one of the first to riff on the new buzzword “groovy”, was apparently based on the Rondo from Sonatina in G Major by Muzio Clementi. It was first recorded by the short-lived duo Diane & Annita — Diane Hall and Annita Ray.

Annita had appeared alongside the likes of Fats Domino and Big Joe Turner in the rock ‘n’ roll movie Shake Rattle And Roll, in which she performed the song On A Saturday Night. The song was left off the soundtrack album. She met Diane Hall as a member of Ray Anthony’s Bookends. There is very little information about them as a duo, and rumours even had it that the Diane & Annita act was in fact Sager recording under a false name. In any case, the single didn’t go anywhere, nor did its second incarnation, a version by Patti LaBelle & the Bluebells, produced by the great Bertie Berns. The English group The Mindbenders

had enjoyed a US chart-topper with Game Of Love, but by mid-1965 they suddenly were without their frontman, Wayne Fontana, after he walked out in a middle of as concert. As luck would have it, the now Fontana-less band came to record A Groovy Kind Of Love, with future 10cc member Eric Stewart on lead vocals, and had a huge hit with it, reaching #2 both in the UK and US. It was the only real success the group would have before disbanding in 1968, by which time another future 10cc member, Graham Gouldman, had joined. Ty Amd Whah For This Info.
Here is "A Groovy Kind of Love" From 1965. Enjoy

Barry McGuire

Here’s a collection of lesser-known originals of stone-cold pop classics, and quite a bit of background information to most of them. In fact, I suggest you make yourself a good cup of coffee, settle back and be engrossed in the stories of some of the most famous songs in pop history.

 California Dreamin'

 John and Michelle Phillips wrote California Dreamin’ in 1963, suitably while living in New York, before forming The Mamas and The Papas and while John was still with a group called The New Journeymen. Fellow folkie Barry McGuire

helped John and Michelle land a recording contract. In gratitude, they gave McGuire a song for his next album: California Dreamin’, which was recorded (with the now formed Mamas & Papas on backing vocals) in 1965, but was released only in 1966. It was supposed to be McGuire’s follow-up to Eve Of Destruction, but The Mamas and The Papas

recorded the song themselves and released it as a single in 1965, initially to widespread indifference. Only when it started getting airplay on a Boston radio station did the song become a hit in early 1966. McGuire insists that the Mamas & Papas didn’t so much re-record the song as replace his voice with Denny Doherty’s and the harmonica solo with the flute. Listen to the two versions and judge for yourself. Ty Amd Whah For This Info.
Here is "California Dreaming" From 1965 Enjoy

The Leaves

I'm Gonna Concentrate on (original) Singles That Were Released. Here’s a collection of lesser-known originals of stone-cold pop classics, and quite a bit of background information to most of them. In fact, I suggest you make yourself a good cup of coffee, settle back and be engrossed in the stories of some of the most famous songs in pop history. Enjoy.

 Hey Joe

 We kick off with a track whose genesis is disputed, with some claiming Hey Joe is an old traditional folk song. There seems to be wide consensus, however, that it was written in the early 1960s by a folk singer called Billy Roberts,

who may well have borrowed from a 1950s country song by the same title written by Boudleaux Bryant. Something of a cult classic on LA’s live scene and reportedly propagated by David Crosby, Roberts’ song was eventually recorded by The Leaves

(though some claim that the Surfaris recorded their version first, but released it after the Leaves’ version came out). Where The Leaves rock out in a psychedelic fashion, Jimi Hendrix’s version’s, recorded in December 1966, is said to have been based on the slower folk-rock treatment by Tim Rose (who once was part of a folk trio including someone called Jim Hendricks, with Mama Cass Elliott), though Arthur Lee insisted it was the Love recording of September 1966 that inspired Hendrix. Whatever the case: the version here is the first to be released on record.
Here Are The Leaves With "Hey Joe" From 1966 Enjoy.Thanks To Amd Whah For Info.

Chick Graham & The Coasters

The original group was formed in 1960 and known as The Sandstormers, after a few name changes they settled on Billy Kramer (real name Billy Ford) and the Coasters and quickly became one of the most popular groups on Merseyside, coming third in the Mersey Beat music paper poll in 1963. Their manager, Ted Knibbs, spoke to Brian Epstein who was interested and wanted to sign them but The Coasters refused to turn professional. Brian had to find another group to back Billy Kramer (still without the ‘J’), The Remo 4 turned him down as did Manchester group The Dakotas who were backing Pete Maclaine at the time, they finally agreed when Brian made arrangements for them to record in their own right. After the departure of Billy Kramer, The Coasters continued with Ted Knibbs as their manager, he was searching for a new ‘frontman’ to replace Billy and found Chick Graham (real name Graham Jennings). Chick made his first appearance as ‘frontman’ in June 1963, his fifteenth birthday at the Majestic Ballroom, Birkenhead. Decca Records signed them up and after telling them “Stardom is just around the corner”, they all gave up their ‘day jobs’ except for George Braithwaite who left the music business altogether. He was replaced by Arthur Raynor on rhythm guitar with Ray Dougherty changing to bass. In 1964, Decca released their first single ‘I Know/Education’, their second release ‘A little You/Dance, Baby Dance’ was slightly better, prompting Pete Frame in his book ‘Rock Family Trees Of The Early Sixties’ to say “Whoever chose the songs should be shot! He threw away Chick’s whole career” . When they failed to make it, Ted Knibbs was sacked as manager and the group eventually split in 1965, another sad case of missing the boat. Tony Sanders joined Mark Peters and the Silhouettes and played on their final single for PYE Records, ‘Don’t Cry For Me/I Told You So’. Line up: 1963 Chick Graham - Vocals Arthur Ashton - Lead Guitar Ray Dougherty - Rhythm Guitar Tony Sanders - Drums George Braithwaite - Bass Guitar Courtesy From Merseybeat Nostalgia. Here is Chick Graham And The Coasters At The Cavern Enjoy

Old Ned..Theme From Steptoe & Son

Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business. They live at Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962–65, followed by a second run from 1970-74. The theme tune, "Old Ned", was composed by Ron Grainer. The series was voted 15th in a 2004 poll by the BBC to find Britain's Best Sitcom. It was remade in the United States as Sanford and Son, in Sweden as Albert & Herbert, in the Netherlands as Stiefbeen en zoon and in Portugal as Camilo & Filho. In 1972, a film adaptation of the series, Steptoe and Son, was released in cinemas, followed by a sequel Steptoe and Son Ride Again in 1973. The series focused on the inter-generational conflict of father and son. Albert Steptoe, a "dirty old man", is an elderly rag-and-bone man, set in his grimy and grasping ways. By contrast, his 37-year-old son Harold is filled with social aspirations, not to say pretensions. The show contained elements of drama and tragedy, as Harold was continually prevented from achieving his ambitions. To this end, the show was unusual at the time for casting actors rather than comedians in its lead roles, although both actors were drawn into more comedic roles as a consequence. In 2000, the show was ranked #44 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute.

• United States: In 1965 Joseph E. Levine produced a pilot based on The Offer for the American market with Galton and Simpson. Starring Lee Tracy as Albert and Aldo Ray as Harold, it was unscreened, and did not lead to a series. The pilot was released on DVD in the UK in 2018. The concept was later re-worked as Sanford and Son, a top-rated series that ran for five years (1972–77) on the NBC network.
• Sweden; Sten-Åke Cederhök and Tomas von Brömssen starred in Albert & Herbert. The pair lived at Skolgatan 15, an address in a working-class neighbourhood of Haga, Gothenburg.
• The Netherlands; Stiefbeen en Zoon (re-translation; Stepbone and Son) ran for thirty three episodes. It was awarded the 1964 Golden Televizier Ring.
• Norway; The 1975 Norwegian film, Skraphandlerne, starred Leif Juster and Tom Tellefsen. The names of the characters were Albert and Herbert, the names of the characters in the Swedish remake.
• Portugal; Camilo & Filho Lda., starring famous Portuguese comedian Camilo de Oliveira, with Nuno Melo as his son.

Here is "Old Ned" Ron Grainer Orchestra From 1962 Enjoy.

Ral Donner

Ralph Stuart Emanuel Donner was born in Norwood Park, Chicago and sang in church as a child. He sang in local talent shows as a teen, and formed two of his own bands, the Rockin' Five and the Gents, in high school. The Rockin' Five played with Sammy Davis, Jr. on Chicago television at one point in the late 1950s. In 1959, he appeared on Alan Freed's Big Beat program, and released a single with the Gents; soon after, the Gents toured with The Sparkletones. Donner recorded a cover of Presley's "The Girl of My Best Friend", along with a backing band called the Starfires. After being picked up by Gone Records, Donner re-recorded and rereleased the tune, which became a nationwide hit; some listeners even thought that the cover was in fact Elvis himself. His next single, "You Don't Know What You've Got (Until You Lose It)", became his biggest, and only Top Ten, hit on the Billboard chart in the United States, peaking at #4. The track peaked at #25 in the UK Singles Chart in 1961. He managed a few more hits, the last of which was in 1962. In the mid-1960s, Donner recorded for Reprise Records and Red Bird Records, but saw little further success. He played little in the 1970s, recording occasionally, but saw some rekindled interest in his music after Presley's death. In 1981, he provided voice-over narration (in the voice of Elvis) in the film This Is Elvis. Donner died of lung cancer on April 6, 1984. Donner was cited by Robert Plant as an influence at the 1995 induction of Led Zeppelin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is "You Don't Know What You've Got(Until You Lose It)" From 1961 Enjoy

Davie Jones & The King Bees

The first record David Bowie made was as lead singer of Davie Jones & the King Bees on the single "Liza Jane"/"Louie Louie Go Home," which came out in June 1964. Bowie was still going by his first name of David Jones at this point, and playing Rolling Stones-styled R&B-rock with the King Bees. Their sound was very much in the rough sub-Stones strata inhabited by too many groups to count in 1964, with a repertoire full of staples like "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Got My Mojo Working." A press release of the time listed Bowie's favorite vocalists as Little Richard, Bob Dylan, and John Lee Hooker. The music was a long way from what Bowie would become famous for in the '70s, and a good deal less original. Nonetheless, Davie Jones & the King Bees attracted the interest of manager Leslie Conn, who producing their first single and arranged for it to come out on the Decca subsidiary Vocalion. The A-side was a rearrangement of the black spiritual "Liza Jane," for which Conn took the songwriting credits. Although shunned as worthless by some Bowie biographers, it wasn't a bad British R&B effort, brash if typical and derivative. Bowie played sang and played saxophone, an instrument he would rarely return to in his lengthy career. The B-side, a cover of the obscure Paul Revere song "Louie Louie Go Home," was lousy, and one of the worst things Bowie ever issued on disc. The single didn't go anywhere, and soon after its release, Bowie left the King Bees, moving on to his next group, the Manish Boys. "Liza Jane"/"Louie Louie Go Home," an extremely rare and valuable single for years, eventually got reissued on several occasions, and is most readily available on Rhino's compilation of early David Bowie material, Early On (1964-1966). The only member of the King Bees to play a role in Bowie's post-King Bees activities was rhythm guitarist and harmonica player George Underwood, a childhood friend who did the painting of Bowie that appeared on the back of the 1969 David Bowie album, and worked for the singer's management company, Mainman, as a designer and graphic artist.
Here is "Liza Jane" From June 1964 Enjoy

The Migil Five

The Migil Five (sometimes styled The Migil 5) were a British pop, rhythm and blues and (originally) jazz group in the early to mid-1960s, whose biggest hit was a bluebeat version of "Mockin' Bird Hill". The group's origins were in North London in 1960, as a backing group for club singer Lennie Peters. Its members at that time included pianist Gil Lucas and bass player Lenny Blanche. Various people - including, on occasions, Peters' nephew Charlie Watts, later of the Rolling Stones - stood in as drummer, until the position was filled more permanently by Mike Felix. After Peters left for a solo career - going on to chart success in the 1970s as one half of Peters and Lee - Felix became the lead singer, and the group recruited guitarist Stan "Red" Lambert. They named themselves The Migil Four, drawing on the names of Mike Felix and Gilbert Lucas. The group played a mixture of pop, R&B and jazz music on the cabaret circuit until they were seen by trad jazz bandleader Kenny Ball. He performed onstage with them, and recommended them to his record label, Pye Records. Their first single, "Maybe", was released in 1963. They then added tenor saxophonist Alan "Earl" Watson, formerly a member of Georgie Fame's Blue Flames, so becoming The Migil 5, and won a residency at the Tottenham Royal dance hall, replacing the Dave Clark Five. Expanding their repertoire to cater for a younger audience, they recorded their second single, "Mockin' Bird Hill" - a country song which had been a US hit for Les Paul and Mary Ford - in a style then known as "bluebeat" and later as ska. It was released the same week as Millie Small's ska hit "My Boy Lollipop", and entered the UK Singles Chart in March 1964, rising to #10. It also reached number one in Ireland. According to Bruce Eder at Allmusic: "The Migil Five were an improbable outfit on the early-'60s London rock music scene. Five guys who were already in their late '20s and skilled in jazz, R&B, blues, folk, and pop, Lambert was balding and sported a beard and the others looked more like veterans of the '50s trad jazz scene. Watson brought a harder R&B sound that made them more appealing to teenagers, but they all looked more like music teachers than rock & rollers." Their follow-up single, "Near You", reached #31 on the UK chart, and the band released an album in 1964, Mockin' Bird Hill. They appeared on television, and in two movie features, Swinging U.K. and U.K. Swings Again, later put together as Go Go Big Beat. Subsequent singles and an EP, Meet the Migil Five, failed to make the British charts, although the group remained popular in Ireland. By 1965 they had become the house band on the BBC radio show Easy Beat. They continued to record singles, with little success, and Felix left the group to go solo in 1966, with Watson taking over as singer. Watson in turn left in 1969, being replaced by Norman Langford, and the group finally broke up in 1971. Mike Felix later worked as a comedian, after dinner speaker and actor, appearing in the TV series Widows and The Bill. Lucas moved into pub management and continued to play in local London bands until his death in the 1990s. Watson and Blanche also moved into the pub and restaurant business. A CD compilation of The Migil Five was issued on Sequel Records in 1998. Origin London, England Genres Pop, rhythm and blues, jazz Years active 1960–1971 Labels Pye, Columbia, Jay Boy Associated acts Lennie Peters Past members Gilbert "Gil" Lucas Mike Felix Lenny Blanche Stan "Red" Lambert Alan "Earl" Watson Norman Langford.
 Here is "Mockin'Bird Hill"From March 1964 Enjoy

Linda Ronstadt & The Stone Poneys

"Different Drum" is a song written by Mike Nesmith in 1965 and first recorded by the northern bluegrass band the Greenbriar Boys and included on their 1966 album, Better Late than Never!. The song became popular in 1967 when recorded by the Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt, who took their version of "Different Drum" to #12 on the Cash Box Top 100, #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #16 in Record World magazine. The song did best in New Zealand, where it reached #5. In 1972, Nesmith recorded his own version of his song. "Different Drum" has since been covered by other artists over the years. The song reached a wider audience when Mike Nesmith rushed through a version of it in a comedy bit while pretending to be Billy Roy Hodstetter, in the Monkees television show episode "Too Many Girls", which aired in December 1966. Davy Jones mentions this during the commentary track on some DVDs of this episode. The song tells of a pair of lovers, one of whom wants to settle down, while the other wants to retain a sense of freedom and independence. Its narrator is the lover who wants to remain free, telling the other that "we'll both live a lot longer" if they part ways now. Nesmith later rerecorded the song for his 1972 LP And the Hits Just Keep on Comin'. His version contains four verses, as opposed to the three in Ronstadt's version.The song is best known for the 1967 version credited to the Stone Poneys featuring a vocal performance by a young and up-and-coming singer named Linda Ronstadt. The song was Ronstadt's first hit single, reaching number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as number 12 on the Cash Box magazine singles chart. (It went to number 1 in the Los Angeles market and number 6 in Detroit.)

Ronstadt's version flips the gender references in Nesmith's original lyrics, replacing "girl" with "boy" when describing her lover, but still referring to him being "pretty". The Stone Poneys had intended to record an "acoustic ballad version" of the song, but producer Nick Venet opted for a more complex instrumental approach, using an arrangement by Jimmy Bond (who also played bass), guitarist Al Viola, drummer Jim Gordon, strings led by Sid Sharp, and harpsichord played in baroque style (and largely improvised during the recording) by Don Randi. As a result, Ronstadt was the only member of the Stone Poneys who performed on the record. The album rendition offers a different stereo mix than the hit single, including a longer harpsichord bridge. Ronstadt later commented that she had been surprised and "completely confused" by the changed approach to the song, and that even years later she perceived "fear and a lack of confidence" in her performance. Nesmith, on the other hand, said that Ronstadt's performance of his song "infused it with a new level of passion and sensuality". In later live performances of the song, Nesmith would often sing the closing verse in the same singing style as the Ronstadt version.
Here is "Different Drum" From 1967 Enjoy

Peter's Faces

Quartet formed in 1964 by Peter Nelson out of his previous group (Peter Nelson & the Travellers)

, the name Peter's Faces sounded cooler than the group's music evidently did -- one might've hoped for a good, hard mod sound, given their use of the slang term "face," but they were a lot less intense, than, say, the Small Faces or the Who. Nelson sang and played bass, while Tony Hall handled the rhythm guitar and saxophone, John McDonald played lead (succeeded for a time by Vic Briggs, who was billed at the time as Antion Meredith), and Peter Coleman played the drums. They were signed to Pye Records' Piccadilly label and issued three singles during 1964 and 1965: "Why Did You Bring Him to the Dance" b/w "She's in Love," "Wait" b/w "Just Like Romeo and Juliet," and "De-Boom-Lay-Boom" b/w "Suzie Q," none of which ever charted, though this last evidently came close. Nelson tried for a solo career in 1965 as a balladeer on Piccadilly, and later, with Faces member Robin Shaw, he had a hand in forming the Flowerpot Men in conjunction with the members of the Ivy League. They enjoyed some success on Deram Records with "Let's Go to San Francisco" and by 1970, with Nelson and Shaw still aboard, had morphed into White Plains, who had a hit with "My Baby Loves Lovin'." Shaw and guitarist Tony Hall reportedly continue to perform in the 21st century as members of the current edition of Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers, working the oldies circuit in England and continental Europe. One of their songs, "I Don't Care," has been released on CD, on the Sequel label's Hippy Hippy Shake: Beat Era, Vol. 2 compilation.Having lacked a commercial breakthrough, the group disbanded, although Peter Nelson continued on as a solo artiste, re-signing with the Piccadilly label and staying with producer John Schroeder. Peter shifted his focus from the beat era musical influence to a more folk-flavoured style. His debut solo disc "Love Will Come Your Way" featured a string arrangement, while "Donna" was a re-make of the Ritchie Valens hit. Appearing on the same show as The Honeycombs and Kenny Lynch, Peter promoted "Donna" on Thank Your Lucky Stars, but the single failed to enter the charts. Peter relates how his next release, Tim Hardin's "Don't Make Promises (You Can't Keep)" was acquired for recording: "If I remember correctly, my manager, Terry Young, managed to get hold of a pre-release acetate of the first Tim Hardin album. I loved the song "Don't Make Promises" and took it to John Schroeder. Fortunately he agreed with me about its quality, and we cut our version of the track. It's still a favourite song of mine." In September 1966, Peter released his final Piccadilly single, the Chip Taylor composition of "A Little Bit Later on Down the Line". (The song became a number 14 hit on the Billboard Country chart in 1968 for Bobby Bare 47-9568.) At this time Peter's former band mate, Robin Shaw, who had become a session singer/musician for Southern Music, suggested that Peter be brought into The Flower Pot Men for live TV appearances and touring. In the summer of 1967, John Carter and Ken Lewis, Southern Music's main song-writing team, had recorded "Let's Go to San Francisco" with studio session men, including Robin Shaw, and as a result of the single becoming a Number 4 UK hit, a group was now required for live appearances. Robin Shaw had also formed a song-writing partnership at this time with Micky Keen who also recorded as part of The Flower Pot Men. Consequently, as a new member, Peter Nelson was added as a vocalist on the further recordings of The Flower Pot Men and when some of its members formed White Plains, Peter joined White Plains and became the featured vocalist on a selection of their singles, including the UK Number 8 hit "Julie Do You Love Me" credited to White Plains with Pete Nelson, "When You Are a King" (UK Number 13) and a recording that had its origin as a Cadbury's chocolate TV jingle, "Step into a Dream" (UK Number 21), from the pens of Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. Shortly before the release of "Step into a Dream", Peter had also returned to his solo recording career, releasing two singles for the tiny Peacock label, "Making My Life So Easy" b/w "I'm Not Blind" and "Good Scotch Whisky" b/w "I Am a Ship" with all four tracks produced by Peter's long-time manager Terry Young and musical arrangements by Ivor Raymonde. However, without Peacock having the financial resources and contacts to promote the singles, neither of them charted. Further single releases from White Plains on the Bradleys and PVK labels failed to set the charts afire and by the end of the 1970's Peter had left the music industry and reverted to his family surname of Lipscomb. Peter Nelson passed away on October 23 2005 in Ealing, London as a result of cancer. Here is "Just Like Romeo and Juliet" From 1965 Enjoy

Danger Man

Danger Man (titled Secret Agent in the United States, and Destination Danger and John Drake in other non-UK markets) is a British television series which was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the programme and wrote many of the scripts. Danger Man was financed by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.

The idea for Danger Man originated with Ralph Smart, an associate of Lew Grade, the head of ITC Entertainment. Grade was looking for formats that could be exported.
Ian Fleming was brought in to collaborate on series development, but left before development was complete. Like James Bond, the main character is a globetrotting British spy (albeit one who works for NATO rather than MI6), who cleverly extricates himself from life-threatening situations and introduces himself as "Drake...John Drake."
Fleming was replaced by Ian Stuart Black, and a new format/character initially called "Lone Wolf" was developed. This evolved into Danger Man.
After Patrick McGoohan was cast, he also impacted character development. A key difference from Bond traces to the family-oriented star's preferences: no firearms (with a few rare exceptions) and no outright seduction of female co-stars (though Drake did engage in low-key romance in a few episodes).
In the United States, CBS broadcast some of the original format's episodes of the program in 1961 under the Danger Man title as a summer replacement for the Western series Wanted: Dead or Alive. Under the Secret Agent title, the same network aired the entirety of the second and third series in 1965-1966.
Fleming went on to assist in pre-production on the 1964 American series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., as well as the Eon Productions series of James Bond films.The pilot was written by Brian Clemens, who later co-created The Avengers. In an interview Clemens said:

The pilot I wrote was called "View from the Villa" and it was set in Italy, but the production manager set the shoot on location in Portmeirion,(Wales UK) which looked like Italy but which was much closer. And obviously the location stuck in Patrick McGoohan's mind, because that's where he shot his television series The Prisoner much later.

Music

Theme

• Series 1 The Danger Man Theme, composed by Edwin Astley
• Series 2–4 High Wire, composed by Edwin Astley
• Series 2–4 in the US as Secret Agent, "Secret Agent Man", theme composed by P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri, and recorded by Johnny Rivers.
• Incidental music throughout all four series by Edwin Astley

The second "Danger Man" theme, "High Wire," developed during series 2-4. The original version features a subdued rhythm section with almost inaudible drums. This was replaced with a revised version with drums and bass pushed to the fore in the mix. The end credits theme tune was set to end in the same manner as the opening theme, ending on the held, questioning, lower "E". The two-note coda was added soon afterwards to make a definite ending. An audio clip from the recording session this comes from can be heard as an extra on the final disk of the DVD set from Network DVD. The revised theme featured this as a normal end to the tune. As series 4 was to be made in colour for the first time, a completely new arrangement was recorded which owed much to the arrangement on Astley's full-length version of "High Wire" (released on single the previous year - see below). The feature film "Koroshi" was created from the only two episodes made for series 4, "Koroshi" and "Shinda Shima", and uses this new arrangement over the closing titles only.
Here is  1961 - Theme from Danger Man, the "Red Price Combo" (main theme used in the 1st Series) - Parlophone 45 R 4789 Enjoy

Graham Bonney

 (born Graham Arthur Ernest George Bradly, 2 June 1943) is a British pop singer and songwriter who has mainly lived and worked in Germany. Although he only had one UK chart hit, "Super Girl" in 1966, his success has continued in Europe
.

He was born in Basildon, Essex, and worked as a child actor before forming his first group when at school. In 1961 he joined the Espresso Five, followed in 1962 by The Ambers, with whom he performed at the Star-Club in Hamburg. In 1964 he became lead singer with The Riot Squad, a band put together by manager Larry Page. 

After three unsuccessful singles for Pye Records in 1965, Bonney left the band for a solo career. He started writing songs with Barry Mason, and his second solo single "Super Girl", issued on the Columbia label, reached no.19 on the UK singles chart in 1966. It proved more popular in Europe, reaching number 1 in some German charts and remaining in the top 10 there for several months, reportedly selling over 1 million copies. 

Follow-up records in Britain were less successful, but Bonney established a lasting career in Germany, where 14 of his singles reached the top fifty between 1966 and 1973. His German hits included "Das Girl mit dem La-La-La", "Wähle 333", "Du bist viel zu schön", and "Brandy". He won Bravo Otto awards as top singer in 1967 and 1968. He appeared regularly on German television, toured with The Beach Boys and others, and had his own TV show, Hits a Go Go. He returned to Britain in 1969 to co-host early editions of the TV show Lift Off with Ayshea.

He continued to be a popular entertainer in Germany through the 1970s and 1980s, his British citizenship allowing him to perform in East as well as West Germany. He also made TV appearances in the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Spain, and has continued to perform and release records in Germany. 

He married a Lufthansa stewardess in 1984 and lives near Cologne.

Here is "Super Girl" From 1966 Enjoy

Casey Jones & The Governors

Brian Casser (born 21 March 1936, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England) is a British singer and guitarist. He led the first notable beat group in Liverpool, Cass & the Cassanovas, who were early rivals of The Beatles in the city. He later led another group, Casey Jones & the Engineers, which was one of Eric Clapton's first bands, and then, as leader of Casey Jones & the Governors, became successful in Germany in the mid-1960s.
Casser lived in Liverpool in the late 1950s, having previously worked in the Merchant Navy. As singer and rhythm guitarist, he formed a trio, Cass & the Cassanovas, in May 1959, with singer and guitarist Adrian Barber (born 13 November 1938, Ilkley, Yorkshire), and drummer and singer Brian J. Hudson (born Brian James Hudson, 21 April 1938, Cleveland, Yorkshire). After a few months, Hudson left and was replaced by Johnny Hutchinson (born 18 July 1940, Malta), known as Johnny Hutch. In need of a bass guitarist, Hutchinson then brought in Johnny Gustafson (born 8 August 1942, Liverpool) in December 1959. At that time Gustafson did not have a proper bass guitar so Barber converted an acoustic for him. The group became popular playing a wide range of music, from Latin American music to rock and roll, in dance halls in the Liverpool area. Casser also started his own music club in Liverpool, the Casanova Club, whose guest groups included one known at the time as the "Silver Beetles"; according to some reports, Casser had suggested that they change their name from the earlier spelling of "Beatals" which Casser found "ridiculous". In May 1960 Cass & the Cassanovas took part in auditions in front of leading manager Larry Parnes who was looking for backing bands for his stable of pop singers. The group secured a place as backing group for singer Duffy Power and toured with him. By this time, Casser had begun using the stage names of "Casey Jones" and "Casey Valence".
In December 1960, Gustafson, Hutchinson and Barber left the band, and formed themselves into a new trio, The Big Three. Casser moved to London around 1962, and managed the Blue Gardenia club in Soho. He also briefly formed a group called the Nightsounds, which featured Albert Lee on guitar. The following year, he won a recording contract with the Columbia label, and recorded a single, "One Way Ticket", using the name Casey Jones. With drummer Ray Stock, he recruited two former members of R&B group the Roosters, guitarist Eric Clapton and bassist Tom McGuinness, and briefly toured as Casey Jones & the Engineers. Clapton and McGuinness left after a few performances, shortly followed by Stock.
Casser then formed a new group with David Coleman (lead guitar), Roger Cook (rhythm guitar), Jim Rodford (bass) and Peter Richards (drums). They played at the Star-Club in Hamburg and became popular in Germany, releasing two singles, "Tall Girl" and "Don't Ha Ha" on the Bellaphon label, before changing their name to Casey Jones & the Governors, Casey Jones and the Governors (1965) and Don't Ha Ha (1966).

apparently in an attempt to stress their British origins. The record label reissued "Don't Ha Ha" – which in fact was a version of the 1958 Huey Smith and the Clowns song "Don't You Just Know It" – under the new band name and it rose to # 2 on the German pop chart. Casey Jones and the Governors continued to tour and record successfully in Germany for a few years, achieving six top 40 singles and releasing two albums on the Gold 12 label,
In the 1970s, Casser, still using the name Casey Jones, worked as a disc jockey in Löhnberg, and recorded a solo album, Casey's Rock 'n' Roll Show. In the 1990s, he formed a new version of Casey Jones and the Governors to play the oldies circuit in Germany, and in 2006 was reported to be living in Unna near Dortmund.
Here is "Don't Ha Ha" From 1966 Enjoy
 

The Trends

The Trends were a relatively minor Liverpool act formed in the early-middle 1960's. Accounts vary, some saying that they started as the Beachcombers, which then became the Beatcombers, before turning into Mike & The Mersey Men, before becoming the Trends-others say that the Beatcombers were merely a band that some of the Trends' personnel had previously worked in. Tony Priestley, the Trends' lead singer, was a good enough vocalist and also smart enough to know that the group couldn't possibly compete with the Beatles on a Lennon-McCartney song. Still, "All My Loving" became their debut single on the Pye Records subsidiary Piccadilly in 1964. They were much better doing Motown material, which they proved with their covers of the Temptations' "The Way You Do The Things You Do" and Marvin Gaye's "You're A Wonderful One, " which got released on Pye proper, produced by Liverpool rock star Billy Fury. Those failed to sell, and their contract was dropped, and the group split up soon after.

Jeannie And The Big Guys

Formed

Chester, Cheshire, United Kingdom

Members

Rita “Jeannie” Hughes [Cindy Cole] (vocals), Terry Lynch (drums), Peter Johnson (lead guitar), Owen Roberts (bass), Phil Blackman (keyboards), John Pickett (bass), David Jones (lead guitar), Geoff Dawson (rhythm guitar), George Roberts (drums)

Also Known As

The Pacemakers, Four Hits and a Miss

Jeannie and the Big Guys were a Chester quintet, originally called Four Hits & A Miss, the "Miss" being teenaged lead singer Rita Hughes, the daughter of a Chester pub owner, who fronted the group as lead singer for a year or so. As Four Hits and A Miss, their repertory included songs like "Lullaby of Birdland." They became the hottest group in Chester and were signed to Pye in 1963, when Hughes was 17, changing their name to Jeannie and the Big Guys in the process. They cut "Boys" by the Shirelles, which they'd likely heard the Beatles perform, and "Sticks and Stones, " an old Ray Charles number, but saw no chart action. They had a pretty fair Mersey-style r&b sound, but the group broke up when "Jeannie" exited, after a dispute over dressing room decorum, according to the music press of the period, moving over to front Earl Royce and the Olympics, a Liverpool band led by Billy Kally aka Earl Royce (but never recording with them), before going solo-she cut a pair of singles, "A Love Like Yours" and "Lonely City Blue Boy, " under the name Cindy Cole. She later became a successful cabaret artist in her home town, before passing away in 1989.
Here is "Boys" From 1963 Enjoy

The Chants

A five-piece vocal harmony group who proved to be Liverpool’s most popular black vocal act.

The Chants evolved in the Liverpool 8 district of Liverpool, the Toxteth area, which they felt was totally isolated from the rest of Merseyside, part of it being almost a Liverpool equivalent of Harlem, where the black community had their own cultural influences. The music the Chants listened to was reflected in their own cultural heritage as they were brought up on what was to become known as R&B, which was introduced to them by the black GI’s who came to Liverpool 8 from American bases such as Burtonwood. This included doo-wop recordings by outfits such as the Del Vikings, along with the music of artists such as Johnny Otis and Little Richard and the Miracles – this was before these artists became mainstream and their music became the embryonic influence of the Shades, their original name.

Joe and Edmund Ankrah’s father was a church minister who played organ and he taught his sons how to sing in harmony. They enlisted a few of their friends to join them in forming a harmony group and rehearsed in the cellar of the Ankrah’s house, initially practicing harmony with a version of Paul Anka’s ‘Don’t Gamble With Love.’“The Beatles themselves offered to back us when we told them we’d never worked with a band before. We then rehearsed four songs with them and then we ran home to tell all and sundry that we had ‘made it’!”

“When Brian Epstein arrived at the Cavern that night he refused to allow the Beatles to back us, but they collectively persuaded him to change his mind – and when he heard us he invited us to appear on many subsequent appearances with them.”

On that Cavern debut, the Chants, backed by the Beatles, performed ‘Duke Of Earl’, ‘A Thousand Stars’, ‘16 Candles’ and ‘Come Go With Me’ before an enraptured audience, their set lasting approximately 20 minutes.

Local MP Bessie Braddock took an interest in the group as they were from her Liverpool district, the Exchange ward, and she arranged for them to be the only other Liverpool group present at the Beatles’ civic reception at Liverpool Town Hall.

Despite his initial frustration at the Beatles’ agreeing to back the Chants against his wishes, Epstein took over the management of the group early in 1963, but only for a short time, and without any formal signing. The group found him ineffectual as a manager and he agreed to release them. They then signed with Manchester agent Ted Ross, who arranged a recording deal with Pye Records. However, they were later to consider they had committed “professional suicide” by signing with Ross, although they were grateful for what he tried to do for them.

On the special all-Beatles edition of the TV show ‘Juke Box Jury’, the first record played to them was the Chants’ ‘I Could Write A Book’, which they voted a hit – but it became a miss, despite their positive comments.The Chants debut disc, ‘I Don’t Care’, flipside ‘Come Go With Me’, was released on 17 September 1963. Their second, ‘I Could Write A Book’, flipside ‘A Thousand Stars’, was released on 1 January 1964. Their third was ‘She’s Mine’, flipside ‘Then I’ll Be Home’, in June 1964, and their final release for Pye was ‘Sweet Was The Wine’, flipside ‘One Star’ on 11 September 1964.

Eddie Amoo wrote ‘One Star’, credited to Stanley Houseman, as a tribute to Stanley House, where they’d made their first appearance. Stanley House was a social meeting place in the Toxteth area where young met old and black met white to drink, dance and play football, table tennis, snooker and generally mix together.

Commenting on their period with Pye Records, Eddie comments, “They had no idea what to do with a black doo wop group; they just had no idea.”

The group never found record success, despite further releases with Fontana, Page One, Decca and RCA and strong singles such as ‘Man Without A Face’.

After they disbanded in 1975, Joey and Edmund Ankrah joined another group and enjoyed a degree of success on the television show ‘New Faces’. Eddie Amoo formed a Liverpool soul group, The Real Thing, with his brother Chris and finally found UK chart success in June 1976 with ‘You To Me Are Everything’ which topped the charts, it also reached No. 5 on its re-release in April 1986.

The Real Thing were still active at the close of 1999 with Eddie commenting “We have seen our flagship song recorded by Philip Bailey of Earth Wind & Fire and Courtney Pine, one of our leading sax players. ‘Can You Feel The Force’ was probably our biggest seller in terms of sales and is still being covered and sampled all over the world. We also have two songs in the all-time top 100 of the Guinness Book of Records.
 Discography

Singles

I Don’t Care/Come Go With Me. Pye 7N 15557. 1963.

I Could Write A Book/A Thousand Stars. Pye 7N 15591. 1964.

She’s Mine/Then I’ll Be Home. Pye 7N 15643. 1964.

Sweet Was The Wine/One Star. Pye 7N 15643. 1964.

Come Back And Get This Loving Baby/Lovelight. Fontana TF 715. 1967.

A Love’s Story/Wearing A Smile. Decca F 12650. 1967.

Ain’t Nobody Home/For You. Page One POF 016. 1967.

A Man Without A Face/Baby I Don’t Need Your Love. RCA RCA 1754. 1968.

I Get The Sweetest Feeling/Candy. RCA RCA 1823. 1969.
Here is "She's Mine" From 1964 Enjoy
 

Goldie And The Gingerbreads

Jump to search

Goldie & the Gingerbreads was an all-female American rock band from 1962 to 1967, consisting of three musicians and a singer. They were the first all-female rock band signed to a major record label. 

Whereas most female bands were ignored by the big record labels and rarely attracted live audiences, the quartet, consisting of Genya “Goldie” Zelkowitz (later Genya Ravan), Ginger Bianco, Margo Lewis, and Carol MacDonald, was among the first to break into a domain dominated by men. They were signed to Decca in 1963 and to Atlantic in 1964.

In 1962, Genya Zelkowitz (who would eventually change her last name to Ravan–her better-known last name when she was the lead singer of the band Ten Wheel Drive) first met Ginger Panabianco in a New York City club when Zelkowitz was the lead singer of Richard Perry's band The Escorts Panabianco was on stage, performing as the drummer for one of Perry's friends. The discovery of a female drummer inspired in Genya Ravan the idea of an all-female rock band. The name of the would-be band was decided upon rapidly: Goldie was the name by which Ravan's mother chose to call her after their arrival in the United States from post-war Poland, while gingerbread was a play on Ginger's name. 

Richard Perry and the other members of The Escorts were college students. When the summer concert season ended, Genya and Ginger began to look for a pianist and soon recruited Carol O'Grady. Finding a female guitarist turned out to be much harder. Various ad-hoc recruits filled in as and when required, but when they accompanied Chubby Checker on his 1962 concert tour of West Germany and Switzerland, they performed without a guitarist. Organist Margo Lewis, who turned out to be the group's third permanent member, replaced O'Grady and performed with the group on the Chubby Checker tour. The following year, Goldie and the Gingerbreads found guitarist and vocalist Carol MacDonald, who at the time was signed to Atlantic/Atco Records, and she became the fourth permanent band member. 

The group's first release on the Spokane Records label was titled "Skinny Vinnie". Although credited to Zelkowitz and Stan Green, the song was in fact the Bill Haley composition "Skinny Minnie" with slight lyric changes. In 1964, fashion photographer and director Jerry Schatzberg threw a party for the Warhol Superstar Baby Jane Holzer that was later referred to by writer Tom Wolfe as "the Mods and Rockers ball, the party of the year." Goldie and the Gingerbreads were booked to provide the musical entertainment and impressed the assembled attendees with both their music and their inimitable presence. Among the guests at this fashionable and well-attended event were The Rolling Stones and Ahmet Ertegün, the chairman of Atlantic Records

, who promptly signed them to the label.

Later in 1964, the band met Eric Burdon and The Animals, whose manager contracted the Gingerbreads for a tour in England. These standard group tours were arranged by record companies to showcase their roster of talent and the Gingerbreads were one of up to six bands on the tour, performing on the same bill night after night in small towns. In Britain, they toured with The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Beatles, The Yardbirds, The Hollies and The Kinks, among others. 

Troubles with British working visa requirements led to the band performing dates in West Germany (where many UK and US troops were then stationed as part of the NATO defences) at venues including the Star-Club in Hamburg while they waited for their British work permits to come through. 

A subsequent appearance in Paris at the Olympia earned Goldie & The Gingerbreads a favourable introduction to the French music scene, despite technical difficulties that arose during the performance.

Throughout the early 1960s, when Goldie and the Gingerbreads toured extensively throughout North America. Club and venue promoters were not so much interested in their music as in the excitement that an all-female musical group caused. 

Goldie and the Gingerbreads did have one single, "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", that reached No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart in 1965 Although the single was also released in the United States, a recording of the same song by the heavily promoted Herman's Hermits was released with great fanfare just two weeks prior to the Gingerbreads' release, thus fatally undermining the Gingerbreads' chances for their first hit single in the U.S.Over the course of 1967 and 1968, Goldie and the Gingerbreads gradually broke up. They returned to the United States in an attempt to garner success, but failed. Genya Ravan's strong personality and forceful leadership of the band has been cited as a major factor in the band's split

Frustration due to making little profit from their record releases may also have been an issue.

Genya Ravan went on to form Ten Wheel Drive. She now hosts two radio shows in Little Stevens Underground Garage Siriux/XM Goldies Garage and Chicks and Broads. Ravan's memoirs, entitled Lollipop Lounge: Memoirs of a Rock and Roll Refugee, were published in 2004 by Billboard Books. 

Carol MacDonald and Ginger Bianco later formed the nucleus of jazz-fusion band Isis. 

Margo Lewis joined her ex-bandmates in 1974. Along with being an accomplished musician, Lewis is owner and president of Talent Consultants International, Ltd., a talent booking agency in New York, and is partner in Talent Source, Ltd, which manages the estate of Bo Diddley. Lewis toured with Diddley not only as his personal manager, but also as his keyboard player for the last 10 years of Diddley's life.

In 2011, Goldie and The Gingerbreads were recognized by the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame

Here is "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat" From  1965 Enjoy

The Applejacks

The Applejacks were an English pop and beat group of the 1960s. They were the first "Brumbeat" group (that is, from the West Midlands conurbation-Birmingham area) to reach the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, and were unusual for having a female bass guitarist, Megan Davies.

All of the Applejacks (except Jackson) were members of the same scout troop as children. Baggott, Cash and Freeman began playing together in a skiffle group named the Crestas in 1961, occasionally performing at a local youth club. Davies joined the group in 1961, Gould the following year. Lacking a vocalist, they were strictly an instrumental band until the addition of singer Al Jackson in 1963; they began playing rock and roll songs and secured a residency at Solihull Civic Hall. During that time, they changed their name to the Jaguars before finally becoming the Applejacks in July 1962.

Signed to Decca Records late in 1963, their success was largely due to the strength of their first single, "Tell Me When". Written by Les Reed and Geoff Stephens, "Tell Me When" was released in February 1964 and shot to No. 7 in the UK. After the group met the Beatles during rehearsals for a television appearance, John Lennon and Paul McCartney provided the Applejacks with a song which was to be their second single: "Like Dreamers Do". However, the record only reached number 20 in the UK chart, whilst their final hit, "Three Little Words (I Love You)" (also in 1964), made it to No. 23. 

The group quarrelled with Decca over their next single. Decca wanted them to record "Chim Chim Chiree", but the group disliked the song. Although the single had been announced (and is therefore listed in most discographies), it was never released. According to Megan Davies, the group did not even record "Chim Chim Chiree". Thanks to this quarrel, their next single, "Bye Bye Girl", was released half a year after "Three Little Words".

Although Decca continued to issue Applejacks recordings during 1965 (including the first released version of Ray Davies's "I Go to Sleep"), they met with little response from the public, leading to a rapid return to playing local gigs. After 1966, the group became an act on some of the world's cruise liners, working for Cunard until the end of the decade and frequently aboard the RMS Queen Mary, RMS Queen Elizabeth and RMS Queen Elizabeth 2. 

Freeman and Davies were married in September 1964, with the other band members serving as groomsmen. Davies eventually retired from music to become a nurse and hospital administrator for the National Health Service.

They were once described as the "Solihull Sound", and Chris May and Tim Phillips compared their music to the bijou doorbells popular in Solihull at the time.

On 11 December 2010, the band came together once more to perform a one-off concert at St Mary's Church, Solihull, in which church the Applejacks practised in the early days. The concert was meant to raise funds for the church.

Here is "Tell Me When" From 1964 Enjoy