Twinkle

Lynn Annette Ripley (15 July 1948 – 21 May 2015), better known by the stage name Twinkle, was an English singer-songwriter. She had chart successes in the 1960s with her best known songs, "Terry" and "Golden Lights.
Born in Surbiton, Surrey into a well-to-do family, Ripley was known to her family as "Twinkle". She attended Queen's Gate School with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and was the aunt of actress Fay Ripley.
Twinkle owed her rapid entry into the recording studio at the age of 16 to her then-boyfriend, Dec Cluskey, of the popular vocal group The Bachelors, who was introduced to her by her sister, a music journalist, and who passed on to his manager a demo that Twinkle's father played to him. Her song "Terry" was a teenage tragedy song about the death of a boyfriend in a motorcycle crash. Big Jim Sullivan, Jimmy Page and Bobby Graham were among the high-profile star session musicians who played on the recording, which conjured up a dark mood with its doleful backing vocals, spooky organ, 12-string guitar and slow, emphatic rhythm arranged by Phil Coulter. The theme was of a common type for the era, it bore some similarities to the Shangri-Las' slightly earlier "Leader of the Pack" (1964), but the record caused a furore, accusations of bad taste leading to a ban from the BBC.
The follow-up, "Golden Lights", was also written by Twinkle, with a B-side again by producer Tommy Scott. By then Cluskey was her ex-boyfriend: Twinkle dated Peter Noone in 1965. The lyrics express disillusionment with the pop business: her EP track "A Lonely Singing Doll", the English-language version of France Gall's 1965 winning Eurovision Song Contest song for Luxembourg, "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", originally written by Serge Gainsbourg, returned to a theme similar to "Golden Lights". "Johnny" continued to explore dangerous territory, this time that of a childhood friend who becomes a criminal, but it seems the pressure to produce "another Terry" led her producers to pass over her own material, for "Tommy", a song written for Reparata and the Delrons and "The End of the World" a tune composed for Skeeter Davis. Twinkle made few live appearances but performed "Terry" at the annual New Musical Express hit concerts. After recording six singles for Decca Records she "retired" at the age of eighteen in 1966.
In 1969 she recorded a self-written single, the Tamla Motown-styled "Micky", backed by "Darby and Joan", both produced by Mike d'Abo (also among the relatively few pop musicians of a privileged background in that era) for the Immediate label. The single vanished, unpublicised. In the ensuing years, unsigned and working in music for advertising, she recorded a suite of songs inspired by her relationship with "Micky", the actor/model Michael Hannah, who was killed in an air-crash in 1974. These remained unreleased until they were included on CD compilations. Her later recordings appeared under the name Twinkle Ripley. She recorded a 1975 single, "Smoochie" with her father, Sidney Ripley as "Bill & Coo".

In the 1980s "Golden Lights" was covered by The Smiths and appeared on their compilation albums The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs while in 1983 Cindy & The Saffrons covered "Terry".

Photographic publicity portraits of Twinkle taken in the mid-1960s are exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery

In 1972, she married actor-model Graham Rogers, who starred in the Milk Tray chocolate adverts. They had two children, Michael and Amber.
On 21 May 2015, Twinkle died at 66 on the Isle of Wight, after a five-year battle with cancer.
Here is "Golden Lights" (Twinkle) b/w "Ain't Nobody Home But Me" (Tommy Scott) (1965)
UK No. 21. Enjoy.

Episode Six

Episode Six c.1966

Harvery Shield, Tony Lander, Roger Glover, Sheila Carter, Graham Carter, Ian Gillan

Episode Six were an English rock band formed in Harrow, London in 1965. The band did not have commercial success in the UK, releasing nine singles that all failed to chart, but they did find minor success in Beirut at the time. Group members Ian Gillan and Roger Glover left in 1969 to join Deep Purple, while drummer Mick Underwood founded Quatermass and later collaborated with Gillan.
The band was formed in Hatch End, then in Middlesex, in July 1964 from two local bands, The Lightnings and the Madisons, who had all met at Harrow County School. The original line-up consisted of Glover on bass, Andy Ross on vocals, siblings Sheila Carter-Dimmock on keyboards and vocals and Graham Carter-Dimmock on guitar and vocals, with guitarist Tony Lander and drummer Harvey Shield. The band initially rehearsed at the Carter-Dimmocks' family house, and initial influences came from The Beach Boys, The Lovin' Spoonful and The Beatles.

By 1965, the band had signed a management deal with Gloria Bristow, a former employee of Helmut Gordon, original manager of what became The Who. In April of that year, the band were offered a short residency at the Arcadia Club in Frankfurt, Germany, playing from 7 pm to 3 am every night for a month, with only 15 minutes break every hour. Immediately on their return, Ross decided to get married and quit the music business, and consequently Bristow recommended Gillan as a replacement. Shortly afterwards, they signed a deal with the Dick Katz / Harold Davidson Ltd agency, though the band had difficulty finding regular work through this, feeling that the agency's attention was being diverted towards other bands. By the end of the year, however, they managed to land a deal with Pye Records They were doing an average of twenty shows a month from July '65 onwards and cut their first single, The Hollies' "Put Yourself in My Place" before the end of the year. It was released in early 1966.

The band were booked by Radio London to appear at one of their big open-air summer shows in May 1966 alongside David Bowie and issued more singles during the year, all of which failed to chart. In September 1966 the group played on the Dusty Springfield package tour and did a weekly residency at the Marquee Club during October. There was also the first solo single from Sheila; "I Will Warm Your Heart" in November 1966. Due to financial difficulties, and lack of chart success, the band were forced to do a long Christmas season in Beirut (where they had topped the local chart with a cover of Tim Rose's Morning Dew) through December and January.

The group had by now built up an impressive repertoire of covers and originals and would vary their sets according to the audiences. They were also beginning to do sessions for the BBC. They did a mini tour of London parks (organised by the Greater London Council) in mid-June 1967, performing two 45-minute sets, and played for four weeks in Germany. On their return Shield left the group due to ill health, and was replaced by John Kerrison (born 1947), who had previously played in The Pirates with future Deep Purple member Nick Simper.

The group got a new record deal with MGM Records and shortened their name to The Episode, releasing "Little One" in May 1968 (their only single under the new name). They did three UK TV shows to promote this and recorded dozens of tracks for radio sessions over the year, including the new Radio 1 Club. However they were not getting along with their new drummer (Gillan subsequently referred to him as "a character and a half"), who was eventually fired, replaced by ex-Outlaws drummer Mick Underwood.

The group left MGM and signed with Chapter One records, releasing 'Lucky Sunday' in September 1968, which became their eighth single to fail to chart in the UK. Gillan hated the brass section on the record. "Mozart Vs The Rest" followed in February 1969. This was issued in response to hundreds of calls to BBC Radio 1 after the band performed it on air. Sadly this happened too late for it to chart. They also contributed "Gentlemen of the Park" to the soundtrack of the 1968 short film Les Bicyclettes de Belsize.

The band decided they needed to update their musical style from the pop-rock they had been playing into a heavier sound, and made a start on a début album but it was never finished. In June 1969 Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord came to see Episode Six play live in London, and then offered Gillan a job in Deep Purple. Glover helped Deep Purple out on a studio session and was also asked to join them. The pair helped Episode Six fulfil existing bookings in the short term, and then quit following their first gig with Deep Purple at the Speakeasy on 10 July.

Episode Six carried on for a time with John Gustafson on bass and vocals. Sheila rehearsed with Pete Robinson, John Gustafson and Mick Underwood as a quartet, before they formed the trio Quatermass. Episode Six then played for a while with Sheila, Tony Lander, Dave Lawson (later of Greenslade) and Tony Dangerfield on bass. By the end of the year they were billed as Episode Six with Sheila Carter and then The Sheila Carter Band, and this continued off and on (mostly with gigs abroad) until 1974 with Sheila as the constant, before she went into session work.

A couple of singles recorded by Episode Six for Pye Records have been produced by Tony Reeves, a renowned bassist and one of founder members of Colosseum.

On December 6, 2015, for their 50th. anniversary, the band reunited and performed in front of an audience of family and friends in London.
Here is "Put Yourself in My Place" b/w "That's All I Want" (21 January 1966) Enjoy.

Vince Eager

Vince Eager (born Roy Taylor, 4 June 1940, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England) is an English pop singer. He was widely promoted by impresario Larry Parnes, but later quarrelled with him over his commercialising of Eddie Cochran's tragic early death. Eager has since appeared in cabaret and on the West End stage.
As a teenager, he formed the Harmonica Vagabonds, later the Vagabonds Skiffle Group, with Roy Clark, Mick Fretwell, and bassist Brian Locking. The group reached the final round of a televised "World Skiffle Championship" in 1958, and were offered a residency at the 2 I's Coffee Bar in London. There, they were signed by impresario Larry Parnes, who took Taylor into his stable of performers, and gave him one of his characteristic stage names, Vince Eager. After touring and releasing an EP as Vince Eager & the Vagabonds, Clark and Fretwell returned home. Vince Eager and Brian Locking remained in London, Locking performing with Marty Wilde before joining the Shadows.
During 1959 Vince Eager was a regular on BBC TV's Drumbeat, often accompanied by the John Barry Seven. In 1960 he was one of the contestants on A Song for Europe. His song, "Teenage Tears", in the semi-final was ranked last in the total of six entries for nomination to the Eurovision Song Contest. According to Vince Eager's website, "the death of his best friend Eddie Cochran in a car crash on Easter Sunday 1960 was to prove a turning point in Vince's career. He was disgusted with the manner in which Parnes sought to gain publicity from the accident and he began the process of getting away from the "Parnes Stable" of popsters.
In the years that followed the Parnes era, he toured on the cabaret circuit, and performed in theatre and pantomime. For five years he starred in the West End musical Elvis. In 1986, he moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA where he worked as a cruise director on American luxury cruise ships.

Now residing back in the UK, Eager's career has had something of a resurgence. Teaming up with producer and musician Alan Wilson, there have been new recordings some of which have featured Eager's old friends including; Marty Wilde, Albert Lee and Chas Hodges. The resulting album release, titled 788 years of Rock n Roll sold well enough for Wilson's Western Star record label to invite Eager back for another session in 2013. The latest album, Rockabilly Dinosaur was released in 2014. Eager now lives in Nottinghamshire.

In 2018 he features on the track "Halfway to Paradise" on the newly released Billy Fury album The Symphonic Sound of Fury.
Here is " No More", Parlophone, 1958 (b/w) Enjoy.

The Brumbeats

Here is Robert Plant With The Brumbeats in 1963

 (Note: there was also another 1960's group in Birmingham called "The Brum Beats" whose vocalist Norman Haines would later join the group Locomotive).

This Birmingham group came very close to making a breakthrough into the record charts early in 1964 during the first wave of the U.K. 'beat boom' as started by The Beatles. They were originally called 'The Plazents' after Mary Regan's well known Plaza Ballroom in Old Hill where the band became the resident act.
The Plazents were formed in Erdington by drummer Dave Mountney (from the Beachcombers), guitarists Graham Gallery and Roger Hill (both previously with a group called Bobby and The Dominators) while saxophonist Paul Carter came from Northfield. By 1963, The Plazents had enlisted Buddy Ash from Smethwick, formerly of The Eko's and the Diplomats, as their lead vocalist.
While at the Plaza, the group were able to back some well known visiting American artists such as Tommy Roe, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chris Montez, The Ronettes, and many more. The positive response to The Plazents from the Plaza regulars was such that they were signed to a recording contract by Decca Records in July 1963 although it would not be until September before they could go into the studio due to bass guitarist Graham Gallery having a bout with pneumonia. Decca also told the group to get another drummer so Dave Mountney was replaced by Alan "Bugsy" Eastwood.
In order to capitalize on the so-called "Mersey Beat" mania that was sweeping the country at that time, the term "Brum Beat" was being used by some promoters as a means of advertising West Midlands groups who had recently been signed-up. In light of this, Decca Records decided that The Plazents name should be changed to "The Brumbeats" prior to the release of their first single
Decca Records chose a great song for the A-side of The Brumbeats first record release that had been composed by the group themselves. The track was called 'I Don't Understand' with the recording done very much in the style of the popular "Mersey Sound" while also considered as a potential record for well known singer Billy Fury. The song was actually composed by the Brumbeats singer Buddy Ash (Graham Ashford) who wrote the lyrics with the music composed by Graham Gallery and Roger Hill.
The record was produced by Mike Leander who had recently made hit records with another Brum band The Applejacks. Despite radio and TV appearances on shows like "Thank Your Lucky Stars" The Brumbeats 45 of I Don't Understand did not manage to become a national hit although the record sold-out in many Birmingham record shops.

A local newspaper at the time published a story on the band titled; "It could be a really fab Feb. for the Brum Beats". The story went on to say; "They are all good musicians - quite a rarity among modern beat groups - and Decca are considering using them as session men."
As well as providing support for visiting acts, The Brumbeats had performed on the same bill as The Beatles whenever they played in the Birmingham area. The Brumbeats similarity in their sound to The Beatles was not lost on Decca Records as they were soon involved in a project resulting in the release of a rare 15-track album of Beatles songs as performed by "The Merseyboys" who were really The Brumbeats under a different name.
While most Beatles fans would not be fooled by these recordings, the LP stands as a tribute to The Brumbeats as talented musicians and in particular guitarist Roger Hill who brilliantly duplicates both George and John's parts simultaneously as he probably usually did on stage! This album was also issued in the U.S.A. on the famous Vee-Jay Records label - one of the first American labels to promote records by The Beatles.

Despite making other recordings for Decca, the Brumbeats unfortunately broke up in early 1965 when Graham Ashford left to go solo before further records could be released. The group later re-formed for a short time with new members Robbie Harper and Alan Buxton replacing Roger Hill and Bugsy Eastwood.

Graham Gallery briefly joined the Rockin' Berries and later became a member of "The Midland Light Orchestra". He also worked with the famous Move and Wizzard performer Roy Wood during the 1970s. Graham died in the 1980s at only 35 years of age.
Roger Hill went on to other Birmingham bands which included The Uglys and later re-uniting with former Brumbeats drummer Alan Eastwood when they formed the pop/rock group The Exception. Roger enjoyed a successful career as a jazz guitarist until he passed away in 2011 (see Roger Hill). Sadly, Alan "Bugsy" Eastwood also passed away in 2007.

Buddy Ash (Graham Ashford) went on to form his own new group in 1965 that was named The Bobby Ash Sound. Graham later moved to Hawaii and now lives in California where he still continues to perform and write songs. Saxophonist Paul Carter was recently discovered in South Africa where he still lives today.

Credit and Thanks to Graham Ashford for assistance in writing The Brumbeats story.
Here is "Cry Little Girl, Cry" From (Decca F 11834) 1964 Enjoy.

The Remo Four

The Remo Four were a 1950s-1960s rock band from Liverpool, England. They were contemporaries of The Beatles, and later had the same manager, Brian Epstein. Its members were Colin Manley (born Colin William Manley, 16 April 1942, in Old Swan, Liverpool, Lancashire died 9 April 1999) (lead guitar/vocals), Phil Rogers (rhythm guitar/bass guitar/vocals) (born Philip Rogers, March 1942, in Liverpool), Don Andrew (born Donald Andrew, in 1942, in Liverpool) (bass guitar/vocals), and Roy Dyke (drums) (born 13 February 1945, in Liverpool). Andrew and Manley were in the same class at school (Liverpool Institute for Boys) as Paul McCartney.

Manley and Andrew formed the Remo Quartet in 1958, with singer/guitarist Keith Stokes (born in 1942) and drummer Harry Prytherch (born 4 August 1941, Liverpool d. 13 October 2015). They progressed from playing local parties and contests to regular hall appearances, and turned professional, changing their name to the Remo Four in summer 1959. They played a mix of vocal harmony material (à la The Everly Brothers), and instrumental numbers in the manner of The Shadows, The Ventures, and Chet Atkins.

The Remo Four were voted Number Three Group in a 1961 Mersey Beat poll, and among their fans were The Beatles, fresh from a season in Hamburg, Germany. Both groups were among the regulars at the Cavern Club during 1961 and 1962, and both shared the bill with Gerry & The Pacemakers, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and Ted "Kingsize" Taylor and the Dominoes, at the 1961 "Operation Big Beat", a festival at New Brighton's Tower Ballroom. While The Beatles travelled back and forth to Hamburg, the Remo Four began playing American Air Force bases in France, building their stage and musical experience. A highlight of their early career was sharing the stage with the Shadows, in the latter's only Cavern Club appearance. Johnny Sandon joined the band as vocalist in 1962, and stayed for two years.

In early 1963, Prytherch decided to get married and find a regular job, and Roy Dyke took his place in the band. That year the band signed up with Epstein's NEMS Enterprises and acquired a new lead singer, Tommy Quickly, and a recording contract with Piccadilly Records, backing Quickly on Lennon and McCartney's "Tip of My Tongue" and other songs. The band also released instrumentals, including a driving rendition of Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn theme.

Different members came and went, including songwriters Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington (who later joined Pete Best in a group, that moved to America), and Tony Ashton (keyboards/vocals), who replaced Don Andrew, with Rogers moving to bass. Another NEMS artist, Billy J. Kramer, became a frontman for the band, which adopted the name "The New Dakotas" while backing him. Despite their talent and track record, the band's success in the record market was limited, and most of their work came as backing musicians, or as the house band in German clubs, including the Star-Club in Hamburg. They released an album, Smile!, on the Star-Club's own label in 1967, featuring elements of rock and jazz.

Late in 1967, Beatle George Harrison hired the Remo Four as his backing band for part of his first solo project, the soundtrack album to the movie Wonderwall. While the songs were mostly instrumentals, they did record one lyrical song, "In the First Place", with Harrison, which was left in the can until the 1990s. (Ashton, Gardner and Dyke later reworked the song and recorded it as "As It Was in the First Place".) They also became Billy Fury's backing band, in the late 1960s.

Disbanding in 1970, Ashton and Dyke joined guitarist Kim Gardner, formerly of The Creation and The Birds (not to be confused with California rock band The Byrds), to form Ashton, Gardner & Dyke, who later recorded a song called "Ballad of the Remo Four". Ashton later formed Paice Ashton Lord with members of Deep Purple. Manley became an accompanist for singers including Engelbert Humperdinck, and later joined The Swinging Blue Jeans. Don Andrew and Colin Manley appeared with Gerry Marsden (of Gerry & The Pacemakers fame) performing on stage in an episode of the UK TV soap "Brookside" in the 1990s. Manley died of cancer on 9 April 1999, and a memorial concert was held for him that June, with some of his former bandmates performing. Ashton also died of cancer, on 28 May 2001. Keith Stokes died on 19 June 2010, cause unknown. He was living in Wallasey and friends and relatives had been trying to trace him for 15 years, without success.

Here is "Peter Gunn" On The Piccadilly Label 7N 35175 (1964) Enjoy.

The Blackwells

Merseyside band The Blackwells in September 1964

The Blackwells were a 60s male Merseybeat group who were resident at the Peppermint Lounge in Liverpool’s city centre. They had dyed hair and skin-tight leather outfits and were known as ‘the blond bombshells’. Who appeared in the film Ferry Cross The Mersey With The Black Knights. Their 1965 Columbia Records single, ‘Why Don’t You Love Me’, is indicative of their gutsy sound. The band is not to be confused with the US group who made the original version of ‘Love Or Money’.On Monday 18th May 1964 they appeared in an all day session at The Cavern with other groups including The Clayton Squares, Billy Kinsley's new group, The Centremen, The Mastersounds, The Hideaways, The Nashpool Four, Freddy Starr & The Flamingoes, The Spidermen, The St Louis Checks, The Georgians, The Coins and The Schatz.

Here is "Why Don't You Love Me" From 1965 Enjoy.