The Tremeloes are an
English rock and roll band, founded in
1958 in
Dagenham, Essex. The Tremeloes are one of the longest surviving, still playing regularly more than 50 years after the group's founding. They had fourteen UK and two
U.S. Top 20 hit
singles. They were the first south of
England group to top the chart in the beat boom era.
The band first got together in 1958, when the original members were all in their teens. They were closer in years and background to early
British beat bands like
The Shadows than to the
British Invasion bands with which they subsequently became associated. The original line-up of
Brian Poole (vocals, guitar),
Alan Blakely (drums),
Alan Howard (saxophone), and
Graham Scott (guitar), had
Buddy Holly's
Crickets as their inspiration. This version of the band did not stay together long, however, and Blakley quickly switched to guitar (which
Poole relinquished) after
Dave Munden joined on the drums. Munden proved not only to be a very talented percussionist, but also a good singer. This gave the group a third vocalist, which would prove essential to their success further on in their history.
Howard also switched to bass soon after Munden joined.
The band then known as the Tremilos thanks to a misspelling, built up a following at local dances and clubs, and then broke into the
U.S. Air Force base circuit. By
1961, they had turned professional, and the group's line-up changed again when Graham Scott left and was replaced by
Rick West, who had previously played with
Tony Rivers and the Castaways.
West's arrival was key to the group's long-term success, providing the band with a classically trained guitarist. They also got a manager,
Peter Walsh, who already represented such acts as
The Brook Brothers, and
the vocal group The Kestrels. The band's first break happened soon after when they were spotted by
Jimmy Grant, the producer of the
BBC's Saturday Club, who got them an audition for the
BBC. This led to the group becoming regulars on radio.
On
New Years Day, 1962, Decca, looking for a beat group, auditioned two promising young bands: The Tremeloes and
The Beatles. They chose the
Tremeloes, based on the fact that they were based in
London and, thus, would be more accessible than the
Beatles. They recorded a series of records backing other artists, including
The Vernons Girls and disc jockey,
Jimmy Savile, on the latter's version of "
Ahab the Arab". They appeared in the film,
Just for Fun, but early singles of "
Twist Little Sister" and "
Keep on Dancing" failed to find an audience. The then line-up was lead vocalist Brian Poole, lead guitarist
Ricky West, keyboardist Alan Blakely, bassist Alan Howard and drummer Dave Munden.
The Tremeloes first charted with a version of "
Twist and Shout" (
1963. This was followed by a chart topping cover of
The Contours' U.S. million-seller "
Do You Love Me" in the same year. The Tremeloes version of "Do You Love Me" sold over
250,000 copies.
When Poole and Howard left the band in 1966, Alan Blakely took over leadership of the group, and Len "
Chip"
Hawkes, father of
1990s hitmaker
Chesney Hawkes, replaced Howard. Poole pursued a career as a solo artist, with little success, and soon left the music industry.
After switching from Decca to
CBS Records, the Tremeloes started an even more successful hit run from
1967 onwards with
Cat Stevens' "
Here Comes My Baby"; "
Hello World " and two
Italian hits translated into
English, "
Suddenly You Love Me" (which is
Riccardo Del Turco's "
Uno tranquillo" - "One
Quiet Man") and "My
Little Lady" (based on
Orietta Berti's "Non illuderti mai" - "Never Deceive
Yourself"), and their
Number one recording of an old
Four Seasons'
B-side, "
Silence is Golden". Both this last single and "Here Comes My Baby" also entered the Top Twenty of the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100 on
CBS' co-owned
Epic Records. In addition both tracks sold one million copies globally, earning gold disc status (There is a lot more about the Tremeloes in their bio on
Wikipedia.com).
PLEASE
NOTE: I divided my uploads among multiple channels, Bookmark this link in your browser for instant access to an index with links to all of John1948's oldies classics.
LINK:
http://john1948.wikifoundry.com/page/John1948%27s+Youtube+
Index
- published: 22 Oct 2009
- views: 143254