Top Twenty Club & Newmarket Discotheque

10th January 1969THE BANDWAGON American coloured group, The Bandwagon, who rocketed to fame with “Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache”, come to the NewMarket Discotheque on Friday for the first show of 1969. The Bandwagon are led by 23-year-old Johnny Johnson, although each member of the unit is able to sing lead. He is joined by Arthur Fullilove (21), Terry Lewis (22) and Billy Bradley (23). Talking about their act, Johnny says, “We really like to get into a groove becuase we feel that when people pay to see us they want to see a good gig. Something really visual. We have most of ourRead More →

1st January 1968 THE SAFETY CATCH 1968 didn’t exactly start with a bang. Another local group making a 2nd appearance in quick succession. 8th January 1968 COLOURED RAISINS At least with this group, we can provide some information. They were billed as “Britain’s No 1 Coloured Soul Show Live!” and were formed in South London in 1966. Featuring Brian Clarke on vocals, David & Keith Gamport on guitars, Peter Nelson on organ & Lyndon Steel on drums, all apparently originated from the West Indies. They enlarged their line-up to an 8 piece by incorporating Honey Darling, King Ossie and Earl Greene on vocals with OssieRead More →

JANUARY 1967 Now that the Top 20 was officially over after a hugely successful 6 year run, the Bridgwater Mercury’s redoubtable journalist Mike Guy busied himself with his regular pop column, obtaining an “exclusive” interview with Graham Nash concerning the future of popular music and reporting on a local band’s success in the movies. “After becoming a famous pop singer throughout Europe, Bridgwater’s Lee Grant (alias Peter Gibbs) and his group The Capitols have been signed to appear in a new British motion picture starring Boris Karloff and Catherine Lacey” Guy reported. The name of this blockbuster was “The Sorcerers”, a horror movie spoof, withRead More →

3rd January 1966THE PACK The Pack were a band who were not so much obscure but temporary. They appear to have released one solitary single on Columbia in 1965 – a version of The Lovin Spoonful’s debut “Do You Believe In Magic”? and after receiving extensive airplay on both Radio’s London & Caroline (to whom the song was presented whilst the band were reclining on Mickie Most’s yacht) they briefly threatened to outsell the original recording, reaching a peak of No.22 on the pirate charts. However neither The Pack or The Lovin Spoonful’s version of this song cracked the official BBC Top 40 and afterRead More →

5th July 1965DOUG GIBBONS & THE OUTSIDERS Gibbons is something of a mystery man with information regarding his career not only scarce but slightly contradictory. He was born in Shepherd’s Bush and during the period 1965 to 1967 hob-nobbed with some of the industry’s major movers and shakers but his career, despite a change of image in 1966, never really took off. He was initially signed to Decca Records and in 1965 released his debut single, “I’ve Got My Tears To Remind Me”, a ballad written by Jackie De Shannon & Jimmy Page. The Page connection was strengthened when Gibbons backing band The Outsiders alsoRead More →

4th January 1965WAYNE GIBSON & THE DYNAMIC SOUNDS Wayne Gibson and the Dynamic Sounds were the brain-child of Shel Talmy, a freelance producer born in Chicago but who worked predominantly in the UK and whose artist roster was particularly impressive. He produced early hits for both The Kinks & The Who and also worked, at one time or another, with Manfred Mann, The Easybeats, The Creation and a very young David Bowie before entering into the world of folk/jazz fusion with the unique Pentangle. Talmy was apparently responsible for putting The Dynamic Sounds together back in 1963 but it’s hard to see where they fittedRead More →

And so the Top 20 entered it’s 4th year and due to it’s increasing popularity this 12 month period saw one major change in the itinerary. Previous years had always seen the concerts broken up by the inclusion of a 3-month recess period lasting from June to the beginning of September. In 1964, this period of inactivity was shortened to just 1 month (July) which meant there were now more live gigs in Bridgwater than you could shake a stick at. 6th January 1964CARTER-LEWIS & THE SOUTHERNERS By 1964, most of our major UK cities had developed a healthy local music scene and with theRead More →

7th January 1963The Barron Knights 14th January 1963TONY BOLTON & THE FEDERALS From Watford and born out of long forgotten band The Beatniks, Bolton & The Feds were another group who recorded for Parlophone Records with their debut single “Brazil”, released during this very month. Despite employing the talents of Mr Bolton on vocals, it would appear that a lot of their output was Tornado-inspired instrumentals which suggests they had one of those contracts that allowed them to release material under both camps. Not that it mattered that much as chart action was non-existent either way. Other Parlophone 45’s followed, including a cover version ofRead More →

From January 1962 through to the summer break in May, The Top Twenty seemed to be treading a little water. A lot of the bands that appeared were either making return visits or were part of the Bristol/Bath/Southampton set-up that had served Graham Alford so well previously. It wasn’t until the very end of the year that we saw some fresh faces and by then, the seeds of a new era in British popular music were beginning to grow. 8th January 1962Johnny, Mike & The Shades 15th January 1962Danny DavisGARY and LEETHE PARAMOUNTS If you are a music enthusiast with a keen sense of rockRead More →

2nd January 1961Danny Davis/Tex RobergTHE NEVITT BROS Yet another booking from the Southampton roster managed by Len Canham. The Nevitt’s (Mike & Tony) were making their debut here and apart from a couple of faded photographs, the only other info about what was probably another Everly Bros inspired duo was the name of their backing band, The Jaguars. 16th January 1961 A great “double header” for this particular evening with two artists that were poles apart – a 60’s male crooner and a self-confessed raving loony from the North West of London. LANCE FORTUNE Lance Fortune was another scouser, this time from Birkenhead – justRead More →