| THE
TREMELOES (ARTIST BIOGRAPHY)
The
group formed in 1958 as Brian Poole and the Tremoloes (the name soon
being changed thanks to the spelling mistake of a local newspaper),
and were initially cast in the Buddy Holly and the Crickets mould.
Decca notoriously chose them over The Beatles, whom they had
auditioned on the same day. They first charted with a version of
“Twist and Shout” (1963), which owed much to the Beatles’ version,
followed by a chart topping cover of The Contours’ U.S.
million-seller “Do You Love Me” in the same year. Before they parted
company with Brian Poole in 1966, their covers of Roy Orbison’s
B-side, “Candy Man” and The Crickets’ B-side ballad, “Someone
Someone” (both 1964) entered the UK singles chart Top Ten, with the
latter peaking at number two.
Once Poole had left, and after a couple of near misses, rhythm
guitarist and keyboard player Alan Blakely took over leadership of
the group, and Len ‘Chip’ Hawkes (father of 1990s hitmaker Chesney
Hawkes) replaced bassist Alan Howard. They started an even more
successful hit run in 1967 with Cat Stevens’ “Here Comes My Baby”;
“Suddenly You Love Me”, “Hello World”, and “My Little Lady”, 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 U.S. Top Twenty. All members shared vocals, though most
of the songs featured either Hawkes or drummer Dave Munden as the
lead singer. Guitarist Ricky West sang lead vocal on “Silence Is
Golden”. Their regular hits were accompanied by frequent appearances
on BBC’s Top of the Pops television programme. Their songs were
popular with younger music fans and parents rather than rock music
fans. Altogether, without Poole the group had nine UK Top Twenty
hits.
“Me and My Life” was a hit in 1970, but the group did themselves no
favours when an interview in the weekly paper Melody Maker quoted
them as calling the fans who had bought their earlier singles ‘silly
suckers’. Their album Master failed to sell well, and they had no
British hits after “Hello Buddy” in 1971.
After the hits
Their music is still available on CD, and they quite often play
concerts and are part of the pop-revival shows that constantly tour
the UK. Their line-up changed several times from 1972 onwards, with
Munden remaining the only constant member. Hawkes pursued a solo
career for a while, and Blakely produced records for other acts,
including the Rubettes and Mungo Jerry. In 1983 the original quartet
reformed and narrowly missed the charts with their cover version of
the Europop hit “Words”.
As a soloist, Poole failed to chart with subsequent records, but
pursued a successful cabaret career. In 1996 his daughters Karen and
Shellie hit the charts as post-Alanis Morissette popsters Alisha’s
Attic. Blakely died from cancer in June 1996, leaving Munden and
West to continue in concert with newer recruits Dave Fryar (bass)
and Joe Gillingham (keyboards). In 2005 Fryar was replaced by Jeff
Brown.
[edit]
The Class Of 64
In April 2004, at the request of The Animals who were about to do
their 40th anniversary tour, Hawkes was asked to form a band to tour
with The Animals. This he did, bringing together a true supergroup
also including Mick Avory (ex-The Kinks), Eric Haydock (ex-The
Hollies), who have teamed up to perform as The Class of 64, also
featuring guitarists, Telecaster Ted Tomlin and Graham Pollock. The
band have toured around the world, recorded an album of past band
hits and a new single. |
.jpg)
