Acts / Bands Who Played The Kinema Ballroom Dunfermline

Here you will find some short biographies (biogz) of solo artists whose surname commences with this letter or bands with names commencing with this letter (omitting any commonly used prefix such as 'The').

Emma Jones - Agnetha Fältskog
Nadine Edwards - Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Christopher Smith - Benny Andersson
Ben Holloway - Björn Ulvaeus

Abbalike are a tribute band that has toured many countries with their immaculately produced two hour theatre show. They have sold out tours in Russia - Spain - Latvia - South Africa (Three times) and Zambia. They have appeared as a four piece on playback with live vocals or as a five or six piece live band.

Steve Popplewell - guitar
Chris Bertram - bass
Scruff - drums
Eden Townsley - guitar

The Abrasive Wheels are the biggest punk band that ever hailed from Leeds. They formed around 1980, releasing two albums, 'When The Punks Go Marching In' (1982) & 'Black Leather Girl' (1984). which both acquitted themselves well in the indie charts. They reformed in 2003 and after several line-up changes, seem to have settled down with Shonna the only original member remaining.

Toss Burns - vocals
Graham (Bellsy) Bell - guitar
Pete Robb - guitar
Colin Robertson - bass
Ray Clarke - drums

A Dunfermline Band, Activan were randomly chosen for a second support slot (billed as 'The Local Heroes') for The Damned / The Ruts on Tuesday 12th June 1979. Local bands were encouraged by The Damned (or their management) to write to the Dunfermline Press to offer their services and a random name was 'drawn from a hat'. In the case of this date, Activan were chosen.

Born in Portland, Oregon in 1925, Derroll Lewis Thompson was a folk musician, painter, singer/songwriter & banjo picker who spent more than half of his life in Europe, notably England and Belgium where he was a major contributor to the folk revival of the sixties with long time friend 'Ramblin' Jack Elliot, recording and performing frequently, often at festivals. He succumbed to alcohol excess but eventually dried-out in 1972.

Sadly he died in 2000 at the age of 75 though he was honoured with a posthumous album of his best friends’ contributions in 2002. He is often sited as an influence and inspiration for artists such as lan Anderson, Billy Connolly, Dick Gaughan, Bert Jansch, Ronnie Lane, Ralph McTell, Rod Stewart, Danny Thompson and Donovan.

Tiger Tim is still a favourite with both children and adults alike with his prime time show on Clyde 1 , Monday to Thursday between 7.30pm and 10pm. 'The Adventures of Tiger Tim' is his best selling autobiography released by Black & White Publishing. He has made a film 'Living Apart Together', released three records and played many gigs with his group 'The Aff Its Heid Band'.

A well respected accordionist who has played with many other musicians including Jimmy Shand.

Alexian Folk (aka 'The Alexian') were Alex Sutherland & 'Big' Ian Simpson - hence Alex/Ian.

They often played in Edinburgh's Rose Street pubs & clubs sometimes accompanied by a fiddler & a variety of other musicians in the late sixties / early seventies.

The voice of Alice Deejay is a singer called Judy who used to be a DJ. Single releases include: 'Back In My Life', 'Will I Ever', 'The Lonely One', 'Celebrate Our Love' & the first hit, 'Better Off Alone'. There has also been an album, 'Who Needs Guitars Anyway'.

Bob Allison (Bernard Colin Day) - vocals
John Allison (Brian Henry John Alford) - vocals

The Allisons held similarities to American duo the Kalin Twins of a few years earlier. They harmonised their voices beautifully, had one enormous smash hit, and then struggled to get recognition for much else. Perhaps it was being so successful too quickly that ultimately proved to be a handicap by raising expectations too high. Whatever the reason for their very short spell at the top, the quality of their recordings would seem to indicate that they should have done better.

Although Brian Alford had been singing in the choir of Saint Dionis Church in Parsons Green, Fulham, since an early age, it wasn't until around 1956 that it occurred to him that he might be good enough to become a professional. Although he came from a poor background, he managed to raise the sum of £2 2s (£2.10p) with which he purchased his first guitar. He was fortunate to find a local jazz musician willing to teach him how to play it. Like so many youngsters in the UK at that time he became a skiffle enthusiast. It wasn't long before he had formed his own group, "The Shadows", at his local church youth club. Despite starting work as a trainee draughtsman, Brian began writing his own songs- an activity that would have a huge influence on his future.

By 1958, Brian and a fellow member of the Shadows, John White formed a duet- calling themselves the 'Shadows Brothers'. The gigs they did were mostly unpaid, but they longed to try their talents in the burgeoning coffee bars of London. However, parental approval for taking themselves to Soho to do this was not forthcoming. They entered an audition in Finsbury Park- and from this became Carroll Levis "Television Discoveries"- they performed in two shows which were the highlights of their careers up to that time.

In January 1959 John White decided to quit, and Brian Alford carried on as a soloist until August when he began a new partnership with Colin Day- somebody he sang with in the church choir. At this point the act was renamed "The Allisons". They each adopted a new name- Brian became John Allison and Colin became Bob Allison. This they thought would strengthen their professional image as "brothers". This new pairing worked well and by 1960, they had managed to obtain a residency at 'The Breadbasket' coffee bar in Cleveland Street. Other famous stars had precursed their careers here - notably Emile Ford, Wally Whyton, and Jimmy Justice.

They entered a national talent competition co-sponsored by the pop newspaper DISC and a tape recorder manufacturer. They reached the finals at the ATV studio in Wembley despite a roster of 600 entries, and went on to win - then being invited to sing on Bert Weedon's TV programme "Lucky Dip" that same day. They also won a record test and taped several of the songs that John had previously written earlier during 1957 and 1958. These were submitted to Fontana Records in the hope of obtaining a full recording contract. Fontana were impressed and selected "Are You Sure" for submission to the UK heats to decide Britain's entry to the Eurovision song contest.

Despite having turned professional less than a month earlier, the Allisons won the British heats and narrowly missed the top spot in the actual contest in Cannes.

However, despite their near miss, the record became a massive hit all over Europe eclipsing the other entries and reached the UK #1 spot in all the major versions of the chart, including NME which was regarded widely as the most definitive at the time. [From March 1960 Guinness adopted a chart compiled by Record Retailer for their "British Hit Singles"- now accepted as the de facto standard. This has meant the Allisons are strangely absent from most lists of UK #1s.

Sadly, the Allisons' follow ups to "Are You Sure" largely went unnoticed by record buyers. Doubtless, the Allisons were poorly prepared for the highly commercial world they had entered and management disputes, poor promotion and naivety took their toll. They achieved only two further minor chart placings in the UK.

As the sixties progressed the pair eventually decided to split up and leave foreground pop music. At first, John turned to full time song writing but the yearn to perform became too great and he soon found himself keeping the Allisons name alive whenever he could. He and Bob would reunite occasionally for short tours, but during the 1970s and 1980s John teamed up with other "brothers"- notably Mike "Allison" and Tony "Allison".

Ultimately, the Allisons, in common with many of the musicians whose popularity peaked in the 1960s have found themselves in great demand again. Although now 50 years have elapsed since he first felt compelled to sing, John Allison is still at it- and "Are You Sure" is still going strong. John and Bob now reunite regularly and they still harmonise their voices beautifully.

Steve Drysdale - vocals, guitar
Phil Cheyne - bass
Cowfreak (aka Eric McCleave) - drums
Kate Hill - violin
Mike Wilson - guitar

In 1990 they released a 7" single "Badge Of Poverty / The Cowboy Song" and toured the north of Scotland frequently.

The Ambassadors (aka 'Ross Devlin & The Ambassadors')

Image from 'Scottish Sounds'.

Ross Devlin (aka Ross Gilmour) - vocals
Dougie Wright - rhythm guitar
Alan Moir - bass guitar
Bill Nisbet - lead guitar
Bill Kyle - drums

A local band from Dunfermline formed by Dougie Wright & Alan Moir, active in the mid sixties, who were sometimes also known as 'Ross Devlin & The Ambassadors'. They played mainly pop music and sometime after may 1964, Ross Devlin (sadly now deceased) was replaced by Fritz Freeburn (from 'The Hellcats') on vocals and saxophone. Unfortunately no recordings exist. Dougie Wright went on to play with Trevor Forster (of 'The Falcons') in 'Scope' and later in 'Middle Age Spread' though is sadly no longer with us.

Drummer, Bill Kyle is now running 'The Jazz Bar' in Edinburgh.

The band would later add Dog Strong on vocals and rename as 'The Sole Generation' sometime between September 1965 and June 1966.

I'm indebted to Bill Nisbet for this information & image.

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John Gladwin - vocals, twelve string guitar, lute, double bass, theorbo, cittern, tabor, tubular bells
Terry Wincott - vocals, 6 string guitar, harmonium, recorders, flute, ocarina, congas, crumhorn, pipe organ, tabor, harpsichord, piano, mellotron, bongos, percussion
Eddie Baird - vocals, lute, glockenspiel, cittern, dulcimer, twelve string guitar, percussion

A Brief history by Terry Wincott (01/02/2003)

The Island Years....AMAZING BLONDEL was formed by John Gladwin and myself after the break-up of too-loud rock band Methusala.

We were soon joined by a talented guitarist Eddie Baird and after a disastrous "showbiz" record signing, Amazing Blondel were recommended by the members of the band Free to Island boss Chris Blackwell.

After signing to Island Records and Artists, Amazing Blondel quickly produced three albums (Evensong, Fantasia Lindum, England) with the above line-up and undertook a series of intensive international and national tours to promote them.

Amazing Blondel always seemed slightly eccentric, sweet and a little out of place: pseudo-Elizabethan/Classical acoustic music sung with "British" accents to the contemporary music audience of the day.

From this unlikely combination Amazing Blondel carved a substantial niche in the market with people who appreciated the music and were prepared to purchase records and attend concerts.

Amazing Blondel adored recording. At that time Islands Basing Street Studios were in the forefront of producing the most innovative and successful independent music in Britain and it gave us the exciting opportunity to work with such notables as Phil Brown and Adrian Hopkins. To hear the orchestrations for the first time was exhilarating and to hear the final product, although never perfect, was delightful and professionally satisfying. Sample almost any live concert and you would notice the audience unusually quiet, attentive and polite, the repertoire performed as technically correct as possible, the dexterity of the instrumentation (40 in all) and the music interspersed with crude and bawdy humour.

The live performance, however, was sometimes overshadowed by the drudge of touring. There were the personal and group obsessions and amusements, tunings (hours spent), countryside pursuits, martial arts and fitness, dogs and hotel swimming pools, the daily view through the windscreen, food, flying, music in general, personal relationships, road managers, any ‘in joke’ repeated endlessly over and over until no longer funny but spitefully annoying.

The demise of Amazing Blondel line-up as featured on these albums was like a balloon deflating. Amazing Blondel imploded with only a whisper of air.

When I first wrote this in 1995 & we were compiling the first CD, I finished the script by saying..... Strangely, if that balloon had continued to float, that niche in the market would probably still exist today.... & it's nice to know after seven years that the audience is still out there.. (Terry Wincott Feb 2003)

Anne-Marie Ruddock - lead vocals
Margo Sagov - lead guitar
Clare Kenny - bass
Sharon Bailey - percussion
Lesley Beach - saxophone
Nardo Bailey - drums

They were a British ska/new wave band who charted six times in the UK with reggae flavoured singles between 1985-1987: Excitable, Don't You Just Know It, The Things The Lonely Do, Too Good To Be Forgotten, Montego Bay & Mony Mony. Their line-up was all-girl with the exception of Nardo Bailey.

They appeared in 'The Young Ones' in 1984 and released their eponymous album 'Amazulu' in 1986.

After an acrimonious split in 1987, Amazulu II was formed by Anne-Marie Ruddock, Sharon Bailey, and Lesley Beach but success evaded them.

Curiously nothing to do with the Amboy Dukes associated with Ted Nugent from the same era as they never reached the UK shores.

These guys hailed from Nottingham and released six singles on Polydor some of which appear to be worth in the region of £50 to a collector. They toured the ballroom circuit for some time without success.

'Turn Back To Me' / 'I Never Complain About You' (1966)
'All I Need' / 'Doing The Best I Can' (1967)
'High life In Whitley Wood Pt1 and 2' (1967)
'Judy In Disguise' / 'Who's Foolin' Who' (1968)
'Simon Says' / 'The Marquis' (1968)
'He Came To Me Yesterday' / 'Easy Going Me' (1968)

Andy Fairweather-Low - vocals
Neil Jones - guitar
Allan Jones - saxophone
Blue Weaver - keyboards
Mike Smith - tenor saxophone
Clive Taylor - bass
Dennis Byron - drums

This South Wales band first played together at Christmas 1966 though all had experience with other bands previously. They had been disappointed with their hitherto lack of success and descended on London early in 1967. They proved to be a popular stage act and were given the chance to record with Decca's new offshoot, Deram. Their first four singles for the label all reached healthy chart positions, but after some management dispute the group defected to Andrew Oldham's 'Immediate' where they immediately achieved a #1 with '(If Paradise Is) Half As Nice'.

The group split up shortly after the release of their final hit single and the promise of future reconstitution finally faded. Andy Fairweather-Low, Blue Weaver, Clive Taylor and Neil Jones formed 'Fairweather' before Andy found fame as a solo artist. Weaver became part of 'Wynder K. Frog' before moving into the 'Strawbs'.

Andy Fairweather-Low has long since become a veteran of the Eric Clapton band. The fact that the legendary guitarist only gathers great musicians about him speaks volumes about the quality of Fairweather-Low's expertise on the guitar.

Billy Anderson was born on 5^th March 1946 on Balcarres Estate, near Colinsburgh. Sadly his mother, Ina, died the following day, leaving his father with a family of five. He was brought up by other family members in Fife where he still lives today with his wife Elizabeth & four children in Largoward.

He was introduced to the mouth-organ at age five and was soon playing concerts throughout the East Neuk of Fife as a member of 'The Anderson Trio' with his elder brother Sandy (button accordion) and elder sister Ena (mouth-organ). He was later introduced to the accordion and given weekly lessons in Cupar and Dairsie before The Anderson Trio appeared with Hughie Green in the Whitehall Theatre in Dundee, where He later appeared solo with the great Anne Shelton and Wee Georgie Wood.

In the late sixties, he experienced 'life on the road’ with the Jimmy Shand Junior Band and Bobby Crowe and his Broadcasting Band, playing second accordion. One memorable gig being in HM Theatre Aberdeen with the White Heather Club. In 1968, Billy & Liz were invited by the St Andrews Branch of the RSCDS to appear in Holland at a week long International Folk Dance Festival and in 1969 he met Mr. Ben Lyons, radio producer with BBC Radio Scotland and subsequently made his first broadcast in August of that year.

During this time, The Billy Anderson Trio went from strength to strength and they appeared with artistes like Calum Kennedy, Peter Mallan, Robin Hall and Jimmy MacGregor and Ricky Fulton & Jack Milroy (as ‘Francie and Josie’). Throughout the early seventies the band became very popular for weddings, dinner dances and corporate functions and invitations came from Radio Forth in Edinburgh from where he made several broadcasts, appearing ’on tour’ with the late Jim Macleod and his band.

In 1974, he received a call from the late Iain MacFadyen, head of light entertainment for BBC Television in Glasgow who offered the band a twelve-week tour of the United States of America, called ‘Scotland on Parade’ which featured Alastair MacDonald, Isla St.Clair and other Scottish artistes. This was a coast to coast tour organised by Columbia Artists Festivals from New York, from September to December covering 18,000 miles of coach travel.

Upon their return, Iain MacFadyen offered television appearances with the Gaelic folk group, 'N-h-Oganaich', who also toured the United States. Tours and appearances followed throughout Scotland and in 1977 Billy formed 'Albany' which featured Mod medalist Margaret MacLeod. They teamed-up with Scottish fiddle player Ken Slaven and appeared in regular Summer Season in Aviemore, cutting their first album in 1978. The following year he toured with ‘Scotland on Parade’ again throughout the United States of America and Canada.

From 1980 the band appeared on a regular Summer Season at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness for 8 years. Invitations came to perform in Verona in Italy with the late Bill McCue, in Mainz Germany for the Opel Car Company and for annual trips to Abu Dhabi, Dubia, Oman, Brunie, Sarawak for numerous Caledonian Societies.

Following a very successful 26 week radio series on BBC Radio Scotland called Country Hop, Billy made his first recording with the Decca Record Company in 1979 called ‘Travellin’ Scots’ with radio producer Ben Lyons which featured Trio members Tom Anderson & Raymond Gatherum together with Robin Brock (bass), Dave Barrie (piano) and Gordon Imrie(synthesiser). In the same year he recorded an album with EMI featuring Margaret MacLeod called ‘West of West’.

Another two records were released by the newly formed 'Albany Band'. The first in 1982 called ‘Scotland Now’, with guest musicians Peggy O’Keefe (piano), Dave Barclay (bass), Nigel Clark (guitar), Malcolm Ross (drums), Kevin Hughes (bass guitar) and George MacIlwham (flute) and the second in 1986 on Lapwing Records called ‘East – West, Hame’s Best’, with Alan kitchen (piano), Neil Campbell (guitar) and James Gordon (drums).

Since September 1983 he has presented a weekly radio programme with Radio Tay in Dundee which still attracts a large following of listeners from throughout Tayside and North East Fife. He also teaches piano accordion on a twice weekly basis at Kilrymont School and St Leonards in St Andrews.

'Albany' completed another two twelve-week coast to coast tours of America and Canada in 1988 and in 1992 with Columbia Artists Festivals, called ‘The Gathering of the Clans’ which he co-produced with Margaret MacLeod. This consisted of the best pipers, dancers, musicians and singers in Scotland which attracted large audiences from coast to coast.

Today the band is still in demand for guest appearances at various Accordion and Fiddle Clubs, weddings, ceilidhs and corporate functions throughout the country with regular invitations to Germany and Monaco for Caledonian Societies. There are five CD recordings available, ‘Sonas’, ‘Origins’, ‘Music, Song and Dance’, ‘Dileab’ (an all gaelic collection from Margaret) and ‘Scotland in Tune’ (a recent piano accordion recording) which are all available on the Thane Recording Label.

The current line-up is Billy (accordion), Margaret (vocals), George Robb and Billy's son Iain (acoustic and electric guitar), Kenny Downie (drums) & Alan Kitchen on keyboards. They are joined by Duncan Soutar on pipes and various guest artistes for what has become a firm favourite over the past twelve years, 'The Albany Stage Show' and recently an even bigger production called 'Great Scots'. Other personnel have included, Neil Campbell, Nigel Clark (Hue 'n Cry), Jack Paul & drummers Iain Bayne (Runrig) & James Gorgon.

Chris Andrews is probably now best known for his big hit, 'Yesterday Man'. Many of us will also recall him as the songwriter responsible for many of Sandie Shaw's most successful recordings. Despite those activities, Chris's musical credentials go back much further- into the 1950s and even included an appearance on Jack Good's legendary Rock & Roll TV Show, 'Oh Boy!'.

Chris had become an enthusiast of rock and roll while still in his teens. He formed his own group 'Chris Ravel & The Ravers' and even recorded later in that guise. However it was in the clubs of Hamburg as a rock and roller that Chris cut his musical teeth- just like the Beatles and the many others in the vanguard of Britain's beat boom. Perhaps it was this German influence that gave his later music such a distinctive sound. Despite this hard work, Chris remained in relative obscurity until a song he had written, 'The First Time' was taken up by Adam Faith. The song proved an important turning point for Adam whose musical fortunes had begun to decline with the coming of Merseybeat. The song gave him a new sound and his flagging chart career a much needed boost. It was also a turning point for Chris because a new singer, Sandie Shaw, also managed by Adam Faith's manager, Eve Taylor, needed songs. Chris produced a long series of numbers- most of which suited Sandie very well- either despite, or because of, the fact that their distinctive backing generally seemed to be more suited to a Munich "Oktoberfest" than a UK pop song. The best of these included 'Girl Don't Come', 'Long Live Love', and 'Tomorrow'. In any event, the Shaw-Andrews combination proved so successful one might have imagined that Chris would abandon his own singing career in order to concentrate on songwriting. Fortunately, this was not the case.

One song that Chris produced was unsuitable for Sandie but proved ideal for him to launch his own successful run on the UK singles chart. 'Yesterday Man' enjoyed a lot of airplay and although not quite reaching the top in the UK it proved to be popular throughout most of Europe and sold extremely well in a number of countries. Chris managed to follow this initial huge success with another UK top twenty entry. Results for his self penned recordings beyond this were disappointing in the UK, but his work was much more appreciated on the continent where he would spend a lot of the 1970s. Although he tried to kick start his UK recording career again at the end of the 1970s with the help of his old friend Adam Faith (who had himself taken up management through his work with Leo Sayer). However, his perhaps unexpected success with 'Yesterday Man' remains the pinnacle of this talented singer/ songwriter's career.

Info courtesy of: www.45-rpm.org.uk

Bobby Angelo - vocals
Colin Giffin - rhythm guitar, saxophone
Dave Brown - bass
Roger Brown - drums

Dave Brown & Colin Giffin would later form the British psychedelic-pop group 'The End'.

Al Jackson - vocals
Martin Baggott - lead guitar
Phil Cash - rhythm guitar
Don Gould - organ
Megan Davies - bass
Gerry Freeman - drums

The Applejacks as they would become- with the exception of Al Jackson - were all involved with a Solihull boy scout troop. They had first come together as a skiffle group to contribute to a local 'gang show' for the cubs and scouts. Initially they called themselves the 'Crestas' and then the 'Jaguars' (after British cars) before finally settling on 'Applejacks' in 1962 by which time they had made the necessary addition of a competent vocalist in Al Jackson. As the initial venture turned out so successful they decided to keep things going and did so until Decca's Mike Smith spotted them and they were given a chance to record.

Unlike many of their contemporaries they still retained a rather 'folky' edge to their music from their skiffling days. Their most distinguishing asset was their lady bass player who shared the same surname as Ray and Dave of the, yet uncharted, 'Kinks',

Unfortunately, the Applejacks' star rose and fell within a few months. Their first release, 'Tell Me When' written by Les Reed and Geoff Stevens - who would become best known for his involvement with the New Vaudeville Band - found its way comfortably to #7 in March 1964. They had two further moderate hits including Lennon and McCartney's 'Like Dreamers Do' in Jun 1964 and 'Three Little Words' in October 1964, but nothing followed despite the use of material by the aforementioned Ray Davies.

After 1966 the Applejacks became an act on some of the world's greatest cruise liners, working for Cunard until the end of the decade and frequently aboard the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and QE2.

Megan Davies had played previously with the 'No Name Skiffle Group' playing a four-string skiffle guitar.

Rod Argent - keyboards
Russ Ballard - guitar, vocals
Robert Henrit - drums
Jim Rodford - bass

Other members:
John Verity - guitar, bass, vocals
John Grimaldi - cello, mandolin - violin

Argent was formed in 1969 by Rod Argent following the demise of The Zombies. They are probably best remembered for their 1971 single 'Hold Your Head Up' (No 5 in the UK) and 'God Gave Rock & Roll To You' from 1973 (later covered by Kiss) though there were several others. Mid 1974 Russ Ballard left and was replaced by John Verity & John Grimaldi. Their later material became heavier and strayed into the depths of prog-rock. They disbanded sometime in 1976. Albums included 'Argent', 'Ring Of Hands', 'All Together Now', 'In Deep', 'Nexus', 'Encore (Live)', 'Circus' & 'Counterpoint'.

Dyan Birch - vocals
Carroll Carter - vocals
Frank Collins - vocals
Lloyd Courtenay - drums
Don Hume - bass
Paddy McHugh - vocals
Tony O'Malley - vocals, keyboards
Glen Le Fleur - drums, percussion
Raphael Pereira - guitar / bass
Lee Sutherland - bass
Steve Chapman - drums
George Lee - sax
Glen Lefleur - drums
Phil Chen - bass

Singles:
Friends / Don't Turn His Love Away (1969) UK chart #8
I Will Survive / See The Lord (1970) UK chart #16
Let My Life Be Your Love Song / Out Of Desperation (1971)
Family Tree / Part Of My Dream (1971)
(The Theme From) Heartbreak Kid / Sweet Summer (1973)
Mr. Know It All / Not Gonna Worry (1973)

Reissues:
I Will Survive/See The Lord (1975)
Friends/I Will Survive (1978)

A pop/rock band from Liverpool who endured many changes of personnel before imploding with all members dispersing to other projects. They played at the ballroom on Sunday 27th February 1972 supported by Thin Lizzy and Barabbas.

Toni Arthur was a television presenter in the days when that was a respectable occupation. She fronted quality BBC children's programmes such as Playschool and was sometimes accompanied by her husband, David. Both academics, they also travelled the pub and student campus venues in the late 60s and recorded three fine albums of material that certainly was then not widely known. A matter of quality rather than quantity.

When they met their backgrounds were very diverse. Toni had won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music when she was nine and had pursued this until leaving school. She then became a nurse, and at the same time studied drama at the Stanislavsky Institute of Drama. David had a variety of jobs after leaving school including commercial artist bookseller, and dental mechanic He started to play the guitar and banjo in his teens and developed an interest in folk music When Dave and Toni met they began singing together and after they were married they became professional folk-singers, giving concerts all over Britain, and in Russia, America, Poland, Denmark and many other countries. As well as concerts for adults and lectures on varying aspects of folklife Dave and Toni also did children's concerts wherever they went Toni was eventually offered work presenting the BBC children's programme 'Playschool' and eventually went to the BBC2 series 'Playaway' of which she was the female presenter for 7 years. Dave appeared in some of the early 'Playaways' but became more involved in research for the programme. This culminated in 1976 with Toni's own series "Take a Ticket To.."(BBC2) which Dave researched and for which he wrote some of the songs.

Mark Ashton was 'Rare Bird's original drummer / backing vocalist before he embarked on a solo career, cutting one 45, 'Get Up & Groove' / 'Barking Dogs' (1972), with guest slide guitarist Cyril Jordan of 'The Flamin' Groovies'.

Ian Orr - vocals, harmonica
Alistair Black - lead guitar, backing vocals
Keith Henderson - vocals, rhythm guitar
Ricky Alcorn - bass, backing vocals
Arthur MacKay - drums

Stuart Tosh - drums

The Athenians were rock’n’roll and rhythm and blues orientated, with an apparently rousing onstage show. This is borne out by some of their recorded output. The best is captured on a 1964 Waverley release, coupling two harmonica-fired r’n’b classics, 'I Got Love If You Want It' and 'I’m A Lover Not A Fighter'. They were the first Scottish beat group to release a single 'You Tell Me' (1964).

The Athenians’ takes of Chuck Berry’s Little Queenie, Don Covay’s Mercy Mercy and especially, their own debut offering from early 1964, 'You Tell Me', written by Orr and Henderson, are rendered a trifle flat and lifeless by the sound limitations. That said, they did turn in a delightfully rollicking 'Louie Louie' for an EP on an ESCA, also from 1964.

A tough solo spot too that lends extra credence to a local story that lead guitar player Ally Black was regarded by many as the Jeff Beck of the North. Praise indeed.

They certainly were a pretty hipped-up combo, and even had the suss to cut a version of 'Paul Revere and The Raiders’ 'Steppin’ Out' for inclusion on yet another EP for ESCA.

Although The Athenians were easily one of Edinburgh’s top draw acts during 1964-65, by 1966 they weren’t playing many gigs, let alone still making records. Their last single may have been in 1965 and features the group in a distinctly mellower mood, covering 'Thinking Of Our Love', one of The Shadows’ vocal numbers. The flip ups a gear with a competent, reading of 'Mercy Mercy'. Those who remember seeing them live say they were among the best of the groups at that time.

I'm indebted to Bill Nisbet who provided the line-up information from a copy of 'Scottish Sounds'.

Jenny Frost (from Precious) replaced Kerry Katona in 2001 when she left to have a baby.

Their first single: ‘Right Now’ reached UK Top 10 in Dec 1999. They have scored several hits since including three no 1s and eight other top tens. All four albums have graced the top ten and the first two hit the top-spot.

In 2000 the girls won the prestigious Best Newcomer Award at both the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party and the Disney Awards.

Later:
John Du Cann - guitar, vocals
Paul Hammond - drums
Peter French - vocals
Chris Farlowe - vocals
Steve Bolton - guitar
Bill Smith - bass
John Goodsall (aka Johnny Mandala) - guitar
Ric Parnell - drums

Vincent Crane, real name Vincent Cheesman, was born in Reading, Berkshire on 21st May 1943 and grew up in Battersea, South London. He attended Westminster City Grammar School, and at the age of fifteen, taught himself to play the piano. At eighteen he attended the Trinity College of Music in London where he graduated in 1964, and while studying classical music there he also played blues and jazz at the Marquee and the 100 Club in his spare time. After graduating from Trinity he decided to drop the classics and formed the first of several short-lived bands.

In 1965 Vincent lived in a shared house in Fulham where he met Arthur Brown, three months later The Crazy World of Arthur Brown were formed and originally started out with just improvisation, and after a year of touring Britain, they played their first of many gigs at the U.F.O. Club in London where most psychedelic bands of the 60s started their careers. Two years later they were signed to Track Records, the same label which signed Jimi Hendrix the year before, and that same year The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's first album went straight to No. 1 in Britain and many other countries, as did their single "Fire" which, amongst other songs, Vincent co-wrote.

During their tour of the U.S. the band had a number of management and contractual problems and they split half way through the tour, and it was also during this time that Vincent's latent psychiatric problems first became a problem in the form of bizarre manic escapades, followed by long periods of depression in hospital. On returning to Britain Vincent Crane and Carl Palmer decided to form a new band, with the name Atomic Rooster.

Atomic Rooster MkI consisted of: Vincent Crane - Hammond organ and piano, Carl Palmer - drums, and Nick Graham - bass and vocals. They recorded their first album, titled Atomic Roo-o-ster, for B&C Records during late 1969, and was released in February 1970, reaching No.49 in the charts. A track from this album was released as a single - "Friday 13th" but failed to make the charts.

Just before the release of the first album, John (Du) Cann, previously the guitarist and vocalist with 1960's cult psychedelic bands Andromeda, The Attack, and The Five Day Week Straw People, had replaced Nick Graham, and it was decided that John should also replace the guitar and vocals on the US release of Atomic Roo-o-ster. By the autumn of that year, Carl Palmer was persuaded to leave the band to become part of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, but John managed to recruit drummer Paul Hammond as Carl's replacement. With this line-up, Atomic Rooster recorded their best-known album "Death Walks Behind You". The album was a big success, and it also provided them with their first top twenty single, "Tomorrow Night" - reaching No. 11 in the U.K. charts.

In 1971 the band released their biggest ever hit - "Devil's Answer", written by John Cann, reaching No.2 in the UK, and also charting worldwide. Soon afterwards, the band had moved over to Pegasus Records (B&Cs "progressive" label) and recruited Pete French on vocals. With this line-up, they recorded Rooster's third album "In Hearing Of" reaching No. 18 in the UK charts of July that year.

Vincent was once again unhappy with the direction the band was taking, wanting to move away from the dark, almost satanic image portrayed by their second album, towards a lighter, funk/soul sound. Uncomfortable with this new direction, John Cann and Paul Hammond left to form Bullet (later renamed Hard Stuff) and were immediately signed to Deep Purple's own record label, Purple Records, on which they released two albums and a string of singles. With Hard Stuff, John continued developing the dark, hard rock that he had brought to Rooster, and as a result took with him Rooster's disaffected fans.

Vincent reassembled a completely new line-up of Atomic Rooster, this time with Chris Farlowe on vocals, Steve Bolton on guitar, Bill Smith on bass (for one track only!), and drummer Rick Parnell who had previously joined the band for a short while when Carl Palmer left. This time Rooster signed to Dawn Records and released their first album for the label in 1972 titled "Made In England". With this new funk/soul direction, Rooster lost the vast majority of their hard-earned fans. Neither the album or the singles taken from the album charted. Soon afterwards, Vincent replaced Steve Bolton with guitarist Johnny Mandala and the following year released the album "Nice and Greasy" which again failed to make any sort of impact. Not suprisingly, Vincent disbanded Atomic Rooster.

After Hard Stuff, John DuCann joined Thin Lizzy, replacing Gary Moore who was about to leave to join Colosseum, and completed an extensive European tour to promote their last single for Decca, titled Little Darlin' , before leaving to concentrate on writing more of his own material. John signed a song-writing deal with a major publishing company, through which he was offered a deal with Arista to release his first solo single, titled "Throw Him In Jail" (single of the week in NME). An album, titled The World's Not Big Enough, was to be released, but due to changes in the A&R department at Arista the LP was shelved (now available on Angel Air). For the next two years John was writing successful TV advertising jingles, which lead him to his next top-twenty hit single "Don't Be A Dummy", originally a theme for the punky Lee Cooper jeans TV advertisement.

In late 1979, John decided not to follow up with his Don't Be A Dummy hit as he began to receive calls from several record
companies (Virgin and EMI amongst them) offering deals to reform Rooster. As the so-called NWOBHM (or New Wave of British Heavy Metal) had started to take hold, John thought it was a good enough reason to contact Vincent with his proposal to reform the band.

The band signed to EMI Records and a self-titled album was recorded with session drummer Preston Heyman. The single "Do You Know Who's Looking For You?" was released, but neither the album or single made the national UK charts, although for several weeks it had topped the heavy metal charts of Sounds, NME and Record Mirror. Despite this, and a heavy touring schedule, EMI dropped the band.

With the classic line-up restored, they recorded two singles, "Play It Again" and "End Of The Day" and toured the UK extensively. Once again, this time due to industrial disputes at the record pressing plants, they failed to make the UK Top 40 despite repeatedly topping the heavy metal charts with both their earlier and new material, and once again they were dropped by their record label. The strain took its toll, and John decided to leave the band, but Vincent continued, and in 1983 was signed by a small independent label, Towerbell Records.

Vincent decided once again to change the sound of Rooster - gone were the heavy Hammond organ-dominated riffs, and in its place were piano and synthesiser compositions, with the organ non-existent or far back in the mix. Vincent reworked several compositions he had had for a number of years, and put together a new album, titled Headline News.

Vincent was unable to persuade John DuCann to play on the album, but John suggested Bernie Torme as a replacement., and Tom Newman, who produced the album was a close friend of Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour and managed to arrange for him to play on some of the compositions.

With this brave (and poorly recorded) attempt, and despite Dave Gilmour's trademark guitar, neither the album or the single taken from the album managed to reach the national, independent, or even the rock/metal charts that the band had dominated during 1980-82, partly due to the record company going bankrupt immediately after the release, but mainly because of the army of new fans that Rooster had won over were once again alienated from the band. The album was perceived by fans as more of a Vincent Crane solo album, rather than something equal to that of the DuCann/Crane/Hammond line-up.

This seemed to be the last straw for Vincent Crane and he once again gave up with Atomic Rooster, and in February 1984 Vincent accepted an offer to join Dexy's Midnight Runners for their album "Don't Stand Me Down" and subsequent tour. In late 1988 it was rumoured that Vincent and John were once again going to reform Atomic Rooster, but on February 14th 1989 Vincent committed suicide at his home in Maida Vale, London.

Today, John Du Cann continues to write and record music, and has been busy remastering his entire back catalogue of material, and to date has re-released The Attack, Andromeda, Five Day Week Straw People, most of his Atomic Rooster material and his 1977 solo album, The World's Not Big Enough on Angel Air Records.

The Avengers were a beat / chart covers group from Edinburgh active from the middle sixties to the early seventies and contemporaries of 'The Athenians'. They released a cover version of The Beatles' 'I Don't Want To Spoil The Party'.

Alan Gorrie - bass, guitar, lead vocals
Onnie McIntyre - guitar, vocals
Klyde Jones - keyboard, bass, lead vocals
Fred "Freddy V" Vigdor - saxophones, keyboards, vocals
Brian Dunne - drums

For the better part of the last twenty-eight years, the Average White Band has performed sold-out shows around the world, confirming the timeless appeal of their brand of funky soul. Formed in 1972, their roots may have been Scottish, but the collective heart of the band belonged to the soulful sounds coming from Memphis, Detroit, and Philadelphia in the 60's.

In January 1975 their break-out single "Pick Up The Pieces" and the album AWB reached the top of the Pop and R&B charts. For the remainder of that decade, the Average White Band took its killer groove around the world, leaving in its wake a trail of hits such as "Person To Person", "Cut The Cake", "Schoolboy Crush", and "Queen Of My Soul". In 1980 the dance-single "Let's Go 'Round Again" enjoyed the longest chart run of the year in the United Kingdom. The original AWB unit disbanded in 1982, sharing the fate of many R&B artists who found themselves swimming against the strong tides of disco and punk rock. Ten albums, three Grammy nominations, and a large multi-racial following was the band's legacy....but their story wasn't over.

The band regrouped in 1989 and have toured relentlessly ever since, spending nearly three-quarters of each year on the road. Their newest CD, Face To Face, is the band's first live recording in over 20 years, the last being the 1976 double album, Person To Person. Face To Face captures the raw energy of AWB's soulful funk in an appearance at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore Auditorium. It was released by EMI in August, 1999. But '99 was an eventful year for AWB in many other ways: VH-1 profiled them on "Where Are They Now?"; the Rev. Jesse Jackson joined them onstage during a recent appearance from Chicago on radio's "Tom Joyner Morning Show"; and the band was honoured to receive the keys to the city of New Orleans after a triumphant performance at the "Essence Music Festival" at the Superdome.

One of the most "sampled" bands ever, AWB's music has been used by over 100 young hip-hop and rap artists, including Janet Jackson, Bobby Brown, T.L.C., Lena Conquest, and Puff Daddy. "Let's Go Round Again" is once again a hit in the U.K. thanks to a cover by the popular singer, Louise. Back in the U.S., AWB's #1 hit "Pick Up The Pieces" has been given the big band treatment by Phil Collins on his new release, A Hot Night In Paris, was turned into a "musical conversation" by comedian Chris Rock on his latest CD, Bigger and Blacker, and was chosen by Mitsubishi for a commercial introducing its "2000 Eclipse" model. "Pick Up The Pieces" also appears in the soundtracks to the movies Swingers, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Private Parts, Bowfinger, and Blue Streak.

The Avons were a singing and songwriting trio consisting of sisters Elaine (born County Cork in 1940)and Valerie Murtagh (born London in 1936), together with Ray Adams (born in Jersey in 1938).

Their version of "Seven Little Girls" outsold the Paul Evans original in UK and their follow-ups, "You're Only Young Once" and "Four Little Heels" made the Record Retailer Top 50 as did their version of "Rubber Ball" which lost the chart race to both Bobby Vee and Marty Wilde.

Despite airplay of their other singles, their only hit was a cover of “Seven Little Girls” which beat the USA original by Paul Evans into second place in the chart stakes. They had more success as songwriters than as singers.

Infamous underground UK psychedelic acid-rock band from the late 60s. They released a seven track live album in 1969 entitled 'Live 1969' (on Kissing Spell KSLP9595) including covers of tracks by The Airplane, Love, Canned Heat, Love, Neil Young, Judy Collins and Tim Rose. Female lead vocals by Countess Vivienne