British Beat Before the Beatles

[royclough]

Thought it may be a good topic to cover the sort of things we Brits were listening to before The Moptops came along. For many in US they probably thought only US acts dominated the UK charts and they did it has to be said have a lot of success, but I am going to post some of my favourites from that era, comments welcome

First up from 1961, John Leyton, he became a singer by default really when as an actor really he appeared on a soap series in UK portraying a teenage idol. The track he perfomed was really written just for the show but such was the public's reaction to it, it was ultimately relased as a single and went straight to number 1. That track was called Johnny Remember Me

This though is the follow up to it this made number 2 and Leyton went on to have 9 top 50 records between 61 and 64, still performing the odd gig today here is a Clough Classic

John Leyton - Wild Wind

[nick_allen]

... probably best known to the rest of the world as one of the three guys (along with Charles Bronson and James Coburn) who actually made it home in the movie The Great Escape.
This track, like most of Leyton's early records, produced by "the legendary Joe Meek".

[royclough]

October 61 when this was released and actually the follow up to this was the first record I ever bought, only reason I did not buy this was we did not have a record player till early 62.

Shane Fenton was backed by The Fentones, a great instrumental outfit who had a couple of hits in their own right.

SF notched up 4 UK hits,biggest being one called Cindy's Birthday but this was his best in my view.

SF re-emerged in 70s as the man in black- Alvin Stardust and went on to notch up 11 Top 20 hits including a number 1.


But hey to me he will always be Shane Fenton

Shane Fenton & The Fentones- I'm A Moody Guy

[royclough]

December 1961 saw the release of this single a top 5 hit for Billy Fury.

Billy Fury was great, second only to Cliff Richard in terms of popularity in UK, a real showman on stage but in reality a very shy guy.

Billy Fury died of a heart condition in 83 just as he was on the verge of a comeback here in UK.

Also Billy was from Liverpool a fact sometimes overlooked, so he made it well before the Merseybeat boom.

Billy had 26 top records between 59 and 66 and a few minor ones that didn't make top 50 but top 75 after that.

He never had a number 1 though

Billy Fury - I'd Never Find Another You

Few comments on this topic so far but who cares I'm enjoying it!

[winston]

I remember all of these...........hmm. Something tells me that's not good. Thanks Roy. What a trip down memory lane.

[kiramdear]

Don't misinterpret the dumb silence coming from this quarter. It's just hard to translate foot tapping, knee slapping, and head nodding into verbal comments.

[royclough]

Hard to believe that 51 years after he recorded this Marty Wilde is still gigging and he is good too.

He had a string of hits from 58 -62 but his image took a blow when it was revealed he had got married!

And he's till married to the same lady, not very rock 'n' roll I suppose.

[royclough]

The best British Rock n Roll record ever in my view and here on 78


Cliff Richard and The Drifters - Move It

[nick_allen]

Certainly the first great one, Roy !
(Joe Brown next ?)

[royclough]

Joe Brown still playing today, in my book this was a number 1 in 1962 but according to British Book Of Hit Singles was only a number 2, because they used a certain magazine as their main source of reference.

[einar]

Joe Brown made a strong performance at The Concert For George from Nov. 2002 (which is beautifully captured on DVD). Didn't he get the honour of finishing it all off? What's the link between Joe Brown and George Harrison? I guess there must be one. The artists allowed were certainly picked for some good reason. To be honest, I had never heard about Joe Brown before that!

[nick_allen]

Joe and George were friends. In fact, George was best man at Joe's (second) wedding - some time in the 90s, I believe. I think it all started when Joe and the Beatles were both on one of those early package shows (maybe the Helen Shapiro one? - I forget). There's a famous picture of George posing with Joe's Gibson guitar - still exotic in those days - apparently wihout Joe's knowledge!
I remeber seeing George on the Wogan show sometime in the 80s, when the Wilburys had recorded "Nobody's Child" for a charity record. Apparently none of them could remember all the lyric, so George said "I know who will!" and phoned Joe from LA, to get him to dictate the words over the phone.

[einar]

Great story, Nick! Thanks for the information.

[kiramdear]

Yeah, cool story! Thanks!

[hamilton_square]

The best British Rock n Roll record ever in my view and here on 78

Cliff Richard and The Drifters - Move It

While British Rock historians and music critics of the period do indeed, generally rate Cliff Richard and The Drifters “Move It” to be the best pre-Beatles UK Rock n’ Roll record by a group. No lesser authority than The Who beg to differ.

During their legendry 1970 recording of “Live at Leeds” The Who covered and proclaimed that ‘best ever’ honour went to Johnny Kidd and The Pirates 1960 British chart-topping recording of “Shakin’ All Over”

Last FM Online Media Player

Click on "Last FM Online Media Player" link to play the recording. The player should be located in the top right-hand section of your browser window.



Sorry I couldn't locate a YouTube clip of this recording but for some reason there isn't one apparently posted. Plenty of cover versions but not one of the Johnny Kidd and The Pirates recording.