Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Roy Clough has written another nice review of a NME awards show. This time it is 1965. You can see his review here. Very nice work Roy. thanks for agreeing to have it posted on "Needles and Pins."

And thank You Peter for allowing me to. Also thanks to Peter for his invaluable knowledge in terms of the Rickenbacker Guitars I refer to. To me they are merely that, Rickenbacker's, to a lot of people who frequent this web site, not just The Searchers bit, they are far more than that.

Thanks, Roy. For that trip down memory lane. It must have been awesome to be so close to the Searchers, like next-door neighbors and all the other monster groups of the "British Invasion".

Ed

Ed, you are so right. Roy has done a marvellous job of taking us down memory lane.

Roy, your review provides documentation of the important the role of the Rickenbacker guitar during the British Invasion.

On this show alone, The Moody Blues, The Animals, Herman's Hermits and The Beatles used these fine instruments with the jangly sound.

I appreciate you taking the time to add this information in your review.

Appreciate comments ED

Roy: Forgetting about the awards, when you consider all of the performances, what group and what solo artist was best live.

Wow, Roy!

Thanks for sharing that review. It brings back so much for me and since I was but 12 years old at the time, it is hard to believe that I had heard of every one of those groups and most of the songs. (I lived in Boise, Idaho so we weren't exactly the cutting edge market and much of the British Invasion was being overshadowed by local favorite, Paul Revere and the Raiders!)

Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.

Thanks for the Kind comments, Paul Revere never made it over here, but oddly enough I have just ordered about 5 albums by them for a guy who heard them on one of the american radio stations, he lives in Bonny Scotland by the way and on a chat site thing he asked if anyone knew where he could get their albums without them costing him too much. So when they arrive before I give him them I'll check them out as they say.

Good point Peter nad I was only thinking last night when I showed it someone that as Frank Allen sometimes says we may be c--- but at least it's live c---. I am 100% certain that all the groups played live, warts and all, if I can get a copy done you can judge for yourself.
Only Dusty and Cilla were the solo artists and Dusty had the slight edge, only one number each.
Excluding The Searchers as clearly I am biased, I would say that Wayne Fonatana was good plus The Beatles I felt were better on the 65 show than the 64 show, I reviewed on Yesterday Once More. I actually prefer the 64 show though I only have that on tape, well I don't have it at the moment a certain guy in Liverpool has borrowed it.

No way could you see any of today's boybands, singers performing under the conditions these acts did, it would all be mimed. In fact most of their live shows I suspect are mimed, they'd be lost if tape machine breaks down.

Agreed Roy. You had to be a whole lot sharper on stage during those days. It seems as if it is unacceptable to make a mistake during modern times. I prefer to hear the live sessions.

With regard to The Beatles, we eventually heard things that they could not play effectively on stage. I give tribute bands credit for coming close on stage to what the Fab Four did in the studio.

Nice job Roy, as usually. Maybe that's the nostalgic dreams bout my early childhood (actually, the Mindbenders, as well as the Searchers, were the accompaniment for my toddler's years, although until about 2002 or even 2003 i was quite sure they're both Chicago garage outfits, may sound ridiculous but it's true ).
To be true, i've never actually seen this kind of show with guys on stage playing live. Again, as a toddler, i used to watch all these Russian holiday shows on out black&white TV and i was innocent enough to believe they're all playing live. But only until i've seen somebody who didn't manage to open his mouth when the song started playing... and he didn't manage to catch up till the end of the song... ))
And this also brought back memories of some episode in Frank Allen's book when he was telling about some TV show where the show guys have put on the original Clovers' record and our boys were apparently suggested to 'play' it... ))

Peter, I'm Roy, not Michael in case you have had a memory lapse

Thanks Sheena, I have a clip on video of The Searchers, with Spencer James, on some American TV show I think miming to Love Potion No Nine, but to the original version which of course featured Tony Jackson

Roy: I have made the correction. Please accept my apology. Too much posting it would seem.

Roy, Just to follow up so that your friend in scotland can have the first hand story...

Paul Revere's real name is Revere Dick (he is still alive). He was the front man for a band that decided to "fight" the British Invasion by using American Revolutionary War Military uniforms for their costume theme. They had a few hits, mostly covers of things like "louie, Louie" and few original tunes but it didn't seem like they were destined for much beyond obscurity.

That is, until one day the kid who delivered the hamburger buns to Revere's other livelihood (a hamburger stand) was overheard singing as he made his delivery. He was a good looking kid and had a great voice. So Revere recruited Mark Lindsay to do vocals for the band which had drums, bass, guitar, organ, and vocals. This was the beginning of the hit parade that followed for Paul Rever and the Raiders with hits like "Just Like Me" and "Kicks" and the rest that followed.

Very quickly however, Lindsay began to believe in his own PR and felt that the Raiders and Revere were holding him back even thought the name was changed to "Paul Revere and the Raiders featuring Mark Lindasy on vocals..." It became evident that Lindsay was out to be a star without the rest of the guys who provided the sound. Lindsay split, the Raiders folded, Lindsay's career went nowhere and the rest is history.

A band still makes the State Fair rounds as Paul Revere and the Raiders but I am not sure who is in the band. It is kind of like the Monkees touring without the only guy who was a true musician, Michael Nesmith.

The only reason I know all this is because it happened in my hometown.

BTW, there was another American band that did their level best to sound British and almost succeeded... the Beau Brummels. What was the reaction to them in the UK?

Keep writing. Your knowledge is vast and a pleasure to read.