Here Comes My Baby: The Ultimate Collection cover.
The Tremeloes are a British
beat
group from Dagenham,
Essex.
|
Contents
- 1 Career
- 2 Hit
singles
- 3 After
the hits
- 4 The
Class of 64
- 5 Original
band member details
- 6 References
- 7 External
links
|
Career
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, 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. After switching from Decca to CBS
Records, they started an even more successful hit run from 1967 onwards
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 Top Twenty of the U.S. Billboard
Hot 100 on CBS' co-owned Epic Records.
All members shared vocals, though most of the songs featured either
Hawkes or drummer
Dave Munden as the lead singer. Guitarist Rick 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
while it was in the charts 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
which they released a few weeks later failed to sell well, and they had
no British hits after "Hello Buddy" in 1971.
Hit singles
| Release date |
Title |
Chart Positions |
| UK
Singles Chart |
US
Charts |
| 1963 |
"Twist and Shout" |
#4 |
- |
| 1963 |
"Do You Love Me" |
#1 |
- |
| 1963 |
"I Can Dance" |
#31 |
- |
| 1964 |
"Candy Man" |
#6 |
- |
| 1964 |
"Someone Someone" |
#2 |
#97 |
| 1964 |
"Twelve Steps to Love" |
#32 |
- |
| 1965 |
"Three Bells" |
#17 |
- |
| 1965 |
"I Want Candy" |
#25 |
- |
| 1967 |
"Here Comes My Baby" |
#4 |
#13 |
| 1967 |
"Silence Is Golden" |
#1 |
#11 |
| 1967 |
"Even the Bad Times Are Good" |
#4 |
#36 |
| 1967 |
"Be Mine" |
#39 |
- |
| 1968 |
"Suddenly You Love Me" |
#6 |
#44 |
| 1968 |
"Helule Helule" |
#14 |
- |
| 1968 |
"My Little Lady" |
#6 |
- |
| 1968 |
"I Shall Be Released" |
#29 |
- |
| 1969 |
"Hello World" |
#14 |
- |
| 1969 |
"(Call Me) Number One" |
#2 |
- |
| 1970 |
"By the Way" |
#35 |
- |
| 1970 |
"Me and My Life" |
#4 |
- |
| 1971 |
"Hello Buddy" |
#32 |
- |
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, the first new
entrants being Bob Benham and Aaron Woolley, effectively a merger with
a Tremeloes-managed group called Jumbo. Munden remained the only
constant member. Hawkes pursued a solo career for a while producing two
albums for RCA
Records in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1979
he returned to England and rejoined the Tremeloes where he remained
until 1988. Chip left the Tremeloes to focus on managing his son, Chesney,
who had a hit
record entitled "The One and
Only". By 1992 Hawkes was touring once again as a solo artist. Blakely
produced records for other acts, including the Rubettes,
Bilbo 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 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
(former bass player and lead vocals for Andy Scott's Sweet).
In September 2006 Brian Poole, Chip Hawkes and The Tremeloes
toured the UK as part of their 40th anniversary
reunion.
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
called "She's Not My Child".
Original band member details
- Brian Poole - born 2 November 1941, in Barking, Essex - Vocalist (up to 1966).
- Alan Blakely - born Alan David Blakely, 1 April 1942, in Bromley, Kent. Died on 10 June 1996 - Rhythm
Guitarist / Keyboards / Vocalist.
- Ricky West - born Richard Charles Westwood, on 7 May 1943, in Dagenham,
Essex - Lead Guitarist / Vocalist.
- Alan Howard - born 17 October 1941, in Dagenham, Essex - Bassist / Vocalist
(up to 1966).
- Chip Hawkes - born Leonard Donald Hawkes, 2 November
1945, in Shepherd's
Bush, West
London - Bassist / Vocalist (from 1965).
- Dave Munden - born David Charles Munden, 2 December
1943, in
Dagenham, Essex - Drummer / Vocalist.
References
- Guinness Book
of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN
0-85112-190-X
- The Guinness Book Of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
- The Book Of Golden Discs - 2nd Edition - ISBN 0-214-20512-6
- The Guinness Book Of 500 Number One Hits - ISBN 0-85112-250-7
External links
