"My word you do look queer" said Mrs Bob quoting old comedian and king of the monologue, Stanley Holloway. "Have you been drinking that
"Bad trip man", I thought and anyway we always scrape through? When I came round a few days later Nobber phoned me up with the official news and was weeping like a baby.
Look on the bright side though...it'll give us another chance to thrash the other team.
I'M NOT DEAD THEN
Clearly I'm not dead and I have little more to say about the recent spate of deaths of some of those we loved and knew, many others were our role models for life ....we're all in the queue, best celebrate now!!
BRUMMIES ABROAD
Writing the piece on Barry Reeves a couple of month's ago had me contacting people in the search for Johnny Whitehouse and The Congressmen, a previous group he had been a member of.
One of those I made contact with is someone well known in the Brumbeat legacy and who now lives in variety city, Las Vegas and that person is the great:
JON WASHINGTON - Las Vegas
Jon Washington has been known by a variety of Johns, Johny's and Jons so for the interests of my own frail memory I shall try and use the right spelling variant chronologically with a pause for a George along the way?
Johny Washington was the front man for Johny Washington and The Congressmen who hailed from the Coventry area who had a great career with some great midlands bands and association with some of the noteable characters who were prevalent in the midlands in the glory days. We 'crazy cats' who formed bands were Arty, out there on the cutting edge of design we embraced the atomic age in our stride and produced amazing artwork to publicise ourselves.
In 1962 Johny Washington and The Congressmen were no exception
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| (Copyright Jon Washington) |
You've just got to love that haven't you? It's got it all as a time capsule, just as The Beatles were arriving. Undecided Elvis or Beatles? moody greaser with a slim dickie-bow, Crazy swinging capitalised lettering, one 'N' in Johny. The other members of the band floating around in the background. I would make a guess that the guy with the 'Hank' glasses was the guitarist and I might be hazarding another guess here but I think that Johny himself might have had something to do with the construction of this poster?
Just fabulous though, it was the way young bands were and for me those were genuinely the happiest days I spent playing. So for anyone who didn't get beyond that, you didn't miss too much.
It struck a spark in Johny though who had got the taste for performing and wasted no time time getting himself deeper into the music world because the very same year that the above photo was taken he met up at a gig, at the Nuneaton Co-op, with the great Reg Calvert who invited him to become one of his Clifton Hall 'stable' or budding artistes.
Reg had his own way of doing things and after a meeting between Reg and Johnys parents Johny was taken on and re-launched as a solo artist....Johnny Washington, now with an added N and he must have fancied himself for the big-time.
Johnny recorded on the Oriole label and played all of Reg's venues as well as the package show tour around the country along with other stablemates including Robby Hood and his Merry Men who was fronted by another stablemate Mike West, but now known as Robby Hood. Johnny Washington was also co-opted into the Merry Men to augment the guitar sound and vocals. The Merry Men including Johnny as a band were taken on by Decca, the band name flew out of the window along with those hideous costumes (no surprise there!)and after a while as The Cliftones the name The Fortunes arrived in their laps.
It's 1964 and during all this hubub of musical activity Reg Calvert had arranged
They didn't like Johnny's name though so they changed it to George E. Washington and he got the band back this time as The Congress. George E. who used to be Johnny with two N's recorded "Spare a thought For Me" and Glen Dale filled his slot with The Fortunes.
The record is so full of the sounds of 64 and naturally got lots of air play, doing moderately well in the UK and a great success in other parts of Europe but more importantly......it put George E. on the musical map. He continued to tour the country as George E. until another opportunity came knocking for him at the end of 65 when he was offered the job as vocalist for The Applejacks who were a great band, successful and had an extremely polished act and George E. would now be known as John Washington.
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| John Washington white polo neck. |
John served his time with The Applejacks and their
He was now Jon Washington, without the H. Thank goodness for that because he has been Jon since then.
One would think that, had that been the end of a fruitful career, any right thinking guy would have been happy and retired and opened a book shop or something. Not for Jon, no sir!
ENTER THE 80's, 90's and the O's
In the 80's Jon signed to Mega International Records and in 1988 had two Billboard Top 100 hits on the country charts with "Once Dance Love Affair" and "Two Hearts". This renewed success bought some very welcome TV shows and National tours that boosted Jon's profile to yet another another huge audience and he has continued to tour, write and record songs right through to today.
As if that wasn't enough his CD, "I can Feel a Love Coming On" was nominated for a Grammy in 2003!
Jon was now a big act and had been doing a lot of shows at various Casinos in Las Vegas and he decided that this would probably be the place to relocate to rather than to keep travelling to, so he moved to Las Vegas permanently in 1995 and was the resident House act at the acclaimed
Stardust Casino till 2005.
Jon continues to tour at Festivals, Fairs and Theatre venues and released his last CD "The Heartbreak Chronicles" in 2015
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| From Moody greaser to sophisticated and elegant charm |
Ex Uglys guitarist Will continues enjoying his life writing, recording and playing gigs in Spain whilst rebuilding his old village farmhouse.
"I've just taken posession of my new customised stripey Stratocaster and I've called it Pete after the great Pete Oliver and his WASP shop. I've had a pair of humbuckers fitted and it sings beautifully, can't wait to get out gigging with it"
Ex Brumbeats vocalist Graham Ashford and wife Caroline have been tripping too, not in the Morning Glory manner, but have just returned from cruising down to New Zealand for six weeks.
He has the good fortune to have a beautiful bald eagle resident at the back of the property of his new abode which has a stage area out back with a seating area for about 100 so he's planning some summer shows there.
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| Graham with Pono Kane. |
Graham has also just been approached to join a '60's band in the Seattle area which would be just tremendous. He sang right through the heydays of British Rock in some of the best Brummie groups so he'll be in his element for sure.
If he does I don't think he will be adopting his old 'stage moves' anymore though. Here he is in his more flexible days with The Plazents.
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| copyright G Ashford |
Toodle Ooooooooooooooo
Bob.
