Bulls Head Bob Aug 2023. A Bit more Ringway Music. Some Brumbeat bands 1965

 Hello you Brummie Musos,

It's hot, Hot, Hot my friends but it is the holiday season so we shouldn't really complain.  

A BIT MORE RINGWAY MUSIC.  

Its 1965, Ringway Music has opened, only a small shop but as it is run by musicians we all flock there, I buy my first Gibson from there. It has since been consigned to the Brum history vaults as one of the greatest shops there was and us Brumbeat musos look back on it with great affection.  One of those aficionados, namely Bill Lovegrove, has kindly sent me a picture of that very boutique to refresh our memories and make us feel good inside.  

1965

The year of 1965 was one of mega activity for Birmingham bands and this is what was happening with just a few  Birmingham bands at that time starting appropriately with.

THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP

The Spencer Davis group have had their first hit with 'Keep on Running' and are doing some promotion leading up to their second chart success "Somebody Help Me'.  I guess they are promoting the shop or the new Burns "Fully Transistorised" Orbit amplifier as Spencer is sat on one although I can't remember them using it on stage.  

I guess Steve Winwood is inside getting a free coffee.  At the time several bands tried this amp, I've even seen a picture of Clapton using one on stage.  I used one for one night and it was a lifeless pile of poo!

On the music side of the coin this was, hands down, the best Rythmn and Blues outfit in the country and a very young Steve Winwood was a teenage heartthrob, as well as being brilliant at everything else he did.

Dont you just love the way Spencer has a couple of pens in his top jacket pocket, he did work at Aston University prior to the bands success so it was a funny way of looking important back then.  Anyway just another peek at this much loved shop at the best of times.

THE APPLEJACKS

The Applejacks had been the first Brummie band to get a chart hit in 1964 getting to Number 7 in the charts with 'Tell me When' and had a good follow up with the Lennon and McCartney penned 'Like Dreamers Do' and their final single 'Three Little Words', the latter 2 both getting to the 20's in the charts.    Record companies in those days were wankers and would try and foist some inapropriate song or other on bands who had scored a hit and The Applejacks were no exception.  DECCA wanted them to record 'Chim Chim Cheree' from Mary Poppins for their next release, the band argued that it wasn't  a song they should be doing and basically refused to record it.  They found themselves put on the back burner by DECCA for a further 6 months and it was 1965 before they released another single, by which time, interest in the band had flagged and they returned to playing local gigs in Birmingham before getting a lucrative deal to play on the cruise ships....for years and years.

THE MOODY BLUES

The Moody Blues scored the second chart entry of a Brummie Band with the classic  "Go Now" reaching No 1 in 1964.  Their light shone bright for a short period as an R and B band, touring with The Beatles but they were royally robbed of any earnings by Tony Secunda and their production company.  In 1965 two of the band left, namely Denny Laine and Clint Warwick.  The Moodies found themselves doing local gigs back in Birmingham before resurrecting themselves in the psychedelic progressive rock genre achieving phenomenal success.

THE UGLY'S

The Uglys got a record deal with PYE and in 1965 released their self penned single "Wake up my Mind" which didn't do too well in the British Charts but bizarrely got to Number 1 in Australia and Number 10 in New Zealand in August of 1965.  The same year they released "Its Alright" and got lots of pirate radio plays of Tony Blackburn and Simon Dee and touring and headlining all the best venues.   The record was selling 750 copies per day and the band featured on Ready Steady Go, it looked as if they were going to chart but fell foul of greater success owing to a strike by the record distribution industry so, with no records available at the point of sale, other music had replaced yesterdays favourites when the strike finished.

They were lined up to tour Australia with The Rolling Stones in early 66 but the Australian Musicians Union wouldn't permit another British Group on the tour despite them having hits there.  This band got some really bad breaks in 1965 and beyond.

FINALLY  

In 1965 I was playing some of the usual places like the Hen and Chickens and The Mermaid and venturing out to Stratford on Avon and a great nights at Walsall Town Hall having the best days of my life with a great group and a great group of friends too.

In 1964 there were two BRUM BEAT LP's issued.  The first was released on the Dial label that comprised of the bands managed by the Reagans who ran a lot of venues in the city, notably The Ritz in Kings Heath and a second LP on DECCA featuring bands on the Decca label at that time.  These are still around on Ebay.

I heard that there was a reunion planned for those who were on the Reagan bands version organised by Keith Powell (and the Valets) saying that members of five of those bands would be present. Sadly I received the news too late to publicise it.

So anyway if you're holidaying this month, enjoy yourselves and put on lots of tanning lotion.

Take care

Bob

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