The Tremeloes
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The Tremeloes are a British beat group from Dagenham, Essex.
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[edit] 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. 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.
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.
[edit] 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 | - | ||||||||
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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".
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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
