Grimsby Groups 2 - Scunny Groups

Grimsby Groups 2 1960/90

Help to keep the memories alive.

Last updated December 08th 2011

If you have any information or photos of the Grimsby group scene, between 1950 til 1990,
you would like to share,you can contact me on email address,

grimsbygroups@musiclincs.co.uk

Grimsby has had a full and varied group scene from the late fifties up to the present day.
These are just some of the groups that have helped us pass away the hours over the years.
I think most of the early bands can recall playing The Cafe Dansant, The Winter Garden,
The Beachcomber and the many Grimsby and Cleethorpes pubs with live music, then there was
the many working mens clubs, the Mariners,the Alexander club and the Bowling Alley.
These are just a few of the Grimsby bands over the years.

The Hi-Fi Combo ( circa 1958/9 ) from Barton-upon-Humber
were among a handful of the very first Lincolnshire Rock’n’Roll bands and had Hughie Tunbridge (vocals) Roy (Spam) Stanforth lead guitar, Geoff Elm rhythm, Neil Storey on Drums, Chas “The Big Bish” Chapman on Bass. They played Little Richard and similar music.

The Wasps – circa 1958-1959
were an Immingham band and were formed when a previous Skiffle Band decided to turn to Rock’n’Roll. Originally an instrumental group, the Wasps played the hits of the John Barry Seven, the Ventures, The Champs, (this was well before the Shadows appeared) plus some original material written by lead guitar “Philbert”. The line-up was Phil “Philbert” Sowerby on lead guitar, “Eggo” Bacon, Malcolm Kicks and Roy “Spit” Spittlehouse on rhythm guitars (the three rhythm guitars was a left–over from their skiffle days), Keith “Keyhole” Glover on Bass, and Terry “Tetley” Parkin on drums. Their name was derived from the black and yellow striped caps which they wore, an idea taken from Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps . The Wasps were one of the very first Lincolnshire Rock’n’Roll bands, despite using home-made guitars and home-assembled amps. They travelled to their first gigs, supporting the Dance Bands which were popular at the time, by public bus, until helper John “Wes” Wetherly took the initiative and bought a old fish-mongers Bedford Dormobile van. They were later joined by Rob Dimbleby on vocals and their repertoire expanded to include material by Gene Vincent, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard (all still in the charts at that time !).

The Barton-based “Hi-Fi Combo” and the Immingham-based “Wasps” subsequently joined forces and after a few more changes evolved into a line-up featuring Rob “Little Fred” Dimbleby and Richard “Big Ted” Paul sharing vocals, Roy “Spam” Stanforth on lead guitar, Roy “Spit” Spittlehouse on rhythm guitar, Keith “Keyhole” Glover on bass, and Terry “Tetley” Parkin on drums.
When Rob Dimbleby left they took on the name “The Echoes”, a name arrived at by going through all the names of cars, of birds, of animals and finally TV sets, of which Eko was a popular make.

Richard Paul took on the name of “Paul Keene”.

They turned professional around 1960 , having taken the name “The Sound Of The Echoes, with Paul Keene”, and toured widely in England and Scotland. They also spent periods as resident band at the Storyville Clubs in Hannover and Frankfurt, and at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg, only a few months before The Beatles’ Hamburg period. The Sound of the Echoes” became well-known in the music industry as the backing band to the Stars. Their backing work included Bert Weedon, who made the guitar so popular in the 50’s and 60’s….

…. Mike Sarne (when “Come Outside”, “Will I What” and “Just For Kicks” were consecutive top-ten hits)…..

multiple chart-topper Craig Douglas, and Paul Hanford, who had a number one hit
with “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Polka Dot Bikini” in 13 European countries (but sadly not England

Frank Ifield (when “I Remember You” was number one);and other popular recording artists of the time including
- Suzi Cope, Mike Berry, The Breakaways, The Overlanders (number one with the Beatles song “Michelle”),
Keith Kelly, Jackie Frisco, Carter-Lewis (aka The Ivy League - - 1965 hits “Funny How Love Can Be” and
Tossing and Turning” / aka The Flowerpot Men – 1967 hit “Let’s Go To San Francisco”) and others...

Spit left The Sound Of The Echoes to become a policeman. Paul “Birrel” Keene turned his hand to Gilbert
and Sullivan operettas. Keith “Keyhole” Glover left music altogether. Roy “Spam” Stanforth left to get married,
Terry “Tetley” Parkin joined the Raiders.

The Raiders

When Jamie left Jamie and the Raiders they continued as The Raiders, with Tony Preston (Grimsby) as lead vocal .
When drummer Bernie Hoggett left they were joined by Terry “Tetley” Parkin (Immingham) who had recently left Paul Keene and The Sound of the Echoes. Ray Carter was next to leave the Raiders, to pursue folk music, and later become the resident Band Leader at the Beachcomber’s, Humberstone.
This Raiders line-up of Cliff “Carruthers” Liles (Guitar), Byron Oldridge (Bass), Terry “Tetley” Parkin (Drums) and Tony Preston (vocals) became the definitive and longest lasting Raiders format and for years they were Grimsby’s hardest working band, at one time performing 20 gigs in 21 days over Christmas - they insisted on having Christmas day off.

They also enjoyed spells as resident band at Humberstone Country Club and Laceby Casino.

Drew and the Concords(1963-1966)
Drew Fielding-vocals
John Gale-lead
Noel Gale-Rythmn
Tony Legge-(not on photo)
Dave Amos-bass(sadly passed away)
Steve Johnson-drums
and their trusty Bedford Dormi

They played a lot round Scunthorpe and area-the Iron and Steel,The Oswald, Berekley, Brown Cow, The Baths, Queen Bess and The Ancholme at Brigg to name a few.
Steve Johnson went on to play with-The Lighter Shades,Johnny and the Bluecats,The Riot Rockers,The Saddlers,Magenta,Flu,Schooner,Rock and Boogie Band and more recently The Wally Stewart Band.
He was a resident side man at the Cromwell Club grimsby and for many years at The Excel Grimsby

Rock and Boogie Band-96/97
Rock and Boogie Band-50's/60's rock and roll covers
Phil Trevethick-vocals/guitar
Brian Hotley-guitar
Dave Ward-bass
Steve Johnson-drums

The Tors 1982

Route 66-2001/2002
Route 66-covers 50's-60's-70's and a good set all Status Quo.
Andy Mogg-guitar/vocals
Phil McClean-guitar/vocals
Dave-bass
Steve Johnson-drums

Route 66 at Baileys, Grimsby

The Chads (1962)

The Chads (1962?)

were a Grimsby harmony group fronted by Mick Pearson on lead guitar. After a period in their original format they disbanded, but later re-appeared when Mick Pearson teamed up with Carruthers Liles, Ray Carter and Tetley Parkin (all from The Raiders via differing routes).

The Chads 1962 In this format they were very popular on the North Lincs Club circuit for a couple of years, with Mick doubling on trumpet, Ray doubling on flute, Tetley doubling on Bass.

The Unity 1966/7 ?

After The Chads disbanded, Tetley and Carruthers teamed up with Spam from The Echoes and after just a couple of gigs landed the professional job of backing Brian Poole, who had recently split from the Tremeloes and had enjoyed a number of solo hits. Years as top-of-the-bill in theatre and cabaret followed, using the band name “The Unity”.

With Brian they also did a raft of national radio work, appearing many times on “The Pete Brady Show” in the afternoons on Radio 2, and on “The Jimmy Young Show”. There was one period when they were on the radio everyday except weekends for six weeks. They also toured Ireland during the 1960’s “ Foot and Mouth” epidemic, only a couple of weeks after I.R.A. terrorists blew up Nelson’s Column outside the Post Office in Dublin.

Following The Unity’s split with Brian Poole, Spam went on to front F.L.U with Carruthers Liles. The name was actually derived as a mnemonic of “Fart Lighters Union”.

Spam subsequently formed a succession of local bands, including Sonny and Spam with ex-Nighthawk Sonny Lee , Magenta, Meridian and Oasis (years before the Manchester lot!), until retiring at age 65 in 2005 after 50 years in show business.

Tetley. along with Noel “Bo” Skelton ( Rumble Band) and Mick Pearson (Chads) joined the professional London-based “Rock’n’Roll Revival Show” (45 rpm single, “Midnight Train”) and toured in UK, including supporting Bill Haley and His Comets on their last UK tour before Haley died. Tetley also spent some time touring US air bases in France with the professional Gordon James Soul Band (Gordon Smith– ex Beat Club) and Beryl.

Israel 1982 Grimsby band

Lighter Shades-67/68
The lighter Shades,-material all covers middle of the road stuff
Dave George-guitar and vocals
Tony Legge -guitar and vocals
Keith(Alge)Swinburn-bass
Steve Johnson-drums

Silhonette 1981 Grimsby band

Schooner-83/84
Schooner-really a continuation of Magenta-certainly same material
Roy(Spam)Stanforth-vocal/guitar
Mick Kaye-keyboard/guitar/vocals
Paul Avison-bass/vocals
Steve Johnson-drums

Tragedy 1985 Grimsby, Tragedy featured Dave Burley on vocals,Ian McCall on drums, Colin Clarkson on guitar, Dave Dowie on bass

Johnny and the Bluecats late 1960's
they morphed into The Riot Rockers-1970 on rock and roll and rockabilly
there were various changes of members
Johnny Fox-vocals(later sax and drums also)
Ray Firth-guitar
Alf Ludlam-piano
Sonny Blanchard-Saxophone
John(Reg)Scargill-bass
Steve Johnson-drums

A young Terry (Tetley) Parkin 1961

After spells with a couple of York-based bands, Tetley allowed
his drums to gather dust …

….until his son, Mike Parkin, became drummer with Hull-based band Tonik (1999-2000).

1982

Jeannies Band of Gold-69/70
Jeannies Band of Gold-material country.
Jeannie-vocals
Pat Banks-guitar
Mick Heinz-guitar
Steve Johnson -drums

The Gordon James Soul Band was formed in 1965 by Gordon (Onion) Smith with the aim of touring American bases in France. Onion played piano and guitar and sang. He was joined by Beryl, a solo artiste who had been taught by Onion to play Bass. (In those days all bands on US bases in Europe had to contain at least one female member). Mick Pearson (guitar) was next to join, followed by Tetley(drums). They played early Motown, Stax and other soul labels, After a handful of gigs in Grimsby and district they travelled to London to audition for the US bases and were immediately given two months contracts for E.M (Enlisted Men’s) Clubs on US bases in France. On the eve of departure, Mick Pearson was taken ill so the band went as a 3-piece, Mick being generous to allow them use of his Ford Thames van. They had a one month residency at Fontainebleu, and a second month at Orleans, during which they recruited a Scot named Tony on Guitar. Orleans was surrounded by five US bases, each with English resident bands, and several of the bands lived in the Hotel du Sauvage in the old town of Orleans – you can not even start to imagine what went on there ! During our stay at Orleans, we were asked to play at a theatre concert for the US Red Cross, which we were happy to do as it was to be broadcast the following week on US Forces Radio. The reception was so good that we were invited to do a one-hour radio show the following week.

Magenta-80/81
Magenta-covered a lot of big standards(Space Odditty-John Miles Music-McArthur Park-I want to know what love is)
Roy(Spam)Stanforth-vocals/guitar
Mick Kaye-keyboards/guitar/vocals
Mick Hickson-bass
Steve Johnson-drums(previous drummer-Mick Horsefall)

Raider 1983

FLU 72/73
FLU-all pop and rock covers
Roy(Spam)Stanforth-guitar/vocals
Cliff Lyles-bass/vocals
Steve Johnson-drums

Above is a pic of a German flier for the Storyville club in Frankfurt, where the Echoes had a residency during a two-month tour of Germany. It was actually a Jazz club as you can see from the billing, but attendances had been low so the management decided to try a British pop group. Knowing it was a Club, not a dance hall, the Echoes therefore learned a load of standards and cabaret material, which combined with ballads and instrumentals enabled us to play a quiet and controlled five hours without repetition. The club had an average of maybe 20 - 25 people at any time during each evening, until, about 3 days in, a German bloke asked " Do you know "Blue Svade Schoos ?"" We said yes and in the next set we threw restraint away and blasted " Blue Suade Shoes" at volume. The 25-ish people there seemed to enjoy it so we did Rock'n'Roll for the rest of that set ( we played 45 minutes on stage, 15 minutes off, 45 on, 15 off, all night from 7 o'clock until 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning.). At the end of that set the crowd dissappeared - we thought we were in real trouble. But as we started our next set the original audience virually trebled ! They had been to fetch their pals to see the Rock'n'Roll band ! The Echoes were the first Rock band that the Frankfurters had seen. So, we dropped the cabaret numbers and played our usual rock numbers for the rest of the night.
The following night the club was filled to capacity. The night after they were queuing outside before the Club opened. We had capacity audiences for the rest of our stay there and never had to buy another drink. It is undeniably true that the Echoes introduced Frankfurt to live Rock music .

Wally Stewart Band-2008/2010
Wally Stewart Band-covers(particularlyThe Eagles)
Wally Stewart-vocals
Karen-vocals(Wally's daughter)
Stuart Lande-guitar
Vinnie-guitar/vocals
John Sharp-bass/vocals
Brian Lomas-keyboard/guitar
Steve Johnson -drums.

Exit 1983 Barry, Neil, Charlie and Dave

Saddlers-69/71
The Saddlers-material all country
Billy Mullen-vocals/guitar
Phil Trevethic-vocals/guitar/steel guitar
Keith(Alge)Swinburn-bass
Steve Johnson-drums(previous drummer Geof Hinch)

GRIMSBY/CLEETHORPES venues over the years
Old Alexander Club Advance Club Excelsior Club Social Reform Club Mariners Club Exchange Club
Weelsby Club Gunners Club Artisans Club Tartan Club Cromwell Club RAFA Club Hamilton Street Disc
77 Club Frontiersman Club Dunlop Club British Legion Club-Grimsby Courtaulds Club Ross Club
Findus Club Lifeboat Hotel Greenlands Club Laportes Club Yarborough Hotel British Legion- Cleethorpes
British Legion-Waltham Sunnyside Club Mecca-Grimsby Memorial Hall-Cleethorpes Birds Eye Club Transport Club-Grimsby

The Witchdoctor Club at the Lifeboat Hotel run by Martin Yale (agency)

The Village Club (now the Studio Cleethorpes Market Place again run by Martin Yale

Tic Toc Club Hamilton St. Grimsby run by Jackie Lee/ Crawford Bros

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Scunthorpe venues over the years
Ancholme Inn -Brigg Ex-Sevicemens-Brigg Queen Bess -Scunthorpe Oswald-Scunthorpe Iron and Steel-Scunthorpe
Louth Town Hall Berkely Hotel-Scunthorpe Brown Cow Scunthorpe Trades and Labour-Boston Blue Lion-RAF Binbrook
Campbell Club-RAF Nth Coates Alpha CEment Works Club-Ferriby Sluice Lincoln DrillHall Louth Football Pavillion-Louth
County Hotel-Immingham County Hotel -Grimsby BRSA Club- Immingham BRSA Club-Grimsby Cons Club-Immingham

Stars Reunited in Grimsby
On Saturday 13 August 2011 the hit touring show “ Hit Parade Heroes “visited Grimsby and appeared at the Grimsby Central Hall , Duncombe Street,
The show featured John Leyton ( “Wild Wind” , “Johnny Remember Me”), Mike Berry ( ”Tribute to Buddy Holly”, “Sunshine of Your Smile”), and head-lining the bill was Mike Sarne, a chart-topper who in 1962 had three consecutive No 1 hits – “Come Outside” ( with Wendy Richard )” Will I What?” and “Just For Kicks”. While these three songs were topping the charts, Mike was touring the whole of Britain backed by the Grimsby band “The Sound Of The Echoes”. Over 45 years later, on Saturday night he was re-united with four of the original band. In the photo, Mike is shown having a great time reminiscing with, (L to R) Keith, Mike, Spam, Wes and Tetley.

Western Pacific, Grimsby

These pictures came from the collection of guitarist John Hardy.

Line-up is:
Cliff ?? - bass guitar
Albert Wiseman - steel guitar
Mary (Stafford) Oglesby - vocals, rhythm guitar
John Hardy - lead guitar

Based in Grimsby, the group played in the Grimsby, Skegness, Scunthorpe and
Doncaster areas in the 1980s. They did some country stuff but weren't really
a country band as such, with a repertoire consisting of country, rock and
roll and skiffle tunes.

In 1987 the band was renamed Maryland Express and Paul Avison took over on bass.

John Hardy left the band in 1989 and the new lineup was Mary Oglesby on vocals and guitar Albert Wiseman on steel guitar, Marc Oglesby on bass and Duncan Kemp on banjo. They went on to record a CD.

Albert Wiseman died in 2009.

John Hardy died in October 2011. Apart from playing in bands he had worked
at Pete's Pad recording studio in Cleethorpes, and for Stage One in Grimsby.
He was interested in, and knowledgeable about, all different kinds of music.
He retained a keen interest in playing and recording, and was playing in a
blues band up to the time of his death.
John recorded and mixed the Western Pacific tunes at Pete's Pad in
Cleethorpes in 1989, when he was working there.

Sweet Dreams by Western Pacific

Western Pacific

Act Naturally by Western Pacific

Julie Dalton
Julie has sang and played in many Grimsby bands over the years. Among the bands from the early sixties
were 'Julie and the Jaguars', 'The Geoff Hallam Combo' were she went under the name of 'Julie Paige'.
The Geoff Hallam Combo had a residency spot on a Friday night at the Cafe Dansant in Cleethorpes.
Later she sang and played in 'Rowndabout' with Viv Peterson, lead guitar, John Howden on drums,
Dave Crowder on bass and Julie on vocals and keyboard. 'Rowndabout had a residency spot at Cleethorpes
Winter Gardens on a thursday night. She also was in 'Julie Dalton and the Extensions', and was the vocalist
in 'The Colin Chamley Band'.