Robby Hood And His Merry Men was Mike West with Tony Doherty (guitar) adding Micky Cottle (drums) and Carl Hasden (who owned the first five-string bass in the UK, custom-made by Johnny "Fruit" Gordon).  Signed by Stanley Dale their recording debut was "Tell Me When" written by Fred Heath, and they occasionally appeared on the same bill as Kidd.

E

TRIVIA: Young PC David Harman was one of the first on the scene - he would later find fame as "Dave Dee" with Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich.

"Wham!" would be cancelled by its makers ABC on June 4th of this year, the company responsible for making it, says "ABC thinks there is no longer a public for teenage rock-'n'-roll type programmes".  So there.

Their inspiration came from a phrase Fred Heath would use when knocking around with some mates, and spying a pretty girl in the street might send "quivers down the membranes".  It was a phrase the future Pirate remembered because it offered a new angle on the shakes routine, and this evening helped generate a song to show EMI they had been busy.

"Yes Sir, That's My Baby'" was the main event for release as the next single.  Joe Moretti (right), who had been befriended by the group was brought in by them to supply lead guitar, Alan Caddy stepping aside to play a picked treble version of Gregg's bass riff, alternating with some neatly controlled rhythm instead.  The B-side was the lads new number, which turned out to be "Shakin' All Over" and which was recorded in one take.  Moretti overdubbed the "shimmering" guitar effects at the end of each verse by quickly sliding a Ronson lighter to and fro on his guitar strings.  This took two takes and he consequentially received £1 extra in addition to his #5 and 15 shillings session fee which all the Pirates received as usual.  The Control Room had a quick conflab and announced that this new song knocked everybody out and would the A-side.

"

At number 7 is gravelly-voiced Tommy Bruce (who sadly passed away in 2006) with his interpretation of Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin" -  a not-too-distant upcoming Bruce single on Parlophone would feature "Shakin'" on the flip. 

"I shall be rehearsing next week for my new record.  I can't give you any indication of what it will be like because I haven't even written it yet!  I'm thinking like mad, trying to work up an original idea - the most important thing , in my estimation, is that this new disc will have to have an unusual sound."  Click here for the full article.

T

Kidd's manager Stanley Dale continues booking engagements for the Kidd up to the beginning of October as a potential US Tour "is not expected to take place before then".

Also on this day "Restless", which Kidd thought was probably stronger even than "Shakin" tops out at a disappointing 22 in the UK "Record Retailer" charts.  Another chart calculates this disc as reaching as high as number 18.

The sleevenotes are by James Wynn, who tells the (probably untrue) story of how whilst tuning his guitar backstage at Wandsworth Town Hall a string broke and hit him in the eye, stagehands managed to source a black eyepatch and Johnny fulfilled the show, during which he heard mumblings from a few in the audience that he looked like a pirate, he dubbed his band the Pirates, and adorned himself with the name Johnny Kidd - and never looked back....!  That's what it says anyway, finishing off with "He's been greeted with capacity audiences all long the line - a fact that constitutes proof positive that the talented Mr. Kidd is here to stay".