1966, Nov.18, 1 a.m.: I am in my bed, at the Hyatt West Hotel on Sunset Strip with distressing insomnia. I am desperate for sleep.
My band, THE GIDDY STATUES, and me are on tour of the USA with The JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE. We have one more gig in California: The Winterland Ballroom, then we will frantically continue the last leg of this US tour, finishing in New York City’s FILLMORE EAST.
Of all the movements that have shaken the world of rock & roll, the BRITISH INVASION ranks among the most exciting and important.
Check out this ROCK & ROLL “FAMILY TREE” and see how the Pop BRITISH INVASION of 1964 fired the first pop-shot heard around the world.
PS: take a look at the influence that GIRL GROUPS had on The Beatles.
Who knew!
We all know what happened to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones…but what about The Rockin’ Berries, Brian Poole & The Tremeloes, The Pretty Things and The Giddy Statues?
In between the peppy early Sixties pop of CLIFF RICHARD and the late Sixties explosion of progressive rock, there were hundreds of beat-groups from all over Britain looking for two-minute hits and slightly longer careers.
In this blog, I now celebrate the small names and the no-hopers who were genuine superstars in the U.K. but could never break into the American music market during the pop British Invasion of the 60s.
The Giddy Statues, formed in 1964, are an oft-forgotten English group who hit it big in 1965 with 3 singles in the UK Top-Ten. The band’s songwriter/front-man, Reggie Bender, claimed a UFO transmitted the band’s name to him. The band drew upon the stylistic influences of The Kinks, The Small Faces, The Beatles, and psychedelic rock.
June, 1965 -The Giddy Statues first American tour: The Giddy Statues tour the USA with THE WHO. During a performance by The Who, Reggie accidentally gets hit over the head by PETE TOWNSHEND’S guitar. The Giddy Statues continue the US tour even though Reggie can only say the word, “Mayonnaise” for the next three weeks.
Discover what happened in 1964 when Reggie Bender and Keith Richards couldn't agree on who the fattest bluesman was.
In the 50s and 60s being male or female governed which musical options individuals had. That is, if you were a male, you could do almost anything musical: guitarist or drummer, bandleader or producer. If you were female, you could be a singer, but even then the contexts had limits.
Very few women in this milieu achieved success as drummers, keyboard players or bass players. But one individual female comes to mind. And, of all instruments, she played drums! I can only imagine the passion for pop/rock this woman had. A passion so true, gender didn’t matter; she ventured into a music world where men ruled that industry.
“The Purple People Eater” (1958) Sheb Wooley –
Released as a single, written and performed by Sheb Wooley. This song tells of a strange creature (described as a “one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater”) descends to Earth because it wants to be in a rock ‘n roll band. The creature isn’t necessarily purple but rather eats purple people.
