Fact #187545
When:
Short story:
The Beatles play a Mersey Beat Showcase at The Odeon Cinema, Romford, Essex, England, UK, Europe, supported by Gerry And The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer And The Dakotas, and The Vikings.Full article:
Carl Wayne (The Vikings, The Move) : That was really a pleasant band, which had some success in Birmingham. In fact, they already had a vocalist. It was Keith Powell, a pretty good singer. I joined the band to fill his part while he was off on holiday. After two weeks with the band - I don't know why - I had a feeling I was doing well with the other members and was asked to stay as a singer. There was an odd period when the band had two singers and there were two sets, Carl Wayne And the Vikings and Keith Powell And the Vikings! Then Keith quit the band and I remained. In my Vikings days, we did mainly cover songs.
There were several bands making a noise in Birmingham, like Carl Wayne And the Vikings, Mike Sheridan And the Nightriders, Danny King And The Mayfair Set and they were all very popular in Birmingham. The Vikings had been to Germany and returned to England to find The Beatles had got an enormous break while we were away. That was just after Love Me Do, their first single, became a huge hit and why record companies were so keen to make contracts with named bands around Liverpool. So we came up with an idea to get Midland musicians together, to form a new group with members selected from the many bands there. The new band should write their own material, find management in London and get big on the national music scene. The musicians who came together were three guys from the Vikings, Bev Bevan on drums, Ace Kefford on bass and me. Roy Wood from the Nightriders and Trevor Burton from the Mayfair Set joined us. In those days, we all went to the Cedar Club in Birmingham every night and chatted. (interview in Strange Days magazine, Issue 31)
John Hercock (photographer, Central Press) : It wasn’t just the girls who were screaming, it was the boys too! The atmosphere was mad; it was a full house, people had been queued around the block to get in. I don’t think anyone could quite believe the Beatles were in Romford; you only saw bands like that on Top of the Pops.
(Source : https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/50-years-ago-today-the-beatles-played-romford-gig-just-before-hitting-big-time-1-1985551)
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There were several bands making a noise in Birmingham, like Carl Wayne And the Vikings, Mike Sheridan And the Nightriders, Danny King And The Mayfair Set and they were all very popular in Birmingham. The Vikings had been to Germany and returned to England to find The Beatles had got an enormous break while we were away. That was just after Love Me Do, their first single, became a huge hit and why record companies were so keen to make contracts with named bands around Liverpool. So we came up with an idea to get Midland musicians together, to form a new group with members selected from the many bands there. The new band should write their own material, find management in London and get big on the national music scene. The musicians who came together were three guys from the Vikings, Bev Bevan on drums, Ace Kefford on bass and me. Roy Wood from the Nightriders and Trevor Burton from the Mayfair Set joined us. In those days, we all went to the Cedar Club in Birmingham every night and chatted. (interview in Strange Days magazine, Issue 31)
John Hercock (photographer, Central Press) : It wasn’t just the girls who were screaming, it was the boys too! The atmosphere was mad; it was a full house, people had been queued around the block to get in. I don’t think anyone could quite believe the Beatles were in Romford; you only saw bands like that on Top of the Pops.
(Source : https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/50-years-ago-today-the-beatles-played-romford-gig-just-before-hitting-big-time-1-1985551)