On New Year's Day, 1962, Decca Records auditioned two promising young bands: Brian Poole and the Tremeloes and another combo (also heavily influenced by Buddy Holly) from Liverpool, the Beatles, and in a decision which defies belief in hindsight, Decca chose Brian Poole and the Tremeloes over the Beatles, reportedly based on location – the Tremeloes were from the London area, making them more accessible than the Liverpool-based Beatles. The original quintet consisted of lead vocalist Brian Poole, lead guitarist Rick West (born Richard Westwood), rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Alan Blakley, bassist Alan Howard and drummer Dave Munden, and after they signed to Decca it didn't take long for them to have their first UK chart hit with a cover of 'Twist And Shout' in July 1963. They followed that with another cover, this time of The Contours' US million-seller 'Do You Love Me', and from then on the hits just kept coming - 'I Can Dance', 'Candy Man', 'Someone, Someone', 'Three Bells' and a version of 'I Want Candy'. With Poole leaving to attempt a solo career (which proved unsuccessful) in 1966, the Tremeloes continued as a four-piece with a revised line-up after Howard left to be replaced by Len "Chip" Hawkes. Remaining with Decca, their first single as a four piece was a cover of Paul Simon's 'Blessed', but this failed to chart, so the band switched from Decca to CBS Records, with Mike Smith producing, and although their cover of The Beatles 'Good Day Sunshine' also failed to chart, it established them as a group with a more contemporary sound and image. From 1967 onwards they had a run of chart hits, starting with Cat Stevens' 'Here Comes My Baby', then 'Hello World', 'Suddenly You Love Me', 'I'm Gonna Try', and 'My Little Lady', as well as their classic number one single 'Silence Is Golden'. All members shared vocals, though most of the songs featured either Hawkes or drummer Dave Munden as the lead singer, and while their style of music proved popular with both younger music fans and parents rather than rock music fans, their albums and b-sides included more rock-styled tracks such as band compositions 'Try Me' and the instrumental 'Instant Whip. One of these more ambitious group-composed numbers was '(Call Me) Number One', which reached no. 2 in the UK in 1969, and remains one of my favourite ever tracks. Their cover version of Jeff Christie's song 'Yellow River' was shelved at the time, but when Christie wanted to release it himself he used The Tremloes backing track and just laid his vocal over the top, earning himself a number one hit single with his band Christie. 'Me And My Life' (another favourite of mine) was a no. 4 UK chart hit in 1970, while 'By the Way' reached no. 35 that year. Their album 'Master' was released a few weeks later, but failed to sell despite being a strong record, and the hits also dried up after 'Hello Buddy' just missed the UK top 30 in 1971, but they did continue to score big in the European charts throughout the 70's. Three more albums of original material were released in the 70's, one of them the belatedly-released soundtrack to the film 'May Morning', but in the first of two posts from the band I've collected all my favourite singles and b-sides that never appeared on an album, along with a few out-takes, and they all go to show that, in my opinion, splitting with Brian Poole was the best thing they ever did.
01 Hello Buddy (single 1971)
02 No More Sad Songs (previously unreleased 1971)
03 No No No (previously unreleased 1971)
04 Yellow River (previously unreleased 1970)
05 Instant Whip (b-side of '(Call Me) Number One')
06 Right Wheel, Left Hammer, Sham (single 1970)
07 Take It Easy (b-side of 'Right Wheel, Left Hammer, Sham')
08 (Call Me) Number One (single 1969)
09 If You Ever (b-side of 'Too Late (To Be Saved)')
10 How Can You Say Goodbye (previously unreleased 1972)
11 I Like It That Way (single 1972)
12 Too Late (To Be Saved) (single 1971)
13 Heaven Knows Why (previously unreleased 1972)
14 Wakamaker (b-side of 'I Like It That Way')
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