Five friends from Wiltshire, David John Harman (Dave Dee), Trevor Leonard Ward-Davies (Dozy), John Dymond (Beaky), Michael Wilson (Mick) and Ian Frederick Stephen Amey (Tich), formed a group in 1961, originally called Dave Dee and the Bostons, quickly giving up their day jobs to make their living from music. As well as performing in the UK, they occasionally played in Hamburg and Cologne, and after a couple of years on the circuit they came to the attention of British songwriters Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, who were interested in recording them. In the summer of 1964 the band was set up in the studio to make recordings with Joe Meek, but these sessions failed to get off the ground as they couldn't work with Meek's unusual recording techniques. Despite this setback they were signed to Fontana Records, and it was at this point that they changed their name to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, as they were their actual nicknames and because they wanted to stress their very distinct personalities in a climate which regarded bands as collectives. The distinctive name, coupled with well produced and catchy songs by Howard and Blaikley, quickly caught the UK public's imagination and their records started to sell in abundance, with 'The Legend Of Xanadu' topping the UK singles chart in 1968. 'Bend It!' was a big hit in Europe, including number one in Germany, and was inspired by music from the soundtrack of the film 'Zorba The Greek', with the catchy bouzouki sound being produced by using an electrified mandolin. In October 1966 the British music magazine NME commented that dozens of US radio stations had banned the record, because the lyrics were considered too suggestive, and so the group responded by recording a new version in London with a different set of words, which was rush-released in the US, as the original single was withdrawn from sale. Despite huge success in the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada, the band never really broke through in the US, and 'Zabadak' was the band's only single to chart in the national Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 52. In September 1969 Dave Dee left the group for a short-lived solo career, and the rest of the band, re-billed as (D,B,M and T), continued releasing records until they broke up in 1973. Although most of their hits were written by Howard and Blaikley, as often happened in the 60's the band were allowed to record their own compositions for the b-sides, and the Harman/Dymond/Davies 'The Sun Goes Down' on the flip of 'Zabadak' is one of the great lost psychedelic gems of the era. With the title of their 1968 single currently being used for Edgar Wright's film 'Last Night In Soho', there might be a resurgence of interest in the band, and so you can start here and listen to these great songs that never made it to their albums.
Track listing
01 Is It Love? (b-side of 'No Time' 1965)
02 It Seems A Pity (b-side of 'All I Want' 1965
03 I Can't Stop (b-side of 'You Make It Move' 1965)
04 You Know What I Want (b-side of 'Hold Tight!' 1966)
05 She's So Good (b-side of 'Bend It!' 1966)
06 Save Me (single 1966)
07 Over And Over Again (from the 'Loos Of England' EP 1967)
08 Touch Me, Touch Me (single 1967)
09 Marina (b-side of 'Touch Me, Touch Me')
10 Okay! (single 1967)
11 He's A Raver (b-side of 'Okay!')
12 The Sun Goes Down (b-side of 'Zabadak!' 1967)
13 Please (b-side of 'The Legend Of Xanadu' 1968)
14 Charlie Farns Barns Has Won The Pools (previously unreleased 1968)
15 I'll Love You (from a Coca Cola promotional single 1968)
16 Last Night In Soho (single 1968)
17 Castle Far (previously unreleased 1968)
18 The Wreck Of The 'Antoinette' (single 1968)
19 Still Life (b-side of 'The Wreck Of The 'Antoinette'')
