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Paul
Young, was born in Benchill, Wythenshawe, Manchester, on June 17th 1947. He
took an early interest in music, and by the age of five he was singing in the
local church choir. By the time he reached his teens, whilst still at Ducie
High School, Moss Side, he formed his first band "Johnny
Dark & the Midnights", and like most of the skiffle bands around
at the time, the bands equipment was very basic. In 1963, he changed the bands
image and renamed it "Paul Fender
& The Teenbeats", later to become "Paul
Fender & The Tigers" and began playing blues-based rock n roll
in the local clubs where his talent was recognised by Frank Renshaw, the lead
guitarist of "The Toggery Five".
Paul Young
"In 1964, after performing at a scout
hut in Sharston, Wythenshawe, Manchester, I was approached by Frank Renshaw
and Graham Smith. They were due to compete in a TV show called "Ready,
Steady-Win!" and needed a vocalist. The Toggery Five seemed to be going
places and looked the part, very rarely seen in the same clothes twice, which
was not surprising since they were backed by a guy who owned a clothes shop
that sold the very latest in men's fashion wear. Even the Beatles and The Rolling
Stones bought their clothes from there! So when they offered me the ex-singers
stage clothes I jumped at the chance".
The Toggery five was formed in 1963. Paul Young
replaced Bob Smith the original lead vocalist in 1964, "not
Mike
Rabin of "Mike Rabin & The Demons fame", which many music
guides wrongly cite! The band took it's name from the famous "The Toggery"
clothes shop in Mersey Square, Stockport, Cheshire, the North's answer to London's
Carnaby St, and owned by the bands manager, Michael Cohen of "Kennedy
Street Artistes Ltd", who also managed "The
Hollies".
Their
first recording on June 22nd 1964, secured them a record deal with EMI/Parlophone,
a controversial track titled "I'm Gonna Jump" written by Frank Renshaw.
The record was released in September two days after their appearance on Granada
TV's "Ready, Steady-Win!" A contest
were six undiscovered bands battled it out for the 1st prize (£1000 worth of
musical equipment and a recording contract with Decca), 2nd prize (£750 Commer
van), and 3rd prize (£250 worth of clothes). The judges were non other than
"Beatles" manager Brian Epstein, Bill Haley of the Comets fame, radio
DJ Brian Matthew,
and Brian Jones of the "Rolling Stones". The contestants, the "Bo
Street Runners", "The
Thyrds", "Harbour Lights Trio", "Jimmy
Royal And The Hawks", "The
Olympics" and "The Toggery Five".
Frank Renshaw
"As the first prize was a recording contract with Decca, they couldn't
let us win, so much to the disgruntlement of the TV people we had to come second.
Better for us anyway as our van was knackered and we needed a new one. Brian
Jones from the Rolling Stones was one of the judges, and he gave us maximum
points in every round".
Alan Doyle, who joined The Toggery
Five after "Ready, Steady-Win!" tells an interesting story regarding
the outcome of the contest in
Olaf Owre's, "I'd Much Rather Be With The Togs" (The Toggery
Five Story).
Alan Doyle
"I met Brian Epstein
in Torremolinos, Spain in 1967 when I was working there with The Derek Joys
Show band, and a Spanish girl singer called Carina. Epstein told me he had voted
The Toggery Five winners of the contest, and they would have come first if it
wasn't for the first prize being £1000 worth of gear and a recording contract
with Decca! The Toggery Five had already signed with EMI/Parlophone while the
competition was going on, and even though the group had won every single heat
from the beginning, they simply couldn't win the final! A big cover-up was used
and the group ended up with second prize. It was never proved that the record
company had pulled the wires, but Brian Epstein couldn't understand it at the
time, and was very disappointed.
Banned
by the BBC
Their first record titled "I'm Gonna Jump" recorded at Abbey Road
Studio's, London, was released on September 18th, 1964. A controversial
song about a guy wanting to jump into a river because his girlfriend had left
him. The B-side was a song titled "Bye Bye Bird", written by
blues-men Sonny Boy Williamson, and Willie Dixon. This track was also covered
by the Moody Blues on their first album in 1965. The record sold solidly but
unspectacularly possibly due to the fact that the topic was about threatened
suicide, and because the BBC had placed the record on their restricted
list. It fared no better in the United States, where it was released on Tower,
a label which also handled the US releases of fellow Mancunians "Freddie
& The Dreamers", "The
Four Just Men" and the previously mentioned "Mike Rabin &
The Demons". Towards the back end of 1964, Keith Meredith quit the band,
and Alan Doyle took over his duties as rhythm guitarist.
The Toggery Five's appearance on "Ready, Steady-Win!" and the release of their debut single, gave the band substantial press and television publicity. They subsequently release their second single titled "I'd much rather be with the boy's" (written by Keith Richard's and Andrew Oldham), on February 26th 1965, in unison with their tour with "Marianne Faithfull", "The Four Pennies", "Freddie & The Dreamers", "The Hollies", and their appearance on "Ready, Steady, Go", "Scene At 6.30", "Jimmy Savile Show", and "Disc A-Go-Go". But despite the media attention, and the "Rolling Stones" association, the single failed to give the band the commercial breakthrough they needed.
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1964 UK Tour (Presented by Kennedy Street Enterprises Ltd. In Association with Tito Burns). |
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After the first two singles had failed to bring The Toggery Five the much desired chart entry they needed, Kennedy Street Enterprises gave the group a Clint Ballard Jr. song titled "I'm Alive" to record as their next single. The song was originally written for Gene Pitney, who rejected it as did Wayne Fontana, before it was passed on to The Toggery Five. Frank Renshaw recollects what happened back then in 1965.
Frank Renshaw
"Wayne Fontana gave us this song 'I'm Alive' as he said it wasn't his style.
We liked it a lot, booked time at Abbey Road Studios, and recorded it with Ron
Richards as producer. Then the Hollies heard it and stole it from us! It turned
out to be their first No.1 hit in the UK. I'm sure it would have made a turning
point for The Toggery Five because it was such a good song, and I think our
version was much better. It must still be in the EMI vaults somewhere. I remember
the day we recorded it, The Beatles were in the next studio recording or mixing
the song 'Anytime At All', which has remained one of my favourite Beatles songs
along with the little known 'Yes It Is'."
Alan Doyle has a similar recollection of the events.
Alan Doyle
"The Hollies heard our version and quickly recorded it themselves, then
got a release date two weeks before ours, and stopped our version from being
released. Our manager thought that as The Hollies had already had some chart
success and wanted the song, they should have it! He along with Ron Richards
pulled the plug on us. After all the work we had laid down on the song, it was
a dirty trick to give it to The Hollies. It was a sore point at the time as
they got to No.1 with the song."
To
pacify the guys in The Toggery Five, The Hollies offered them a song written
especially for them by "Graham
Gouldman", titled "Going Away". "Going Away"
was a good song, but not as immediate in impact as some of the better known
Graham Gouldman compositions of the 1960's, and there was no way it could compensate
for "I'm Alive". Nevertheless, The Toggery Five made the most of it
when they recorded the song at Abbey Road Studios. It was an up-tempo number,
building well, with a good lead vocal by Paul Young with tight harmony vocals
throughout the song.
Frank Renshaw
"The song 'Going Away' I had forgotten even existed, but a while ago I
found an EMI acetate of it in the attic - a version recorded by The Hollies.
I thought it was one of their own songs, but maybe it was written by Graham
Gouldman for them, who in turn gave it to us."
The Toggery Five's versions of "I'm Alive" and "Going Away" were never released, and supposedly remain somewhere in the vaults of EMI or Abbey Road Studios.
Paul Young's Toggery
Disillusioned by the way things had turned out Frank Renshaw left the band in
October 1965 to join "Wayne
Fontana's" new band, "The Opposition". Following
Renshaw's departure, a lot of changes took place within the group. Baritone
sax player Stan Thomas from the Luton based "Neil
Christian's" backing band "The Crusaders" was the first
to join. He didn't last long though, and in early 1966 original bassist Kenneth
Mill's also defected. With the numbers reduced to to just three, Paul Young went
on to enlist new members and restyle the band, renaming it "Paul
Young's Soul Band" later to become "Paul
Young's Toggery". Once again Paul turned to The Crusaders, recruiting
Dave Cakebread on bass, and Bernie Hetherington on sax. Paul's Jamaican friend,
percussionist Kenneth Taylor (known as Jacob McNab or Archie to his friends)
also joined the band.
Alan Doyle wasn't keen on the new direction of the group, a fusion of jazz, blues and soul music, and quit, followed closely by original drummer Graham Smith, and Archie. More musicians with a past in Neil's Christian Crusaders were called upon. From "Yenson's Trolls" came Mick Abrahams on lead guitar, Clive Bunker on drums, and Graham Waller on keyboards. Abraham's had previously played with "The Hustlers", who became Neil Christian's "new" Crusaders in 1965 shortly after Christian had lost his band (including Ritchie Blackmore) to "Lord Sutch & The Savages". Clive Bunker's time with the band was relatively short though, and he was succeeded by Tony McDonald in the late autumn of 1966 around the same time Alto saxophonist John Dickinson joined the band. It was undoubtedly a promising new line up with some excellent musicians, with new and interesting sounds.
After a short spell at the Haus d' Musik, in Wuppertal, Germany, Paul Young's Toggery returned to the UK in mid January 1967, and start gigging almost immediately.
To Be Continued
A big thanks to Olaf Owre for providing the detailed research on "The Toggery Five". If you hold accurate accounts of Paul Young musical history, or have been involved in Paul Young's musical career and want to share your story, please email Jason.