Many reams
have been written about 'golden ages of pop' and the 'Swinging Sixties'
but in all that funereal waffle one thing gets overlooked.
Musicians are not athletes or footballers. When they pass thirty
they don't hang up their guitars and go into management. Like all
other artists, writers, painters and poets their urge to create only
ends when they expire.
However,
if there's one band whose individual musical accomplishments have over
the years gone from strength to strength, and yet who can encapsulate and keep alive the golden age of British popular music, then it has to be The
Manfreds. With their early roots in jazz and R & B, the
calibre of these performers was always higher than their acquired pop status
might indicate, but they still certainly knew how to produce a hit or
six - in fact 15 UK Top 20 singles, 3 of them
number ones (the shortest duration being 11 weeks). And after The
Beatles and The Animals, they were the third band in the history of
English rock to reach a number one position in America. (The back
cover of their EP The One In The Middle relates that Bob Dylan
came to the Marquee in London in May 1964 to catch the band, and that he
thought they were "real groovy").
Such is the
durability of The Manfreds' music that in 1992 EMI Records offered a new
deal to the band to re-record all their greatest hits. Do Wah Diddy Diddy, 5-4-3-2-1,
Pretty Flamingo, Ha! Ha! Said the Clown, Mighty Quinn, Semi-Detached
Suburban Mr. James …. the list is as long as it is
impressive. How many bands of The Manfreds’ stature, with their roots
in the 60s, can boast two chart-topping lead singers in both Paul
Jones and Mike d'Abo, as
well as members of other pop legends in the line-up, such as McGuinness
Flint and Family? Even today,
unlike many touring 60s bands, there are no less than four original
members in The Manfreds' line-up. There's hardly a radio station in the world that
doesn't play a Manfreds record at least once a day - and after over
three decades since their glittering chart topping days this is an
achievement in itself.
The band disbanded in 1969 but after not
having played their hits together for
nearly a quarter of a century, an
enjoyable reunion in 1991 found everything falling back into place and with a
dynamic new freshness that enhances their many chart successes. Their
live gigs burst with that quirky
mix of solid gold pop, jazz and rhythm & blues which was always
their trade mark .... add in a generous helping of showmanship and charisma
and the result is a show as
pleasing to the ears & eyes as it ever was.
So, look
back if you must, but know that The Manfreds are right here, right
now. Great music goes on forever.