Johnny Kidd & the Pirates
Johnny Kidd & the Pirates were one of the most successful English rock 'n' roll bands of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Career
It was Johnny Kidd, whose real name was Frederick Heath, who practically developed the prototype for the later “heavy metal guitar trios”, both in terms of sound and outfit. He always appeared in shiny black leather and wore a black eye patch over his right eye, solely because of the effect. Johnny Kidd was one of the few original British rock 'n' roll acts. After the beat era began in the early 1960s, they followed the trend, but could not hold their own against the emerging Mersey beat bands.
For the first time, the trained decorator Kidd made a name for itself in 1959 with the self-written song Please Don't Touch , which was only published under the name Johnny Kidd . He had his greatest success in 1960 with the classic Shakin 'All Over . It took almost three years, during which the band released five unsuccessful singles, before they made a comeback with I'll Never Get Over You in 1963 . The follow-up single Hungry For Love also reached the Top 20. After that, there was no success at all , and the solo record of "Pirates" My Babe did not sell either. After five more unsuccessful singles, the "Pirates" and Johnny Kidd separated in April 1966 and each released a single in the summer of 1966, but this time too there were no sales successes. Between 1959 and 1966, twenty singles and an EP were released in Great Britain, the group's first LP was not released until 1971 ( Shakin 'All Over , Starline SRS 5100).
On October 7, 1966, Johnny Kidd was killed in a car accident at the age of 30.
Members
Band line-up for Shakin 'All Over in 1960 :
- Frederick Heath ( Johnny Kidd ; born December 23, 1935 - † October 7, 1966), vocals
- Joe Moretti, lead guitar
- Brian Gregg, bass guitar
- Art caddy, rhythm guitar
- Clem Cattini, drums
December 1963:
- Frederick Heath
- Mick Green, guitar
- Johnny Spence, bass
- Frank Farley, drums
Singles discography
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
|||
| 1960 | You Got What It Takes |
UK25 (3 weeks) UK |
|
| Shakin 'all over |
UK1 (19 weeks) UK |
||
| Restless |
UK22 (7 weeks) UK |
||
| 1961 | Linda Lu |
UK47 (1 week) UK |
|
| 1963 | A shot of rhythm and blues |
UK48 (1 week) UK |
|
| I'll never get over you |
UK4 (15 weeks) UK |
||
| Hungry For Love |
UK20 (10 weeks) UK |
||
| 1964 | Always and Ever |
UK46 (1 week) UK |
More singles
- 1959: Please Don't Touch
literature
- Phil Fox: Johnny Kidd And The Pirates . In: Greg Shaw: The British are coming. From the childhood days of English rock music . German by Walle Bengs. Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt Verlag, 1983, pp. 39–41.
Individual evidence
- ↑ For a complete discography for the years 1959 to 1966 see Phil Fox: Johnny Kidd And The Pirates . In: Greg Shaw: The British are coming. From the childhood days of English rock music . German by Walle Bengs. Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt Verlag, 1983, p. 41
- ↑ For the LP discography see Tilch: Rock LPs . Vol. 2. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990, pp. 875f
- ↑ Chart sources: UK