Showaddywaddy
Showaddywaddy is a British rock group from Leicester . She is considered one of the most successful rock 'n' roll - Revival -Bands and celebrated its greatest success in the UK from 1974 to 1982, when they total of 23 singles in the charts has ranked in the top 40, including ten Top 10 hits. During this time, the musicians also had a dozen hit singles in the German charts.
founding
The original eight-man band was formed in 1973 from the merger of two bands in Leicester, Choise and The Golden Hammers , who performed at the local Fosseway Club and discovered their common love for "good old rock 'n' roll". While Choise increasingly played self-composed pieces, The Hammers, as the second group was often abbreviated, limited themselves to recording cover versions of well-known rock 'n' roll hits from the 1950s and 1960s.
After the decision to found a band together, the new group performed for the first time on September 1, 1973, which was now called Showaddywaddy, based on the backing vocals in the song Little Darlin ' , a doo-wop classic of the group The Diamonds from 1957.
The founding formation consisted of the following musicians:
- Dave Bartram (Choise, vocals)
- Romeo Challenger (Choise, drums)
- Al James, real name Geoffrey Betts (Choise, Bass)
- Trevor Oakes (Choise, guitar)
- Bill "Buddy" Gask (The Hammers, vocals)
- Malcolm "The Duke" Allured (The Hammers, drums)
- Rod Deas (The Hammers, Bass)
- Russ Field (The Hammers, guitar)
First successes
Right from the start, the group was able to convince with its good live shows and continuously build a fan base. The breakthrough in the national music business came with her appearance on the television show New Faces , a talent competition for young artists, in November 1973. Their version of the classic Bony Moronie by Larry Williams combined with their usual energetic show convinced everyone, and they won the competition. Even then they wore their usual stage outfit based on Teddy Boys , which has remained their trademark to this day: long so-called drape coats in sometimes flashy colors with matching pants (usually with a slight "flood") and creepers , such as one calls the shoes with the crepe sole which is often several centimeters thick.
breakthrough
After the success in the show New Faces , several music labels tried to get a contract . Polydor wanted to sign Showaddywaddy and had already selected Sugar Baby Love as their potential first single. But the band members wanted to play their own material, and so the Rubettes came about, and with Sugar Baby Love they subsequently had a worldwide number one hit . Showaddywaddy, however, signed with Bell Records and released her first single in May 1974, the self-written piece Hey Rock 'n' Roll , which immediately took second place behind Sugar Baby Love in Great Britain and a respectable 13th place in Germany in the charts.
The next three singles were also original compositions and were all able to place themselves in the top 20 of the British single charts: Rock 'n' Roll Lady (1974, UK number 15), Hey Mr. Christmas (1974, UK number 13), Sweet Music (1975 , UK 14th place). The group's first LP from 1974 was only called Showaddywaddy , but the LP known as the so-called "yellow album" immediately made it to number 9 on the national album charts.
In 1975 Showaddywaddy first released a cover version of a hit from the 1960s as a single. Three Steps to Heaven , originally a hit for Eddie Cochran in 1960 , hit the nerve of the times and brought in another number two hit in Great Britain, while in Germany it reached the singles charts at number 39. The subsequently published second LP Step Two was able to surpass the success of the first album of the previous year and made it to number 7 in the LP charts. Spurred on by the first cover hit, the guys stepped up with Heartbeat (Original Buddy Holly , 1958) and promptly made it to the top 10 in autumn 1975 at number 7 and a respectable number 21 in Germany's single charts.
After these successes, the group first tried again with their own compositions. But neither Heavenly (1975, UK 34, DE 35) nor Trocadero (1976, UK 32) could climb higher in the British single charts. The album of the same name from 1976 also only made it to number 41 in the LP charts. It was even worse with the single Take Me in Your Arms , which in the summer of 1976 could not place in the charts at all.
Climax
After these disappointments, they went back to the successful cover versions of old rock 'n' roll classics, with which they had cracked the top 10 last year. What followed was a veritable hit series with cover versions of successful hits from the 1950s and 1960s, especially doo-wop classics. After Take Me in Your Arms , no original composition was published as a single A-side. Only on the B-sides of the singles and of course on the LPs were pieces with the composer's note “Showaddywaddy” to be found.
But for the next three years it should definitely work out. First, Under the Moon of Love (Original: Curtis Lee , 1961) was the first, but also only number one hit in the British singles charts for Showaddywaddy and at the same time the first top ten single in Germany (4th place). Although the rivals of the Mud group had also recorded the title shortly before, it was only released on their next LP. The Greatest Hits album, released at the same time as their hit single, brought the guys from Leicester another top ten listing in the LP charts in Great Britain and thus a conciliatory end to the year.
In 1977 and 1978 Showaddywaddy had various chart hits, including When (1977, UK No. 3, DE No. 9, Original: Kalin Twins , 1958), You Got What It Takes (1977, UK 2, DE 25, Original: Bobby Parker , 1958), Dancin 'Party (1977, UK 4, DE 30, Original: Chubby Checker , 1961), I Wonder Why (1978, UK 2, DE 20, Original: Dion and the Belmonts , 1958), A Little Bit of Soap (1978, UK 5, DE 43; original: The Jarmels , 1961) and Pretty Little Angel Eyes (1978, UK 5, original: Curtis Lee , 1961).
The album Red Star , from which the 1977 singles were released, from the same year only made it to number 20 in the British LP charts, but with the LP Greatest Hits 1976 - 1978 the group reached number 1 in the LP category for the first time in the following year.
After the climax
From 1979, the rock 'n' roll revival boom slowly subsided. Remember Then (1979, UK 17, DE 46, original: The Earls , 1960) and Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller (1979, UK 15) achieved at least top 20 placements again, but with A Night at Daddy Gee’s it went it only ranks 39th on the national single charts. The same year’s heavily promoted album, Crepes & Drapes , brought Showaddywaddy the final top 10 on the UK LP charts. This was certainly a positive surprise after a breath of fresh air in the music industry with punk , new wave and other new styles in the late 1970s .
Even at the beginning of the 1980s Showaddywaddy was still able to get singles into the top 40 of the charts, even if the success declined noticeably and singles more often completely flopped. Publications were e.g. B. Always and Ever (1980, DE 47, original: Johnny Kidd , German version with second verse in German), Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Hearts? (1980, UK 22, original: Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers ), Blue Moon (1980, UK 32, DE 29, original: The Marcels , 1961), Do Wah Diddy (published early 1981, original: The Exciters , 1963), Multiplication (1981, UK 39, original: Bobby Darin ), Footsteps (1981, UK 31, original: Steve Lawrence ), Good Timing (released early 1982), Who Put the Bomp (1982, UK 37, last Top 40 hit, original : Barry Mann , 1961), Goody Goody (published late 1982, original: Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers) and Soul and Inspiration (published early 1983, original: Righteous Brothers ).
The albums Bright Lights (1980), Good Times (1981), Greatest Hits (1982) and Living Legends (1983) that were released during these years could either only place themselves above the top 50 or not at all in the LP charts. On the other hand, Showaddywaddy was able to draw attention to itself during these years through special television ( Showaddywaddyshow late 1980 on the BBC) or live appearances ( Cuba , Bulgaria 1983).
Despite the now clearly declining success, the band was able to look back on eight successful years at this point in time, certainly combined with the not always nice aftertaste that the music critics only referred to them as a better cover band, although the self-composed pieces in particular are not on the LPs had to hide.
Cast changes
With the lack of success, it was almost inevitable that the band left. Malcom Allured (second drummer) was the first to leave in 1984, lead guitarist Russ Field left the band in 1985 and second lead singer Buddy Gask left the band in September 1987. Of these three withdrawals, only Russ Field was replaced. Ray Martinez took over his position in 1985, who after 10 years left the band in 1995. Since then, Danny Willson has been the lead guitarist for the sextet.
Some of the former band members did not remain idle in the music industry. Malcom Allured founded their own band and so there was a legal dispute regarding the naming rights with the remaining band members of Showaddywaddy for many years, but they were able to win them over. Malcom Allured called his band The Teddys, in which Buddy Gask and Ray Martinez also played for a few years. These have since left the band.
Further development
Showaddywaddy has remained active since 1983. In the line-up of Dave Bartram, Romeo Challenger, Al James, Trevor Oakes, Rod Deas and Danny Willson, dozens of concerts a year were regularly given in their home country Great Britain and Ireland. And the band was also a regular and welcome guest at the oldie festivals in Germany, sometimes even at solo concerts (for example in Bünde 2002). At irregular intervals there were also single and album releases to be recorded, which however could no longer place in the charts.
In addition to countless best of and greatest hits albums, the following publications in particular should be noted: As part of the greatest hits album Best Steps to Heaven in 1987, all of the group's LPs that had been released up to then were reissued, with changed LP Cover and title ( Step 1 to 9 ). The album Hey Rock 'n' Roll came out to coincide with the show of the same name, with which the group toured the UK. The small label Cherry Red released all of its original albums from 1974 to 1983 on CD for the first time from 2000 to 2005. In addition, three CDs were released, on which all singles with A and B sides from 1974 to 1983 are included.
The Greatest Hits album with the newly recorded cover version of Woo Hoo (original from 1959), released in November 2004, achieved gold status with over 80,000 CDs sold in Great Britain and even made it into place at the end of 2004 thanks to good television promotion 56 of the English album charts (a total of four weeks chart listing in November / December 2004).
On June 12, 2006 the new album I Love Rock 'n' Roll was released, on which Showaddywaddy focused on cover versions of well-known hits from the 1970s (e.g. I Love Rock 'n' Roll, Motor Bikin ', Tiger Feet, Girl from New York City ). In addition to 17 new tracks ( I Hear You Knockin ' comes from the 2002 album Hey Rock' n 'Roll ), the encores include Old Habits Die Hard (original recording from 1988, previously unreleased) and Hey England! (Here We Come Berlin!) Included. Hey England! is a revision of the first single Hey Rock 'n' Roll for the 2006 World Cup.
In the fan community, the album met with a divided echo because many fans were not "Showaddywaddy-like" the cover versions, and therefore did not achieve the sales figures they had hoped for.
Unfortunately, Demnn Music Group Ltd., which brought the album onto the market, couldn't make up their mind to say Hey England! to be released as a single, although there have been many votes that see this song as the best English World Cup song alongside the official British World Cup song. In addition, a TV commercial that was due to run on UK television to coincide with the release of the new album was also not released. Both measures were discussed very intensively and with a lot of incomprehension by the fans on the fan forum of the Showaddywaddy Internet pages of the Yahoo groups.
On March 26, 2007, a DVD with performances by the group was released for the first time. These were almost exclusively appearances on German television from 1975 to 1980 up to a recording of the broadcast music store by Radio Bremen come. There is also a promotional version of Hey England! as well as a long interview with parts of the band (Bartram, Challenger, Willson) included.
The DVD was received with great disappointment by the fans, as it does not contain any appearances from Top of the Pops and, in particular , there are no live performances except for the first three tracks on the DVD. This was criticized mainly because of the fact that you can find and download a relatively large number of recordings of live performances on the Internet that are of good quality. In addition, the band interview was criticized because half of the band members were absent and the questions mostly focused on the 1970s, so Danny Willson, who has only been with the band for 12 years, barely had a say.
With The Sun album (I Betcha Gonna Like It) , which was released in spring 2008 , Showaddywaddy went back to its roots and focused on 18 songs by artists of the legendary Sun label from the 1950s and 1960s in rock when selecting the songs 'n'Roll style. The elaborately produced album (partly recorded in the Sun Studios in Memphis) was released together with a DVD. The reaction of the fans was much more positive. Some called the album the best album in many years. A tour in Great Britain was planned in 2009 to promote the album.
In November 2008, a DVD with the well-known "Showaddywaddyshow", a live television appearance on the BBC from November 30th and December 1st, 1980, was released by the Voiceprint label. The previously unannounced release was very well received by the fans, as the “Showaddywaddyshow” is one of the few known live recordings in which the band lived up to its reputation as a good live act. On the other hand, there are hardly any live recordings of the many concert appearances.
Surprisingly, Showaddywaddy announced during their performance on December 20, 2008 at “Cheese & Grain” in Frome / Somerset (GB) that their now 63-year-old founding member, bassist Al James (birth name: Geoffrey Betts), would give his last concert and would retire thereafter. The other bass player in the band, Rod Deas, has been responsible for the bass game since then.
For health reasons, guitarist Trevor Oakes officially left the group on May 1, 2009. Since he had been absent from appearances since the beginning of 2009, the concert on December 20, 2008 was his last appearance with Showaddywaddy, just like with Al James. The departure of Trevor Oakes was compensated by Paul Dixon. He had already represented lead guitarist Danny Willson at some gigs in 2008 when he took a break due to the birth of a child.
Danny Willson, who has been a band member since 1995, joined the formation of Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash as a guitarist in the course of 2008 in addition to his job at Showaddywaddy. In mid-2009 he decided to devote himself entirely to his new band and also left Showaddywaddy. His last appearance was on August 9, 2009 at a concert in Holstebro, Denmark.
The band also found a suitable replacement for this. Paul Dixon (permanent member of the band since May 2009) took over Willson's role as lead guitarist. And with David Graham, who first appeared with the group on July 9, 2009, the band was not only able to present a second guitarist. As an accomplished saxophone and keyboard player, he also made significant changes to the sound of live performances. The saxophone game in particular was well received by the fans, as the band's original hits were all recorded with the saxophone in the studio, which has never been used during the performances before.
On June 7, 2011, the first founding member Bill "Buddy" Gask died in Spain at the age of 65. After leaving the group, he was u. a. active in the group The Teddys. This formation, which performs in the Showaddywaddy style and plays many of the old hits, was founded in the mid-1980s by former drummer Malcom "The Duke" Allured. Buddy Gask has been living with his family in Spain for the past few years and has been seriously ill due to years of excessive alcohol consumption. He suffered u. a. of Alzheimer's.
On the official band homepage it was announced on October 17, 2011 that founding member Dave Bartram, lead singer and head of the band, Showaddywaddy will be leaving. The reasons for his decision are still to be announced. Dave Bartram will continue to take over the management of the group, as the official announcement so far shows.
Together with the departure of David Graham, which was announced at the end of the year, the end of 2011 will certainly be the largest and most drastic change to date. The new lead singer is Andy Pelos, who was previously a singer with The Teddys. Andy succeeds Dave Bartram, who works as a band manager and will publish a book in the summer of 2012. In addition, Dean Loach (keyboards / vocals) to replace David Graham and Rob Hewins (drums / guitar / vocals) joined the group, which has announced a Greatest Hits tour of Great Britain for 2012. Rob Hewins made his first appearance with the rest of the group on August 13, 2011, so Showaddywaddy was back on stage with two drummers for the first time since 1984.
Rumors about the departure of Dave Bartram had been circulating since the summer of 2011, but were still denied by himself until the beginning of October. Ultimately, the truth about his departure came to light, as a band photo with the new line-up had already been published during the advance notice for a concert as part of the Greatest Hits Tour 2012, which will take place on March 9, 2012 in the Pavilion in Glasgow.
Showaddywaddy has been touring the UK with the new line-up since the beginning of 2012 and will also be guests in Germany. Rob Hewins takes over the bass voice in doo-wop tracks like Blue Moon or Remember Then . Interestingly, it comes from Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash, the band that ex-Showaddywaddy member Danny Willson recently switched to.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
|||
| 1974 | Showaddywaddy | - | - | - |
UK9  (19 weeks)UK |
|
| 1975 | Step Two | - | - | - |
UK7th (17 weeks)UK |
|
| 1976 | Trocadero | - | - | - |
UK41 (3 weeks) UK |
|
| 1977 | Red Star | - | - | - |
UK20th  (10 weeks)UK |
|
| 1979 | Crepes and Drapes | - | - | - |
UK8th (14 weeks)UK |
|
| 1980 | Bright lights | - | - | - |
UK33 (8 weeks)UK |
|
| 1987 | The Best Steps to Heaven | - | - | - |
UK90 (1 week) UK |
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More albums
- 1981: Good Times
- 1983: Living Legends
- 2008: The Sun Album
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
|||
| 1976 | Greatest hits |
DE36 (10 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK4th  (29 weeks)UK |
|
| 1978 | Greatest Hits (1976-1978) | - | - | - |
UK1 (13 weeks)UK |
|
| 1981 | The very best of | - | - | - |
UK33 (11 weeks)UK |
|
| 2004 | Hey Rock 'n' Roll - The Very Best Of | - | - | - |
UK56 (6 weeks)UK |
|
| 2019 | gold | - | - | - |
UK15 (9 weeks) UK |
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More compilations
- 1977: Bravo presents Showaddywaddy
- 1979: Profiles
- 1981: Showaddywaddy (1981)
- 1982: The white series
- 1987: 20 greatest hits
- 1991: 25 Steps to the Top - The Ultimate Hit Collection
- 1995: The Very Best of Showaddywaddy
- 1999: The One & Only - Greatest & Latest
- 2005: Living Legends
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
|||
| 1974 | Hey Rock & Roll Showaddywaddy |
DE13 (12 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK2 (14 weeks)UK |
|
| Rock'n'Roll Lady Showaddywaddy |
- | - | - |
UK15 (9 weeks) UK |
||
| Hey Mister Christmas Greatest Hits |
- | - | - |
UK13 (8 weeks) UK |
||
| 1975 | Sweet Music Step Two |
- | - | - |
UK14 (9 weeks) UK |
|
| Three Steps to Heaven Step Two |
DE39 (7 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK2 (11 weeks)UK |
||
| Heartbeat Trocadero |
DE21 (16 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK7 (7 weeks) UK |
||
| Heavenly Trocadero |
DE35 (6 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK34 (6 weeks) UK |
||
| 1976 | Trocadero Trocadero |
- | - | - |
UK32 (3 weeks)UK |
|
| Under the Moon of Love Showaddywaddy |
DE4 (23 weeks) DE |
AT5 (12 weeks) AT |
CH2 (10 weeks) CH |
UK1 (15 weeks)UK |
||
| 1977 | When Red Star |
DE9 (14 weeks) DE |
- |
CH7 (10 weeks) CH |
UK3 (11 weeks)UK |
|
| You Got What It Takes Red Star |
DE28 (5 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK2 (10 weeks)UK |
||
| Dancin 'Party Red Star |
DE30 (11 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK4th (11 weeks)UK |
||
| 1978 | I Wonder Why Greatest Hits 1976-1978 |
DE20 (14 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK2 (11 weeks)UK |
|
| A Little Bit of Soap Greatest Hits 1976-1978 |
DE43 (6 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK5 (12 weeks)UK |
||
| Pretty Little Angel Eyes Greatest Hits 1976–1978 |
- | - | - |
UK5 (12 weeks)UK |
||
| 1979 | Remember Then Crepes & Drapes |
DE46 (12 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK17 (8 weeks) UK |
|
| Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller Crepes & Drapes |
- | - | - |
UK15 (9 weeks) UK |
||
| A Night at Daddy Gee’s Crepes & Drapes |
- | - | - |
UK39 (5 weeks) UK |
||
| 1980 | Always and Ever Bright Lights |
DE47 (6 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | |
| Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts Bright Lights |
- | - | - |
UK22 (10 weeks) UK |
||
| Blue moon bright lights |
DE72 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK32 (9 weeks) UK |
||
| 1981 | Multiplication Good Times |
- | - | - |
UK39 (4 weeks) UK |
|
| Footsteps Good Times |
- | - | - |
UK31 (9 weeks) UK |
||
| 1982 | Who Put the Bomp (In the Bompa-a-Bomp-a-Bomp) Living Legends |
- | - | - |
UK37 (6 weeks) UK |
|
More singles
- 1976: Take Me In Your Arms
- 1980: Do Wah Diddy
- 1981: Good timing
- 1982: Goody Goody
- 1987: Why?
swell
Web links
- official band homepage (English)
- Showaddywaddy on Allmusic (English)
- Showaddywaddy at Discogs (English)