Tamworth Bands History : 1965

UK Number Ones - 1965

Week Ending Act TITLE 14/01/65 Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames Yeh Yeh 28/01/65 Moody Blues Go Now 04/02/65 Righteous Brothers You've Lost That Loving Feeling 18/02/65 Kinks Tired Of Waiting For You 25/02/65 Seekers I'll Never Find Another You 11/03/65 Tom Jones It's Not Unusual 18/03/65 Rolling Stones The Last Time 08/04/65 Unit Four Plus Two Concrete & Clay 15/04/65 Cliff Richard The Minute You're Gone 22/04/65 Beatles Ticket To Ride 13/05/65 Roger Miller King Of The Road 20/05/65 Jackie Trent Where Are You Now (My Love) 27/05/65 Sandie Shaw Long Live Love 17/06/65 Elvis Presley Crying In The Chapel 24/06/65 Hollies I'm Alive 22/07/65 Byrds Mr Tambourine Man 05/08/65 Beatles Help! 26/08/65 Sonny & Cher I Got You Babe 09/09/65 Rolling Stones (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 23/09/65 Walker Brothers Make It Easy On Yourself 30/09/65 Ken Dodd Tears 04/11/65 Rolling Stones Get Off Of My Cloud 25/11/65 Seekers The Carnival Is Over 16/12/65 Xmas No 1 Beatles Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out

 

In the News - 1965

• January 24th - Sir Winston Churchill died aged 90 • March 3rd - US bombs Vietnam, marines begin landing in strength • June 3rd - Major Edward White became the first American to walk in space from Gemini IV travelling at 117,500 mph • The Beatles are presented with MBEs by the Queen causing some recipients of the medal to return theirs to the Palace as they saw it as a devaluation of the system to present pop idols with it • July 27th - Edward Heath elected leader of the Conservative Party • October - Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were accused of the Moors murders (parliament had only just repealed the death sentence for murder) • November 29th - Mrs Mary Whitehouse formed the National Viewers Association • A maximum speed limit of 70mph was introduced into Britain • Sanctions were introduced against Rhodesia as Britains last African colony had declared UDI by premier Ian Smith • Race riots in the Watts district of Los Angeles

 

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January - March	April - June
The Zombies play Tamworth.	Tamworth's first Folk Club.
July - September	October - December
Fazeley Murderer sentenced to death.	The Gingermen become The Inn-Sect

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Things were beginning to quieten down musically in Tamworth by 1965. The beat boom that had grown and grown through ‘63 and ‘64 was tailing off and the regular band nights at the Assembly Rooms every, Friday, Saturday and Monday were soon to be a thing of the past. The biggest ‘name’ bands to play Tamworth in ‘65 were The Zombies and the ‘N Betweens (later to become Slade).

Atherstone Memorial Hall, the other main venue was no longer being used for the Saturday Beat Nights, in fact an advertisement in the Tamworth Herald of February 12th 1965 stated: “Atherstone Memorial Hall is now available for casual bookings on Saturday nights.”

In the wider World, 1965 saw Sir Winston Churchill die aged 90 on January 24th and The Beatles presented with MBEs by the Queen causing some recipients of the medal to return theirs to the Palace as they saw it as a devaluation of the honours system.

Vince Baker - again!
Local dance promoter Vince Baker, the man who bought The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to Tamworth was still in the news, in the Tamworth Herald of 15th January, 1965, the headline read: “Prison After Knife Skirmish with Dance Promoter”. The last mention of Vince Baker in 1965 was Vince Baker’s Teenage Night on 19th July featuring The Scene Five. Later events at the Assembly Rooms were promoted by ‘3 Star Entertainments’ from Stourbridge.

Local Bands
Local bands who could be seen performing regularly in and around the town included: The Wanderers, The Vipers, The Fortune Tellers and The Blackouts. A new beat group formed at Tamworth Youth Centre, The Gingermen were featured in the Herald – later to change their name to The Inn-Sect.

Folk Music
In a feature in the Herald on 25th June, we read about a new musical genre making an impact in the town, under the headline: “Folk Club is Born” – we read: “In a clubroom above the Prince of Wales in Lower Gungate last Tuesday, the opening of Tamworth's own Folk Club attracted around 50 young people”. Suggested reasons for it’s new popularity included: “…folk music has been lying just below the surface and now with the influence of American Bob Dylan, Donovan and The Seekers from Australia, it has broken through with the help of the younger generation's ceaseless search for something different.”

A curious advertisement appeared in the Herald this year: Human Hair Always Wanted - 5/- per oz paid for suitable hair tied at cut end, 6in. or longer.

On July 30th, the Fazeley Murder Trial took place, where a 40 year old radio and TV engineer was found guilty of capital murder at Worcester assizes and sentenced to death. On August 13th, the first shops opened in the new £250,000 Lower Gungate shopping precinct.

The rest of ’65 saw other local acts performing at various venues in the area including Working Mens Clubs, the new Tamworth Progressive Club and Club 21 at the Mile Oak Hotel. The Spirits, Ronnie Hancox Band, Johnny Eville and The Satans could be seen and a band described as the Tamworth Beatles – The Four XXXXs. These were to become bigger and bigger through ‘65 and ‘66 and included on vocals ‘Kip’ Wood – later known as Kippa the DJ - still performing to this day.