Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich were a British pop/rock group of the 1960s.[1] Two of their single releases sold in excess of one million copies each, and they reached number one in the UK Singles Chart with the second of them, "The Legend of Xanadu".[2]

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
L-R: Beaky, Mick, Dozy, Tich and Dave Dee c. 1967
Background information
OriginSalisbury, England
GenresPop rock, Garage Rock, Freakbeat
Years active1964–present
Labels
Associated acts
  • David
  • Mason
  • Tracker
  • Dave & the Bulldogs
  • The Boys
  • Klaus & Klaus
  • Jean Musy
  • Marmalade
Websitewww.dddbmt.com
Members
  • Ian Amey
  • John Dymond
  • John Hatchman
Past members
  • David John Harman
  • Charles Clarke
  • Trevor Ward-Davies
  • Michael Wilson
  • Pete Lucas
  • Paul Bennett
  • Anthony Stephen Carpenter

Career

Five friends from Wiltshire, David John Harman (Dave Dee), Trevor Leonard Ward-Davies (Dozy), John Dymond (Beaky), Michael Wilson (Mick) and Ian Frederick Stephen Amey (Tich), formed a group in 1961, originally called Dave Dee and the Bostons.[1] They soon gave up their jobs (e.g. Dave Dee was a policeman) to make their living from music. Apart from performing in the UK, they occasionally played in Hamburg (Star-Club, Top Ten Club) and in Cologne (Storyville). Ward-Davies had acquired his nickname when he unwrapped a chocolate bar before absent-mindedly discarding the bar and attempting to eat the wrapper.[3]

Vocalist Dave Dee, the ex-policeman, was at the scene of the motoring accident that took the life of the American rock and roller Eddie Cochran and injured Gene Vincent in April 1960.[1]

In summer 1964, the British songwriters Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley became interested in recording them. The band was set up in the studio to make recordings with Joe Meek. These recording sessions failed to get off the ground. Dave Dee stated that Meek "had very strange recording techniques. He wanted us to play the song at half speed and then he would speed it up and put all these little tricks on it. We said we couldn't do it that way. He exploded, threw coffee all over the studio and stormed up to his room. His assistant [Patrick Pink] came in and said, 'Mr Meek will not be doing any more recording today'. That was it. We lugged all our gear out and went back home".[4] The group eventually gained a recording contract with Fontana Records.

Ken Howard said that: "We changed their name to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, because they were their actual nicknames and because we wanted to stress their very distinct personalities in a climate which regarded bands as collectives".[5] The distinctive name, coupled with well produced and catchy songs by Howard and Blaikley, quickly caught the UK public's imagination and their records started to sell in abundance.[6] Indeed, between 1965 and 1969, the group spent more weeks in the UK Singles Chart than the Beatles and made the odd tour 'down under' to Australia and New Zealand, where they had also experienced some marked chart success.

They also scored a Number One hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1968 with "The Legend of Xanadu".[6] The combined sales figures were in excess of one million copies.[7] Their other top 10 UK hits included "Hideaway", "Hold Tight!", "Bend It!", "Save Me!", "Touch Me, Touch Me", "Okay!", "Zabadak!" and "Last Night in Soho".[1][6]

"Bend It!" was a big hit in Europe, including a Number One in Germany. To obtain a bouzouki sound on the recording, an electrified mandolin was used. The song was inspired by music from the film sound track of Zorba The Greek. The combined UK and European sales were over one million.[7] However, in October 1966, the British music magazine NME commented that dozens of US radio stations had banned the record, because the lyrics were considered too suggestive. The group responded by recording a new version in London with a different set of words, which was rush-released in the US, as the original single was withdrawn from sale.[2] "Bend It!" was later used in an episode of the American animated sitcom Futurama entitled "The Mutants Are Revolting".

"Hold Tight!" was used in Quentin Tarantino's 2007 film "Death Proof".

The band were big sellers elsewhere, particularly in British Commonwealth countries. In New Zealand, the group had three number one hits, and 7 other songs reached the top 10. In Australia, they reached the top 10 with "Hold Tight!", "Bend It!", "Zabadak!" and "The Legend of Xanadu". In Canada, the band scored two top 10 hits with "Zabadak!", which reached #1, and "The Legend of Xanadu", and hit the top 30 with "Break Out"—a song that didn't chart in any other country.

In the US, the group failed to break out nationally, although they had regional successes, particularly in northeastern cities such as Cleveland, Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany and Boston where both "Bend It" and "Hold Tight" gained considerable airplay and charted in the top 10 on local radio stations. "Zabadak" gained extensive US airplay during winter 1967–68, climbing top 10 in several major US markets including Los Angeles, but despite pockets of radio exposure, the band never gained mass airplay in America; "Zabadak" was the band's only single to chart in the national Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 52. This is at least partially a result of both the band's US labels, Fontana and Imperial Records, failing to secure them a US tour or TV appearances. Fontana set up just two appearances on national US TV programs. These were in July 1966 ("Hold Tight" on Where the Action Is) and Piccadilly Palace on 26 August 1967 (performing their then-current single "Okay"). Imperial scored none.

In September 1969, Dave Dee left the group for a short-lived solo career. NME reported the previous month that Dave Dee was to play a motorbike gang leader in the forthcoming Marty Feldman film Every Home Should Have One.[8] The rest of the band, re-billed as (D,B,M and T), continued releasing records until they broke up in 1972. In the 1980s, the group reformed, again without Dave Dee, although there was one further single with him, "Staying with It", a cover of the Firefall song in 1983.[1] In the meantime, Dave Dee had become a record producer with Magnet Records.[9]

In the 1990s, they started performing once more, this time with Dave Dee. Dave Dee was a J.P. in Cheshire until he retired from the bench in 2008 due to his failing health. He continued to perform with his band almost up until his death on 9 January 2009.[10] He had been suffering from prostate cancer since early 2001.

In 2013, John Dymond (the original Beaky) returned to the band. In 2014, Tich retired after 50 years.

With Ray Frost as the new "Tich", the band, still including two original members, pledged to continue. However Trevor Ward-Davies (Dozy) died on 13 January 2015, aged 70, after a short illness.[11] He is survived by his wife, Yvonne.[3]

Personnel

Current members

  • Tich II (b. Jolyon Dixon) – lead guitar (2014–present)
  • Dozy II (b. Nigel Dixon) – bass guitar (2015-present)
  • Beaky I (b. John Dymond, 10 July 1944, Salisbury, Wiltshire) – rhythm guitar (1964–1989; 2013–present)
  • Mick III (b. John Hatchman, 6 January 19??) – drums (1982–present)

Former members

  • Dave Dee (b. David John Harman, 17 December 1941, Salisbury, Wiltshire; d. 9 January 2009; Kingston upon Thames, Surrey) – lead vocals (1964–2009)
  • Dozy (b. Trevor Leonard Ward-Davies, 27 November 1944, Enford, Wiltshire; d. 13 January 2015) – bass guitar (1964–2015)
  • Mick I (b. Michael Wilson, 4 March 1944, Salisbury, Wiltshire) – drums (1964–1975)
  • Mick II (b. Pete Lucas) – drums (1975–1982)
  • Beaky II (b. Paul Bennett) – rhythm guitar (1989–1993)
  • Beaky III (b. Anthony Stephen Carpenter, 27 December 1952) – rhythm guitar (1993–2013)
  • Tich (b. Ian Frederick Stephen Amey, 15 May 1944, Enford, Wiltshire) – lead guitar (1964–2014)

Discography

Albums

Singles
Release date A-Side B-Side UK[6] AUT AUS CAN DK NZ US[12] NED
29 January 1965 "No Time" "Is It Love?" – – – – – – – –
2 July 1965 "All I Want" "It Seems a Pity" – – – – – – – –
5 November 1965 "You Make It Move" "I Can't Stop" 26 – – – – – – –
11 February 1966 "Hold Tight!" "You Know What I Want" 4 – 21 52 4 8 – –
27 May 1966 "Hideaway" "Here's a Heart" 10 – 80 69 3 13 – –
9 September 1966 "Bend It!" "She's So Good" 2 2 6 – 1 1 110 4
2 December 1966 "Save Me" "Shame" 3 – 22 – 2 5 – 8
3 March 1967 "Touch Me, Touch Me" "Marina" 13 14 45 – 8 7 – –
12 May 1967 "Okay!" "He's a Raver" 4 3 57 – 5 10 – 3
29 September 1967 "Zabadak!" "The Sun Goes Down" 3 6 43 1 6 4 52 4
9 February 1968 "The Legend of Xanadu" "Please" 1 6 6 10 5 1 123 5
28 June 1968 "Last Night in Soho" "Mrs. Thursday" 8 – 61 – 13 4 – 15
June 1968 "Break Out" "Mrs. Thursday" – – – 28 – – – -
13 September 1968 "The Wreck of the 'Antoinette'" "Still Life" 14 – 48 – 21 1 – –
21 February 1969 "Don Juan" "Margareta Lidman" 23 7 15 – 22 13 – 3
2 May 1969 "Snake in the Grass" "Bora Bora!" 23 – 95 – 18 5 – –
7 November 1969 "Tonight, Today" "Bad News" – – – – – – – 4
April 1970 "Mr. President" "Frisco Annie" 33 82 – – – 12 – –
August 1970 "Festival" "Leader of a Rock n' Roll Band" – – – – – – – –
May 1971 "I Want to Be There" "For the Use of Your Son" – – – – – – – –
March 1974 "She's My Lady" "Babeigh" – – – – – – - –
January 1983 "Staying with It" "Sure Thing" – – – – – – – –

EP releases
  • Loos of England (EP, 1967)

Compilations
  • Hold Tight (Prism, 1997)
  • Best Of (Spectrum, 2002)
  • The Very Best Of (Universal TV, 2008) UK #24[13]
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References
  1. Craig Harris. "Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  2. Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 163. ISBN 0-600-57602-7. CN 5585.
  3. Dave Laing. "Trevor Ward-Davies obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  4. "Top of the Pops 2 – Where Are The Now?". BBC. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  5. "Ken Howard – Alan Blaikley – Biography". Kenhoward-alanblaikley.com. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  6. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 146. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  7. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 204. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  8. Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 199. ISBN 0-600-57602-7. CN 5585.
  9. Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 115–116. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  10. "Pop singer Dave Dee dies aged 65". BBC News. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  11. "Dozy, of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, dies aged 70". BBC News. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  12. Craig Harris. "Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  13. "Official Album Chart for the week ending 20 September 2008". ChartsPlus. Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd (369): 5–8.
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