Тремэлосты: Британдық бит-тобының тарихы

English beat group

The Tremeloes (formerly Brian Poole and The Tremeloes) are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart topper in 1963 with "Do You Love Me". The band achieved their greatest success after Poole's departure in 1966. The band reformed as a four piece that year with Chip Hawkes on bass, Rick Westwood on lead guitar, Alan Blakely on rhythm guitar, and Dave Munden on drums. All four members sang, with most of the leads being sung by Hawkes and Munden. The quartet had 13 top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart between 1967 and 1971 including "Here Comes My Baby", "Even the Bad Times Are Good", "(Call Me) Number One", "Me and My Life" and their most successful single, "Silence Is Golden" (1967) Various other musicians came and went after 1974, but all members of the 1966 1973 quartet, along with Poole, have at some point performed with later versions of the band, which is still together as of 2023. Two band members had children who become pop stars in their own right. Poole's daughters Karen and Shelly Poole made several hit records as "Alisha's Attic" between 1996 and 2001. Hawkes's son Chesney Hawkes is a successful singer songwriter who has also toured for a number of years as a member of the Tremeloes.

They were formed as Brian Poole and the Tremoloes (the spelling "tremoloes" was soon changed because of a spelling mistake in an East London newspaper) influenced by Buddy Holly and the Crickets. On New Year's Day, 1962, Decca, looking for a beat group, auditioned two promising young bands: Brian Poole and the Tremeloes and another combo (also heavily influenced by Buddy Holly) from Liverpool, the Beatles. Decca chose Brian Poole and the Tremeloes over the Beatles, reportedly, in part, based on location – the Tremeloes were from the London area, making them more accessible than the Liverpool based Beatles. The original quintet consisted of lead vocalist Brian Poole, lead guitarist Rick Westwood, rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Alan Blakley, bassist Alan Howard and drummer Dave Munden. Brian Poole and the Tremeloes first charted in the UK in July 1963 with a pop rock cover version of "Twist and Shout", a song previously popularised in America by the Isley Brothers, and already released by the Beatles in the UK in March 1963 on their first British LP, Please Please Me. They released a pop cover version of US hit "Do You Love Me" in the same year, and the song reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. The group also had success in the UK in 1964 with covers of Roy Orbison's B side "Candy Man" and a previously obscure Crickets B side ballad, "Someone, Someone": both entered the UK top ten, the latter peaking at No. 2. Other Decca era chart singles included "Three Bells" and a version of "I Want Candy".

Poole and Howard both left the band in 1966. Howard left the music business altogether. Poole made a brief and not very successful attempt at a solo career before going into business as a butcher with his brother. (He returned to making music professionally many years later.) Poole and Howard were both replaced by bassist singer Len "Chip" Hawkes. Their first single as a four piece, released on Decca, was a cover of Paul Simon's song "Blessed", which failed to chart. After switching from Decca to CBS Records, with Mike Smith producing, The Tremeloes' first single on CBS was a cover of The Beatles Revolver song "Good Day Sunshine". three Italian hits translated into English: "Suddenly You Love Me", which is Riccardo Del Turco's "Uno tranquillo" ("One quiet man"), "I'm Gonna Try", which is Riccardo Del Turco's 1968 hit "Luglio" ("July"), and "My Little Lady", based on Orietta Berti's "Non illuderti mai" ("Never deceive yourself"); and their number one recording of a Four Seasons B side "Silence Is Golden". Both this last single and "Here Comes My Baby" also entered the Top 20 of the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 on Epic Records, co owned by CBS. Nevertheless they recorded several more singles throughout the decade, with further chart singles in Europe, including "Blue Suede Tie" (No. 38, Germany), "Too Late to Be Saved" (No. 33, Germany), "Ride On" (No. 16, Germany), "Say O. K. (Say Ole You Love Me)", and "Do I Love You", some of which received heavy airplay, particularly on Radio Luxembourg. "I Like It That Way" even made the Dutch Top 10, reaching No. 9 after the Dutch service of Radio North Sea International promoted it as its weekly Treiterschijf. They also released another three albums of original material, including Shiner (1974) and Don't Let the Music Die (1975). Their music is still available on compact disc, and they quite often play concerts and are part of the pop revival shows that constantly tour the UK. Their line up changed several times from 1973 onwards, the first new entrants being Bob Benham and a year later Aaron Woolley (replacing Blakley and Hawkes, both of whom later returned to the band). Munden remained the only constant member. Hawkes pursued a solo career for a while producing two albums for RCA Records in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1979 he returned to England and rejoined the Tremeloes where he remained until 1988. Chip left the Tremeloes to focus on managing his son, Chesney, who had a number one hit record entitled "The One and Only". By 1992 Hawkes was touring once again as a solo artist. In 1983 they covered Europop tune "Words", originally by F. R. David. As a soloist, Poole failed to chart with subsequent records, but pursued a successful cabaret career. His daughters, Karen and Shelly, hit the charts in 1996 as Alisha's Attic. Blakley died from cancer in June 1996, leaving Munden and Westwood to continue in concert with newer recruits Dave Fryer (bass) and Joe Gillingham (keyboards). Jeff Brown, former bass player and lead vocals for The Sweet, replaced Fryer in 2005. Dave Fryer retired to live in Germany after leaving the band, and continues to write music and play occasionally. In April 2004, at the request of the Animals, who were about to do their 40th anniversary tour, Hawkes was asked to form a band to tour with the Animals. This he did, bringing together a supergroup including Mick Avory (ex the Kinks), Eric Haydock (ex the Hollies), who teamed up to perform as the Class of '64, also featuring guitarists, Telecaster Ted Tomlin and Graham Pollock. The band toured around the world and recorded an album of past band hits and a new single called "She's Not My Child". Brian Poole, Chip Hawkes and the Tremeloes toured the UK as part of their 40th anniversary reunion in September 2006. In November 2015, Westwood and Hawkes were both charged with sexual assault relating to a case from 1968. They were acquitted in July 2016. In 2019 two separate entities were touring the latest incarnation of the original Tremeloes with Westwood, Clarke and Hawkes, along with Hawkes' son Jodie and Richard Marsh, and a tribute band "The Trems" with Gillingham, Brown, Twynham and Phil Wright (of the band Paper Lace). Hawkes stated in an interview that Munden had retired following knee issues resulting from a fall. Brian Poole toured with the band again in 2016, and played with his own band Brian Poole & Electrix. As of 2019 he appeared to no longer be actively performing. Original drummer Dave Munden (born on 2 December 1943) died on 15 October 2020, at age 76. In 2021, Chip Hawkes, Rick Westwood, Mick Clarke, Jodie Hawkes and Richard Marsh were still performing live as The Tremeloes on the UK nostalgia circuits, whilst in 2022, Chesney Hawkes joined his brother Jodie as a member, becoming the band's singer for a series of dates.