The First Class were a British pop music studio-based group, put together by songwriter and record producer John Carter. They are best known for their hit song "
Beach Baby
"Beach Baby" is a song by the British band The First Class. Written by John Carter and his wife, Gillian (Jill) Shakespeare, the song became the band's only substantial hit. The subject of the lyrics is not holiday love, but a broken love relati ...
," a top 20 hit in both the US and UK, and number one in Canada.
Career
The First Class was the studio creation of British singer/songwriter John Carter, who hired singers
Tony Burrows
Anthony Burrows (born 14 April 1942) is an English pop singer and recording artist. As a prolific session musician, Burrows was involved in several transatlantic hit singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of which were one-hi ...
(previously with
The Flower Pot Men
The Flower Pot Men (sometimes spelled The Flowerpot Men) were an English pop group created in 1967 as a result of the single " Let's Go to San Francisco", recorded by session musicians, which became a major UK Top 20 and Continental Europe ...
and Edison Lighthouse) and Chas Mills to join him as an outlet for material Carter wrote, with his creative partner and wife, Gillian (Jill) Shakespeare. In the 1960s, Carter had formed the group Carter-Lewis and the Southerners with fellow producer Ken Lewis. That band dissolved when Carter and Lewis began working extensively as studio singers, appearing on the
hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...
"
It's Not Unusual
"It's Not Unusual" is a song written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, first recorded by a then-unknown Tom Jones, after it had first been offered to Sandie Shaw. He intended it as a demo for her, but when she heard it she was so impressed with ...
" (
Tom Jones
Tom Jones may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer
*Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist
*''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...
), "
I Can't Explain
"I Can't Explain" is a song by English rock band the Who, written by Pete Townshend and produced by Shel Talmy. It was released as a single in the United States on 19 December 1964 by Decca and on 15 January 1965 in the United Kingdom by Bruns ...
" (
The Who
The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
), "
Hi Ho Silver Lining
"Hi Ho Silver Lining" is a rock song, written by American songwriters Scott English and Larry Weiss and first released as a single in March 1967 by English band the Attack, then a few days later by Jeff Beck. The Attack's version failed to ...
" (
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...
), "
(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me
"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" is a song written by American songwriting duo Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Originally recorded as a demo by Dionne Warwick in 1963, "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" first charted ...
" (
Sandie Shaw
Sandra Ann Goodrich (born 26 February 1947), known by her stage name Sandie Shaw, is a retired English pop singer. One of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s, she had three UK number one singles with "(There's) Always Some ...
), "
Excerpt From A Teenage Opera
"Excerpt from 'A Teenage Opera'" (also known as "Grocer Jack") is a 1967 single by Keith West, produced by Mark Wirtz. It was a big hit in Europe, peaking at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was part of a bigger " A Teenage Opera" ...
Chris Farlowe
Chris Farlowe (born John Henry Deighton, 13 October 1940) is an English rock music, rock, blues and blue-eyed soul singer. He is best known for his hit single "Out of Time (Rolling Stones song), Out of Time" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Ric ...
). Concurrently with this session work, Carter was a member of The Ivy League, leaving in 1966 to be replaced by Burrows.
Carter and Shakespeare wrote the song "
Beach Baby
"Beach Baby" is a song by the British band The First Class. Written by John Carter and his wife, Gillian (Jill) Shakespeare, the song became the band's only substantial hit. The subject of the lyrics is not holiday love, but a broken love relati ...
". Carter immediately created a studio band, enlisting musicians Burrows and Mills, to record the song for
Jonathan King
Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...
's
UK Records
UK Records was a music label launched in 1972 by Jonathan King to distribute his own releases and those by some other artists. In 1974, the song became a hit in the UK, peaking at number 13, and in the US, peaking at number 4.
The group recorded a follow-up single, "Bobby Dazzler", and material for their eponymous first album, ''The First Class''. While there was some demand for live performances by the group, neither Carter nor Burrows had the time for or interest in touring, so a group including bassist Robin Shaw (previously of The Flower Pot Men and White Plains), lead singer Del John, guitarist Spencer James (lead singer with
The Searchers
''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War v ...
from 1986-2019), keyboardist Clive Barrett and drummer Eddie Richards (previously of Edison Lighthouse) was assembled to perform a number of dates as The First Class. Although that quintet was pictured and credited along with Carter, Burrows and Mills on the cover of the band's first album, none of the "live" quintet actually performed on "Beach Baby" or any of the album's other tracks.
"Bobby Dazzler" and later singles "Dreams Are Ten a Penny" number 83 US, "Won't Somebody Help Me" and " Funny How Love Can Be" (number 74 US, a remake of the 1965 hit by The Ivy League, on which Carter had been one of the vocalists) failed to chart in the UK. Officially now down to a trio (Burrows, Carter and Mills) supported by studio session players, the group released an unsuccessful second album (''SST'') in 1976.
After the issue of the second album, The First Class became strictly an occasional studio venture, while various members pursued other work. Still, the band continued to record and release non-album singles over the next several years, for a variety of labels: "Broken Toy" (1978), "Song On The Wind" (1979), "Ocean of Glass" (1981) and "Gimme Little Sign" (1983). None of these singles charted or received much attention, and by the mid-1980s the First Class effectively ceased to exist.
Chas Mills subsequently retired from the
music industry
The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...
to run a restaurant in
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...
. Tony Burrows went on working as a solo artist. John Carter remained active writing
jingle
A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...
s and managing his back catalogue. He later reflected on The First Class: "Making the First Class albums was a very happy and creative time. Who knows if we ever come up with another suitable song, maybe we will all get back together one day and record under that name again?"Liner notes by Fraser Massey for See For Miles Records, CD SEECD 443
Discography
Original albums
*September 1974: ''The First Class'' UK Records. UKAL R 1008.
*October 1976: ''The First Class SST'' UK Records. UKAL 1022.
Compilation CDs
*1993: ''Beach Baby & Other Assorted Love Songs'' (Century Records, Japan)
*1994: ''Golden Classics'' (Collectables Records, US)
*1996: ''The First Class/The First Class SST'' (compilation of 2 LPs) (See For Miles Records, UK)
*1999: ''Beach Baby: The Very Best of The First Class'' (Collectables Records, US)
*2005: ''Summer Sound Sensations'' ( RPM Records, UK)
*2023: ''Beach Baby: The Complete Recordings'' (Cherry Red Records, UK)
Singles
See also
*
List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
A one-hit wonder is a musical artist who is successful with one hit song, but without a comparable subsequent hit. The term may also be applied to an artist who is remembered for only one hit despite other successes. This article contains artist ...
*
List of performers on Top of the Pops
__NOTOC__
This list of performers on ''Top of the Pops'' includes popular music recording artists and musical ensembles who have performed on ''Top of the Pops'', a weekly BBC television programme that featured artists from the UK Singles ...