Showaddywaddy are a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

group from

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, England. They specialise in revivals of

hit song A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s from the 1950s and early 1960s, while also issuing original material. They have spent 209 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and have had 10 Top Ten singles, one reaching number one.

Formation

The band was formed in 1973 by the

amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

of two groups, Choise (Dave Bartram,

Trevor Oakes Trevor Oakes (born 9 September 1946) is an English retired Glam rock guitarist and songwriter. Oakes is best known for being the guitarist and saxophonist for Showaddywaddy, a band he was in from 1973 until 2009. He was one of the main songwri ...

, Al James, and

Romeo Challenger Romeo Alexander Challenger (born 19 May 1950) is an Antiguan-born English musician. He has been the drummer for the rock band Showaddywaddy since 1973 and seminal progressive rock band Black Widow. Biography Challenger was born 19 May 1950 ...

) and the Golden Hammers (Buddy Gask, Russ Field, Rod Deas, and Malcolm Allured), the latter often known simply as The Hammers. They both played at the Fosse Way pub in Leicester, and soon discovered shared musical tastes. After playing together in jamming sessions, they joined together permanently, and Showaddywaddy were born. This led to an eight-member band, with the unusual feature of having two vocalists, two drummers, two guitarists, and two bassists. The band's first gig as professional musicians was at the Dreamland Ballroom in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, on 1 September 1973., although the first gigs under the Showaddywaddy name were in 1972.

Hits

Showaddywaddy won one programme on the ATV series ''

New Faces ''New Faces'' is a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the ITV network by ATV, and later by Central. Original series: ...

'', in November 1973, and were runners-up in the "All Winners Final", which was broadcast on 28 December 1973. They have made nearly 300 television appearances, including their own BBC TV special, ''Showaddywaddyshow'', broadcast between Christmas and New Year in 1980. The band also appeared in the 1975 film ''

Three for All ''Three for All'' is a 1975 British musical comedy film directed by Martin Campbell and starring Adrienne Posta, Robert Lindsay, Paul Nicholas, Cheryl Hall, Richard Beckinsale, Graham Bonnet and John Le Mesurier. It was written by Tudor Gat ...

'', where they performed "The Party" from their 1974 debut album. Their first single, "Hey Rock and Roll" (written by the band), was released in April 1974. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. Starting with "

Dancin' Party "Dancin' Party" is a song written by Kal Mann and Dave Appell and performed by Chubby Checker. In 1962, the track reached No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 19 on the Canadian and UK Singles Charts. It was featured on his 1963 compil ...

" (1977), the band produced their own records with more cover versions including "

I Wonder Why "I Wonder Why" is a doo-wop song, written by Melvin Anderson with lyrics by Ricardo Weeks. The song was first recorded by Dion and the Belmonts. Background It is sung from the point of view of a man telling his girlfriend that he loves her but ...

" (originally by

Dion and the Belmonts Dion and the Belmonts were an American vocal quartet prominent throughout the late 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci joined the vocal group the Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo ...

), "

Blue Moon A blue moon refers either to the presence of a second full moon in a calendar month, to the third full moon in a season containing four, or to a moon that appears blue due to atmospheric effects. The calendrical meaning of "blue moon" is unc ...

" (based on

the Marcels The Marcels were an American doo-wop group known for turning popular music songs into rock and roll. The group formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and signed to Colpix Records with lead Cornelius Harp, bass Fred Johnson, Gene Bricker, ...

' interpretation) and the Curtis Lee song "

Pretty Little Angel Eyes "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" is a 1961 song by American singer Curtis Lee. It was released on Dunes Records, #45-2007. Phil Spector served as producer, and also produced Lee's follow-up hit " Under the Moon of Love". Background The track is in th ...

", co-written by

Tommy Boyce Sidney Thomas Boyce was an American singer songwriter. He was a part of the songwriting team Boyce and Hart with Bobby Hart. Boyce was born in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1939. Before writing songs with Hart he released three singles as a solo arti ...

. After their first single, Showaddywaddy went on to have a further 22 UK hits until late summer 1982. Their most recent chart single was " Who Put the Bomp", a number 37 hit in 1982, which they also promoted in their final ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' performance. In total, they had ten top-ten singles, a solitary number one ("Under the Moon of Love" in 1976), and spent 209 weeks in the UK Singles Chart, including seven successive top-five entries. Their biggest-selling single was "Under the Moon of Love", which sold 985,000 copies. They had most of their biggest hits with covers of songs from the 1950s and the early 1960s. These included " Three Steps to Heaven" (originally by

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran ( ; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", " Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in ...

in 1960), " Heartbeat" (originally written and recorded by

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

), " Under the Moon of Love" (originally a US hit for Curtis Lee in 1961, again co-written by Tommy Boyce), " When" (originally by the Kalin Twins), "

You Got What It Takes "You Got What It Takes" is a 1959 single by Marv Johnson. In the US it reached number 2 on the Black Singles chart, and number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 early in 1960. In the UK Singles Chart it reached a high of number 7. The origina ...

" (originally by

Marv Johnson Marvin Earl Johnson (October 15, 1938 – May 16, 1993) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer, songwriter and pianist. He was influential in the development of the Motown style of music, primarily for the song "Come to Me (Marv Johnson so ...

) and "

" (originally by

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...

). These six singles were all produced by Mike Hurst (a former member of

the Springfields The Springfields were a British folk-pop vocal trio who had success in the early 1960s in the UK, Australia, US and Ireland. They included singer Dusty Springfield and her brother, songwriter Tom Springfield, along with Tim Feild, who was ...

). On the South African chart, "Three Steps to Heaven" reached number 6 in 1975 and "Under the Moon of Love" number 6 in 1977.

Later period

Malcolm Allured left the group in 1984, followed by Russ Field in 1985, and Buddy Gask in 1987. Gask retired to Spain in 2005, and died in 2011 after suffering with ill health for a number of years. Field ran a guest house with his wife in

Beadnell Beadnell is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is situated about south-east of Bamburgh, on the North Sea coast, and has a population of 528(2001), increasing to 545 at the 2011 Census. It takes its name from the Anglo S ...

, Northumberland, and still plays guitar in a local covers band, Before The Mast. Allured owned a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

called MFN at Shipley Gate,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, and still plays live in local bands. Field was replaced by Ray Martinez in 1985, who was subsequently replaced by Danny Willson in 1995.

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...

began to release Showaddywaddy's extensive album back catalogue on CD from 2000 on their 7Ts imprint. The reissues featured rare bonus tracks,

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

s and non-album singles. Early in 2008, the band finished recording their album ''The Sun Album (I Betcha Gonna Like It)'', released on

Voiceprint Records Voiceprint Records was a British independent record label based in England, founded in November 1990 by Rob Ayling. They specialised in re-releasing old material, especially progressive rock, but also had new releases, under the Resurgence and Bl ...

. A special

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...

(500 copies only) was available, signed by the whole band, and comprised a CD, a DVD, special packaging and extended sleeve notes. In September 2011, lead singer Dave Bartram released his long-lost solo recordings from 1982 to 1985 on Invisible Hands Music. The original tapes had been in his loft for 25 years. The seventeen-track album was entitled ''Lost and Found''. Al James retired from the band in 2008, playing his last gig with the band at the Cheese & Grain in

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

, Somerset, on 20 December 2008. In early 2009, Trevor Oakes decided to take a break from the band due to ill health. He left the band and officially retired on 1 May 2009, meaning his last gig was also at the Cheese & Grain. Trevor Oakes is the father of footballers Scott Oakes and Stefan Oakes. Challenger is the father of Benjamin Challenger who trialled for

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

before playing basketball for Leicester Riders, and then moved into athletics, gaining medals in the high jump at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games. Danny Willson also left the band during 2009 to join

Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * Mart ...

, and his last gig was in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

on 8 August that year. Lead singer Dave Bartram left Showaddywaddy on 3 December 2011 after 38 years fronting the band, and his last gig was at the Kings Hall Theatre in

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...

, West Yorkshire. Bartram continues as the band's manager, a role he has undertaken since 1984. The Ilkley gig also marked saxophonist David Graham's last gig, who had been touring with the band since August 2009 - Graham rejoined however in 2020. In 2013, the band celebrated its 40th anniversary and undertook a UK-wide tour between 11 January and 1 June. On 17 June 2013, the band released a new collection of its entire studio recordings to celebrate their anniversary. The anthology featured the band's entire 20th century catalogue of recorded material, including all of their original studio albums in mini-vinyl replica wallets, non-album A and B sides, together with a selection of alternative mixes and unreleased rarities unearthed from the vaults, in a 139-track, 10-CD box set. A 36-page booklet included a 7,000-word liner note from Showaddywaddy expert Steve Thorpe, and an introduction from former band member Dave Bartram. June 2013 also saw the release of their only

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

to date. It contained 16 of their most famous tracks. This album was only available at live gigs with a pressing of only 1,000 copies. Bartram did his first solo post-Showaddywaddy appearance on 1 November 2013, at Upstairs At The Western, a venue above The Western pub in Leicester, where he was interviewed by a compere and took questions from the audience in an "evening with"–type format. He also performed three acoustic numbers on the night, "Smiling Eyes", "Three Steps To Heaven" and "Hey Rock And Roll" – the performance of "Smiling Eyes" was the song's first live performance, having been originally released some 38 years earlier on the 1975 ''Step Two'' album. Rod Deas retired from the band early in 2019, playing his last gig with Showaddywaddy at The Qube in Corby on Friday 25 January. Dave Bartram returned to the stage to give Rod a farewell speech before the second set. Guitarist Ray Hatfield (who joined January 2017 when Paul Dixon left), keyboardist Dean Loach, and bassist Billy Norman (who joined the band in January 2018) all left Showaddywaddy in the summer of 2020. Former guitarist Danny Willson returned to play with the band in September 2021 on a temporary arrangement. Showaddywaddy have continued to tour, and still do around 100 dates a year in the UK and Europe. The band currently consists of one remaining original member, Romeo Challenger, along with vocalist Andy Pelos, bass player Tom Bull, guitarist and drummer Sam Holland, vocalist and guitarist Billy Shannon, and saxophonist/guitarist David Graham who rejoined the band in 2020 (having previously toured with the band 2009 to 2011). In June 2014, Showaddywaddy completed the "Once In A Lifetime" arena tour, with

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity, as a band in the 1970s. One of many 70s acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beatles", they were called the "tartan teen sensations fro ...

David Essex David Essex (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. From 1973 to 1994, he attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums. Internationally, Essex had the most suc ...

, and

The Osmonds The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (the Osmonds). The group has c ...

. The same month saw the reissue of Showaddywaddy's 2008 ''The Sun Album (I Betcha Gonna Like It)'', which contained two new tracks.

Band members

*Original members listed in bold

Current

(born 19 May 1950, St John's,

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

) — drums (1973–present) *Andy Pelos — vocals / guitar (2012–present) *David Graham — saxophone (2009–2011) — guitar / saxophone / bass (2020–present) *Tom Bull — bass guitar (2020–present) *Ed Handoll — guitar / vocals (2024–present) *Sam Holland — guitar / drums (2021–present)

Former

*Malcolm "Duke" Allured (born 27 August 1945, Leicester) — drums / vocals (1973–1984) *Dave Bartram (born 23 March 1952,

) — vocals (1973–2011) *Rod Deas (born 13 February 1948,

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

) — bass (1973–2019) *Russ Field (born James Lewis Russell Field, 1 September 1949,

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

) — guitar (1973–1985) *Buddy Gask (born William George Gask, 18 December 1945, Leicester – 7 June 2011, Spain) — vocals (1973–1987) *Al James (born Geoffrey Betts, 13 January 1946, Leicester – 16 November 2018) — bass / vocals (1973–2008) *

(born Trevor Leslie Oakes, 9 September 1946, Leicester) — guitar (1973–2009) *Ray Martinez — guitar (1985–1995) *Danny Willson — guitar (1995–2009/2021) *Paul Dixon — guitars / vocals (2008–2017) *Dean Loach — keyboards / guitar / backing vocals (2012–2020) *Ray Hatfield — guitar / vocals (2017–2020) *Billy Norman — bass guitar / backing vocals (2018–2020) *Chris Savage — keyboards (2020-2021) *Billy Shannon — guitar / vocals (2021-2024) Timeline ImageSize = width:1400 height:440 PlotArea = left:140 bottom:80 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1973 till:01/04/2024 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:backing value:yellow legend:Backing_vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:saxophone value:skyblue legend:Saxophone id:keyboard value:purple legend:Keyboards id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:timpani value:claret legend:Timpani id:lines1 value:black legend:Studio_album id:bars value:gray(0.9) Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1 BackgroundColors = bars:bars ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1973 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1973 BarData = bar:Dave text:Dave Bartram bar:Buddy text:Buddy Gask bar:Andy text:Andy Pelos bar:Billy2 text:Billy Shannon bar:Trevor text:Trevor Oakes bar:Russ text:Russ Field bar:Ray text:Ray Martinez bar:Danny text:Danny Wilson bar:Paul text:Paul Dixon bar:Ray2 text:Ray Hatfield bar:Sam text:Sam Holland bar:Rod text:Rod Deas bar:Al text:Al James bar:Billy text:Billy Norman bar:Tom text:Tom Bull bar:David2 text:David Graham bar:Dean text:Dean Loach bar:Chris text:Chris Savage bar:Malcolm text:Malcolm Allured bar:Romeo text:Romeo Challenger PlotData= width:12 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Dave from:start till:03/12/2011 color:vocals bar:Buddy from:start till:31/12/1987 color:backing bar:Buddy from:start till:31/12/1987 color:vocals width:4 bar:Andy from:01/01/2012 till:end color:vocals bar:Andy from:01/01/2012 till:end color:guitar width:4 bar:Trevor from:start till:01/05/2009 color:guitar bar:Trevor from:start till:01/05/2009 color:saxophone width:4 bar:Russ from:start till:31/12/1985 color:guitar bar:Ray from:31/12/1985 till:31/12/1995 color:guitar bar:Danny from:31/12/1995 till:31/12/2009 color:guitar bar:Paul from:01/05/2009 till:31/12/2017 color:guitar bar:Ray2 from:31/12/2017 till:01/06/2020 color:guitar bar:Rod from:start till:25/01/2019 color:bass bar:Al from:start till:20/12/2008 color:bass width:4 bar:Al from:start till:20/12/2008 color:backing bar:Billy from:01/01/2018 till:01/06/2020 color:bass bar:Tom from:01/01/2020 till:end color:bass bar:David2 from:01/01/2009 till:03/12/2011 color:saxophone bar:David2 from:01/06/2020 till:end color:saxophone bar:David2 from:01/06/2020 till:end color:guitar width:4 bar:David2 from:01/06/2020 till:end color:bass width:8 bar:Dean from:01/01/2012 till:01/06/2020 color:keyboard bar:Chris from:01/06/2020 till:31/12/2020 color:keyboard bar:Billy2 from:01/01/2021 till:end color:vocals bar:Billy2 from:01/01/2021 till:end color:guitar width:4 bar:Danny from:01/06/2020 till:01/01/2021 color:guitar bar:Sam from:01/01/2021 till:end color:guitar bar:Sam from:01/01/2021 till:end color:drums width:4 bar:Romeo from:start till:end color:timpani width:4 bar:Romeo from:start till:end color:drums bar:Malcolm from:start till:01/06/1984 color:drums bar:Malcolm from:start till:01/06/1984 color:backing width:4 bar:Buddy at:07/06/2011 text:† bar:Al at:16/11/2018 text:† width:2.5 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) LineData = at:08/11/1974 color:lines1 layer:back at:13/06/1975 color:lines1 layer:back at:07/05/1976 color:lines1 layer:back at:11/11/1977 color:lines1 layer:back at:02/11/1979 color:lines1 layer:back at:01/12/1980 color:lines1 layer:back at:01/10/1981 color:lines1 layer:back at:17/07/1983 color:lines1 layer:back at:01/03/1991 color:lines1 layer:back at:01/01/1996 color:lines1 layer:back at:27/05/2002 color:lines1 layer:back at:12/06/2006 color:lines1 layer:back at:21/04/2008 color:lines1 layer:back at:29/07/2016 color:lines1 layer:back

Discography

*''Showaddywaddy'' (1974) *''Step Two'' (1975) *''Trocadero'' (1976) *''Red Star'' (1977) *''Crepes & Drapes'' (1979) *''Bright Lights'' (1980) *''Good Times'' (1981) *''Living Legends'' (1983) *''Jump, Boogie & Jive'' (1991) *''The One & Only – Greatest & Latest'' (1996) *''Hey Rock 'n' Roll'' (2002) *''I Love Rock 'n' Roll'' (2006) *''The Sun Album (I Betcha Gonna Like It)'' (2008) *''Next Chapter'' (2016)

References

External links

Official Showaddywaddy websiteInterviews from the Leicester Mercury, on the Leicester Band's website
* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1973 English glam rock groups British rockabilly music groups Musical groups from Leicester Musicians from Leicestershire British rock and roll music groups 1973 establishments in England Arista Records artists Bell Records artists RCA Records artists