Trevor Oakes (born 9 September 1946) is an English retired

Glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

guitarist and songwriter. Oakes is best known for being the guitarist and saxophonist for

Showaddywaddy Showaddywaddy are a rock and roll group from Leicester, England. They specialise in revivals of hit songs 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 ...

, a band he was in from 1973 until 2009. He was one of the main songwriters for the band, penning most of their minor hits and album track with lead singer Dave Bartram. Oakes played saxophone on stage, although on the actual records the saxophone was played by session musician Jeff Daly. Trevor retired from the group in 2009, and played his last gig with the band in 2008. He is the father to footballers

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

and Stefan Oakes.

Career

Oakes played in the group "Choise" who in 1973, were merged with the band "The Golden Hammers" to form

. Choise consisted of Oakes, Dave Bartram, 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 Hammers consisted of Buddy Gask, Russ Field, Rod Deas, and Malcolm Allured. Trevor and singer Dave Bartram penned many of their songs, although all eight members were credited as songwriters on the records. They had most of their biggest hits with covers of songs from the 1950s and the early 1960s. These included " Three Steps to Heaven", " Heartbeat", " Under the Moon of Love", " When", "

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 ...

" and "

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 ...

". They have spent 209 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and have had 10 Top Ten singles, one reaching number one. Under the Moon of Love was their only single to reach number one in the UK. Oakes decided to take a break from the band due to ill health in early 2009. He left the band and officially retired on 1 May 2009, his last gig with Showaddywaddy being 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 Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

on 20 December 2008, where original bassist Al James also played his final gig before retiring.

Personal life

Oakes was born in

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 ...

. He was a press knife maker by trade before he was in Showaddywaddy professionally. One of Oakes' interests is football, and on a few occasions between the 1970s–1990s, he participated in the Showbiz XI celebrity charity football team. Two of his sons, Scott Oakes and Stefan Oakes, were both professional footballers. In a 2014 interview, Oakes said that he had lived in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

with his partner Caroline, but is now back in his native Leicester.

References

Additional

* {{MusicBrainz artist, mbid=d02c0c4a-d568-4d88-a36a-742691230f76, name=Trevor Oakes
Trevor Oakes' biography at Showaddywaddy website
1946 births Living people English guitarists British guitarists English songwriters 21st-century English songwriters