The Strangers: A Demo Story

In August 1961, South London group The Strangers auditioned successfully for Adam Faith and quickly morphed into his backing-group The Roulettes. It is little known that these  Strangers had recorded ‘Well I Ask You’ a few months earlier –and before Eden Kane. Surprisingly, a copy of their two-sided demo has actually survived. The B-side was written by group members Peter Thorp and Martin Blackwell, two future Roulettes.

BACKGROUND
When hearing that teen idol Adam Faith was looking for a fresh bunch of backing musicians, South London group ‘The Strangers’ auditioned successfully. A few weeks later, Sutton’s local heroes The Strangers morphed into The Roulettes overnight and hit the stage with Adam Faith on 16th September 1961, the start of a musical trip that would last approximately six years. [1] 

  BEFORE KANE
It was (and still is) a well-hidden secret that in May of the same year, these Strangers were virtual contenders for serious chart success: they were the first to be given the opportunity to record ‘Well I Ask You’ – a typical Vandyke song.  Things remained virtual, though. One Eden Kane recorded the same title and rush-released it. It went straight to the top of the charts.

Peter Thorp, lead guitarist with The Strangers:
“We became friendly with the manager of The Granada in Sutton and used to play about three numbers at the ‘Saturday morning’ picture show. We had also met up with Cliff’s PR agent, Lesley Perrin. As it happens, Perrin’s niece used to go out with Rick Tyrell, our lead-singer. We suggested Perrin to come and take a look at us one Saturday evening -  which he duly did, introduced himself and that was that for a while. However, in May ’61 Leslie came to see us with a record acetate called “Well I Ask You” and said it was a definite hit record that no-one else had heard and suggested we make a demo, which we did on 20th May 1961 at RG Jones studio in Morden Park - where incidentally I made frequent visits to for demos with several bands, and also with Chris Andrews who at the time was living in Wimbledon and then moved to Motspur Park. But then Eden Kane recorded and released it in one week that same month, so there went our recording chance”.

According to Tony Jasper, Kane’s version entered the charts in June, climbed to the no. 2 position and remained in the Top 20 till September[2]. According to Charlie Gillett & Simon Frith, Kane’s single already charted at the end of May, climbing all the way to no. 1 and staying in the Top 20 for no less than sixteen weeks.

THE SHADS
The Strangers’ versions surely could have been a success, as Rick Tyrell is a fine singer and the group play well throughout the song. B-side ‘Flyover’ is an instrumental written by group members Thorp and Blackwell. It was the first time Thorp and Blackwell tried their hands on song-writing and it would remain their one and only song-writing collaboration. ‘Flyover’ is very much in the mould of The Shadows, with Thorp’s lead-guitar to the fore. Peter Thorp: “As with most early guitarists, I was well into Scotty Moore, James Burton, Chet Atkins, etc. And of course Hank and the Shads,  who were to influence a lot ‘The Strangers’”.

THE DEMO
Martin Blackwell: “I’ve got the demo. I fished out a whole lot of old 45s and I found this white label with the titles written on it: ‘Well I Ask You’ on one side and ‘Fly Over” on the other side., the instrumental. The label reads ‘Sonotape’ in Soho Square”.
Peter Thorp “We didn’t know anything about the business at all, someone must have paid for that session, maybe Perrin paid for it.

It is unclear where the demo was actually recorded. During the interview I did with Peter Thorp on 20 July 2017, he mentions R.G. Jones in Morden [see above], but when Thorp and Blackwell discussed the topic together, both seem to settle for Regent in Denmark Street – Jones in Morden not being mentioned at all.
Thorp: “Was it Trident or Regent?”.
Martin Blackwell: “It certainly wasn’t Trident. Regent Sound seems to ring a bell to me”.
Thorp: “It must be Regent in Tin Pan Alley, next to Southern Music. It’s got to be Regent, I can’t remember going into any other studio”.
Blackwell: “That’s where Perrin was, wasn’t it? Denmark Street. That’s where we auditioned”.
Thorp: “That’s where we auditioned, that’s where we went to do the demo probably, yeah”.

FROM STRANGERS TO ROULETTES
If the demo came to nothing, Leslie Perrin still seemed to have faith in The Strangers. Peter Thorp: “He was approached by Eve Taylor and Colin Berlin to find a touring band for Adam Faith as the John Barry 7 were so committed due to his and their success. He put our name forward and we duly auditioned on Friday 14th August 1961 at Regent Sound Studios in Denmark Street, London”. They were hired the same day. Drummer Cosgrove turned down the opportunity to go professional, because he had a career ahead of him in electronics. A new drummer was recruited on 26th August: John Roberts. As Adam Faith was in no need of a singer, vocalist Rick Tyrell’s music career ended here. Peter Thorp: “Well, once we had landed the job with  Faith as The Roulettes, Rick walked into the sunset basically. He knew that he wasn’t required and that was that. He didn’t take it badly. He was an OK guy and a good singer”.
Consequently, Faith hit the road with a four-piece backing group consisting of Thorp, Blackwell, Burgess and Roberts.

© Eddy Bonte www.eddybonte.be (redactie 26FEB2020)
All pictures in this article are © by the owners and / or the person credited in the watermark.

 

THE STRANGERS (last gig on Saturday 16th September 1961 at Sutton Public Hall)  
Peter Thorp, lead guitar;
Martin Blackwell, bass-guitar;
Tony Burgess, rhythm guitar.
Ron Cosgrove, drums.
Rick Tyrell aka Rick Paris, lead-singer.

THE ROULETTES (as of Sunday 17th September 1961, The Royal Albert Hall)
Peter Thorp, lead guitar;
Martin Blackwell, bass-guitar;
Tony Burgess, rhythm guitar.
John Roberts, drums. 

SOURCE
Pictures of the demo by The Strangers are courtesy of and © Martin Blackwell. The story  of The Strangers demo is based on three interviews: (1) with Peter Thorp on 20 July 2017 (2) with Peter Thorp and Martin Blackwell on 8 April 2019 (3) with Martin Blackwell on 30 July 2019.   

NOTES
[1] More details are to be found in part (01) of our comprehensive Roulettes story here:  https://www.eddybonte.be/just-good-music/pop/the-roulettes/01-peter-thorp-the-real-start/
[2] Tony Jasper: ‘The Top Twenty Book. The Official British Record Charts 1955-1990’, Blandford, first edition 1983.
[3] Charlie Gillett and Simon Frith: ‘Rock File 4. Chart Log of American and British Top 20 Hits, 1955-1974’, Panther Books, 1976.

END OF STORY