Today's birthday boy: Brian Poole, lead singer of The Tremeloes, 1941

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Brian Poole

Brian Poole (born 2 November 1941) is a singer and performer. Poole was the lead singer of 1960s beat band the Tremeloes (1957–1962) then Brian Poole and the Tremeloes (1962–1967). He was brought up in the East End of London and grew up in Barking, East London. He attended Park Modern Secondary School, Barking and Barking Abbey Grammar School.

The Tremeloes are frequent flyers here. From May:

Today's birthday boys: Gabby Hayes, 1885; and Rick Westwood, lead guitarist of The Tremeloes, 1943

The Tremeloes

The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, Essex, and still active today.

Career

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 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 West (born Richard 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 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. Brian Poole and the Tremeloes followed "Twist and Shout" with a chart topping cover of the Contours' US million-seller "Do You Love Me" in the same year, in turn followed by "I Can Dance". 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 Singles Chart Top Ten, with the latter peaking at no. 2. Other Decca-era chart singles included "Three Bells" and a version of "I Want Candy".

This is my favorite Tremeloes song:

Another huge hit for them:

Everyone's heard the Contours' version of this tune. Here is The Tremeloes' cover:

[Freddie]

1. "Silence Is Golden"

Great song, bought the single when I was a little kid. If memory serves me right the Four Seasons also recorded the song and had a bigger hit with it here.

[msongs]

2. 4 season version was the flip side of rag doll. a heavy duty double sided single nt