Artist Information
Albie Power - Bass Player and founder member of the Kirbys. Originally called the 'Pulsating Panthers'.
Becky Lane - Still working in Liverpool as a solo artist doing cabaret.
Bobby Sox - A local Liverpool artist on the cabaret scene. Appears every Friday on the 'Billy Butler' show giving his comments on new artists. This part of the show is called 'Stars in their Ears' and it is considered that Radio Merseyside is the only radio station doing such a show. Bobby is a well respected singer and musician on Merseyside.
Beryl Marsden - Beryl began making her name as a guest singer with merseybeat groups like The Howie Casey's Seniors and The Undertakers performing in Liverpool clubs like The Cavern and The Iron Door. At 16 she was singing at the infamous Star Club in Hamburg and joined the Beatles on their last UK tour of 1964. In 1965 she joined some relatively unknown artists to form Shotgun Express with the likes of Rod Stewart, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Pete Bardens and Dave Ambrose. The group had a hit with 'I Feel The Whole World Turn Round'.
During the 1970's and 80's she worked as a solo artist, mixing session work with live performances. This included adding live backing vocals on Martha Reeves tours. Beryl returned to Hamburg in the late 1970's to perform with her band at the reopened Star Club and has worked regularly in Germany ever since. She had continuous success in Europe in the 90's including hits with the Beautiful World project and her work has appeared on a number of film soundtracks. Beryl has just produced her first solo album called 'One Dream' which was released on 16th February 2004.
Brian Jones - One of the original members of The Undertakers who has always been in demand for session work. Considered one of the best sax players on Merseyside and is still active on the scene, playing as well as ever. Occasionally plays with the Kirbys and other merseybeat outfits. Toured with the Glitter Band at the end of the 1970's.
Chris Finley - Bass player with the Hideaways after John Schells death. Became a club owner in the 70's and 80's. Still performs around the Liverpool region on 'jam' nights playing guitar or keyboards and adding vocals.
Clare Bowles - Sang with her sisters as a trio for many years covering songs by the Andrew Sisters and country rock. The group 'She Three' do tremendous work for local charities around the area and sing as well as ever. Clare also spent several years as a presenter on Radio Merseyside.
Dave Dover - Played in various merseybeat groups and is an excellent bass player/vocalist. He is also a fine blues harmonica player. Still living in Liverpool and presently teaches music to anew generation. Small of stature - big on talent!
Dave Kerrigan - Talented vocalist who began work with Frankie Connor in Old Swan, Liverpool (Ethel Austin). Dave sang the lead vocal on the 'Class of '64' anthem 'Cavern Days'. He is currently a local businessman living in Merseyside.
Frank Johns - A talented keyboard player and teacher of music on Merseyside. Has been a musical director for many artists like PJ.Proby. Frank today prersents shows around the Liverpool region and is as busy as ever.
Frankie Townsend - Leader of The Easybeats (not the Australian band). They were the first group to perfect the Beach Boys surfing harmonies which made them unique in the mid-sixties. Still sings today around Liverpool.
Geoff Nugent - Original member of The Undertakers and is an active member of the Merseycats. The Merseycats are a group of sixties artists who perform shows for children's charities on Merseyside.
Joe Marouth - Original member of The Kirbys and lead singer for the group. Recently joined the reformed group combining this with his present high profile job which involves a lot of world travelling. For any gigs he is unable to attend, he is replaced by ex-Cryin Shames Ritchie Routledge.
John O'Brien - Original member of The Tuxedoes for whom he played rhythmn guitar. Long time friend of Alan Crowley and Billy Butler and along with the aforementioned is a huge Buddy Holly fan. Has not played actively for many years now.
Kenny Goodlass - Excellent Liverpool drummer. played with many groups over the years notably The Merseybeats and The Kirbys. Plays now with the reformed Kirbys.
Les Williams - Played with The Tuxedoes and then later with The Dimensions. Released several singles in the 1960's including 'Tears on my pillow' with The Dimensions. Still performs today at the occasional charity event.
Mike Byrne - A member of the group The Roadrunners and Colonel Bagshot and has also worked as a solo artist. Has compered many pop shows and is a fine keyboard player as well as a good vocalist. Founded the 'Beatles Story' at The Albert Dock, Liverpool.
Kenny Johnson - For 28 years Kenny has presented 'Sounds Country' on Radio Merseyside and is probably one of the longest serving presenters in the country. He has been rated in the business as Britain's number one country/country rock vocalist and is time served with a long list of fine achievements to his name. He also has an ever growing array of accolades for his live performances at concerts and clubdates around the country. The albums that he has recorded to date include, "Lakeside Highway","Let Me Love You Once","A Tree In The Meadow","Summer Nights" and "The Best Of KJ". Kenny has travelled extensively throughout his career, with places like the Caribbean/Falkland and Ascension Islands on three occasions. He has also toured Europe covering Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Kenny won the 'Gold Star Award' in Holland during the Euro Masters C/M festival.
He has also worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry like The Beatles, Marty Robbins, Billie Jo Spears, Bellamy Bros, Jerry Lee Lewis, Emylou Harris, Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson and Carl Perkins(To Name a few!).
Kenny regards some of the highlights of his career were performing at the world famous "Grand Ol Opry","The Ryman Auditorium" the original mecca of country music in Nashville, Tennessee. Awards won include: Daily Mirror best male vocalist, Variety Club of GB best male vocalist, x 16 best band/best male vocalist radio awards, CMRU INTERNATIONAL publishers award best vocals/band, lifetime achievement award for services to country music x20 albums to date, BCMA best male vocalist x4 times.
In the past Kenny has been in groups like Sonny Webb and the Cascades, The Hillsiders and Kenny Johnson & Northwind. In 2003 he formed a duo with 'Ronnie Westhead' ('Rockin Horse', 'Rock School') and were called "Johnson & Westhead". In 2004 they are known as the "Kenny Johnson Duo".
Ted 'Kingsize' Taylor - Original merseybeat legend. Very popular in Hamburg and was probably the biggest rival to The Beatles in their formative years (61-62) as the Dominoes featured Saxophone and Piano and were a tremendous live act. For more information go to Teddys website.
Tracy King - Local Liverpool artist who still works on Merseyside, performing mainstream to Country Rock.
Email : frankieconnor@hollyrecords.com
Copyright © 2004 Spencer Lowe