Sunday Morning Playlist: British Invasion - Page 14

22. Dave Berry: The Crying Game

Dave Berry is an also-ran in the British Invasion genre; unknown in America, and barely known in England. A teen idol who favored r&b, but usually had to cover pop ballads, his one shining recording was "The Crying Game" from 1964, later unearthed in 1993 and covered by Boy George as the theme song for the film of the same name. He also hit in the U.K. with Bobby Goldsboro's "Little Things" in 1965 and Carl Perkins' "Mama" in 1966. In America, he never charted at all. Berry gave up by 1968, although he did release a couple of albums in the 1980's as a comeback attempt. The Sex Pistols, of all possible groups, covered Berry's own "Don't Gimme No Lip Child", a tougher-edged r&b number from 1964.

23. Freddie & The Dreamers: I'm Telling You Now

Freddie & The Dreamers are arguably the weakest act on this list, although they do earn points for a somewhat self-effacing sense of humor. Leader Freddie Garrity had played in a number of skiffle groups since the late 50's before forming Freddie & The Dreamers in the wake of The Beatles' success. Remembered for their extremely lightweight pop tunes, and also their misbegotten attempt to start a dance craze ("Do The Freddie"), they actually managed four top-40 entries in the U.S. in 1965, going all the way to #1 with the Beatle-esque "I'm Telling You Now" (it had reached #2 in England almost 1 1/2 years earlier, in 1963). The tune was written by Freddie Garrity with Mitch Murray, the latter having penned "How Do You Do It?", the Gerry and the Pacemakers hit the Beatles had turned down; it displays a lot of similarities in sound. Freddie & The Dreamers managed four movie appearences, but by 1966 the band was finished, and broke up.

24. The Moody Blues: Go Now

Younger listeners probably know the Moody Blues best for their orchestral numbers like "Nights In White Satin", or their Mellotron-backed quasi-progressive rock numbers like "Question" and "I'm Just A Singer In A Rock 'n' Roll Band". However, the band goes back all the way to 1963 when Ray Thomas (harmonica, vocals) and Mike Pinder (keyboards, vocals) formed The Krew Kats in Birmingham. By 1964, the band had been re-named and also included Denny Laine (vocals, guitar), Graeme Edge (drums), and Clint Warwick (bass, vocals). A successful gig at the Marquee Club got them signed to Decca (less than 6 months after forming), and the band found almost instant success with their second single, a cover of "Go Now", originally done by American r&b singer Bessie Banks. "Go Now", sung by Denny Laine, peaked at #10 (#1 in England) in America after its late 1964 release. The song is a classic of the era, easily one of Laine's best-ever vocals, but the band was unable to follow it up. Throughout 1965, single after single stiffed; Warwick and Laine quit in 1966, replaced during the course of the year by John Lodge and Justin Hayward, both of whom would have a big hand in shaping the band's evolution in a progressive, and ultimately successful direction. Denny Laine was later involved in a variety of late 60's projects including Ginger Baker's Air Force, but never really saw success again until 1971 when he was tapped by Paul McCartney to be a founding member of Wings. Laine remained with Wings until McCartney officially disbanded it in 1981; in addition to singing "Go Now" at a lot of their shows, he also contributed an average of one song per album.

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