Everyone in the top four of this week's Fab was a member of the Knees Club!

The Troggs joined on June 24th, at High Wycombe Town Hall, Buckinghamshire.

David Ballantyne (whose chart story featured last week) signed up at The Target Club, High Wycombe, on Friday, March 18th.

The Merseys became members on Saturday, April 9th, during the Radio London Afternoon at London's famous Marquee Club, in Wardour Street.

The date and venue when Wayne Fontana was inducted is not recorded, but it was somewhere around the end of May or beginning of June.

See the Knees Club 40th Annkneeversarknee feature for the full stories

Reg Presley, (#296), Chris Britton, (#293), Pete Stapleton, (#294), Ronnie Bond, (#295). I recall that at the Town Hall gig, every number the group played started with a Wild Thing-style guitar twang, which achieved its goal of teasing the audience and setting the girls off screaming.

Having started out as a Big L climber on April 24th, Wild Thing went on to become a huge national hit. The song performed even better in the USA, where it hit #1 in September of '66.

For trivia-enthusiasts, the flute-like solo on Wild Thing is played on an instrument called an ocarina.

From Andover, Hampshire, the group formed as The Troglodytes in 1964. The Kinks' manager Larry Page signed them up, shortening the name to The Troggs. Vocalist, Reg Ball, also underwent a name-change. His choice of Presley, a decidedly more commercially-dynamic surname for a singer, also served to bring good publicity for the band.

At the time of joining the Knees Club, the contact address for the group was given as c/o the Sorrows' Fan Club, but the Troggs' connection with the Sorrows is unknown.

Troggs autographs from June '66

Reg Presley probably no longer needs to work, following the receipt of a massive influx of royalties from the Nineties revival of his 1967 song, Love Is All Around, by Wet Wet Wet, which became a mega-hit after being played over the end credits of major British film success, Four Weddings and A Funeral. However, the Troggs still tour throughout Europe, fronted by Reg, with Chris Britton on lead guitar. Newer additions are bassist, Pete Lucas, and Dave Maggs on drums. Having become something of a cult band, their appearances attract thousands of fans, many born long after the Sixties. Reg still manages to fit in the occasional TV and film appearance and is also known for his interest in the phenomenon of crop circles.

Full information on the Troggs can be found on their website

The site includes a current schedule of Troggs gigs and a photograph of Reg Presley's three 1994 Ivor Novello Music Awards, for Love Is All Around, as International Hit of The Year, Best Selling Song and Most Performed Work.

Impressive stuff, Member 296 – The Knees Club is proud of you!

10

3

Sorrow

Merseys

Fontana TF 694

After the guitarist and drummer left the successful Merseybeats to carve new careers, the two remaining members, Tony Crane (#195), Billy Kinsley (#196), formed breakaway duo, The Merseys. They were a mere 19 days away from entering the nationals with their only (national as opposed to Fab 40) hit, Sorrow, when they joined the Knees Club. The duo were back in the Fab in July, with So Sad About Us.

Also signing-up for the KC, were the Merseys' backing group. The Fruit Eating Bears ("Honestly!" as one bemused reviewer of the time remarked upon seeing the name), were Kenny Goodlass (#197), Ken Mondy (#198), Kris Findlay (#199), George Cassidy (#200) and Joey Molland (#201).

Sorrow proved a successful choice for Knees Club recording stars. The Merseys made #3 in the Fab and #4 in the Nationals with it, while BowieÕs recording reached one place higher in 1973.

In 2001, Tony Crane and Billy Kinsley continue to tour with the current version of the Merseybeats as they celebrate 40 years in the music business.

A website with the full Merseybeats/Merseys history can be found at: www.merseybeats.co.uk/

The duo called Truth were Steve Gold and Frank Aiello, who chose their moniker from a Ray Charles song, Tell The Truth. In a race to grab some chart success with Beatle-cover Girl, Truth had battled St Louis Union. The two groups remained neck-in-neck in the Fab, as they raced to joint #11, but it was quite a different story in the nationals. Truth struggled to #27, while St Louis Union narrowly missed the Top Ten, at #11. I Go To Sleep, mint copies of which change hands for around £20, was theTruth's follow-up single, penned by Ray Davies of the Kinks. Disappointingly, despite the being able to issue a second single that had been penned by a top songsmith, Girl remained Truth's only national chart entry. I Go To Sleep continued to do its Rip Van Winkle impression till 1981, when the song was awoken by the Pretenders and finally escorted into the Top Ten.

Truth's follow-up release, Jingle Jangle, appeared as a climber for one week on Nov 6th, but failed to chart.The group made a better impression on the Fab in March 1967, taking their cover of Left Banke's Walk Away Renee to #13, but still could not manage to break into the Nationals. The Four Tops were the ones who took the song to #3 in December 1967.

Besides climbers that were played at the time of the broadcast of the Sunday Fab Forty, Alan kept a note of others he heard later in the week and incorporated them into his list.