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21

The former Leonard Hirons was an ex-window cleaner and scaffolder from Bournemouth, shown left, with his bucket and ladder when he was the subject of a 1962 British Pathe cinema feature, called Folks Get With it. As Rey Anton, he released eleven UK and several continental singles between 1962 and 1966, backed by the Batons, then the Peppermint Men and finally Pro Form. (The latter name is also listed by various sources as 'Proform'', 'Pro Forma' and 'Proformula'!) Rey wrote Nothing Comes Easy, which was published by the Big L-associated Pall Mall Music. A second Anton/Pall Mall collaboration Premeditation was released in November '65 by 'Rey Anton and Pro Forma' and a third, Newsboy, in July '66 by 'Rey Anton and The Pro Form'.

The band performs First Taste of Love in Dateline Diamonds and also appears alongside a young Pauline Collins, Dana Gillespie and (The Lovely) Aimi MacDonald in the 1966 film Secrets of a Windmill Girl - described by one reviewer as 'almost unwatchable'! The title track The Windmill Girls was sung by fellow Fab Forty artist Valerie Mitchell and released on the B-side of her single You Can Go. What music the Rey Anton band contributed to the film, is unknown.

Some years back, we asked Len if he could fill in some of the missing information about the Peppermint Men. He not only did that, (see letter, left) but kindly sent two photos of himself with the band. Len tells us that the Peppermint Men were Ted Dry (lead), Martin Dry (bass), Chubby (rhythm) and Malcolm (drums). (He could not recall Chubby and Malcolm's surnames.)

The correct title of the later Rey Anton backing group, as confrimed by the man himself,was Pro Form, and was a collective name for various musicians who were available for recording and gigs when required. It may well have been two different sets of musicians who appeared in the two films backing Rey.

In more recent years, Len Hirons worked with The Mulberries r & b band, as support for Status Quo and also performed with them at a charity concert, with Dire Straits' keyboard player, Guy Fletcher. He told us, "I do hope this information is helpful to you. I was amazed at the amount of information you already had on myself and the Peppermint Men. After over forty years, I am still enjoying making music."

Sadly, Len died in May 2011 after a short illness.