Wayne Gibson

Wayne Gibson was the stage name of Edward William "Bill" Allen (15 December 1942 - 1 April 2004). He was an English pop singer who had two hits on the UK Singles Chart, "Kelly" in 1964 and "Under My Thumb" in 1974.[1]

Career

In the early 1960s, he was lead singer in a South London-based band, the Tornadoes (unrelated to the instrumental group, The Tornados), who then changed their name to Wayne Gibson & the Dynamic Sounds.[2] Other band members included Mick Todman (lead guitar), Ray Rogers (bass), Pete Gillies (rhythm guitar) and Larry Cole (drums). In 1961-62, they performed at The Top Ten Club in Hamburg, Germany.

In 1963 they won a recording deal with Decca Records, where their records were produced by American-born Shel Talmy, at that time the producer of The Bachelors (and later of The Kinks and The Who, among others). However, the group's first two singles, cover versions of Ray Sharpe's "Linda Lu" and Ritchie Valens' "Come On Let's Go", were not successful, and they moved on to the Pye label. Their next record, a version of Del Shannon's "Kelly" which featured session musician Jimmy Page on guitar,[3] reached No. 48 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1964,[4] but the follow-up, "Portland Town", was not a hit. The group moved on again, to the Columbia label and then Parlophone, where they released a version of "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.[5] In 1964-65, they also appeared regularly as the backing-band on the BBC TV programme The Beat Room.[2][6] Among artists back by Gibson and his group were Millie Small, Long John Baldry, the Kinks, Herman's Hermits, Chris Farlowe, Manfred Mann, the Pretty Things, the Animals and Lulu and the Luvvers.[7]

Gibson's later recordings were as a solo singer. In May 1966 he released a version of The Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb", produced by Terry King. Again, however, it was not immediately a hit, and nor was his next record, a version of The Beatles' "For No One".[5]

Gibson did not record after 1966 and seems to have left the professional entertainment business at that time. However, in 1972, the small Kingdom label reissued "For No One" in the UK. By 1974, "Under My Thumb" had become well known on the Northern soul club scene, and it was reissued on the Pye Disco Demand label.[5] It rose to No. 17 on the UK chart in late 1974,[4] and Gibson briefly re-emerged to promote it on Top of the Pops.[8] His version of the song was described by journalist, Stuart Maconie as an "embarrassing novelty Northern soul hit".[9]

References
  1. "WAYNE GIBSON | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  2. "Wayne Gibson & The Dynamic Sounds". Discogs.com. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  3. Biography by Bruce Eder, AllMusic
  4. Betts, Graham (2004). Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2004 (1st ed.). London: Collins. p. 317. ISBN 0-00-717931-6.
  5. "Wayne Gibson Discography - UK". 45cat.com. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  6. Appearance on Beat Room, 1964 on YouTube
  7. Jeff Evans (16 February 2017). Rock & Pop on British TV. Omnibus Press. pp. 1969–. ISBN 978-1-78323-777-7.
  8. "This section features Top of the". Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  9. Stuart Maconie (30 September 2014). Cider With Roadies. Ebury Publishing. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-4735-0286-4.
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