The Strollers

L-R Norm Cowie, Phil Barber, David Park, Dave Cuthbert, Pete Cuthbert and Gavin Dixon

THE STROLLERS'
One of the longest surviving and talented local groups of the
Swingin' Sixties. For nearly six years they featured their original
line-up. The group was formed by a set of school friends who
each had an interest in music. They began with acoustic guitars
and a snare drum borrowed from the local Church Lads Brigade
and would play to anyone who was willing to listen. But their
first 'major' gig was at a Women's Institute gathering which
included tea and cakes, it was in the building which now houses
Radio Humberside on Lord Roberts Road. The Strollers were all
in their final year at Longcroft School and invited some of their
school friends along to support them. The group had just
learned to play the Beatles 1963 hit 'She Loves You' and a
reporter from the Beverley Guardian, present at the gig, wrote
an article which appeared in that newspaper the following
week. In it he dubbed the Strollers sound the 'Beverley Beat'.
The Strollers were raw but they were keen and that appearance
gave them the 'bug'. They began to go for it in a big way convincing their parents to sign hire purchase agreements
enabling them to obtain electric guitars and amplification. They
had also settled on a name, while ideas such as the Becksiders,
the Minstermen and the Bev Beats had been put forward, they
wanted a name which reflected the musical trend at that time.
The Beatles had (beat) - Gerry and the Pacemakers had (pace) -
the Swingin' Blue Jeans had (swinging) so they came up with
'Strollers' (roll) and the Strollers were born.
Although well under age, but keen for experience, the Strollers
soon after this played in a couple of Beverley pubs including the
Grovehill Hotel on Holme Church Lane and the Lady le Gross
on Norwood. They were the entertainment on a Friday or
Saturday evening. At these early 'bookings' the Strollers wore
suits and 'dickie bows' and thought that they looked oh, so
classy! They also one evening played at the old British Legion
Club on Grovehill Road. But they soon found that It was
difficult to play such places as they were so small and there was
little room for the equipment. In later years they ended up
turning down bookings for this reason.
But they were now in business and while initially playing Cliff
Richard and the Shadows numbers 'note perfect' (including
copying the Shadow's 'walk'), with the advent of the 'Mersey
Sound' the Strollers repertoire started to develop. They began to
play more Beatle songs. The group had already begun to learn
harmonies and a lot of the Beatle songs were good practice for
them. As the Strollers name began to spread their bookings
started to increase. They began to play dances at local Youth
Clubs, in Cherry Burton, Walkington and Wawne, they also
played at RAF Leconfield. Gavin lived in Wawne and that's how
they got to play there. They were then asked to play at a dance
at Hodgsons Ballroom in Beverley. Dave remembers that the
Dave Clark Five hit 'Glad all Over' was Number One in the
charts. 'We were basically a pop group at that time and played Top Twenty stuff. When we played 'Glad all Over' at Hodgsons
ballroom that night, the kids stamped their feet on the floor to
the beat of the song. The floor bounced quite heavily and the
organizers of the dance told us never to play it again as
apparently the stamping of feet was so loud that that the
downstairs doors of the ballroom had flown open!
The Strollers would practice anywhere they could. They
originally rehearsed in their own homes, usually number 2 or
number 11 Crathome Road. Garth lived at number 11 and Pete
and Dave lived at number 2. The neighbours of that time were
quite reasonable. But later they managed to ~practice on a
Sunday afternoon at Hodgsons Ballroom. This really helped
because they could try out different kinds of songs for long
periods of time and not have to worry about the neighbours.
This was especially true when they later bought more powerful
equipment. When the group took on Barry Hastings as their
manager, he allowed them to practice in an old barn he owned
down by Beverley Beck and they could then rehearse for as long
as they liked.
In 1965 the Strollers entered a 'Beat Contest' in Leeds for which
the top prize was an appearance on Television's premier rock
show 'Ready Steady Go'. But the group soon realized that they
were really not quite ready for it. Around this time the Strollers
were asked to play at the Beverley Youth Centre on Coltman
Avenue. They were the first group to play there and would go
on to play many nights at the Youth Centre, meeting many other
groups there over the years. It was at the Youth Centre that they
first played on the same bill as Scarborough's top group the
Mandrakes and it was the first of many times they would meet.
By now the Strollers had quite a local fan following and on his
way to work each morning vocalist Dave Park would often
have to run the gauntlet of adoring schoolgirls. As well as dances the Strollers were being asked to do other functions
including weddings, birthdays and anniversary do' s. These
bookings took them into Hull and district and they were soon
playing regular dances there. They also began to make regular
Friday and Saturday night appearances at the Beverley Regal
and Saturday evening dances at the Hull City Hall. To cope
with the increase in size of venue their equipment was totally
upgraded.
The Strollers had initially been unable to get booked in at the
Beverley Regal. This was because many of the first wave groups,
such as the Aces, the Tycoons, the Small Four and the Keith
Herd group, were still very popular there, playing their early
rock 'n' roll, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Everly Brothers and that kind of
stuff. But it was the new 'beat' that was beginning to attract the
younger crowds and a lot of the older customers were moving
on, so the Strollers were booked for their first appearance at the
Regal.
At the Regal on a Friday and Saturday night, usually two
groups played two sessions each. Because the Strollers were
new at the venue they had to go on first and Dave remembers
that there weren't many people there at the first session. By this
time they had wanted to get away from their suit and tie outfits
and were experimenting with stage dress. Anything was
acceptable but it was very uncoordinated. Dave wore a pajama
jacket top over a tee shirt that night. Because they looked so
very different from the suit and tie groups they drew
immediate attention. From that night on the Strollers became
regulars at the Regal and most of the time were topping the bill.
Some nights they would also join forces on stage with other
groups, such as the Semi-Tones, the Crestas and the Zircons,
three drummers and up to nine guitarists playing a number
together.
The most difficult gig the Strollers played at the Regal was as a
favour at a Saturday morning children's matinee in front of a
load of kids! Dave remembers that they had to set up their
equipment between the curtains and the screen and were to go
on before the movies started. When they were announced and
the curtains opened, they were immediately pelted with sweets,
popcorn and other unidentifiable objects. They didn't mind
though as the crowd really enjoyed them. The kids cheered
after every song, but it was hard work dodging sweets and
singing at the same time. Dave made the mistake of throwing
one back and got bombarded in the process. He considers that
to have been one of the Strollers toughest audiences.
By the end of 1965, the Strollers were playing many Beatle
songs, especially those off the very influential album 'Rubber
Soul'. They were also playing tracks by the Who, including
'Substitute' and Can't Explain and a particularly good version
of James Brown's 'I'd Go Crazy' featuring some excellent
keyboard playing. The Strollers would launch into their set with
a blistering version of the Hollies 'Come On Back'.
By 1966 the Strollers had developed a truly professional sound
featuring strong harmonies. They were introducing more Beach
Boy numbers into their set and played absolutely brilliant
versions of 'California Girls' and 'Wouldn't It Be Nice'. The band
were now also wearing loud green, blue, yellow and white
striped jackets like the Troggs. They wore white 'turtle' necked
jumpers underneath and grey slacks. They had their jackets
especially made for them out of 'deckchair' material! Always
smiling, tambourine slapping and strutting, vocalist Dave Park,
then known affectionately as 'Garth' had great stage personality,
very reminiscent of Davy Jones of the Monkees and he used it
effectively to win his audiences (and many girls in the
audiences) over!
The Strollers were now playing further afield, with bookings at
Brandseburton village hall, Scarborough, Bridlington and
Hornsea. Hornsea Floral Hall was a place they played at quite
regularly. It was there that they supported hit recording groups
like the Mojos, the Pretty Things and Paul and Barry Ryan.
The Bridlington Spa was a great favourite of Dave's. The
Strollers backed the Alan Price Set there one evening and they
allowed the Strollers to use their professional PA System which
was quite a blast!
Other chart topping groups the Strollers supported included the
Small Faces, the Searchers, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and
Tich, and the Fortunes. They also, along with the Mandrakes
and the Small Four supported Jimi Hendrix when he appeared
in Hull in 1967 at the Skyline Ballroom.
The night the Strollers supported Hendrix, Dave remembers it
as being a really special event as Hendrix's music was changing
the whole scene and subsequently would even change the
Strollers sound. Talking, along with others, to Hendrix
backstage, Dave remembers him as being quiet and unassuming
and wearing some pretty 'way-out' clothes.
In 1967 the Strollers career took a surprising turn when one night
they were invited to play at the Young Conservatives Club in
Cottingham. It proved a interesting break for them. Dave guesses
that, that night they must have been seen by some of the 'Upper
classes' and that their sound and style proved acceptable to that
crowd. Dave believes that their now infamous striped outfits
might just have swung it for them! He also reflects that it was
funny how they had gone from suits to wearing anything and
back to suits. He thinks that they felt that they needed more
stage presentation as they were now playing a lot of these classy
do's and it seemed the obvious thing to do.
As a direct result of the Cottingham gig the Strollers were
booked to play Wednesday evenings at the Trees Country
Club in Ferriby. They were then asked to play at the South
Cave Castle and became a favourite turn at birthdays,
weddings and anniversaries with this crowd. But the real
highlight of this period came when they were booked in 1968
to play at Hoveringham Hall for the 21st birthday party of
Angela Worsley (the Duchess of Kent's sister). Dave recalls
that this was really classy and he remembers driving down
the long driveway to get to the 'House'! The Strollers really
enjoyed that evening and got to see how the rich folk lived.
The parking lot didn't have anything cheaper than a Jaguar in
it!
Another highlight of the Strollers career was winning the final
of one of the yearly Talent Competitions held by Hull City
Leisure Services most years throughout the 1960s. The various
heats being held in the local parks with the final at the Hull City
Hall. Winning the competition gave the group some useful
publicity, but directly afterwards they were a little bit deflated
because after winning the final in front of an audience of 1500
people and having their photograph taken, it was never
featured in the Hull Daily Mail. Instead the Mail used a
photograph of the winners of the Junior section, a dance troupe!
The Strollers were also one of the first groups to record in Keith
Herd's Studio in Willerby. While recording several numbers
from their stage set, which they had put onto disc, they also
recorded a song called 'Felicity' which was written by Keith
Herd and Rick Kemp. Keith had contacts with Columbia
Records and sent this recording off to their Studios.
Unfortunately, it failed to rouse interest, but the group weren't
surprised, as they didn't like the song either!
One of the group's worst moments around this time was at a
Youth Club dance in Hedon where some of the local youths took
a dislike to two of the group's members because of the attention
the local girls were giving them. They caused trouble to such an
extent that the gig had to be abandoned with the Strollers
having to make a hasty retreat.
In 1968 lead guitarist Gavin, emigrated to Canada and Laurie
Burnett of the Penjants replaced him. Pete Cuthbert left the
group sometime later followed by Norman. Pete was replaced
by John Burgess (Bodge) also of the Penjants. With the new look
to the group and changes generally happening musically there
were brief flirtations with the idea of changing the Strollers
name. Laurie Burnett came up with the 'happening' name
'Funky's Idol'. But thankfully the group decided to stick to their
original name. However, with the exceptional guitar skills of
Mick Ronson contemporary Laurie Burnett, they now began to
take on more of the new sounds by groups such as the Move,
Moby Grape, Cream, Hendrix and the Moody Blues, and the
Strollers original image began to change.
That year the Strollers signed a management deal with the Pete
McLeod Agency and gigs continued to pour in. They quite often
appeared withthe Mandrakes around this time and Dave recalls
that whenever they played the same gig together, Robert or
Allen Palmer as he was then known, would often ask the
Strollers to play some Beatle numbers, of whom he was a great
fan. At a dance at Burton Constable Hall, Robert Palmer actually
joined Dave on stage to duet on the Strollers version of the
Beatles 'Hey Jude'. Another person who also joined Dave up on
stage one evening, at the Brandesburton village hall, was Rats
drummer John Cambridge. In-between sets the two of them,
stood side by side, whistling 'I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman' to a
stunned and mesmerized audience!
The pressure of holding down a day job and gigging at night for
such a long period of time eventually took its toll and after a
tour of Northern towns in January 1969, Dave Park decided to
leave the band and the Strollers disbanded altogether. In 1973
Dave emigrated to Canada.
One of Dave's favourite memories of his time with the Strollers
is of when they supported the Searchers at the Brigg Cinema in
Filey. The year was 1968 and the Brigg had booked a few acts for
the summer in an attempt to draw in more people to the resort.
The Strollers were to play a matinee and an evening session.
They were big fans of the Searchers and of all the Liverpool
groups, so this really was a special gig. When they met the
Searchers at the Brigg, they turned out to be a really great bunch
of guys. The group at the time consisted of Mike Pinder, John
McNally, Frank Allen and John Blunt. Their last big hit in 1966,
was 'Take Me For What I'm Worth' so by the time they came to
Filey they had disappeared from the Top Twenty charts and
were not as popular. The Strollers played the matinee
performance in front of 14 people and couldn't believe it. A
group who had, had so many hits over the years and yet so few
people had showed up. They decided to join the audience when
the Searchers went on and after each song, tried to make as
much positive noise as they could. The Searchers were very
appreciative and after the matinee session both groups went
down to the beach and played football. The Searchers versus the
Strollers (Liverpool v Beverley)! The evening session also wasn't
much better with only about 2 dozen people showing up and
one couple actually complaining because they thought they had
come to see 'The Seekers'! But Dave really enjoyed that day and
couldn't believe that he had actually played music and football
with the Searchers and it lives long in his memory.
As a Canadian, Dave's lifestyle has now changed, but he will
never forget those halcyon days of the Swingin Sixties'. Source: From the book "Nearly Famous" by Ray Moody