The CHADS
BAND INDEX
Also see http://www.brumbeat.net/chads.htm as the Chads were a Birmingham band but with strong Coventry connections.
circa 1965
Beat group
Mick Adkins
lead guitar, vocal (left in 1965) Keith
Harrison drums
Joe Parsons
bass guitar, vocal Keith
Warrender guitar, harmonica (left in 1965)
John
Williams lead vocal, harmonica / sax
Pauline
Shepherd lead vocal (joined & left in 1964)
Jeff Lynne
lead guitar (joined in 1965)
Margaret
Reiss keyboards (joined in 1965)
Margaret Reiss left
April 1965 and was replaced by Gordon Hughes, they eventually broke up in July
1965. The bassist joined Coventry band The
Establishment.
Jeff Lynne
also played in the band from early 1965 until the split when he and Williams
joined Coventry band The Mad Classix.
From Pete
Chambers - Backbeat - Coventry Telegraph
" The
Chads were actually a Birmingham band, but they were to spend so much time
playing in Coventry that the locals took them’ as a Coventry band.
Formed in
the late 1950s as the Sundowners they were one of the first bands in
Birmingham, beginning a fine tradition that would later include Brummie
trailblazers like Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders, The Fortunes, Carl Wayne
and The Vikings and The Moody Blues.
After
numerous personnel changes the boys hooked up with an artist managed by Reg
Calvert going under the name of
Robby Hood. They became his merry men and were forced to dress the part
including green tights!
After six
months, and one disastrous gig, they parted company with Robby Hood and
reinvented themselves as the Chads. Coventry agent Vince Martin (Holliday)
began work on their behalf and secured them a tour of American Air Force bases
in France
They took a
female singer with them who couldn’t actually sing (in the hope she would get
better. She didn't) and to make matters worse they ended up making their
temporary home in a sleazy hotel full of prostitutes and drunken GIs. Despite
the conditions they lasted six weeks and eventually came back to the UK in
1964.
On their
return a certain Jeff Lynne joined the band, this was early 65, and he stayed
for a while until he joined The Nightriders that became Idle Race, before going
on to The Move, ELO and the mega-stardom Of The Travelling Wilbury’s."
"Jeff
Lynne was also a member of Coventry band The Mad Classix in a stint that lasted
just three weeks. It ended when the Mad Classix had their van stolen and all
their gear was inside it!
The Chads
agent Vince Martin (Holliday) was himself a member of one of Coventry’s first
rock n roll bands, The Vampires.
More than
30 years later, the Chads are still mates and get together occasionally to
record some old blues numbers."
As this was
a Birmingham band with strong Coventry connections the reader is referred to
Brum Beat site for fuller information.
" The
Chads had an agent named Vince Martin from Coventry who found some supposedly
lucrative bookings for the group in France at U.S. Army and Air Force bases.
There was a catch though. The group would have to hire a female lead singer as
was a condition for the gigs so after a number of auditions, Pauline Shepherd
was selected for the role. Thus in September of 1964, The Chads departed on the
ferry to France for their "big adventure" on the Continent. After
arriving in Dunkirk, the band spent the night in less than desirable
accommodations before setting off the next day in their van for Toul army base
near Verdun."
