English rockers Ricky And The Riffs are the most successful popular music group of of the 20th Century.
Formed in 1957 and still going today, Ricky And The Riffs are still recording and touring today. They consist of singer Lord Ricky Robinson and drummer Sir Buffer Teddington. They are the only rock band in which all members have received such senior honours for their services to music.
The band have sold a staggering 1 billion albums during their career.
The Early Years
The founding members of the band , Ricky Robinson and organist Nugent Crossard met at Cambridge University Conservative Society. Crossard was on a Rhodes Scholarship from South Africa to study Ancient Music. They had listened to some of the American Rock&Roll bands, and soon recruited Buffer Teddington, a local lad who worked as a janitor for the club and played drums. His friend, another student studying composition was Michael Leverage, a virtuoso on the piano.
The troupe practised several numbers together and attracted the attention of a retired Coldstream Guardsman sergeant, impressed by the high class, etiquette and good looks of the boys. He believed they could offer a "moral" rock&roll alternative to the degenerate and subversive attitudes he thought were prevalent in the American rock&roll scene. He felt a guitar player would be needed, and found that Nugent's brother Bernard could indeed play and encouraged him to join.
The quintet soon found success. Unlike many rock'n'roll bands, organist Nugent Crossard played the basslines on the lower registers, as opposed to a dedicated bass guitarist. Ahead of their time, this gave the band a feel of what we today would call "funk". In 1959, their debut single, Rebel, charted at Number One both sides of the atlantic!
The release of their self titled album, "Ricky And The Riffs" saw the band find fame throughout the western world.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment