Marmalade (band)

Their initial line-up included Tommy Frew on drums and lead guitarist Pat McGovern, fronted by vocalist Wattie Rodgers.

Becoming popular in Scotland, and under the management of Billy Grainger, in early 1964 they were championed by Scottish music journalist Gordon Reid, which led to them being signed to EMI's Columbia label by Norrie Paramor after auditions at Glasgow's Locarno Ballroom.

They went on to record four singles, including a cover of the 1963 Chubby Checker US hit "Twenty Miles", which was a big seller locally but failed to chart nationally.

By this time The Gaylords had attained status as one of the top groups in Scotland, borne out in music poll results, but were ambitious, and so on their return from Germany to London in early 1965, they decided to try for success in the UK as a whole, and remained in London, where they changed management and agency representation, as Billy Grainger wished to remain in Glasgow.

[2] On the recommendation of the Tremeloes, who had played with them in Glasgow, the Gaylords were invited to join the London-based agency Starlite Artistes, owned and managed by Peter Walsh.

They then began to build up a club reputation as a tight, close harmony band and in 1966, finding themselves in the middle of the 1960s swinging London scene, they decided to update their image and instrumentation.

Drummer Ray Duffy (who later played with Matthews Southern Comfort and Gallagher and Lyle and also on Campbell's later solo recordings), decided to leave in 1966 to return to Scotland to get married just after their first CBS release, "Its All Leading up to Saturday Night".

The band then placed adverts in the New Musical Express and Melody Maker, and after various auditions, former postman Alan Whitehead ex member of London outfit the Loose Ends became their new drummer, debuting on their next single, "Can't Stop Now", which failed to sell despite the group's performing it on a TV play, The Fantasist,[5] written by Alun Owen, for the BBC Two Theatre 625 series.

Graham Nash of the Hollies contributed to the session, but it too flopped in the UK, although the track, with its distinct 1960s feel, has since attained a cult following and been resurrected by artists such as Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles and Matthew Sweet.

1) 19 January 1967 proved to be a turning point in the band's progress when they made their debut at London's Marquee Club where they supported Pink Floyd.

After that, they never supported anyone again at the Marquee and on 16 March 1967 they began a long residency which carried through to the autumn of the following year, building a reputation and following,[2] including touring with the Who, Joe Cocker, Traffic, Gene Pitney and the Tremeloes.

Mike Smith offered the band "Everlasting Love", but they declined as they preferred to continue to record group based material rather than with large orchestral accompaniment.

Marmalade's debut album, There's A Lot Of It About, featured a mix of some of their singles and cover versions of current popular tunes, and was released in 1968.

[8] In February 1969, the band appeared on the BBC's flagship program Colour Me Pop, (precursor to The Old Grey Whistle Test) performing a halfhour slot.

Their manager, Peter Walsh, was a 1960s and 1970s pop entrepreneur whose portfolio also included the Tremeloes, Bay City Rollers, the Move, Billy Ocean, the Troggs and Blue Mink.

[citation needed] After Campbell, who co-wrote most of the group's original material with Ford, left the band in March 1971 for a solo career, and to study orchestration and composition at the Royal College of Music,[12] they began a series of line-up changes, including the loss of drummer Whitehead.

[citation needed] This caused Marmalade to suffer adverse publicity from the UK's News of the World after an embittered Whitehead gave them stories of the band's experiences with groupies.

[2] Later in 1975, after Ford and the remaining members called it quits, Knight and Whitehead took over the name Marmalade with the new line-up, fronted by Newman.

[2] One of these was "Talking In Your Sleep", produced by Roger Greenaway and released in January 1978, six months ahead of the Crystal Gayle version of the same song, which became well known worldwide.

Smith departed in 1977 to join Nicholson in Blue and Garth Watt-Roy came in briefly for Marmalade's Only Light On My Horizon Now album, before leaving for the Q-Tips in 1978.

He was replaced by guitarist Ian Withington, who appeared alongside Knight, Newman and new drummer Stu Williamson for the next album Doing It All For You (1979).

A 1980 US only album, Marmalade, on G&P Records, featured a re-recorded mix of their Decca, EMI and Target material, alongside some Junior Campbell-penned tracks.

Graham Knight remained as the sole original band member touring the nostalgia circuit with Newman, Smith and Alan Holmes.

In 2015, Jan Robinson (vocals, bass) and Chris North (drums, percussion) were brought in as the new rhythm section, in place of Steed and Sawyer.

Fairley also moved to Los Angeles in the late 1970s having worked in music publishing for the RSO Group Robert Stigwood and for the band Yes.

Left to right: Bill Irving, Junior Campbell, Dean Ford, Ray Duffy and Pat Fairley (1964)
Junior Campbell and Dean Ford, Marmalade, Dutch TV (1968)