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Gonks of Box
Marcus Gray October 2021 I'm a writer, currently working on a book about the original 1964 Gonks mascot figures. Over the summer of 1964, Box band, the Four Specs, formerly the Woodchucks, agreed to yet another name change, becoming the Gonks in order to record The Gonk Song. Released in September 1964 on Decca records in the UK and London records in the USA, it was an imaginative part of the global promotional campaign for the mascot figures. The Gonks band posed with Gonk figures for publicity photos and, when they played live, the group usually had the mascot figures sitting on their amplifiers. |
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I know there were one or two line-up changes along the way, but the attached photo shows the group with then-members Geoff Bray, Paul (Basil) Bird, Mike Price and Trevor Lawes. They are reported to have supported Twinkle (of the song Terry fame) on a short Irish tour in early 1965 and again when she appeared at the New Musical Express Poll Winners Concert in April that year. For anyone interested, there's a clip on YouTube of them performing Roll Over Beethoven there.
What I don't know is how the Four Specs were recruited - or applied? - to become the Gonks, and how their involvement with the mascot venture ended. Also, as the movie Gonks Go Beat - featuring several Decca artists of the day, including Lulu, was filmed shortly after the release of The Gonk Song, I'm surprised the Gonks didn't appear in the film, and curious to learn why.
If any former members of the group - or their family members, friends or fans - see this and can help fill in any details, I'd be very pleased to hear from them.
Can anyone with knowledge of life in the swinging sixties please help Marcus with this strange historic one-off?
What I don't know is how the Four Specs were recruited - or applied? - to become the Gonks, and how their involvement with the mascot venture ended. Also, as the movie Gonks Go Beat - featuring several Decca artists of the day, including Lulu, was filmed shortly after the release of The Gonk Song, I'm surprised the Gonks didn't appear in the film, and curious to learn why.
If any former members of the group - or their family members, friends or fans - see this and can help fill in any details, I'd be very pleased to hear from them.
Can anyone with knowledge of life in the swinging sixties please help Marcus with this strange historic one-off?