Woodchucks aka The Four Specs, Dave Gover, April 2018
Photo courtesy Kevin Ford
The Box rock group mentioned by your contributors Clive Banks and Kevin Ford was originally called The Woodchucks.
We (yes, I was the virtuoso on the tea chest bass) metamorphosed into The Four Specs. The line up in the photo above shows Geoff Bray lead guitar, Paul( Basil) Bird rhythm guitar, Trevor Laws drums and Dave Gover bass guitar.
We (yes, I was the virtuoso on the tea chest bass) metamorphosed into The Four Specs. The line up in the photo above shows Geoff Bray lead guitar, Paul( Basil) Bird rhythm guitar, Trevor Laws drums and Dave Gover bass guitar.
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The photo right is an earlier line up of the Four Specs showing left to right: Rodney Brickell of The Ley, Dave Gover 37 Bargates, Geoff Bray 10 Bargates and Mel Bush 35 Bargates. Photos of the two latter Bargates houses can be seen in your piece about the construction of Bargates and Brunel Way. Happy days but a lifetime ago! Photo right courtesy Dave Gover |
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In October 1959 local resident Bernard Lovell recorded the excitement of the village with the work which young people were doing to revitalise the community after the Second World War. He wrote:[1]
FRANKIE VAUGHAN TROPHIES
The Box Boys' Club Instrumental Group known as "The Five (sic) Specs" will have an audition at Bristol on Sunday 27 September. It is understood that some 92 entries have been received for these Trophies from all over the country. We wish our local boys every success.
SKIFFLE AND ROCK 'N ROLL DANCES
Will be held by the Box Boys' Club every Friday evening commencing 2 October from 8pm to 10.30pm. Refreshments will be available.
FRANKIE VAUGHAN TROPHIES
The Box Boys' Club Instrumental Group known as "The Five (sic) Specs" will have an audition at Bristol on Sunday 27 September. It is understood that some 92 entries have been received for these Trophies from all over the country. We wish our local boys every success.
SKIFFLE AND ROCK 'N ROLL DANCES
Will be held by the Box Boys' Club every Friday evening commencing 2 October from 8pm to 10.30pm. Refreshments will be available.
Geoff Bray Remembered the Band
Geoff Bray later added to the story of the Box group in the Parish Magazine.[2] He recalled how they had started as a skiffle group rehearsing in the old stables of the vicarage courtesy vicar Tom Selwyn Smith. They dressed in a uniform of black jeans and orange shirts and played in local venues as the Woodchucks at the Bingham Hall and local pubs. At one stage the group comprised four guitars, a tea-chest double bass, and washboard. As American influences came into the UK, they evolved to become a rock-and-roll band and changed their name to The Four Specs.
Perhaps their greatest achievement was when they turned professional under the name The Gonks and backed singer Twinkle on tours of UK and Ireland. They were the backing group for the song Terry, her number 3 hit in the music charts in 1965, a song lamenting the death of a young man in a motor bicycle accident. The song was banned in the UK for its lyrics which included:
He rode into the night, accelerated his motorbike
I cried to him in fright, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it.
Please wait at the gates of heaven for me, Terry.
They don't write them like that anymore.
Geoff Bray later added to the story of the Box group in the Parish Magazine.[2] He recalled how they had started as a skiffle group rehearsing in the old stables of the vicarage courtesy vicar Tom Selwyn Smith. They dressed in a uniform of black jeans and orange shirts and played in local venues as the Woodchucks at the Bingham Hall and local pubs. At one stage the group comprised four guitars, a tea-chest double bass, and washboard. As American influences came into the UK, they evolved to become a rock-and-roll band and changed their name to The Four Specs.
Perhaps their greatest achievement was when they turned professional under the name The Gonks and backed singer Twinkle on tours of UK and Ireland. They were the backing group for the song Terry, her number 3 hit in the music charts in 1965, a song lamenting the death of a young man in a motor bicycle accident. The song was banned in the UK for its lyrics which included:
He rode into the night, accelerated his motorbike
I cried to him in fright, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it.
Please wait at the gates of heaven for me, Terry.
They don't write them like that anymore.
References
[1] Parish Magazine, October 1959
[2] Parish Magazine, July 2005
[1] Parish Magazine, October 1959
[2] Parish Magazine, July 2005
Do any readers remember following the band to their gigs in the 1950s ? Or do you recall the visit of internationally famous singer Frankie Vaughan to open the new base for the Boys' Club in the grounds of the car park, Market Place on Friday October 27th from 3.30 onwards? If so, we would love to hear from you.