Steve Gibbons (musician) - The Dominettes

The Dominettes

Steve Gibbons started his professional life as a plumber's apprentice in Harborne. He joined the Dominettes by 1960 to replace Colin Smith, who had left to join Jimmy Powell's backing group. Colin Smith later changed his name to Carl Barron and became the singer with The Cheetahs. An Elvis Presley fan, Gibbons' first performance with The Dominettes was at The California public house near Weoley Castle.

Regular music venues for The Dominettes in the early 1960s were the Grotto Club on Bromsgove Street, and The Sicilia Coffee Bar in Edgbaston. The group by this time included many R&B numbers into their set and this style of music suited Gibbons' gritty vocals. Although the Dominettes had a rougher image than most groups at that time, and were sometimes hired to back strippers at some of the more seedy establishments, they attracted quite a following. Another regular venue for the Dominettes was the Firebird Jazz Club on Carrs Lane in central Birmingham and the group posted advertisements which read "anything considered".