Career
Starting life as a skiffle group from Crouch End London in 1959, the start of the rock ‘n' roll movement at the 2 I’s and other coffee bars in Soho, convinced the group to move to electric guitars and drums becoming 'Robb Storm and Whispers' in the transition.
In 1960 the group won a recording contract with Decca having impressed at a competition called the Soho Fair. The group recorded several singles for the label without much success although their live performances were highly praised and they continued to tour the U.K.
Early members of the group were Robb Scales (lead vocals) Jim St. Pier (saxophone) Chuck Hardy (Guitar) Gary Hooper (Bass) and Lewis Collins (Bass) who later went on to gain fame in the TV series The Professionals.
The group continued to tour throughout the sixties recording singles for Columbia and Piccadilly and through their live sessions gaining much approval for their performances at Colleges and Universities in the U.K. In 1964, Robb Storm and the Whispers were widely acknowledged as being the first rock/pop band to play behind the Iron Curtain, touring Poland with Helen Shapiro. Later as fashions changed they morphed into The Robb Storm Group. In 1966 they covered the Beach Boys track, "Here Today". Finally when the psychedelic revolution arrived they renamed to Orange Bicycle. The first single from Orange Bicycle, "Hyacinth Threads", was a #1 hit single in France, and quite successful in some other European countries. It was their best known recording, and has appeared on numerous compilations.
In 1968 the band started to cover The Rolling Stones' "Sing This Song All Together". The same year they performed at the Isle of Wight Festival on a line up that included Jefferson Airplane, The Move, T-Rex, Fairport Convention, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and the Pretty Things. In July 1969, they appeared on BBC Two's television programme, Colour Me Pop. Their most successful album, Orange Bicycle, included covers of "Carry That Weight", "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You", "Say You Don't Mind" and "Take Me to the Pilot".
The band broke up in 1970.
Read more about this topic: Orange Bicycle
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