The Barron Knights are a British humorous pop group, originally formed in 1959 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, as the Knights of the Round Table.
They started out as a straight pop group, and spent a couple of years touring and playing in English dance halls before making their way to Hamburg, Germany. Bill Wyman, later of the Rolling Stones, has written that the Barron Knights were the first group he saw with an electric bass, at a performance in Aylesbury in July 1961, inspiring him to take up the instrument. In 1963, at the invitation of Brian Epstein, they were one of the support acts on The Beatles' Christmas shows at the Finsbury Park Astoria in London, and later became one of the few acts to tour with both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Their debut single was "Let's Face It" / "Never Miss Chris" released in 1962 by Fontana Records (H.368).
They first came to fame in 1964 with the number "Call Up the Groups" (Parts 1 and 2). It overcame copyright restrictions and parodied a number of the leading pop groups of the time including the Searchers, Freddie and the Dreamers, the Dave Clark Five, the Bachelors, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles. The song imagined the various artists singing about being conscripted, or "called up" into the British Army, although actual conscription had ended in 1960. The single climbed to number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. As an example, the song "Bits and Pieces" by The Dave Clark Five was parodied as "Boots and Blisters". They then followed this parody theme with two more hit singles "Pop Go the Workers" (1965) and "Merrie Gentle Pops" (1966), while continuing to work the cabaret circuit, as they do internationally to this day.
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Duke D'Mond (born Richard Edward Palmer, 25 February 1943, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England, died 9 April 2009, Oxford) – vocalist
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Barron Anthony (born Anthony John Osmond, 15 June 1934, RAF Abingdon, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England) – bassist, vocalist
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Butch Baker (born Leslie John Baker, 16 July 1941, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England) – lead guitarist, vocalist
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Peter 'Peanut' Langford (born 10 April 1943, Durham, County Durham, England) – rhythm guitarist, vocalist
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Dave Ballinger (born David Alan Ballinger, 17 January 1939, Slough, Buckinghamshire, England) – drummer
- "Call Up the Groups" (1964) Number 3 – Columbia
- "Come to the Dance" (1964) Number 42 – Columbia
- "Pop Go the Workers" (1965) Number 5 – Columbia
- "Merry Gentle Pops" (1965) Number 9 – Columbia
- "Under New Management" (1966) Number 15 – Columbia
- "An Olympic Record" (1968) Number 35 – Columbia
- "Live in Trouble" (1977) Number 7 – Epic
- "A Taste of Aggro" (1978) Number 3 – Epic
- "Food for Thought" (1979) Number 46 – Epic
- "The Topical Song" (1979) (US Number 70)
- "The Sit Song" (1980) Number 44 – parodying dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse – Epic
- "Never Mind the Presents" (1980) Number 17 – Epic
- "Blackboard Jumble" (1981) Number 52 – CBS
- "Buffalo Bill's Last Scratch" (1983) Number 49 – Epic
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Night Gallery (1978) Number 15 – Epic
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Teach the World to Laugh (1979) Number 51 – Epic
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Jesta Giggle (1980) Number 45 – Epic
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