Derry and the Seniors
| Derry and the Seniors | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Howie Casey and the Seniors |
| Origin | Liverpool, England |
| Genres | Merseybeat, rock and roll |
| Years active | 1960–1962 |
| Labels | Fontana |
| Past members | Derry Wilkie Howie Casey Billy Hughes Stan Foster Brian Griffiths Phil Whitehead Geoff Wallington Frank Wibberley Freddie Fowell Lu Walters Kenny Hardin |
Derry and the Seniors were a British rock and roll group of the early 1960s. They were the first band from Liverpool to play the club scene in Germany, paving the way for The Beatles and others. As Howie Casey and the Seniors, they were also the first Liverpool group to record an LP, and featured singer Freddie Fowell, later known as Freddie Starr.
Derry Wilkie (10 January 1941 – 22 December 2001) was a black British singer born in Kent Gardens, City Centre Liverpool 1 . According to local journalist Bill Harry, Wilkie's real name was Derek Davis. In 1959, he began singing with a local rock and roll group, the Hy-Tones, who split up at the end of the year. A new band, the Seniors, was then formed by three members of the group - Howie Casey (saxophone), Billy Hughes (rhythm guitar), and Stan Foster (piano) - together with Brian Griffiths (lead guitar), Phil Whitehead (bass) and Jeff Wallington (drums). Wilkie joined as lead singer, and for the next year the band was usually billed as Derry and the Seniors.
They performed in local venues around Merseyside, and in May 1960, after appearing in a show headed by Gene Vincent, were invited to audition for the role of backing band for Liverpool star Billy Fury. Although they did not win the audition, they were invited by Fury's manager Larry Parnes to go to London to perform at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho. A few weeks later, they played at the 2i's, and happened to be seen there by Bruno Koschmider, a visiting German club owner who was looking for acts that he could use in his Hamburg club, the Kaiserkeller. The Seniors travelled to Germany and played regularly in Hamburg over the summer of 1960, later being joined there by rival Liverpool group, the Beatles. However, as the group members did not have work permits or visas, they were repatriated to the UK in October 1960. They continued to play local clubs and venues around Liverpool for the rest of 1960, but at the end of the year Wallington and Hughes decided to leave.
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