Johnny Kidd and the Pirates
| Johnny Kidd & the Pirates | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Rock and roll, beat |
| Years active | 1959–1966; 1976–2010 |
| Labels | HMV |
| Website |
www www |
| Past members |
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Johnny Kidd & the Pirates were an English rock and roll group led by singer/songwriter Johnny Kidd. They scored numerous hit songs from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, including "Shakin' All Over" and "Please Don't Touch", but their musical influence far outshines their chart performance.
Their stage act was theatrical in a way which anticipated theatrical rockers of the 1970s such as Alice Cooper (while echoing that of their contemporaries Screaming Lord Sutch & the Savages) and included full pirate costumes, complete with eye-patches and cutlasses.
The original group was signed to HMV in 1959 under the auspices of Walter J. Ridley. Their first single was the raw "Please Don't Touch". This became a minor hit reaching number 25 on the UK singles charts in 1959. The song has since been covered many times, most successfully by the team of Motörhead and Girlschool known as Headgirl.
After this initial success the band was reorganised to streamline the sound and visual appeal. Kidd would naturally take centre-stage at the front, but with Clem Cattini (drums) directly behind. Flanking Kidd on either side would be Alan Caddy (guitar) and Brian Gregg (bass). Kidd would high-kick in time to the beat. In an attempt to re-create the feel of his recordings Kidd employed an echo unit to process his vocals, one of the first instances of a UK rock act attempting this on stage.
When the group appeared on Saturday Club between 1959 and 1961 Mike West and Tom Brown shared the vocals with Kidd.
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