Lee Curtis
| Lee Curtis and the All-Stars | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Liverpool, England |
| Genres | Rock and roll, beat |
| Years active | 1961–1967 |
| Labels | Decca |
| Associated acts | Pete Best |
| Past members | "Lee Curtis" (Peter Flannery) Frank Bowen Tony Waddington Wayne Bickerton Bernie Rogers Pete Best Paul Pilnick George Peckham Dave "Mushy" Cooper Don Alcyd Mike Cummins Simon Hind Mike Bankes Joe Walsh Bob Garner Dave McShane Chris Dannis Franz "Piggy" Jarnach Steve Doyle Dave Watt Ulf Krueger Jimmy Cave Billy Good Arty Davies Ian Love Keith Roberts |
Lee Curtis and the All-Stars were a British beat group from Liverpool, who were contemporaries and (briefly) local rivals of the Beatles in the early 1960s. Led by Pete Flannery, who used the stage name Lee Curtis, other group members included Pete Best and Wayne Bickerton.
Their origins lay in the Detours, a group formed in 1961 by school friends in Liverpool including lead singer Peter Flannery, who adopted a stage name derived from the American singer Curtis Lee. Although they performed regularly in the Liverpool and North Wales areas, Lee Curtis and the Detours split up after a few months. Flannery and his brother and manager Joe, who had previously worked as a singer with the Joe Loss Orchestra, decided to form a new group, to be called Lee Curtis and the All-Stars.
In mid 1962 they recruited band members from other local groups. Original members were Frank Bowen (lead guitar), Tony Waddington (rhythm guitar), Wayne Bickerton (bass), and Bernie Rogers (drums). However, when Pete Best was sacked by the Beatles, the Flannery brothers - apparently encouraged by the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein - decided to dispense with Rogers and install Best as the group's drummer. They also occasionally performed with singer Beryl Marsden. By the end of 1962, the group were one of the most successful in the area, and placed second in the Mersey Beat annual poll, behind the Beatles but ahead of Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Searchers, and other groups who later became nationally and internationally renowned. Lee Curtis and the All-Stars were signed by Decca Records, and released two singles in early 1963, "Little Girl" and "Let's Stomp". However, neither made the charts, and in mid 1963 the rest of the band decided to split from Curtis to form The Original All-Stars. That group later became the Pete Best Four, and several years later Bickerton and Waddington moved on to become the writers and producers behind The Rubettes.
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