Marmalade (band)

Marmalade
Original band – 1968 l/r: Dean Ford, Alan Whitehead, Graham Knight, Junior Campbell and Pat Fairley
Background information
Origin	Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Genres	Beat music Pop music Psychedelic pop
Years active	1966–present
Labels	CBS, Decca, London, Target Records, Castle, Sanctuary, Union Square Music
Past members	See "Members"

Marmalade is a Scottish pop rock group from the east end of Glasgow, originally formed in 1961 as the Gaylords, and then later billed as Dean Ford and the Gaylords. In 1966 they changed the group name to The Marmalade. The most successful period for the band, in terms of UK chart success, was between 1968 and 1972. From the early 1970s, after the original players began to drift away, the band evolved with many further changes and still exists to this day touring the nostalgia circuit. With the departure of Graham Knight in September 2010, there are now no original Marmalade members remaining in the band.

The Gaylords (named after the notorious post war Chicago Gaylords street gang) were originally formed by Pat Fairley and Billy Johnston in Baillieston, a suburb east of Glasgow, in 1961. Their initial line-up included Tommy Frew on drums and lead guitarist Pat McGovern, fronted by vocalist Wattie Rodgers. William Junior Campbell joined on his fourteenth birthday on 31 May 1961 replacing McGovern, and Rodgers was then himself replaced, initially by two new lead vocalists, Billy Reid and Tommy Scott, although Reid soon departed leaving Scott as the sole frontman. Bill Irving, from local Baillieston group The Cadillacs, then took over from Johnston on bass.

The group began gathering notice and in 1963 Thomas McAleese (who adopted the stage moniker Dean Ford) replaced Scott as lead singer. They then became known as Dean Ford and The Gaylords. Raymond Duffy, from Glasgow group The Escorts, then came in on drums after Frew departed. For a few months, they had an organist, Davey Hunter. By early 1965, Graham Knight, from the local group The Vampires, had displaced Irving on bass.

(Pictured; left to right: Bill Irving, Junior Campbell, Dean Ford, Ray Duffy and Pat Fairley (1964))

Becoming popular in Scotland, and under the management of Billy Grainger, in early 1964 they were championed by Scottish music journalist Gordon Reid, which led to them being signed to Columbia (EMI) by Norrie Paramor after auditions at Glasgow's Locarno Ballroom. They went on to record four singles, including a cover of the 1963 Chubby Checker US hit "Twenty Miles", which was a big seller locally but failed to chart nationally. The Columbia releases, although uncredited, were all produced by Bob Barratt, EMI staff producer, with Norrie Paramor as executive. Paramor played the celesta on "What's The Matter With Me"; the b-side of "Twenty Miles".