The Casuals
| The Casuals | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Lincoln, England |
| Genres | Pop music |
| Years active | 1961–1976 |
| Labels |
Fontana, Decca Parlophone, Dawn |
| Past members | Peter Ward John Tebb Howard Newcomb Don Fortune Zenon Kowalski Mick Bray Ian Good Alan "Plug" Taylor Bob O'Brien Chris Evans Lloyd Courtney |
The Casuals were a British pop group from Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. They are best known for their 1968 #2 UK hit, "Jesamine".
Originally formed in 1960 by John Tebb (piano and vocals) and Howard Newcombe (guitar), they added Don Fortune (drums) and Zenon Kowalski (bass), and became The Casuals in 1961. After turning professional, they moved to Italy and recorded a number of covers of well-known UK material. Fortune and Kowalski left, and were followed by a series of replacements, culminating in Mick Bray (drums) and Ian Good (bass), from other well-known Lincoln groups, The Avengers and The Sultans.
In 1965 they won the TV talent show Opportunity Knocks three times, leading to a recording contract with Fontana Records who issued their debut single "If You Walk Out", which was unsuccessful. In 1966 Alan "Plug" Taylor (bass) joined, and the band moved to Italy, where they signed with CBS in Milan to record Italian language covers of British hit singles. These included a #1 Italian single covering the Bee Gees' "Massachusetts". Good left in mid 1967, and was not replaced, but when Brey left later that year, Bob O'Brien joined on drums (ex-Glasgow group The Riot Squad).
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