- Freddie and the Dreamers
Infobox musical artist
Name = Freddie and the Dreamers
Img_capt = c 1963 "Freddie And The Dreamers", left to right
Pete Birrell, Bernie Dwyer, Freddie Garrity, Derek Quinn, Roy Crewdson
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Background = group_or_band
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Origin =Manchester ,England
Genre = Beat
PopRock and roll
Years_active = 1963–1978
Label =Columbia (EMI) (UK); Tower, Mercury (U.S.)
Associated_acts =
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =Freddie Garrity Roy Crewdson Derek Quinn Peter Birrell
Bernie Dwyer
Notable_instruments =Freddie and the Dreamers were a British musical band who had a number of hit records between May
1963 and November1965 . Their act was based around the comic antics of the 5-foot-3-inch-tall (1.60m)Freddie Garrity , who was famous for bouncing around the stage with arms and legs flying.UK history
The band consisted of
Freddie Garrity (born Manchester, Lancashire14 November ,1936 died –19 May ,2006 ),Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/lastword_26may2006.shtml|title=Freddie Garrity|accessdate=2007-01-06|publisher=BBC|date=May 26 2006|author=Matthew Bannister|work=News & Current Affairs: Last Word] vocals, Roy Crewdson (born ManchesterMay 29 ,1941 ), guitar, Derek Quinn (born ManchesterMay 24 ,1942 , ), guitar andharmonica ,Peter Birrell (born ManchesterMay 9 ,1941 , ), bass, and Bernie Dwyer (born Manchesterseptember 11 ,1940 , died –December 4 ,2002 ), drums.Although the band were grouped as a part of the
Merseybeat sound phenomenon thatThe Beatles exploded around the world in the wake of Beatlemania, they came fromManchester , and were the first such non-Liverpool , non-Brian Epstein -managed band to break through in the UK. Prior to becoming a singer, Garrity worked as amilkman in Manchester. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/20/ufreddie.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/05/20/ixnews.html Daily Telgraph] 'Dreamers' star Freddie Garrity dies. 20/05/2006 Accessed August 2007 ] They had four Top Ten UK hits: a cover of James Ray's hit "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody ", which reached number 3 in the charts in mid-1963 , "I'm Telling You Now ", (number 2 in August), "You Were Made For Me ", (number 3 in November) and "I Understand", which hit the number 5 spot in November1964 .Super session guitarist
Big Jim Sullivan played on a majority of the records most notably on "Over You", "I Understand ", "A Little You", "Thou Shalt Not Steal ", "Just For You" and best of all, acover version ofPaul Anka 's "I Love You Baby ".The group would appear on stage and perform pre-rehearsed, synchronised wacky dance routines. They appeared in four British films: "What a Crazy World" with singer Joe Brown, "Seaside Swingers", "Just for You" and "The Cuckoo Patrol".
Between
1971 and1973 Garrity and Birrell appeared in the UKITV children's show "Little Big Time ", a zany music/talent/adventure show with audience participation [. [http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/tv/kids/littlebigtime.htm Nostalgia Central] 1971 - 1973 "Little Big Time" and "Oliver In The Overworld". Accessed August 2007]US fame
As their popularity declined in the UK, Freddie and the Dreamers enjoyed a brief spell of fame in America, riding the wave of the
British Invasion when the American teen public was hungry for any British pop music. As happened with many British EMI groups at that time their recordings were refused by EMI's American armCapitol Records , and the Dreamers' 1965 releases and re-releases appeared on assorted labels. They recorded on Capitol's new subsidiary Tower, andPhilips 'Mercury Records label."
I'm Telling You Now ", which had been co-written by Garrity andMitch Murray , reached Number 1 on the US charts in Spring 1965. They were the first of three consecutive groups from Manchester to have Number 1 hits that spring, the others beingWayne Fontana and the Mindbenders andHerman's Hermits . Their next biggest US hit was "Do the Freddie " at number 18, intended to inspire "The Freddie " (sic) as adance craze . (The band's late 1965 album, "Do the Freddie", even included diagrams from legendary dance instructorArthur Murray on how to perform the routines exactly.) At their US peak, a TV series featuring the band and British actorTerry-Thomas was bruited but never came to fruition.Legacy
In the 1980 "Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll", writer
Lester Bangs paid tribute of a kind to the group::"... Freddie and the Dreamers [had] no masterpiece but a plentitude of talentless idiocy and enough persistence to get four albums and one film soundtrack released ... the Dreamers looked as thuggish as Freddie looked dippy ... Freddie and the Dreamers represented a triumph of rock as cretinous swill, and as such should be not only respected, but given their place in history."Freddie and the Dreamers had an unwitting role to play in rock history. In an interview,
Paul McCartney said that the Freddie and the Dreamers's version of "If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody" was a Beatles arrangement.The Beatles played it one night in Manchester. Next thing, Freddie and Co had copied it, and were performing this arrangement themselves. Because of this incident, The Beatles decided to concentrate on their own compositions instead. And the rest is History. The Beatles forgave Freddie and the Dreamers, and invited them to do a guest appearance in their 1964 Christmas Special.Freddie and the Dreamers, with a few different line-ups of newer Dreamers, remained a touring band into the 1990s. They appeared with other artists from the same era such as
Gerry & the Pacemakers ,The Troggs andPeter Noone ofHerman's Hermits .Garrity retired due to
pulmonary hypertension , and died on19 May 2006 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5000396.stm BBC News] "Singer Freddie dies in hospital" 20 May 2006] . Drummer Dwyer died on4 December ,2002 oflung cancer ; Birrell became ataxi driver . Crewdson now runs a bar inTenerife , while Quinn lives inCheshire and is in distribution.Discography (UK)
ingles
*If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody/Feel So Blue (Columbia DB 7032) May, 1963 (UK #3)
*I'm Telling You Now /What Have I Done To You? (Columbia DB 7086) Aug, 1963 (UK #2)
*You Were Made For Me/Send A Letter To Me (Columbia DB 7147) Nov, 1963 (UK #3)
*Over You/Come Back When You're Ready (Columbia DB 7214) Feb, 1964 (UK #13)
*I Love You Baby/Don't Make Me Cry (Columbia DB 7286) May, 1964 (UK #16)
*Just For You/Don't Do That To Me (Columbia DB 7322) 1964 (UK #41)
*I Understand/I Will (Columbia DB 7381) Nov, 1964 (UK #5)
*A Little You/Things I'd Like To Say (Columbia DB 7526) Apr, 1965 (UK #26)
*Thou Shalt Not Steal/I Don't Know (Columbia DB 7720) 1965 (UK #44)
*If You've Gotta Minute Baby/When I'm Home With You (Columbia DB 7857) 1966
*Playboy/Some Day (Columbia DB 7929) 1966
*Turn Around/Funny Over You (Columbia DB 8033) 1966
*Hello, Hello/All I Ever Want Is You (Columbia DB 8137) 1967
*Brown and Porter's (Meat Exporters) Lorry/Little Brown Eyes (Columbia DB 8200) 1967
*Little Big Time/Freddie Garrity: You Belong To Me (Columbia DB 8496) 1968
*It's Great/Gabardine Mac (Columbia DB 8517) 1968
*Get Around Downtown Girl/What To Do (Columbia DB 8606) 1969
*Susan's Tuba/You Hurt Me Girl (Philips 6006 098) 1970 (The top side was written byGraham Gouldman and featured Freddy singing with the members who would become10cc playing the music. It was #1 in France!)
*Here We Go/I Saw Ya (Polydor 2059 041) 1978EPs
*If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody (Columbia Seg 8275, 1963)
*Songs From "What A Crazy World" (Columbia Seg 8287, 1964)
*You Were Made For Me (Columbia Seg 8302, 1964 )
*Over You (Columbia Seg 8323, 1964)
*Ready Freddie Go (Columbia Seg 8403, 1965)
*Freddie And The Dreamers (Columbia Seg 8457, 1965)Albums
*Freddie And The Dreamers (Columbia 33sx 1577, 1963)
*You Were Made For Me (Columbia 33sx 1663, 1964)
*Sing Along Party (Columbia Sx1785, 1965)
*In Disneyland (Columbia Scx 6069, 1966)
*King Freddie And His Dreaming Knights (Columbia Sx 6177, 1967)
*Oliver In The Overworld (Starline Srs 5019, 1970)
*Breaking Out (Arny's Shack Records, AS 025, 1978)References
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/migrationtemp/1518918/%27Dreamers%27-star-Freddie-Garrity-dies.html"Daily Telegraph", "Dreamers' star Freddie Garrity dies" 20 May 2006]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/5000396.stm "BBC", "Singer Freddie dies in hospital" 20 May 2006]ee also
*
Beat music External links
* [http://www.classicbands.com/dreamers.html Classic bands website]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/music4/freddie/ Official fan club website]
* [http://dreamers.thefondfarewells.com/ Independent fan site]
* [http://www.chartwatch.co.uk/TopTen/acts/act00793.htm Detailed discography at Chartwatch.co.uk]
* [http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/tv/kids/littlebigtime.htm Little Big Time]
* [http://www.popcultureaddict.com/music/freddie.htm Freddie and the Dreamers Tribute] at Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict
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