The Barron Knights

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Barron Knights


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Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England
Genre = Pop, Rock, Comedy, Novelty song
Musical_style =
Years_active = 1960–Present
Label = Columbia, Epic
Associated_acts =
URL = http://www.barronknights.com/
Current_members = Peter Langford Len Crawley Lloyd Courtney Micky Groom
Past_members = Duke D'Mond Barron Anthony Butch Baker Dave Ballinger

The Barron Knights is a British humorous pop group, originally formed in 1959 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire as The Knights of the Round Table. They became the Barron Knights on 5 October 1960. Although the Barron Knights undoubtedly had their own style and produced regular 'beat group' recordings in their own right, it was their production of humorous parodies that brought them the greatest success. In fact, their catalogue of recordings - although impressive - does not reflect their success as stage entertainers. By adapting their act to each new wave of emerging performers they were able to survive longer than their more conventional contemporaries, and even today can still be regularly found in cabaret or performing a seaside summer season.

Career

They started out as a straight pop group, and spent a couple of years touring and playing in English dance halls before making their way to Hamburg, Germany. In 1963, at the invitation of Brian Epstein, they were one of the support acts on The Beatles' Christmas shows at the Finsbury Park Astoria in London. They became one of the few acts to tour with both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

They first came to fame in 1964 with the number "Call Up the Groups". It overcame copyright restrictions and parodied a number of the leading pop groups of the time including The Searchers, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Dave Clark Five, The Bachelors, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles. The song imagined the various artists singing about being conscripted, or "called up" into the British Army. Actual conscription had ended a few years before. The single climbed to number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. As an example, the song "Bits and Pieces" by the The Dave Clark Five was parodied as "Boots and Blisters".

In 1967 the group released the single "Lazy Fat People", a satirical song written by Pete Townshend of The Who. In 1974 they toured South Africa with Petula Clark. [http://www.barronknights.com/ Barron Knights official fansite] ] By 1977 CBS Records signed the group and "Live in Trouble" reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. It was their first hit for over nine years. "Angelo" was just one song parodied on "Live in Trouble". [ [http://www.listology.com/content_show.cfm/content_id.32632/All%20CD's%20I%20Have%20By/ listology.com - Barron Knights parody] ] [ [http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=7557 Chart Stats - The Barron Knights - Live In Trouble ] ] 1978's "A Taste of Aggro" became the group's biggest hit with sales of over one million records.

They achieved four other hit singles in the 1960s and 1970s but their only U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charted single, "The Topical Song", was another comedic parody written by the American poet, Robert Spring White. Based upon Supertramp's "The Logical Song", White, who also took the 1980 American Song Festival award in the folk category for "Where Does The River Go", confined his humorous lyric compositions for The Barron Knights.

As of 2008 the group continues to perform for a world-wide audience.

Original band member details

* Duke D'Mond (born Richard Edward Palmer, 25 February 1943, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England) - Vocalist
* Barron Anthony (born Anthony John Osmond, 15 June 1934, RAF Abingdon, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England) - Guitarist / Vocalist
* Butch Baker (born Leslie John Baker, 16 July 1941, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England [http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirb/barronk.htm 45-rpm.org.uk] ] ) - Guitarist / Vocalist replaced Jud Hopkins.
* Peter Langford (born 10 April 1943, Durham, County Durham, England) - Bassist / Vocalist
* Dave Ballinger (born David Alan Ballinger, 17 January 1939, Slough, Buckinghamshire, England) - Drummer
As of 2007, only Langford remains from the original line-up. Fellow founding member, Butch Baker, retired in January 2007, and was replaced by Len Crawley.

Discography

UK singles chart hits

* "Call Up the Groups" (1964) #3 - Columbia
* "Come to the Dance" (1964) #42 - Columbia
* "Pop Go the Workers" (1965) #5 - Columbia
* "Merry Gentle Pops" (1965) #9 - Columbia
* "Under New Management" (1966) #35 - Columbia
* "An Olympic Record" (1968) #35 - Columbia
* "Live in Trouble" (1977) #7 - Epic
* "A Taste of Aggro" (1978) #3 - Epic
* "Food for Thought" (1979) #46 - Epic
* "The Topical Song" (1979) (U.S. #70)
* "The Sit Song" (1980) #44 - parodying dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse - Epic
* "Never Mind the Presents" (1980) #17 - Epic
* "Blackboard Jumble" (1981) #52 - CBS
* "Buffalo Bill's Last Scratch" (1983) #49 - Epiccite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 43
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5]

UK albums chart hits

* "Night Gallery" (1978) #15 - Epic
* "Teach the World to Laugh" (1979) #51 - Epic
* "Jesta Giggle" (1980) #45 - Epiccite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 43
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5]

ee also

*List of British pop musicians of the 1960s
*List of Epic Records artists
*List of performances on Top of the Pops
*List of Identity Parade guests on Never Mind the Buzzcocks
*List of songs about London

References

External links

* [http://www.barronknights.com/ The Barron Knights Home Page]
* [http://home.hetnet.nl/~kjoe65/LYRICS/1964/6409053404.html Lyrics to Call up the Groups]
* [http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Villa/9500/barron.htm The British Beat Boom website biography]
* [http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirb/barronk.htm Barron Knight mini biogrpahy and discography @ 45-rpm.org.uk]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=BARRON|KNIGHTS&sql=11:j9fuxqr5ldse~T1 Biography @ Allmusic.com]