Carnaby

Carnaby may well have seemed the ultimate example of Swinging London ephemera, a rock band made up of five clerks from boutiques on . . . (you guessed it) . . . Carnaby Street. The gimmick was good for about five inches of press, but the music was something else in terms of value. Their one single for Pye featured an A-side, "Jump and Dance" with a crunchy, fuzz-laden guitar and a "Louie Louie" break, a beat that wouldn't quit, and decent backing vocals behind a lead singer who was no worse than 1000 other guys trying to make an impression behind a microphone. If they'd been Americans, Carnaby might've been garage band heroes, but they were English, so they're merely footnotes. Rather unfairly, John Cahillane (vocals), Steve Miners (guitar), Kip Smith (guitar), Andy Andrews (bass), and Ronnie Ross (drums) never got another crack at stardom.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo