Starstruck in the Presence of Lee Kerslake: Steve Ellis

18th October 2024

Eden Court Theatre, Inverness

It is very easy to be cynical about these Sixties (and Seventies and Eighties soon) packages which always seem to be doing the rounds. But, I suppose, as long as you appreciate beforehand, you are extremely unlikely to be witnessing many, or in most cases any, of the original band members perform, then it can be an entertaining and diverting way to spend a couple of hours of your life.

I would hazard here, with this package, we only got to see one "actual" Sixties pop star perform - Steve Ellis who, as lead singer of The Love Affair, enjoyed an 18-month purple patch between January 1968 and the summer of 1969.

Ellis was actually the sole reason I came along this evening; my pre-pubescent self having been obsessed with Rainbow Valley back the summer of '68. This tune, along with the Gary Puckett's Young Girl, being the seemingly omnipresent musical backdrop to a blue-remembered family holiday on the island of Jersey.

Rather surprisingly, he was third up in tonight's show. I would have had him headlining, as I thought he was great! He gets my blog headline anyway.

Mama and Papas UK

The "UK" suffix on the name of this lot suggested, quite unequivocally, that this was a tribute act. For had the now 80-year old Michelle Phillips (the sole surviving member from the group's heyday) been involved, I am sure her name would have been splashed all over the poster. And they would surely have been further up the bill.

But what we got were a quartet of competent vocalists making a reasonable fist of attempting to reproduce the sumptuous harmonies on the original recordings.

I did briefly get to wondering, driving to the gig, what criteria would have been used to choose the bootleg Cass Elliot, Surely size, for Cass was a BIG lady, would not have been considered. Clearly not. For although the lady singing Elliot's parts this evening was a good deal taller than bootleg Michelle, she was no wider.

Set list

I Saw Her Again

Dedicated to the One I Love

Dream a Little Dream of Me

Spanish Harlem

San Fransciso

Monday, Monday

California Dreamin'

Gerry's Pacemakers

The Pacemakers were the now departed Gerry Marsden's backing band; with the line up in place upon Gerry's retiral in 2018 given the go ahead to continue touring. But this current lot are all newcomers; none of whom ever played with Gerry Marsden in any iteration of the band, and are very much just a selection of seasoned musos trading on the name. Which is fine.

The current singer Jimmy Stanley actually did rather well in sounding like Gerry and, if I took my glasses off, he rather looked like him too.

Set list

How Do You Do It?

I'm The One

Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying

Ferry Cross The Mersey

I Like It

You'll Never Walk Alone

Steve Ellis

I have spoken about Ellis earlier on in this page, so would perhaps like to make just one further observation here. The older he gets, the more he appears to resemble adult film actor Ben Dover. Errrmm, or so I have been told.

Set list

A Day Without Love

Bringing on Back the Good Times

Handbags and Gladrags

All or Nothing

Rainbow Vallet

Everlasting Love

Spencer James of The Searchers

This outfit at least do not claim to be "The Searchers", but just that they house a former member of the band. In this case, vocalist Spencer James. But even this is a bit of a fiddle, as James only joined in 1986, a good two decades after the band's pomp. Although, to be fair to the lad, he has stuck at it since.

As an aside, prior to his involvement with the Searchers, James did have a bit of history in the business. In the early Seventies he was part of a group cobbled together to tour as First Class, following the hit Beach Baby. Although he did not play on the original song.

In the Eighties he had been a member of the rock band Nightfly, alongside Boz Burrell, Mickey Moody and, most surprisingly, Zac Starkey. All news to me.

Set list
Sweets for My Sweet

Don't Throw Your Love Away

Love Potion #9
Needles and Pins

When You Walk in the Room

Marmalade

Similarly, Marmalade's current line-up contains no classic era members, although current lead vocalist and guitarist Sandy Newman has been around since 1975, whilst keyboards player Alan Holmes joined just five years later. The rest of the lads are all relatively recent (since 2011) replacements.

Set list

Cousin Norman

Lovin' Things

Wait For Me Mary Anne

Rainbow

Falling Apart at the Seams

Radancer

Reflections of My Life

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

The Tremeloes

I saw Brian Poole on one of these Sixties packages back in 2019, and here now were his former backing band still on the go. Sort of. Well, not even sort of.

We saw the most tenuous DNA link between the band's classic line-up and this evening's one, in the shape of former bassist Chip Hawkes son (no, not Chesney) Jodie on drums. But the guys who were here were fine, and their near a capella rendition of Silence is Golden which closed out the evening's entertainment was none too shabby.