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Brian
Poole Brian Poole and The Tremeloes were usual in 1963 in that they were a southern band who dared to knock The Beatles off the top spot in the Hit Parade. The band first got together in 1958 while all still pupils at Park Modern School in Barking. The original lineup of Brian Poole (vocals, guitar), Alan Blakley (drums), Alan Howard (sax), and Graham Scott (guitar) had Buddy Holly's Crickets as their inspiration. This version of the band didn't stay together long, however, and Blakley quickly switched to guitar after Dave Munden joined on the drums. Alan Howard also switched to bass soon after Munden joined. Brian and the
boys were all keen sportsmen, Brian himself played basketball, rugby and
cricket, and was good enough to play for soccer for West Ham
juniors. By 1961, they
had turned professional. The group's lineup changed again around that time when
Graham Scott left and was replaced by Rick West (born Rick Westwood), who had
previously played with Tony Rivers & the Castaways. The band's first
break happened soon after when they were spotted by Jimmy Grant, the producer of
the BBC's Saturday Club music showcase, who got them an audition for the BBC.
This led to the group becoming regulars on radio, and, in turn, resulted in an
audition for Decca Records on New Year's Day, 1962. There big chance to do
a recording session came about in an unusual way. Brian had often talked
to his optician about the group and their plans, and one day when Brian called
he was introduced to Mike Smith, a recording executive with Decca. Smith
heard the group and liked what he heard.At the time, Decca was
looking for a new rock & roll act, and the Tremeloes were up against a
relatively obscure Liverpool quartet called the Beatles. Decca executives Dick
Rowe and Mike Smith were in charge of the auditions, with Rowe reportedly
leaving the choice u Brian formed his own record company Outlook Records and spent more and more time in his family's rapidly expanding meat packing business then coming back to full time music with his band Electrix in the mid 70's. Today he tours regularly on the nostalgia circuit with Electrix and regularly tours worldwide with Gerry Marsden , Mike Pender, Mike D'Abo and Dave Berry as the stars of 'ReelinandaRockin'. The Tremeloes found success on their own, achieving a dozen further hits, before turning to the cabaret and nostalgia circuit. In 2006 Brian Poole got together with the other Tremeloes for a nationwide tour. Check out Brian Poole's website at http://www.brianpoole.com/
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By this time they had one of the biggest fan basis in the country, and had
secured first regular 'Saturday Club' spots with Brian Mathew etc. on BBC Radio.
Dave, Brian and Alan Blakley were also being used as a backing vocal session
group by Decca Records on many hit records of the time including Tommy Steele,
US Bonds, Jet Harris & Tony Meehan and the Vernon Girls amongst
others. 
p
to Smith. The latter chose the Tremeloes, reportedly based on the fact that they
were based in London and, thus, would be more accessible than the Beatles.