The Joystrings (originally credited as The Joy Strings) were a 1960s
UK Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
music group
A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, ...
led by
classically trained
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
keyboard player and singer Joy Webb, an officer (now retired) in
the Salvation Army
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...
.
History
After appearing on
Cliff Michelmore
Arthur Clifford Michelmore (11 December 1919 – 16 March 2016) was an English television presenter and producer.
He is best known for the BBC television programme ''Tonight'', which he presented from 1957 to 1965. He also hosted the BBC's tel ...
's
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
''
Tonight
Tonight may refer to:
Television
* ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC
* ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...
'' television show, they were given a recording contract by
EMI Records
EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...
.
In 1964, they became the first Salvation Army
pop group to achieve
chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
success with "It's An Open Secret" and "On A Starry Night".
The main members through the years were Joy Webb (who wrote the group's first hit), Peter and Sylvia Dalziel, Bill Davidson, and Wycliffe Noble. The group had a number of other singers drawn, at intervals, from cadets at the
William Booth
William Booth (10 April 182920 August 1912) was an English Methodist preacher who, along with his wife, Catherine, founded the Salvation Army and became its first "General" (1878–1912). His 1890 book In Darkest England and The Way Out outli ...
Memorial Training College,
Denmark Hill
Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of the A215 road, A21 ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
They also recorded a version of "O Little Town of Bethlehem," using the music of The Animals' "The House of the Rising Sun" - an unusual blending.
In September 2013, 50 years after the Joystrings' formation, group member Sylvia Dalziel wrote about the group in a book published by Shield Books. The book included an introduction by General John Larsson, a tribute from
Sir Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
, a full discography and many photographs never previously published.
Discography
Track Listing at joystrings.co.uk
/ref>
Singles
*"It's An Open Secret" (1964) – UK Number 32Regal Zonophone
Regal may refer to:
Companies
* Regal Beloit, usually referred to as Regal, an American manufacturer of electric motors
* Regal Cinema (disambiguation), several cinemas of that name
* Regal Cinemas, a major American theater chain
* Regal Cinemas ...
: RZ501)
*"Million Songs" (1964)
*"A Starry Night" (1964) – UK Number 34Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
(USA): 5-10195)
*"Christmas Can Be Every Day For You" (1966)
EPs
* ''The Joy Strings'' (1964)
* ''Have Faith in God'' (1965)
* ''Christmas with The Joy Strings'' (1965)
* Joy Strings abroad (1966)
* The song break (1967)
Albums
*''Well Seasoned'' (1966) Regal Zonophone, LRZ4016 mono; SLRZ4016 stereo, UK
*''Well Seasoned'' (1966) EPIC Records, US
*''Carols Around The World'' (1967)
*''Joystrings Restrung'' (2011)
*''Joystrings Christmas Collection'' (2012)
Bibliography
*
*
*
References
External links
Rhythm Finds Its Groove: History of the JoystringsJoystrings tribute sitePage at Cross RhythmsPathé News report of the Joystrings performing "It's an Open Secret"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joystrings, The
English pop music groups
English Christian musical groups
English Salvationists
Musical groups established in the 1960s