Kokomo are a British band whose members were prime exponents of

British soul British soul, Brit soul, or (in a US context) the British soul invasion, is soul music performed by British artists. Soul has been a major influence on British popular music since the 1960s, and American soul was extremely popular among some yo ...

in the 1970s. They released three albums, and the second ''Rise & Shine'' was described as "the finest British funk album of the 1970s".

Formation and personnel

Formed in May 1973 by

Tony O'Malley Tony O'Malley (25 September 1913 – 20 January 2003) was an Irish artist. He was born in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland. O'Malley was a self-taught artist, having drawn and painted for pleasure from childhood. He worked as a bank officìal u ...

and

Terry Stannard Terence Philip Stannard (28 June 1949 – 25 October 2019) was an English drummer. Born in Plaistow, West Ham, he moved to Wiltshire with his family at age 12. When he was 17 he returned to London to play drums for The Freddie Mack Road Sho ...

, ex-members of the pop group Arrival, Kokomo's ten-piece line-up became: Dyan Birch (vocals), Frank Collins (vocals), Paddy McHugh (vocals),

(keyboards, vocals),

Alan Spenner Alan Henry Spenner (7 May 1948 – 11 August 1991) was an English bass player who performed with Wynder K. Frog, the Grease Band, Spooky Tooth, ABC, David Coverdale, David Soul, Joe Cocker, Kenny Loggins, Lynda Carter, Peter Frampton, Ted Nug ...

(bass, vocals),

Neil Hubbard Neil Terrence Hubbard (born 24 February 1948) is a British guitarist who has performed with Juicy Lucy, The Grease Band, Bluesology, Joe Cocker, Roxy Music, Kokomo, Alvin Lee, B.B. King, Kevin Rowland and Tony O'Malley, and played on the ...

(guitar),

Mel Collins Melvyn Desmond Collins (born 5 September 1947, Isle of Man) is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician. Collins has played in several progressive rock groups, having been a member of King Crimson on two occasions (the first from ...

(saxophone),

Jody Linscott Jody Linscott is an American session musician and percussionist who resides in England and maintains an extended discography. She has two daughters Kachina Dechert and Coco Linscott and has written two children's books which were published by D ...

(percussion), Terry Stannard (drums) and

Jim Mullen Jim Mullen (born 26 November 1945) is a Scottish, Glasgow-born jazz guitarist with a distinctive style, like Wes Montgomery before him, picking with the thumb rather than a plectrum. Biography Jim Mullen was guitarist with Pete Brown & Piblo ...

(guitar). Spenner and Hubbard were from the Grease Band, Birch, McHugh, Collins and O'Malley from Arrival and Mel Collins from

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

. Kokomo's first performance was at The Pheasantry,

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in 1973, where the band's roadie Franky Blackwell, coined the band's name. Kokomo built an early reputation in the UK pub rock scene. Linscott joined when the band played at

Dingwalls Dingwalls was a live music and comedy venue adjacent to Camden Lock, Camden, London, England. The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings that were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, ...

and she performed with them whilst working there as a waitress. Musicians who played with the band at different times included: Glenn LeFleur (drums), Tony Beard (drums), John McKenzie (bass), Chris Mercer (saxophone),

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

(saxophone), Mark Smith (bass), Neal Wilkinson (drums) and

Neil Conti Neil Conti (born 12 February 1959) is an English drummer and music producer best known as a member of the English pop band Prefab Sprout (1983–1993, 2000). As an in-demand session drummer, he has collaborated with acts such as David Bowie, Mi ...

(drums).

''Kokomo'' album and Bob Dylan

The band's first album ''Kokomo'' (1975) was hailed by the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' as the best debut by a British band for several years. Inspired by the tight disciplined playing of Spenner and Hubbard, Kokomo was unusual among white soul bands, for its use of four featured vocalists. In 1975,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

recruited the band to help record his ''

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of aff ...

'' album. One song featuring the band, the Latin flavoured "Romance in Durango," appeared on the album; another, "Catfish," subsequently appeared on ''

The Bootleg Series American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has released 39 studio albums, 95 singles, 18 notable extended plays, 54 music videos, 15 live albums, 17 volumes comprising '' The Bootleg Series'', 29 compilation albums, 22 box sets, seven soundtracks as m ...

'' compilation. One track left behind was a disco funk version of "Hurricane". Stannard, Linscott and Mullen left after the first album. Kokomo's second album, ''Rise & Shine'' (1976), was viewed as a disappointment by the ''NME'' and the band quickly lost impetus. Both albums had sold poorly in Britain, but charted in the United States at No. 159 and Number No. 194 for the follow-up, whose lead track "Use Your Imagination" reached No. 81 in the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' and R&B

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 ...

in mid-1976.

Hiatus and further releases

In January 1977 an indefinite hiatus was announced, with band musicians going separate ways. The last studio album, released in 1982 after an extended sabbatical, contained a minor

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

in "A Little Bit Further Away", which peaked at Number 45 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In the Netherlands, it reached number 4.

Second hiatus and re-emergence

Kokomo continued to perform with a fluid line up, until Spenner died in August 1991. In May 2008, Kokomo was reformed with Mel Collins, Tony O'Malley, Neil Hubbard, Mark Smith, Adam Phillips, Andy Hamilton, Paddy McHugh, Dyan Birch, Frank Collins, Bernie Holland and Glenn Le Fleur. In 2009, bass player Mark Smith died at his

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

, London home.

2014 reunion and present

In August 2014, Sue Martin from Rootsaroundtheworld.com promoted a Kokomo revival tour which was received well at clubs in London. The personnel for these shows included Tony O'Malley (keyboard & vocals), Frank Collins (vocals), Dyan Birch (vocals first show only), Paddie McHugh (vocals), Helena-May Harrison also known as Miss May (vocals), Neil Hubbard (guitar), Jim Mullen (guitar),

Jennifer Maidman Jennifer Maidman (formerly Ian Maidman, born 24 January 1958) is a British musician, singer, producer, songwriter, actor and author who has collaborated extensively with many internationally well known groups and artists. Her work appears on hu ...

(bass),

Nigel Hitchcock Nigel Hitchcock (born 4 January 1971) is an English jazz saxophonist. Biography Hitchcock began to play alto sax at the age of eight. In 1982 he and his elder brother Clive joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. After one year Nigel took the ...

(saxophone),

Frank Tontoh Frank Tontoh (born 22 May 1964) is a Ghanaian percussionist. Life and work Born into the world of music, his father being trumpeter Mac Tontoh, Frank began his musical studies at MIT in Los Angeles. Afterwards, he completed a degree in comp ...

(drums), Glenn LeFleur (percussion). Further shows followed in 2014. Further shows in 2015/2016 featured seven of the original members (Tony O'Malley (keyboard & vocals), Frank Collins (vocals), Paddie McHugh (vocals), Neil Hubbard (guitar), Jim Mullen (guitar), Mel Collins (saxophone), Jody Linscott (percussion)) plus Jennifer Maidman (bass), Helena-May Harrison (vocals) and Frank Tontoh (drums). Kokomo appeared at the Royal Festival Hall, London on 21 November 2015 with the

Average White Band The Average White Band (also known as AWB) are a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track " Pick Up the Pieces", and their album ...

as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival.

Discography

* ''Kokomo'' (1975) (produced by Chris Thomas) * ''Rise & Shine'' (1977) (produced by

Brad Shapiro Bradley Aaron Shapiro (born August 15, 1938) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer, whose credits have included work with Wilson Pickett, Millie Jackson, James Brown, and the J. Geils Band. In the late 1950s, he played bass guitar ...

) * ''Kokomo'' (1982) (produced by Leo Graham and James Mack) * ''The Collection'' (1992) * ''Live in Concert, 1975'' (1998) * ''To Be Cool'' (2004) [recorded 1974) * ''Live at The Venue, 1981'' (2014)

References

Bibliography

*''The Illustrated New Musical Express Encyclopedia of Rock'': Edited by Nick Logan and Bob Woffinden (1977). *''CD liner notes for The Collection (1991)'': by Michael Heatley of Vox Magazine.

External links

Official Kokomo web site

Kokomo Live

Kokomo Live

Tony O'Malley

Frank Collins
Collins interviewed by Keef Trouble on his life in the music business
Dailymotion.com

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1973 British pub rock music groups British soul musical groups 1973 establishments in England Musical groups from London