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Liverpool Express (also known as L.E.X.) are a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...
formed in 1975. They are best known for charting
hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
s such as "You Are My Love" (which
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
once declared one of his favourite songs), "Every Man Must Have a Dream", "Hold Tight" and "Dreamin.


History


Formation

Musicians
Billy Kinsley William Ellis Kinsley (born 28 November 1946) is an English musician, who was lead vocalist and bassist with The Merseybeats until 1966 (although he temporarily left the band both to form the Kinsleys) The group disbanded in January 1966 to resurf ...
,
Roger Scott Craig Roger Scott Craig is an Irish musician, songwriter, and composer. He is a former member of the rock bands Liverpool Express, Fortune, Nina Hagen, Harlan Cage, and 101 South. Liverpool Express Roger started his career with the band The Merseyb ...
, Tony Coates, and Derek Cashin met during a game of
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. They decided to form a band which was eventually named Liverpool Express. The song-writing partnership of Kinsley and Craig soon developed when they started getting together in a small rehearsal room at the
Bluecoat Chambers Built in 1716–17 as a charity school, Bluecoat Chambers in School Lane is the oldest surviving building in central Liverpool, England. Following the Liverpool Blue Coat School's move to another site in 1906, the building was rented from 1907 ...
in central Liverpool to write and arrange some of the band's early material. Drummer John Ryan joined in 1976.


Success

Before long the band recorded their first album, '' Tracks'', produced by their manager, Hal Carter, who had managed many other successful musical acts, including
Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known as Billy Fury, was an English singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. An early star of rock and roll, he equalled the Beatles' record of 24 hits in the 1960s and spent 332 week ...
,
Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire ...
,
Marty Wilde Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s hit singles including "Endless Sle ...
,
Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...
, and
Johnny Burnette John Joseph Burnette (March 25, 1934 – August 14, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter of rockabilly and pop music. In 1952, Johnny and his brother, Dorsey Burnette, and their mutual friend Paul Burlison formed the band that became k ...
. Carter negotiated a recording deal for the band with
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
and within a matter of six months they had several hit records in the United Kingdom and Europe. The band's success continued when they were asked to support Rod Stewart on his tour of the UK and Europe in November to December 1976. After their tour with Stewart, the band hit the recording studio to record their second album, ''Low Profile'', in early 1977. They appeared on the major UK TV shows of that era (such as ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'', ''
Supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
'', ''
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop ''Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'', more commonly known simply as ''Swap Shop'', is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1976 to 27 March 1982. It was ground-breaking in many ways: by broadcasting on Saturday mornin ...
'', and ''
It's a Knockout ''It's a Knockout!'' is a British game show first broadcast in 1966. It was adapted from the French show ''Intervilles'', and was part of the international ''Jeux sans frontières'' franchise. History The series was broadcast on BBC1 from 7 Au ...
''), participated in a multitude of charity events, and played at major venues throughout the UK, Scandinavia, and Europe.


South American Tour

Their greatest success came in South America, where they scored two consecutive number one hits, and they toured Brazil in mid-1977. Arriving at Rio de Janeiro Airport, the band were greeted by thousands of hysterical fans. Billy Kinsley said: "It was quite a shock for us to be welcomed to Brazil by so many screaming fans. In fact, we thought someone famous was on our flight and we had no clue what was going on". As soon as they touched down in Rio, the group were whisked away from the airplane in a fleet of limousines to a televised press conference. During their tour they filmed their own TV special for
Rede Globo TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Gr ...
and made several TV appearances throughout the country. Roger Scott Craig said: "The show (we did) in
Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...
came to a complete standstill when I started to play our hit record, "You Are My Love", the crowd just went nuts to the point that our singer, Billy, could not even sing the song - he was overwhelmed by the crowd and the tears ran down his face. Astonishing!!! Anyway, I had to keep playing the intro.., until he was able to settle down and get the vocal going! That was something I will never forget - 25,000 people stopping our show and the band coming to a complete halt due to the emotion? There were about 5000 people outside the stadium as well that night who couldn't get in and I remember, as we were leaving, they all seemed to be banging on the roof of our limo as we went back to the hotel!".


Meeting the Prince

Following their successful tour of South America, Liverpool Express returned to the UK to perform some more shows and made further appearances on TV. They also filmed their own TV special for the
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 exam. ...
...
in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. In early 1978,
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
specifically requested that Liverpool Express perform for him at the Royal Gala Performance to be held at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool. The band were introduced to the Prince and photographed with him after the show. Around this period, their second album, now titled '' Dreamin''', found its release, but only in South America.


L.E.X.

During mid- to late 1978, the band decided to abbreviate their name to simply L.E.X. Drummer
Pete Kircher Peter Derek Kircher (born 21 January 1945, Folkestone, Kent) is a retired English rock/pop drummer. Between 1982 and 1985 he was a member of Status Quo, performing with the band at Live Aid and on the albums '' Live at the N.E.C.'' and '' Back ...
joined the band to be the 'studio drummer', and participated in the recording of their third album, ''
L.E.X. ''L.E.X.'' is the third studio album by Liverpool Express, released in March 1979, in Europe only. Popular song's from this album are: ''"I Want Nobody But You"''; ''"Games People Play"''; and ''"Take It Easy With My Heart"''. The album was r ...
'', which was produced by
Tommy Boyce Sidney Thomas "Tommy" Boyce (September 29, 1939 – November 23, 1994) and Bobby Hart (born Robert Luke Harshman; February 18, 1939) were a prolific American duo of singer-songwriters. In addition to three top-40 hits as artists, the duo is ...
and Richard Hartley. The album cover art featured the soon-to-be-famous model
Jerry Hall Jerry Faye Hall (born July 2, 1956) is an American model and actress. She began modelling in the 1970s and became one of the most sought after models in the world. She transitioned into acting, appearing in the 1989 film ''Batman''. Hall was th ...
, who later married
Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
of
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
. The group continued to tour and made appearances on the TV shows ''Get It Together'', ''Star Games'', and ''
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop ''Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'', more commonly known simply as ''Swap Shop'', is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1976 to 27 March 1982. It was ground-breaking in many ways: by broadcasting on Saturday mornin ...
''. The following year, following the release of the new album, there were changes to the line-up. Drummer John Ryan continued playing on the live shows and his mate, guitarist Kenny Parry, replaced Tony Coates. In 1981,
Roger Scott Craig Roger Scott Craig is an Irish musician, songwriter, and composer. He is a former member of the rock bands Liverpool Express, Fortune, Nina Hagen, Harlan Cage, and 101 South. Liverpool Express Roger started his career with the band The Merseyb ...
emigrated to
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. John Ryan joined 'The Swinging Blue Jeans' in 1980 and returned to Australia in 1983 to marry after meeting his future wife whilst on tour in 1983. Kinsley and Parry continued working together as Liverpool Express and enlisted Dave Goldberg on keyboards, Peter Phillips on keyboards and guitar (1985-1994) and
Brian Rawling Brian Rawling is a British record producer and songwriter. He is the managing director of publisher and production company Metrophonic. Rawling has produced singles and albums for artists such as Cher, with whom he won a Grammy in 1999 for his w ...
on drums. This line-up released two singles and a charity record during the 1980s. Kinsley, Goldberg and Parry have since remained the three core members of the band, playing with various stand-in drummers.


Reunion

The original line-up of the group were reunited in August 2002, following global fan interest. This led Craig to compile and release ''
The Best of Liverpool Express ''The Best of Liverpool Express'' is a greatest hits compilation album by Liverpool Express, released in August 2002. It features all the band's hit recordings, and one new song, "John George Ringo & Paul" - a tribute to The Beatles. Track list ...
'', which featured a new song, a tribute to
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
titled "John George Ringo & Paul". A reunion concert in Liverpool shortly followed, with Craig appearing on stage with current band members Kinsley, Parry, and Dave Goldberg. A year later, Craig and Kinsley met in Liverpool to write and record new material for the album ''Once Upon a Time'', which they self-produced.


Digital chart success - present

During 2006, the song "It's a Beautiful Day" appeared on several TV commercials in the UK and parts of Europe. This led to the track entering the digital download charts. Five years later, the song "You Are My Love" topped the digital download charts following a re-run of a ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'' episode they had appeared on thirty years before. The band occasionally plays live gigs in and around Liverpool. The current line-up comprises
Billy Kinsley William Ellis Kinsley (born 28 November 1946) is an English musician, who was lead vocalist and bassist with The Merseybeats until 1966 (although he temporarily left the band both to form the Kinsleys) The group disbanded in January 1966 to resurf ...
(bass guitar, vocals), Kenny Parry (guitar, vocals), Dave Goldberg (keyboards, vocals), and Dave's son, Adam Goldberg, on drums.


Additional information

*
Billy Kinsley William Ellis Kinsley (born 28 November 1946) is an English musician, who was lead vocalist and bassist with The Merseybeats until 1966 (although he temporarily left the band both to form the Kinsleys) The group disbanded in January 1966 to resurf ...
played on the same bill as
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
many times at the
Cavern Club The Cavern Club is a nightclub on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened in 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 50s and early 1960s. The club became closely assoc ...
in Liverpool during the early 1960s, whilst a member of
The Merseybeats The Merseybeats (also related vocal duo The Merseys) are an English beat band that emerged from the Liverpool Merseybeat scene in the early 1960s, performing at the Cavern Club along with the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and other simila ...
. He also worked with
George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
and
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
at
Apple Records Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mar ...
in the late 1960s, whilst working as a
session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
. *TV presenter and singer
Keith Chegwin Keith Chegwin (17 January 1957 – 11 December 2017) was an English television presenter and actor, appearing in several children's entertainment shows in the 1970s and 1980s, including ''Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'' and ''Cheggers Plays Pop''. ...
was a friend of the band, having met them on ''
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop ''Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'', more commonly known simply as ''Swap Shop'', is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1976 to 27 March 1982. It was ground-breaking in many ways: by broadcasting on Saturday mornin ...
'' and ''
It's a Knockout ''It's a Knockout!'' is a British game show first broadcast in 1966. It was adapted from the French show ''Intervilles'', and was part of the international ''Jeux sans frontières'' franchise. History The series was broadcast on BBC1 from 7 Au ...
''. Keith, a singer in his own right, recorded a version of their song "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" on the Pye label in 1977. It was issued as a single and was a hit record in
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
. Kinsley and Craig co-wrote and produced Chegwin's next single, "Destiny". *During 1977, the band recorded with German musician Stefan Hallberg on his version of their song "So Here I Go Again". It was issued as a single on
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. They also played on the single's
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
, "Der Fighter" (written by Hallberg). *In 1979, the band released two singles and an album under the name "L.E.X". *
Billy Kinsley William Ellis Kinsley (born 28 November 1946) is an English musician, who was lead vocalist and bassist with The Merseybeats until 1966 (although he temporarily left the band both to form the Kinsleys) The group disbanded in January 1966 to resurf ...
and Kenny Parry formed a side band with
Brian Rawling Brian Rawling is a British record producer and songwriter. He is the managing director of publisher and production company Metrophonic. Rawling has produced singles and albums for artists such as Cher, with whom he won a Grammy in 1999 for his w ...
called 'The Cheats', and they were very popular on the pubs/clubs circuit in and around Merseyside during the 1980s. *During the 1990s,
Roger Scott Craig Roger Scott Craig is an Irish musician, songwriter, and composer. He is a former member of the rock bands Liverpool Express, Fortune, Nina Hagen, Harlan Cage, and 101 South. Liverpool Express Roger started his career with the band The Merseyb ...
wrote music for movies such as ''
The Pelican Brief ''The Pelican Brief'' is a legal-suspense thriller by John Grisham, published in 1992 by Doubleday. It is his third novel after '' A Time to Kill'' and ''The Firm''. Two paperback editions were published, both by Dell Publishing in 1993. A na ...
'', ''
Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which law ...
'', and '' Richie Rich'' as well as TV commercials. *In 1976 the band's van broke down, and during the recovery it fell off a trailer on the M1. This wrecked the van, and spilled their equipment over 2 lanes of the motorway. The guys were very cool about it, and it didn't phase them.


Discography


See also

* List of bands and artists from Merseyside *
List of performances on Top of the Pops __NOTOC__ This list of performances on ''Top of the Pops'' is a chronological account of popular songs performed by recording artists and musical ensembles on ''Top of the Pops'', a weekly BBC One television programme that featured artists fr ...


References


External links


Liverpool Express.com official site


* {{Authority control English pop rock music groups Musical groups established in 1975 Musical groups from Liverpool