The Pleazers were an Australian-formed

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

musical group which were popular in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. They began in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

as the G-Men in 1964. They released a sole studio album, ''Definitely Pleazers'', in 1966, before disbanding in the following year.

History

The Pleazers began in

in 1964 as the G-Men with the line-up of Jim Cerezo on lead guitar, Dennis Gilmore on drums, Vince Lipton on bass guitar, Billy London on vocals and Peter Newing on rhythm guitar. They soon moved to Sydney, changed their name to the Pleazers, with the line-up of Gilmore, London and Newing joined by Bobby Bacon (a.k.a. Bob Cooper, a.k.a. Bob London: Billy's brother) on lead vocals, Bruce "Phantom" Robinson on lead guitar, and Ronnie Peel (ex-Mystics,

the Missing Links The Missing Links were an Australian garage rock, R&B, and protopunk group from Sydney who were active from 1964 to 1966. The group was known for wearing their hair long and smashing their equipment on-stage. Throughout the course of 1965, the b ...

) on bass guitar. The Pleazers were signed by

Eldred Stebbing Eldred Claude Stebbing (3 October 1921 – 6 December 2009) was a New Zealand record label owner and co-founder of the Zodiac Records label. He also founded Stebbing Studios in Auckland. Biography Stebbing was born in 1921. After leaving schoo ...

Zodiac Records Zodiac Records has been the name of at least six different record labels: *Zodiac Records (New Zealand), an Auckland, New Zealand label of Stebbing Recording and Sound *Zodiac Records, a New York City, United States company in the 1950s *Zodiac Re ...

, who brought them to his home base in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand in 1965. They soon appeared on a local TV show, ''Let's Go''. Their initial single, "Last Night", did poorly, while its follow-up, a cover version of Them's "

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins) ...

" (February 1965), broke into the national singles chart. Richie Unterberger of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described the band as "one of the only New Zealand groups competently playing tough, British Invasion/R&B-styled rock & roll." Early in 1966 Bacon was replaced by English-born vocalist

Shane Hales Shane Paul Arthur Hales (born 15 May 1946), known by the stage name Shane and for some of the early part of his career as Trevor Hales, is a New Zealand singer who had several top-10 hits in that country's singles chart in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

(a.k.a. Trevor Hales). They issued a five-track extended play, ''A Midnight Rave with the Pleazers'', in March with the line-up of Gilmore, Hales, London, Newing, Peel and Robertson. One of its tracks, "Bald Headed Woman", was included on a various artists' compilation CD, '' Pebbles, Volume 12: The World'' (October 1999). The Pleazers released their debut studio album ''Definitely Pleazers'' in 1966 on the Zodiac label, which was produced by John Hawkins. They returned to Australia later that year with Gus Fenwick (ex-Layabouts) replacing Peel on bass guitar. The group disbanded in 1967. Raven Records issued a compilation album ''A Midnight Rave with the Pleazers'' in 1987. Unterberger rated it as three out of five stars and opined that the compilation was "focusing mostly on their original material. Competent British Invasion-style rock, usually in a Stonesy style, though sometimes in a poppier vein."

Members

* Jim Cerezo – lead guitar (Ex G-men 1964) * Denis 'Speedy' Gilmore – drums (Ex G-Men 1964) * Vince Lipton – bass guitar (Ex G-Men 1964) * Billy Bacon (London) – lead vocals (Ex The London Bros 1964) * Peter 'Bunt' Newing – rhythm guitar (Ex G-Men 1964) * Bob Cooper–(aka London) lead vocals (Ex The London Bros 1964) * Bruce "Phantom" Robinson –lead guitar (The Pleazers January 1965) * Ronnie Peel – bass guitar (Ex Missing Links Sydney 1965) *

(a.k.a. Trevor Hales) – lead vocals (NZ 1965) * Gus Fenwick – bass guitar (ex The Layabouts 1966)

Discography

Albums

* ''Definitely Pleazers'' (1966) –

(ZLP 1026) * ''A Midnight Rave with the Pleazers'' (compilation album, 1987) – Raven Records.

Extended plays

* ''A Midnight Rave with the Pleazers'' (March 1966)

(EPZ 133) ** "Baby Jane" (Dello, Cane), "

Thou Shalt Not Steal "Thou shalt not steal" is one of the Ten Commandments of the Jewish Torah (known to Christians as the first five books of the Old Testament), which are widely understood as moral imperatives by legal scholars, Jewish scholars, Catholic scholars ...

" (

John D. Loudermilk John Dee Loudermilk Jr. (March 31, 1934 – September 21, 2016) was an American singer and songwriter. Although he had his own recording career during the 1950s and 1960s, he was primarily known as a songwriter. His best-known songs include "I ...

), " I'm Movin' On", "

Bald Headed Woman "Bald Headed Woman" is a traditional blues song, covered by British rock band the Kinks on their eponymous debut album in 1964. Another British rock band, the Who recorded it in 1964 as the B-side of their first top-ten single " I Can't Explain ...

" (Talmy), "Don't Give Me no Lip Child" (Thomas, Richards)

Singles

* "Last Night" / " Poor Girl" (1965) * "

" / "That Lonely Feeling" (1965) * "Like Columbus Did" (Hales, London) / "Sometimes" (G. Thomasson) (1965) * "Is It Over, Baby" / "Hurtin' All Over" (1966) * "Guilty" / "Can't Pretend" (1966) * " Here Today" (Wilson, Asher) / "La La Lies" (Townshend) (1967) * "

Three Cool Cats "Three Cool Cats" is a 1958 song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by the Coasters and released as the B-side of their hit single, "Charlie Brown".The Beatles BiblThree Cool Cats/ref> "Three Cool Cats" was on ...

" / "Security" (1967)

References

External links

AudioCulture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pleazers, The New South Wales musical groups Australian rhythm and blues musical groups Musical groups established in 1964 Musical groups disestablished in 1967 1964 establishments in Australia 1967 disestablishments in Australia