The Casuals were a British pop group from

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

, Lincolnshire, England. They are best known for their 1968 No. 2 UK

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, "

Jesamine "Jesamine" is a song written by Marty Wilde (Frere Manston) and Ronnie Scott (songwriter), Ronnie Scott (Jack Gellar), and recorded by the English band The Casuals. Initially recorded by The Bystanders as "When Jezamine Goes", the version release ...

Career

Originally formed in 1960 by John Tebb (piano and vocals) and Howard Newcombe (guitar), they added Don Fortune (drums) and Zenon Kowalski (bass), and became The Casuals in 1961. After turning professional, they moved to Italy and recorded a number of covers of well-known UK material. Fortune and Kowalski left, and were followed by a series of replacements, culminating in Mick Bray (drums) and Ian Good (bass), from other well-known Lincoln groups, The Avengers and The Sultans.Sleevenotes by Nigel Lees to "Shapes and Sounds 2 – Shades of Deepest Purple from the BBC Archives 1967–1971" – Top Sounds TSSCD 003 (2008) In 1965, they won the TV talent show '' Opportunity Knocks'' three times, leading to a recording contract with

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label. History Fontana started in the 1950s as a subs ...

who issued their debut single "If You Walk Out", which was unsuccessful. In 1966, Alan "Plug" Taylor (bass) joined, and the band moved to Italy, where they signed with CBS in Milan to record Italian-language covers of British hit singles.Terry Rawlings
Then, Now and Rare British Beat 1960–1969
Omnibus Press, 2002, p. 43. These included a No. 1 Italian single covering the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

' "

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

". Good left in mid 1967, and was not replaced, but when Bray left later that year, Bob O'Brien joined on drums (ex-Glasgow group The Riot Squad). In 1968, whilst still in Italy, The Casuals switched to

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, who released the single "Jesamine" in May, which – following extensive airplay on

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

– eventually charted, so the band came back from Italy to promote the record, which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart late in 1968. "Jesamine" was a cover version of The Bystanders' "When Jesamine Goes" issued in February 1968, and was co-written by

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 ...

and

Ronnie Scott Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

(the Bystanders' manager, not the famous jazz musician), under the pseudonym Frere Manston and Jack Gellar. The follow-up single, "Toy" (written by Chris Andrews) also made the Top 40, peaking at No. 30. They were also successful in Germany, where "Jesamine" hit No. 9, and "Toy" went to No. 27, but their first and only album, ''Hour World'', was issued too late to capitalise on these successful singles. Chris Evans stood in for Newcombe when he was ill, and when Taylor and O'Brien left in 1970, Evans became a permanent member, along with Lloyd Courtney. None of the following four singles managed to chart, and the group was dropped by Decca in 1971. They signed to

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

in 1972 and released "Tara Tiger Girl", but the single went nowhere, nor did a single "American Jam" for which the band was renamed 'American Jam Band', although, as both singles had the same

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 ...

, the link was obvious. They left Parlophone for

Dawn Records Dawn Records was a subsidiary of Pye Records. Active from 1969 to 1975, it was established as Pye's 'underground and progressive' label rivalling the EMI and Phonogram equivalents, Harvest and Vertigo. The most successful act on the label wa ...

in 1974, but after their final single, "Good Times", flopped, they disbanded in 1976.

Legacy

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

repeatedly referred to "Jesamine" as being one of his all-time favourite singles, including it on an 8 February 1998 BBC Radio One edition of ''All Back to Mine'', where Weller played and discussed some of his record collection, and on a 2003 compilation of his favourite songs, ''Under the Influence''.

Key members

*Howard Newcombe – guitar, trumpet, vocals – (born 25 November 1945,

, Lincolnshire, England) *Alan Taylor – bass – (born 2 February 1947, Halifax, West Yorkshire, England – died 27 November 2011) *Johnny Tebb – keyboards – (born John Roy Tebb, 1 October 1945, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England - died May 2018) *Bob O'Brien – drums – (born Robert O'Brien, 26 September 1944,

Bridge of Allan Bridge of Allan ( sco, Brig Allan, gd, Drochaid Ailein), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a town in the Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on the A ...

, Stirlingshire, Scotland)

Discography

Singles

*"If You Walk Out" / "Please Don't Hide" – Fontana 1965 *"Adios Amour" / "Don't Dream of Yesterday" – Decca 1968 *"

" / "I've Got Something Too" – Decca 1968 – No. 2 UK *"Toy" / "Touched" – Decca 1968 – No. 30 UK *"Fools Paradise" / " Seven Times Seven" – Decca 1969 *"Sunflower Eyes" / "Never My Love" – Decca 1969 *"Caroline" / "Naughty Boy" – Decca 1969 *"My Name Is Love" / "I Can't Say" – Decca 1970 *"Tara Tiger Girl" / "Nature's Girl" – Parlophone 1972 *"Good Times" / "Witch" – Dawn 1974 As 'American Jam Band' *"American Jam" / "Nature's Girl" – Parlophone 1972 *"Jam Jam" / "Back On The Road" - Young Blood International 1974

Albums

*''Hour World'' - LP (1969) Decca (LK-R5001(mono), SLK-R5001 (stereo) Track listing : Side one : "Jesamine", "Toyland", "Never My Love", "Fools Paradise", "Picnic", "Now You Can Be", "Daddy's Song" Side two : "Hello It's Me", "

Love Me Tonight ''Love Me Tonight'' is a 1932 American pre-Code musical comedy film produced and directed by Rouben Mamoulian, with music by Rodgers and Hart. It stars Maurice Chevalier as a tailor who poses as a nobleman and Jeanette MacDonald as a princess ...

", "Someday Man", "Touched", "See", "Sunflower Eyes", "Hey-Hey-Hey", "Weather Vane" *''The Very Best of The Casuals'' – CD (1998) Commercial Marketing

Compilations

The Casuals version of "Jesamine" appears on a number of compilation albums including:- *''

Sixties Power Ballads ''Sixties Power Ballads - The Greatest Driving Anthems in the World... Ever!'' is an edition in ''The Greatest Driving Anthems in the World... Ever!'' series, which is a part of The Best... Album in the World...Ever! brand. This album was releas ...

'' *'' Under the Influence''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Casuals, The English pop music groups Musical groups established in 1961 Musical groups disestablished in 1976 Dawn Records artists Decca Records artists Fontana Records artists 1961 establishments in England