John O'Hara and His Playboys was a

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

1960s–70s pop group. The band had a successful career in Germany between 1962 and 1966. They toured widely in Germany, headlining at the

Star Club The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany, that opened on Friday 13 April 1962, and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the 1960s, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on ...

in Hamburg several times, and sang with Barbara Murphy. O'Hara went on to play with British band The Californians. After the band's return to UK they supported various major American bands in concert and 1968-69 made eight TV appearances on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...

, Teilifís Éireann,

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

and

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including the Golden Shot. They were the first band to be given both halves of an episode of

Colour Me Pop ''Colour Me Pop'' was a British music TV programme broadcast on BBC2 from 1968–1969. It was a spin-off from the BBC 2 arts magazine show '' Late Night Line-Up''. Designed to celebrate the new introduction of colour to British television, it ...

being filmed live in Sheffield for the first half of the programme and then recording the second half at the BBC.

Discography

Singles

*1964 - "

Louie Louie "Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a Standard (music), stand ...

" / "Stampfkartoffeln Tä-Tä-Rä" - John O'Hara and His Playboys, Decca Germany 1964 Decca D19552 *1964 - "Das War Gestern" / "Ein Zwei Drei" - Decca Germany *1964 - "

Doo Wah Diddy Diddy "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich and originally recorded in 1963, as "Do-Wah-Diddy", by the American vocal group the Exciters. ''Cash Box'' described the Exciters' version as "a sparkling rocker that bubbl ...

" / "Mr Moonlight" - Decca D19554 *1966 - "Start all over" / "I've Been Wondering" - Fontana TF763 *1967 - " Spicks and Specks" / "One Fine Lady" - Fontana TF793 *1967 - "Ballad of the Soon Departed" / "Tell Me Why" - Fontana TF 872 *1967 - "Island in the Sun" / "Harry" - Fontana TF893 *1968 - "In the Shelter of Your Heart" / Goodnight Mr Moonlight - Fontana TF924 *1968 - "

I Started A Joke "I Started a Joke" is a song by the Bee Gees from their 1968 album Idea (album), ''Idea'', which was released as a single in December of that year. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, where buyers who could not afford the al ...

" / "Show Me" - Fontana TF974 *1968 - "Voices" / "Blue Dog" - Fontana *1969 - "More Than Just A Woman" / "No No No No" - Fontana TF1043

Albums

*1964 LP - Playboys Party No1 - Decca BLK16295P Last night/ Medley: Mashed potatoes; Es gibt kein bier auf Hawai; Mashed potatoes/Das Humbta-Tatera / Skinny Minnie/ Watermelon man/ La Bamba/ Twist and shout/ What'd I say/ Jumping with symphony Sid. *1968 LP - Get Ready - Fontana TLF461Billboard - 12 Oct 1968 - Page 79 GET READY!- O'Hara's Playboys. Fontana SRF 67581 (S) A "white soul" band from England, O'Hara's Playboys rock 'n' roll through a dozen R&B favourites, generating a live excitement reminiscent of Mitch Ryder in his heyday"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OHaras Playboys Scottish pop music groups