The Toggery Five

I’d Much Rather Be With “The Togs” - The Toggery Five Story by Olaf Owre

A million thanks to Frank Renshaw, Alan Doyle, Paul Young, Pat Young, Jason Young, Stephen K. Hauser, Steve Vidler, Graham Smith and Mick Abrahams for invaluable information and inspiration to complete this article ­ a project I've been working on for years and years.

Olaf Owre

It has often been suggested that Manchester’s beat scene of the 1960s owed much of its success to a favoured nearness to Liverpool, where everything started with The Beatles, who unleashed a whole new style of pop music that shook the world. In the wake of “Beatlemania” several other Liverpool groups enjoyed success, like The Swinging Blue Jeans, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Merseybeats and The Searchers to name but a few. Liverpool’s beat scene became known for the “Mersey Sound”, whereas Manchester never got a similar trademark or sound of its own. Nevertheless, the “British Beat Boom” soon saw Manchester emerge as a strong contender to Liverpool, with a lot of talented young musicians and countless groups popping up everywhere in and around the city.

Groups such as Freddie & The Dreamers, The Dakotas, The Hollies, Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders and Herman’s Hermits achieved phenomenal success around the world and found themselves competing in the premier league with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones! 

However, the vast majority of Manchester groups formed during the early 1960s never reached that level of fame and commercial success, and had to come to terms with achieving only local prominence, if any at all. But even though they were lesser known, they weren’t necessarily less capable as musicians.

In people like Pete Bocking of The Fourtones and Peter Cowap of The Country Gentlemen, Manchester certainly had its own guitar heroes, while Graham Gouldman of The Mockingbirds was to become one of the most successful pop songwriters of the decade.

However, common to the groups they played in at the time, was that none of them made a big breakthrough outside the Manchester area - despite having some of the city’s best musicians in their ranks. Into that same category of groups falls also a Stockport based quintet called The Toggery Five. 

IN THEIR TOP TOGS

Formed in 1963 the group comprised Bob Smith on lead vocals, Frank Renshaw on lead guitar/vocals, Keith Meredith on rhythm guitar, Ken Mills on bass guitar and Graham Smith on drums.

The liner notes of several recent CD compilations in EMI’s Abbey Road series have wrongly stated that The Toggery Five were originally led by a guy called Mike Rabin. Where this mistake has crept in is hard to say, but there was no such person ever connected with the group!

Mike Rabin was actually the lead singer and frontman of another group launched at around the same time called Mike Rabin And The Demons. They recorded on EMI/Columbia in the UK and shared the same label as The Toggery Five in the US, Tower Records. 

Unquestionable leader of The Toggery Five was from the outset Frank Renshaw. He was born in Cheshire on June 22nd. 1943 and had formed his first band The Swallows as early as in 1958, playing skiffle, old country songs and also trying to learn some Elvis Presley songs. He worked as a draftsman until he was qualified in 1963, but then quit his day job to become a professional musician with The Toggery Five.

Frank Renshaw tells how it all started.

 “I was the lead guitarist with a group called Lee Shondell And The Premiers Of Beat and was approached by Keith Meredith and Graham Smith to form a new group with Bob Smith and Ken Mills. They were with a group called Gaye And The Guys, the girl singer being Gaynor Tetlow.”

Mike Cohen, who also handled the affairs of The Hollies at the time, became their manager. 

“We did our first rehearsal in the Thatched House pub in Stockport, and invited Mike Cohen, who owned a clothes shop called ‘The Toggery’, to come and see us. He wanted to hear Beatles songs, and as our lead singer Bob Smith didn’t know any, I sang them. Cohen immediately liked us, and his girlfriend at the time, Lucille Hewitt of Coronation Street fame, came up with our name, The Toggery Five. We immediately got a brand new set of Vox amps and Shure microphones, which was our ulterior motive for getting Cohen down there in the first place.”

Cohen’s clothes shop, “The Toggery”, became a kind of centre for musicians as Graham Nash of The Hollies worked there for a while, as well as Pete MacLaine, lead singer with The Dakotas. It was a place where all the local groups went to for their stage clothes, and musicians started hanging out there, chatting over music and the thriving club scene. “The Toggery” even catered to the demands of cool customers from out-of-town including The Rolling Stones and The Beatles! 

THE LION’S SHARE

The Toggery Five played R&B influenced beat music and soon established a reputation as a very good live band on the Manchester scene. Frank Renshaw was the natural “star performer” of the group, and in addition to being an excellent lead guitarist also took the lion’s share of the lead vocal work.

Frank:”We soon evolved into a harder R&B group, and as my voice suited this more than Bob Smith’s, I ended up singing most of the songs and playing lead guitar, while Bob played a tambourine. However, we soon decided that this wasn’t good enough, and after an argument Bob left.”

The vacancy as lead singer was filled by Paul Young, who joined in mid 1964. Young was born in Wythenshawe on June 17th. 1947 and had already as a 14 year old joined his first group, Johnny Dark And The Midnights. He also played with The Teenbeats and The Tigers before joining The Toggery Five as lead vocalist alongside Renshaw.

"The Toggery Five seemed to be going places and looked the part, very rarely seen in the same clothes twice, which was not surprising since they were backed by a guy who owned a clothes shop that sold the very latest in men's fashion wear. So when they offered me the ex-singers stage clothes I jumped at the chance".

Paul Young 

Frank:”I went to see a group that I knew from my native Benchill in Manchester. It was Paul Fender And The Tigers, Paul being Paul Young. I told him we were due to go on TV doing ‘Ready, Steady, Win’, and he jumped at the chance. Once again, though, I was singing most of the repertoire, and Paul played tambourine and maraccas, as he didn’t know the songs. That’s why I sang on the first recordings of the group.”

RUNNERS-UP

In early September 1964 The Toggery Five made it to the final of Rediffusion TV’s “Ready, Steady, Win” beat group contest, where they delivered a powerful rendition of “Dance With You”, a song written by J.H. Frost and D. Styrup. It was a very prestigious competition with Brian Epstein acting as chairman for the final panel, which also included Bill Haley, Brian Matthew and Georgia Brown.

The Toggery Five became runners-up in the contest after a Harrow based group called The Bo Street Runners, who won with an up-tempo R&B number titled “Bo Street Runner”, from which they also got their name,. A group called The Thyrds came third with a song titled “Hide And Seek”.

Alan Doyle, who joined The Toggery Five after the “Ready, Steady, Win” event, has an interesting story regarding the outcome of the contest.

Alan:”I met Brian Epstein in Torremolinos, Spain in 1967 when I was working there with The Derek Joys Showband and a Spanish girl singer called Carina. Epstein told me he had voted The Toggery Five winners of the contest - and they would have come first if it wasn’t for the first prize being GBP 1,000,- worth of gear and a recording contract with Decca! The Toggery Five had already signed with EMI/Parlophone while the competition was going on , and even though the group had won every single heat from the beginning, they simply couldn’t win the final! A big cover-up was used and our group ended up with second prize, a Commer van, instead. It was never proved that the record company had pulled the wires, but Brian Epstein couldn’t understand it at the time and was very disappointed for us.”

BANNED BY BBC

“Dance With You”, the song featured in “Ready, Steady, Win”, was oddly enough never released on record by The Toggery Five. However, on September 18th. 1964, only two days after the final was screened on TV, the group had its debut single released on Parlophone. It was a medium tempo beat ballad titled “I’m Gonna Jump”, written and sung by Frank Renshaw, and the lead vocal and chorus created a kind of ominous sound well suited for the song. The B-side was “Bye Bye Bird”, a harmonica wailing R&B number written by bluesmen Sonny Boy Williamson and Willie Dixon. This was also covered by The Moody Blues on their first album in 1965. The Toggery Five had done the recordings at Abbey Road Studios, London on June 22nd. 1964 (Renshaw’s 21st. birthday!), with The Hollies’ producer, Ron Richards, behind the controls.

"I’m Gonna Jump” was a very promising debut record for the group, with a lyric about a guy who wants to jump in the river because his girlfriend has left him. In those days it was a controversial subject, and the BBC quickly banned the single from being played on the radio.

In that respect it shared the same fate as Twinkle’s teenage death song, “Terry”, but a lot of airplay on the pirate stations helped her single reach No.3 in the UK charts. 

The Toggery Five weren’t that lucky, and the single went absolutely nowhere despite good reviews in the music press. It fared no better in America, where it was released on Tower, a label which also handled the US releases of fellow Mancunians Freddie & The Dreamers, The Four Just Men as well as the previously mentioned Mike Rabin And The Demons. But despite being a flop as far as sales were concerned, a lot of true beat fanatics still regard “I’m Gonna Jump” as one of the great classics from the “British Beat” era.

An Italian group called Equipe 84 also recorded a version of "I¹m Gonna Jump", sung in Italian with the title "Se Credi A Quello Che". It was one of two songs the group presented in the 13th. Napolitan Song Festival in 1965, the other being "Notte Senza Fine". Equipe 84 was the only beat group represented in the festival, and the two songs were released on the Vedette label (VVN 33097) as a picture sleeve single. 

WITH THE BOYS

The appearance on “Ready, Steady, Win” and the release of their debut single gave The Toggery Five important television and press exposure. They subsequently did “Ready, Steady, Go”, “Scene At 6.30”, “Disc A-Go-Go” and a Jimmy Savile show.

This kept their agency and management, Kennedy Street Enterprises, busy - and secured the group consistent bookings around the UK, notably on a package show with Freddie & The Dreamers, The Hollies, Marianne Faithfull, The Four Pennies and others.

The Toggery Five underwent a new line-up change towards the end of 1964 when Keith Meredith quit, and rhythm guitar duties were assigned to Alan Doyle. He was an excellent choice as replacement for Meredith and had previously played with Johnny Masters And The Mastersounds, The Rainmakers, and with The Country Gentlemen on a UK tour, backing Decca recording star Billie Davies after “Tell Him” had been a big hit for her.

With Doyle in to complete the line-up The Toggery Five continued their busy concert schedule, and were also getting ready to do some more recordings. Meanwhile in America the Tower label included the group’s first single on a 1965 sampler album alongside Freddie & The Dreamers, The Four Just Men, Mike Rabin & The Demons, Heinz and Linda Laine & The Sinners. 

The group entered Abbey Road Studios again in January 1965 to record a new single. One of the tracks they put down on tape during the sessions was a song penned by Andrew Oldham and Keith Richard titled “I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys”, a number The Rolling Stones reportedly found “too poppy” for their own repertoire and had rejected. Their original demo version later appeared on the “Metamorphosis” LP released in 1975. 

For The Toggery Five, though, the Oldham-Richard song seemed perfect, and the group’s interpretation was polished and crafty, with a Jaggeresque vocal performance by Frank Renshaw.

Frank:”When we later did ‘I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys’ on the ‘Ready, Steady, Go’ TV show, Paul insisted on miming to me singing, as he didn’t want to be seen just standing there.”

The other track recorded during the sessions was a Frank Renshaw original titled “It’s So Easy”. It was a great Hollies styled number with a compelling, high-pitched vocal by Renshaw and close harmonies all the way. It also had some classy guitar work and was a confident performance through and through by the group. Credit must also go to Ron Richards for an excellent production job. “It’s So Easy” was undoubtedly good enough for an A-side, but ended up on the flip - so when it was released on February 26th. 1965, The Toggery Five’s second single certainly gave good value for money. But in spite of its obvious musical qualities and the Rolling Stones association, the single failed to give the group a well deserved commercial breakthrough. 

HIT UNDER THE BELT

After their first two single releases had failed to bring The Toggery Five a much desired chart entry, Kennedy Street Enterprises gave the group a Clint Ballard Jr. song titled “I’m Alive” to record as their next single. The song was originally written for Gene Pitney, who had rejected it, as did Wayne Fontana, before it was passed on to The Toggery Five. Frank Renshaw recollects what happened back then in 1965.

Frank:”Wayne Fontana gave us this song ‘I’m Alive’ as he said it wasn’t his style. We liked it a lot, booked time at Abbey Road Studios, and recorded it with Ron Richards as producer. Then The Hollies heard it and stole it from us! It turned out to be their first No.1 hit in the UK. I’m sure it would have made a turning point for The Toggery Five because it was such a good song, and I think our version was much better. It must still be in the EMI vaults somewhere. I remember the day we recorded it, The Beatles were in the next studio recording or mixing the song ‘Anytime At All’, which has remained one of my favourite Beatles songs along with the little known ‘Yes It Is’.” 

Alan Doyle has a similar recollection of the events.

Alan:”The Hollies heard our version and quickly recorded it themselves, then got a release date two weeks before ours, and stopped our version from being released. Our manager thought that as The Hollies had already had some chart success and wanted the song, they should have it! He along with Ron Richards pulled the plug on us. After all the work we had laid down on the song, it was a dirty trick to give it to The Hollies. It was a sore point at the time as they got to No.1 with the song.”

To pacify the guys in The Toggery Five, The Hollies offered them a song titled “Going Away”. It was written by Graham Gouldman especially for The Hollies. There is some confusion, however, because there seems to have been two different songs with the same title, as Alan Doyle recalls.

Alan:”Graham Gouldman played a song he had written titled ‘Going Away’ on an old Epiphone guitar, to Frank, Paul and myself at the offices of Kennedy Street Enterprises, and we later recorded it at Abbey Road as our next single after ‘I’m Alive’. Another song titled ‘Going Away’ was brought to a Toggery Five rehearsal at The Manor Lounge Club in Manchester before I joined the band. According to Ken Mills, our bass player, Graham Nash came to a rehearsal with a book of his songs and played one or two of them. This ‘Going Away’ was one we used on stage later.”

Frank Renshaw adds a couple of things regarding the song title in question.

Frank:”The song ‘Going Away’ I had forgotten even existed, but a while ago I found an EMI acetate of it in the attic - a version recorded by The Hollies. I thought it was one of their own songs, but maybe it was written by Graham Gouldman for them, who in turn gave it to us.”

“Going Away” was a good song, but not as immediate in impact as some of the better known Graham Gouldman compositions from the 1960s, and there was no way it could compensate for “I’m Alive”. Nevertheless, The Toggery Five made the most of it when they recorded the song at Abbey Road Studios. It was an up-tempo number, building well, with a good lead vocal by Paul Young, and tight harmony vocals throughout the song.

According to Alan Doyle, the management thought Paul Young should sing lead on “Going Away”, as had previously been the case on “I’m Alive”, because he didn’t play an instrument and it just wouldn’t look right if they appeared on TV with the song!

However, both “I’m Alive” and “Going Away” got shelved by Parlophone, and supposedly remain somewhere in the vaults of EMI or Abbey Road Studios.  

WALK AWAY RENEE

Disillusioned by the way things had turned for the group, Frank Renshaw left in October 1965 to join Wayne Fontana’s new band, after the latter and The Mindbenders had just split into two factions.

Frank:”I joined Wayne Fontana in late 1965. Wayne was my ‘Best Man’ at my wedding, and two days later we left to do Wayne’s first solo gig as ‘Wayne Fontana And The Boys’ on a nationwide tour with Herman’s Hermits and The Fortunes. We soon changed the name to ‘The Opposition’, though. The line-up was me, Bernie Burns on drums, Stuart Sirett on bass and someone I can’t remember playing keyboards.”

Renshaw played guitar and sang backing vocals on Wayne Fontana’s 1966 solo album, “Wayne One”. About a year later he recorded “Walk Away Renee”, which was given to him by The Hollies, who had received the song as a demo from the publishers.

Frank:”’Walk Away Renee’ was a solo effort by me, which was produced by Graham Nash. The backing track had already been done by The Hollies with an added brass section, and I sang to that. It sounded really good, but there again it got lost somewhere in history, when three weeks later, The Four Tops released their version and got to No.1 everywhere.”

JETHRO TULL NUCLEUS

Following Renhaw’s departure from The Toggery Five, a lot of changes took place in the group. First they got in baritone sax player Stan Thomas from Luton based Neil Christian’s backing band, The Crusaders. Thomas only lasted for a brief time, though, and in early 1966 original bassist Ken Mills also defected. Down to three men, Paul Young & Co. again recruited new members from Neil Christian’s Crusaders, in Bernie Hetherington on baritone sax and Dave Cakebread on bass. A sixth member came in on bongos, a guy with a name so long that it would make any firm of solicitors green with envy! The group started working as The Toggery Soul Band, and later as Paul Young’s Toggery. Notably they played at Liverpool’s famous Cavern, just like the earlier Toggery Five group had done.

Alan Doyle wasn’t too keen on the new direction of the group, a fusion of jazz, blues and soul music.

Alan:”The bongo player who joined us was Jamaican born Archie Eugene Kenneth Jacob McNab Taylor, known as ‘Archie’ to the band and ‘Jacob’ to others - very confusing! Paul loved all this jazz-blues stuff, but it wasn’t the Toggery Five I knew, so I left and went to work in Madrid, Spain a bit later.”

Towards the end of Doyle’s tenure with the group, the line-up also included trumpet player Simon Williams, but he lasted only for a few weeks. Archie McNab also quit.

From the group Yenson’s Trolls came Mick Abrahams as replacement for Doyle on lead guitar. Abrahams had previously played with The Hustlers, who became Neil Christian’s “new” Crusaders in 1965 after Christian had lost his band (including Ritchie Blackmore) to Lord Sutch & The Savages.

Original drummer Graham Smith was the next to leave the band, and Tony MacDonald from Bobby Dell & The Delltones took over on drums for a brief period, while keyboardist Graham Waller, another musician with a past in Neil Christian’s Crusaders was called in to extend the new line-up around lead singer and frontman Paul Young.

Ex-Crusaders bassist, Dave Cakebread, had already played with Paul Young’s Toggery for a while. A friend of Mick Abrahams from the group Yenson’s Troll, Clive Bunker, later replaced drummer Tony MacDonald, and Arthur Hasford on trumpet came in to bolster the brass section.

It was undoubtedly a promising new line-up with some first-rate musicians, and with a new and interesting sound. But somehow things didn’t work out for the group, and they broke up towards the end of 1966 after only a brief time together.

About a year later Mick Abrahams and Clive Bunker, via McGregor’s Engine and briefly deputizing with John Evan’s Smash, became the nucleus of Jethro Tull when they were formed in November 1967. Abrahams’ tenure with Jethro Tull lasted only one year, and in late 1968 he went on to form Blodwyn Pig with sax ace Jack Lancaster from Sponge, bassist Andy Pyle from McGregor’s Engine and Ron Berg on drums.

Clive Bunker played with Jethro Tull until 1971, and later teamed up with Mick Abrahams again in a reformed version of Blodwyn Pig in 1974, before following Lancaster to a new group called Aviator. 

TOGGERY TOGETHER

Even though The Toggery Five split up in early 1967, most of the group members continued playing in new groups or solo, in the years to come.

Paul Young had already recorded his first solo record, “You Girl” b/w ”No! No! No!”, before The Toggery Five disbanded, but the group reportedly didn’t play on the record. Both songs were written by Ray Teret and recorded at Inter-City Studios, Stockport, later made famous by 10cc under the name Strawberry Studios. The single was released on UK Columbia on May 12th. 1967. In Sweden it came on Philips with a different B-side, “Baby You Blow My Mind”, another Ray Teret composition. Oddly enough, in Holland the single was launched under the billing of ”The Toggery”, released on the Stateside/EMI label with ”No! No! No!” as the A-side and ”Baby, You Blow My Mind” on the flip. The song ”No! No! No!” was also covered by a Danish band called Lost And Found in 1968.

In 1967 Paul Young formed The Electric Circus with Victor Brox, later of The Ainsley Dunbar Retaliation on keyboards/vocals, Jeff Walters on tenor sax and John Dickinson on guitar. The band also included previous Paul Young’s Toggery members Archie McNab on bongos, Tony MacDonald on drums, Dave Cakebread on bass and Graham Waller on keyboards. The Electric Circus seems to have been a rather shortlived project as McNab, MacDonald, Cakebread and Waller all went on to play with T.D. Backus & The Powerhouse Six in 1968. Victor Brox was later offered a job with Alexis Corner’s band in 1970.

1968 saw Young as new lead singer after Stan Hoffman with fellow Mancunians The Measles touring Germany and Denmark. He also played drums with Wayne Fontana & The Opposition for a brief time, before going to Germany to work with Frank Renshaw again. Young released a new solo single, “I Like The Way” b/w “You’ve Got To Have A Laugh”, on the German Bewitch Welle label in 1968, and that same year saw Paul Young and Frank Renshaw together again on record under the name The Young Brothers. The duo recorded a single for MCA, “I’ve Always Wanted Love” b/w “Mirror, Mirror”, produced by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. This marked the beginning of a long-lasting business relationship between Young, Renshaw, Cook and Greenaway. They formed a publishing company together called Grenyoco Music, and Young and Renshaw concentrated on songwriting, as well as doing sessions for a number of artists in the Cook & Greenaway stable.

In 1970 Paul Young and Frank Renshaw formed a new group as a vehicle to present and develop their own songs. This was called Young & Renshaw and comprised Paul Young on vocals and percussion, Frank Renshaw on vocals/guitar/harmonica, Graham Harrop from Sponge and Pacific Drift on bass, Ron Walker from Sweet Marriage on lead guitar, and Phil Keen, a former member of Johnny Peters And The Crestas, on drums. They spent about a year in Germany writing, rehearsing and gigging - then returned to London and recorded an excellent country rock album with Cook & Greenaway as producers. Titled “This Is Young & Renshaw”, it contained twelve Young-Renshaw originals and was released on Bell in late 1971. A few singles also saw the light of day, but sadly none of the records charted, and the group split up in 1973.

Paul Young continued working with Cook & Greenaway as producers and released three solo singles on CBS in the years 1973-75, “You Ain’t Gonna Get To California”, “I Can’t Live Without You” and “You’re Such A Pretty Thing”. Some of the songs seemed like a “poppier” extension of the Young & Renshaw album, while others were Drifters styled soft R&B numbers. None of them managed to secure a solo hit for Young, though.

MARRIAGE LINKS

On leaving The Toggery Five rhythm guitarist Alan Doyle went to Spain and played with The Derek Joys Showband as well as backing Spanish girl singer Carina with the group Los Sonida Grande during 1966-67. Returning home to Manchester in 1968 he became a founding member of a group called Sweet Marriage, playing progressive and psychedelic rock. Fronted by lead singer Tony Merrick, formerly a solo artist on Columbia, who had a minor UK hit with “Lady Jane” in 1966, the group included Keith Lawless on bass, Tony MacDonald on drums, and two lead guitarists - Ron Walker and Alan Doyle. The links between Sweet Marriage and members of The Toggery Five are many. Alan Doyle of course played guitar with both groups, and Ron Walker, the other guitarist, later became a member of Young & Renshaw. Tony Merrick had previously played with Tony Merrick Scene alongside Graham Harrop, later of Pacific Drift and Young & Renshaw. Merrick and Harrop also both played with Jack Lancaster’s group, Sponge, before Lancaster formed Blodwyn Pig with late-period Toggery Five guitarist Mick Abrahams. Tony MacDonald was an ex-member of Bobby Dell And The Dellstars, as well as being with Paul Young’s Toggery for a brief time. Bassist Keith Lawless was well-known on the Manchester scene and had played with Ivans Meads, who recorded for Parlophone in 1965-66 and were managed by Mike Maxfield of The Dakotas. They were the first group to record for George Martin’s A.I.R. production company. Lawless was also with Richard Kent Style and High Society, a studio group assembled by Graham Gouldman and Peter Cowap to record a single for Fontana in 1966.

Sweet Marriage were excellent musicians who wrote their own material, and the band at the time sounded a bit like Stockport’s late 1960s cult group, Wimple Winch, a continuation of The Just Four Men. Like so many before them, Sweet Marriage went to Hamburg and played “The Salambo”, “The Top 10 Club” and others - as well as “The Star Palast” in Kiel. The group released a single, “Childplay” b/w “Bitter Wind” on UK Rim Records and German Metronome in 1969, while two other songs, “Mort” and “Titania” were released on a John Peel compilation album from the “Top Gear” radio show in 1970. However, commercial success was elusive and the group split up that same year.

ALAN’S ALLSORTS

Alan Doyle then for a brief time played with Nektar, a British band resident in Germany. They were forced to split due to lack of gigs in 1970, but later found a new lease of life in America and had several albums released on Passport in the US and United Artists and Decca in the UK.

By then, however, Doyle had moved on to a band called Hornblower in 1972, which also featured drummer Paul Burgess, later of 10cc. This was followed by some cabaret and comedy work with Pete Birrell’s Allsorts, a group led by the former Freddie & The Dreamers bassist. In 1975 Doyle joined Alvin Stardust’s touring band, Alvin’s Heartbeats, and played rhythm guitar with them for a while. During the 1980s/90s Doyle continued doing various local gigs, including some country & western shows with legendary Manchester guitarist/singer Peter Cowap.

In the late 1990s he’s had a hand in organizing several 60’s revival concerts with groups from the Middleton area of Manchester, including The Rainmakers, Deke Bonner & The Tremors and The Country Gentlemen. He’s also still writing new material, and artists on the 60’s circuit have recently shown interest in his songs.

1999 saw Doyle back on stage again at the "Aid To Cosovo" concert in Manchester, alongside multi-instrumentalist Victor Brox and the harpist from Oasis on blues harmonica.

TOGGERY & THE PACEMAKERS

Frank Renshaw joined Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders for a British Invasion Revival tour of the US in 1973, with Herman’s Hermits, Gerry & The Pacemakers and The Searchers. He played on the single “Sweet America” by the group, released on US Brut. After that he became a member of Herman’s Hermits from 1975 to 1982, touring endlessly on the US club circuit, as well as recording an album of updated hit versions and a few singles for Buddah and Roulette.

In 1983 Renshaw’s football single “Glory, Glory Man. United” on EMI, performed by the Manchester United Football Team, got to No.13 in the UK charts and sold in excess of 80,000 copies. He later fronted a new incarnation of The Mindbenders, which also included his son Lee on rhythm guitar, on a British Invasion package tour of the US, with Gerry & The Pacemakers, Chad & Jeremy and The Searchers in 1986-87.

Renshaw also spent a few years as entertainment director for a hotel chain in former Yugoslavia, before the civil war broke out. In the 1990s he has been living in Spain and The Canary Islands mostly, and is working solo with a repertoire of 60’s hits under the adopted name Frank Young.

He has also opened his own 60’s bar in Fuerteventura called “The Cavern”, which has become very popular with the tourists visiting the islands. According to Renshaw, the original Toggery Five drummer, Graham Smith, has been in Tenerife since the late 1980s, and is now a big time property developer.

PARADOX

Back in the late 1970s Paul Young went via groups like Paul Young’s Paradox, Gyro and Mandalaband to Sad Café, an excellent band who built up a strong following on the college circuit in England, and graduated to the big league in 1979 when their compelling ballad “Every Day Hurts” got to No.3 in Britain. A series of quality albums and singles followed on RCA, Polydor and Legacy in the UK and on A&M, Swan Song and Atlantic in America. Sad Café were also highly successful as a live band, with big tours both in the UK and abroad.

Contractual problems, however, undoubtedly harmed the band’s chances of a more lasting chart career, and led to a decline in sales and popularity during the 1980s. Their last album came in 1989, but by then Paul Young had already achieved great success with Genesis member Mike Rutherford’s band, Mike & The Mechanics, with “Silent Running” and “All I Need Is A Miracle” becoming hits in 1985. Several hit singles and critically acclaimed albums followed in the late 1980s and the 1990s, all massive sellers, “Living Years”, “Word Of Mouth” and “Beggar On A Beach Of Gold” among them. As a recording artist Paul Young undoubtedly experienced his most successful years ever with Mike & The Mechanics from 1985 and onwards. Sadly he died of a sudden heart attack at home in Cheshire on July 15th. 2000. The title and lyrics of one of their last big hits with Paul, ”Now That You’ve Gone”, taken from the 1999-album ”M6”, seems a bit eerie in retrospect.

Paul Young was a truly great singer and human being, who will be sadly missed by everybody. 

RECORDED LEGACY

The Toggery Five only had two singles released in the years 1964-65. A few more tracks were recorded at Abbey Road Studios at the time, but sadly remain unissued.

The group never got a commercial breakthrough and after a series of personnel changes they split up in late 1966. In retrospect their lack of chart success can only be put down to an incredible run of bad luck, bad timing and possibly bad management.

The Toggery Five’s recorded legacy ably shows how competent and confident they were musically, and EMI are to be commended for including their songs “Bye Bye Bird” and “I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys” on two CD compilations in the Abbey Road series. Hopefully some of the unissued tracks from the Abbey Road vaults, like “I’m Alive” (recorded before The Hollies’ version), “Going Away” (written by Graham Gouldman) and Renshaw’s solo effort “Walk Away Renee” (produced by Graham Nash) will be given a release by EMI in the near future. 

Line-Ups

The Toggery Five (#1) 1963-mid 1964

• Bob Smith - lead vocals - Gaye & TheGuys (62-63)
• Frank Renshaw - lead guitar/lead vocals - The Swallows (58-60), Lee Shondell & The Premiers Of Beat
• Keith Meredith - rhythm guitar/vocals  - Gaye & TheGuys (62-63)
• Kenneth Mills - bass/vocals - Gaye & TheGuys (62-63)
• Graham Smith - drums - Gaye & TheGuys (62-63) 

The Toggery Five (#2) mid 1964-late 1964 

• Paul Young - lead vocals, maraccas/tambourine - Johnny Dark & The Midnights (61-62), Paul Fenda & The Teenbeats (62), Paul Fender Rhythm & Blues Inc. (63), Paul Fender & The Tigers (63-64) 
• Frank Renshaw - lead guitar/lead vocals 
• Keith Meredith - rhythm guitar/vocals 
• Kenneth Mills - bass/vocals 
• Graham Smith - drums 

The Toggery Five (#3) late 1964-Oct. 1965 

• Paul Young - lead vocals, maraccas/tambourine
• Frank Renshaw - lead guitar/lead vocals - Wayne Fontana & The Boys/The Opposition (65-66), Frank Renshaw solo (67), The Young Brothers (68-69), Young & Renshaw (70-73), Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders (73-74), Herman’s Hermits (75-82), The Mindbenders (85-88), Entertainment director in Yugoslavia (late 80s-early 90s), Frank Young solo (90s), Owner of ”Cavern Bar” in Fuerteventura (90s-to present) 
• Alan Doyle - rhythm guitar/vocals - Johnny Masters & The Mastersounds (62), The Rainmakers (62-63), Billie Davis & The Country Gentlemen (63)
• Kenneth Mills - bass/vocals 
• Graham Smith - drums  
  
  

The Toggery Soul Band (#4) late 65-66

• Paul Young - lead vocals, maraccas/tambourine
• Alan Doyle - guitar/vocals
• Kenneth Mills -  bass/vocals
• Graham Smith - drums 
• Stan Thomas - baritone sax - The Hustlers (64-65), Neil Christian & The Crusaders (65)
• Archie Eugene Kenneth Jacob McNab Taylor (known as Archie or Jacob) - bongos - from Jamaica 
  
  

The Toggery Soul Band (#5) 1966-

• Paul Young - lead vocals, maraccas/tambourine
• Alan Doyle - guitar/vocals - Derek Joys  Showband(66-67), Carina & Los Sonida Grande(67), Sweet Marriage (68-69), Nektar (70), Hornblower (72), Pete Birrell’s Allsorts (73), Alvin’s Heartbeats (75-76), Cowap & Doyle c&w duo (80s), The Rainmakers (re-unions 90s), The Delivery Men (00-02), Pete MacLaine band & other local bands (02-to present)
• Kenneth Mills -  bass/vocals-
• Graham Smith - drums  
• Bernie Hetherington 
• Archie Eugene Kenneth Jacob McNab Taylor (known as Archie or Jacob) - bongos - Electric Circus (67), T.D. Backus & The Powerhouse Six (68)
• Simon Williams - trumpet   

Paul Young’s Toggery (#6) 1966- 

• Paul Young - lead vocals, maraccas/tambourine
• Mick Abrahams - guitar/vocals - The Hustlers (64-65), Neil Christian & The Crusaders (65), Yensons Trolls (65)
• Graham Smith - drums - B.B. Blunder (71), property developer in Tenerife (80s-to present)
• Bernie Hetherington - baritone sax 
• Dave Cakebread - bass guitar/vocals 

Paul Young’s Toggery (#7) 1966- 

• Paul Young - lead vocals, maraccas/tambourine
• Mick Abrahams - guitar/vocals
• Tony MacDonald - drums - Bobby Dell & The Dellstars (64-65), Electric Circus (67), T.D. Backus & The Powerhouse Six (68)
• Bernie Hetherington - baritone sax 
• Dave Cakebread - bass guitar/vocals 
• Graham Waller - keyboards/vocals - Electric Circus (67), T.D. Backus & The Powerhouse Six (68), Blodwyn Pig session (70)

Paul Young’s Toggery (#8) 1966-late 1966

• Paul Young - lead vocals, maraccas/tambourine - Electric Circus (67),Paul Young solo (68), The Measles (68), Wayne Fontana & The Opposition (68), Young Brothers (68-69), Young & Renshaw (70-73), Paul Young’s Paradox (73-74), Paul Young solo (73-75), Mandalaband (75-77), Gyro (76), Sad Café (77-89), Devaney Young (84), Claire Moore & Paul, Young (87), Mike & The Mechanics (85-00), Died of a heart attack July 15, 2000
• Mick Abrahams - guitar/vocals - McGregors Engine (67), John Evan’s Smash (67), Jethro Tull (67-68), Blodwyn Pig (68-71), Gary Wright session (70), Mick Abrahams Band (71-73), solo & local bands (70s-to present)
• Clive Bunker - drums - McGregors Engine (67), Jethro Tull (67-71), Jude (72), Blodwyn Pig (74), Steve Hillage (78), Steve Howe) (79), Aviator (79-80)
• Dave Cakebread - bass guitar/vocals - Electric Circus, (67) T.D. Backus & The Powerhouse Six (68), Paul Ryan (76)
• Graham Waller - keyboards/vocals -Electric Circus (67), T.D. Backus & The Powerhouse Six (68), Blodwyn Pig session (70)
• Bernie Hetherington - baritone sax 
• Arthur Hasford - trumpet   

THE TOGGERY FIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

US SINGLE: 

The Toggery Five #2

• " I’m Gonna Jump” (Frank Renshaw)/”Bye Bye Bird” (Dixon-Williamson) US Tower 119 1965 

US LP: (The Toggery Five #2):

• LP: Various artists: “Freddie & The Dreamers - I’m Telling You Now - Dance The Freddie To Freddie & The Dreamers And Other Great English Stars”. US Tower T-5003/DT-5003 1965
  Featured artists are Freddie & The Dreamers, The Four Just Men, Heinz, Linda Laine & The Sinners, Mike Rabin & The Demons and The Toggery Five (TF#2).
  Contains 12 tracks including The Toggery Five’s “I’m Gonna Jump” and “Bye Bye Bird”.

UK SINGLES: 

The Toggery Five #2

• “I’m Gonna Jump” (Frank Renshaw)/”Bye Bye Bird” (Dixon-Williamson) UK Parlophone R5175 9/1964 

The Toggery Five #3

• “I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys” (Oldham-Richard)/”It’s So Easy” (Frank Renshaw) UK Parlophone R 5249 2/1965 

UK LPs: (The Toggery Five #3):

• LP: Various artists: “The R & B Scene Volume One” UK See For Miles SEE 33 1985
  Contains 20 tracks including The Toggery Five’s “It’s So Easy” (Frank Renshaw).
• LP: Various artists: “60’s Back Beat” UK See For Miles SEE 39 1985
  Contains 20 tracks including The Toggery Five’s “I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys” (Oldham-Richard).
• LP: Various artists: “The R & B Scene” UK See For Miles SEE 33 1986
  Re-issue of “The R & B Scene Volume One” with different sleeve.
  Contains 20 tracks including The Toggery Five’s “It’s So Easy” (Frank Renshaw).
• LP: Various artists: “Sixties Lost And Found Volume 4” UK See For Miles SEE 215 1987
  Re-issue of “60’s Back Beat” with different sleeve.
  Contains 20 tracks including The Toggery Five’s “I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys” (Oldham-Richard).

UK CDs: (The Toggery Five #2):

• CD: Various artists: “Maximum R ’n’ B” UK Reverberation VIII 1997
  Contains 27 tracks including The Toggery Five’s “Bye Bye Bird” (Dixon-Williamson).

(The Toggery Five #3):

• CD: Various artists: “Beat At Abbey Road 1963-1965” UK EMI 7243 8 21135 2 2 1997
  Contains 28 tracks including The Toggery Five’s “I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys” (Oldham-Richard).

(The Toggery Five #2):

• CD: Various artists: “Rhythm & Blues (With A Little Soul) At Abbey Road 1963-1967” UK EMI 7243 4 93453 2 4 1998
  Contains 26 tracks including The Toggery Five’s “Bye Bye Bird” (Dixon-Williamson).

French CDs: (The Toggery Five #3):

• CD: Various artists: “Connection 1963-66” French Saga SAGA RS 1 1999
  Contains 20 tracks including The Toggery Five’s “I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys” (Oldham-Richard). All tracks on this CD are written or backed by members of the Rolling Stones and friends.

(The Toggery Five #2):

• CD: Various artists: “Made In England Vol.2 – British Beat Special 1964-69” French LCD 25-2 2000
  Contains 24 tracks including The Toggery Five’s “Bye Bye Bird” (Dixon-Williamson) and ”I’m Gonna Jump” (Frank Renshaw).

Hungarian CD: (The Toggery Five #2):

• CD: Various artists: “Rare 60’s Beat Treasures - Vol.5” Hungarian Gone Beat BT-CD 77014 1995
  Contains 26 tracks including The Toggery Five’s “I’m Gonna Jump” (Frank Renshaw).

UNRELEASED TRACKS:

(The Toggery Five #2):

• Unreleased/acetate: “Dance With You“ (J.H.Frost-D.Styrup)
  From “Ready Steady Win” competition on Rediffusion TV 1964

(The Toggery Five #3):

• Unreleased/acetate: “I’m Alive” (Clint Ballard Jr.) Recorded before The Hollies’ version! 1965
• Unreleased/acetate: “Going Away“ (Graham Gouldman) 1965
• Unreleased/acetate: “Going Away“ (Graham Nash) 1965

TOGGERY FIVE-RELATED MATERIAL:

Dutch SINGLE: (billed as The Toggery)

(The Toggery Five #7):

• 45:”No! No! No!” (Ray Teret)/” Baby You Blow My Mind” (Ray Teret) 

Swedish SINGLE:  (billed as Paul Young)

• 45:”You Girl” (Roger James)/”Baby You Blow My Mind” (Ray Teret)

German SINGLES: (billed as Paul Young)

• 45:"You Girl" (Roger James)/"No! No! No!" (Ray Teret) 
• 45:”I Like The Way” (Sanford Alexander)/”You’ve Got To Have A Laugh” (Sanford Alexander)

UK SINGLE: (billed as Paul Young)

• 45:”You Girl” (Roger James)/”No! No! No!” (Ray Teret) 

THE YOUNG BROTHERS: (Paul Young and Frank Renshaw)

UK SINGLES:

• 45:”I’ve Always Wanted Love” (Greenaway-Cook)/”Mirror, Mirror” (Renshaw-Young) MCA MU1042 1968

YOUNG & RENSHAW:

UK SINGLES:

• 45:”Way Up There” (Young-Renshaw)/”Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love” (Young-Renshaw) Bell BLL 1152 1971
• 45:”High Flyin’ Bird” (Young-Renshaw)/”Driftwood” (Young-Renshaw) Bell BLL 1176 9/1971
• 45:”Gonna See Delaney Again” (Tony Macauley-Roger Cookaway)/”Carry On” (Young-Renshaw) Bell BLL 1257 1972

UK LPs:

• LP: Young & Renshaw: “This Is Young & Renshaw” Bell BELLS 201 1/1972
  High Flyin’ Bird(Young-Renshaw)/Driftwood(Young-Renshaw)/We All Love The Sun (Young-Renshaw)/Road To Adana(Young-Renshaw)/Mary Come Now(Young-Renshaw)/Growin’ Up Blues(Young-Renshaw)/Way Up There(Young-Renshaw)/ Wish I Was Back Home(Young-Renshaw)/Sabri(Young-Renshaw)/Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love(Young-Renshaw)/Gettin’ Up In The Morning(Young-Renshaw)/The Beginning Of The End(Young-Renshaw).

US SINGLE:

• 45:”Silver Pearl” (Young-Renshaw)/Carry On (Young-Renshaw) Bell 45,257 1973

Japanese LP:

• LP: Various artists: “Bell Sounds – Sound Sampler” Japanese Bell BLPF-1 1972
  Featured artists are The Partridge Family, David Cassidy, Edison Lighthouse, Gary Glitter, Young & Renshaw, The Delfonics, Dixie Lee Innes, Alzo Fronte, The 5th. Dimension and Michel Legrand.
  Contains 10 tracks including “Gonna See Delaney Again” by Young & Renshaw. 

Compiled by Olaf Owre 1998 - updated 2003  

Memories

In 1968 our band (Crooks Brown Band) had a regular gig at an after hours drinking club in Bury, the Philsbury, the owner of which was a European gent of no fixed nationality called - you've guessed it - Phil.

One night Paul Young called in on his way back from a Young Brothers gig at one of the famous Yorkshire working men's clubs and had a sing with us. He told us that at the end of his gig, the Concert Secretary had taken possession of the mike to announce 'the turns' for the following week. According to Paul he had said something like, "Next week we've got four n*****s booked over my head by the committee. You might like them, I don't - The Original Drifters!" Whether or not it was true, it was a good story.

With regard to the redoubtable Archie, he played congas with us for a short time in the late sixties during which he gave us a load of laughs at the same time managing to prove that not all of God's children got rhythm. His vocal rendition of 'Hold Him Joe' was, shall we say, rhythmically free and I don't think that 'Me donkey wants a smoke' was part of the original lyrics. When I last heard of him he had become a painter and decorator assisted by Dave Jones, sometime vocalist and once junior deputy assistant roadie with the St. Louis Union. 

One of their jobs was decorating a cellar in Moss Side which resulted in Dave developing a particularly nasty dose of a very vivid yellow jaundice. At one point Archie was picked up by the police for being in possession of some suspect cigarettes. The police held him overnight and while he was in, his flat was burgled. When the magistrate asked him if he had anything to say, he explained that it wasn't fair that the police had locked him up because while he was in burglars had stolen 'Arl me gears'.  The case was not dismissed. 

Pete Crooks - 18/4/09

Sad to note the recent passing of Ken Mills.

23/10/10

Hi, don't know if you know this but 'Pacific Drift' album has been released for CD, Larry King does a website for PD archives http://www.pacificdrift.co.uk, he emailed me about Graham Harrop, nice guy, 

Phil Platt - 26/5/11