We terrified the audience – and they loved it
READERS who lived through the 1960s will remember The Monster Mash.
Many may also remember seeing that very song performed live as the exhilarating theatrical finale by one of the bestloved local bands of the late sixties, The Light Fantastic.
By the end of the decade, they had only been performing around the Midlands as a five-piece for about a year, and many other talented established bands would be regularly playing the local clubs and pubs in the area – The Californians, The ‘N Betweens, Herbies People and The Montanas to name but a few.
They were based in Wolverhampton, but their line-up wasn’t entirely made up of lads from the Black Country. The drummer, Tony Harrison, came from Hampshire. Lead guitarist Richard Brown grew up in Brechin, and rhythm guitarist Keith Locke was from Liverpool. The local boys were Birmingham boy Ron Dickson on bass guitar, and the last to join the band, Roy ‘Dripper’ Kent, on lead vocals who hailed from Dudley.
Roots
None of them were novices though. Ron Dickson had been in The Vogues in Birmingham for many years, a band that had brought in Keith Locke on lead vocals after
Johnny Carroll in 1967.
Richard Brown had briefly played guitar in Procol Harum, and throughout the decade Dripper had performed with The Marauders, The Strangers, and then the renowned Finders Keepers, before joining The Light Fantastic.
It wasn’t just their abilwent solo ity to play different types of pop music really well that made them so popular, it was also their enthusiasm to entertain. This came across strongly to their audience, whether it was at a working men’s club, the Civic Hall or a youth centre. They always played as if they were going to enjoy the evening more than you were – and they probably did.
Like many bands at the time, their stage act consisted of cover versions of current chart hits, versions that were true to, and as good as, the originals but the audience would always be waiting and hoping to witness their infamous finale, described as the ‘coffin act’.
The magnificence of this finale has now been recollected in the last chapter of Paul Morris’s first book, entitled ‘Chasing the Light Fantastic’ chronicling the band’s appearance at the Venturers Youth Club on Warstones Road. Here’s an excerpt ...
Rapture
“Dripper announced that they would play two more songs and that would be it, although everyone knew it wouldn’t be. Two smoochy pop ballads – ‘Soul Deep’ by The Box Tops and a brilliant version of Jackie de Shannon’s song ‘Put a Little Love in Your Heart’ – were followed by rapturous applause from the crowd with plenty of footstomping and whistles.
“The band trooped off to their dressing room as the applause continued and the youngsters became aware that something special was about to happen.
“After a couple of minutes, the door at the side of the club opened and in walked four of the band – Dripper, Richard, Keith and Tony – carrying a large coffin onto the stage.
“They placed it in the middle as smoke and dry ice started to come from the rear of the stage. Tony sat down at his drum set, a funereal look on his face and began a well-recognised rhythm beat. Dripper began to sing in a cartoonish fashion ... I was working in the lab late one night, when my eyes beheld an eerie sight ... and then the rest of the band began to play, no one noticing that Keith was playing bass, with Ron nowhere to be seen.
“Just as they all sang with Dripper on the ‘Monster Mash’ chorus, there was a loud creak and the lid of the coffin slowly began to open. The form of a giant fiend – Ron was way over sixfoot-tall – slowly sat up, looking like a cross between Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula, and just smiled, as blood began to drip down from the fangs in his mouth.
“Stepping out of the coffin, Ron the Monster staggered around the stage as the band continued to play their extended version of Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett’s hit. The crowd loved it, especially the boys as, when Ron lurched towards any of the girls, they would seek refuge and safety in the arms of the nearest lad, whether boyfriend or not.
Scary
“After a few verses, the Monster made his way into the crowd, walking seemingly blind but knowing that he was scaring many of the fairer sex as he loomed towards them and the crowd parted, like Moses splitting the Red Sea.
“He continued his path towards the dressing room as the band continued to encourage everyone to ‘do the mash, do the monster mash’ finally finishing with a wonderful noisy flourish. The crowd went crazy again, as they all took their bows and left the stage. It was a brilliantly staged ending.”
Paul’s semi-biographical novel of his teenage years, growing up in Penn, is dedicated to the memory of all those talented bands who entertained teenagers in Wolverhampton in the late sixties and to the music of that time, Paul believing that “there will never be a more eclectic soundtrack to go through such formative teenage years”.
Each chapter in the book also features a Wolverhampton Wanderers football match, illustrating the religious way in which supporters attend matches, through thick and thin, and then moan, praise or rant on matters over which they actually have no influence whatsoever.
Paul also showcases an LP that he would save up to buy. It was a time when things were not so immediately available as nowadays and you needed to bide your time before you could buy them. Teenagers then relied on generous relatives and godparents to supply the record tokens to buy LPS or they would take Saturday jobs or paper rounds in order to supplement their weekly pocket money.
However, there was one important thing that was readily accessible to teenagers at that time – music – and dancing – at youth clubs, right across the town, from Codsall to Penn, Fallings Park to Warstones, and Compton to Wednesfield.
Memories
So, here at The Bugle, we would really like to hear about your memories of which great bands you saw, which youth club you went to and what stays in your memory about their performances, especially The Light Fantastic and their legendary finale. Contact details are on page 2.
Chasing the Light Fantastic by Paul Morris is available as a paperback edition, price £9.99, from Waterstones in Victoria Street, Wolverhampton, and online at amazon.co. uk, where you can also download the novel as a Kindle edition for £4.99.