The Wiltshire Sound

"You all will have read that Dave Dee is no longer with us. But Micky and Tich and I would like to carry on the good work that's always gone down in number two."

Thus spake George Harrison in a mock press release he read to the control room staff in Abbey Road Studio Two on January 3, 1970, the day the Beatles - minus John Lennon, who was away - recorded their last song as a band until the Anthology reunion. Indeed, this clip of Harrison's words appear on the Anthology 3 record before "I Me Mine," the song in question. What Americans didn't know, of course, is that the nicknames Harrison used partially referred to a group of five lads from Wiltshire that spent more weeks in the British singles charts than the Beatles between 1965 and 1969.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich were active from 1964 to 1972 and were known in England for their pulsating, rhythmic hit singles. They named the group for their nicknames, though someone should have warned them that would never get far in America with a name like that. Their real names were, respectively, David John Harman (Dave Dee) on lead vocals, Trevor Leonard Ward-Davies (Dozy) on bass guitar, John Dymond (Beaky) on rhythm guitar, Michael Wilson (Mick) on drums, and Ian Frederick Stephen Amey (Tich) on lead guitar.

I suddenly remembered them recently and checked out their work on YouTube Their 1966 song "It's So Hard To Love You" is probably the best example of their music, as it's a wonderfully danceable beat tune.

By some eerie coincidence, I first checked out this quintet online shortly after Harman died of cancer this past January 9. He had left music and become a justice of the peace, retiring this past December due to his health.

"You all will have read that Dave Dee is no longer with us. . . ." :-(

More on this group here.