The Wild Life
info courtesy Roy Henshall
Lineup
- Paul Smith - lead singer
- Dave (Beef) Williams - lead guitar
- Roy Henshall - rhythm guitar (Vox Rangemaster!)
- Ian Kirkbride - Bass
- Harvey Goldman - Drums
From 1963 to 1965 The Wild Life were more or less resident at Bury Palais (Mondays and sometimes Wednesday). Also did prestigious Saturdays there as support for the likes of Hermans Hermits, Nashville Teens.
Remember asking Jack Kelly or Wally Wilson for a rise from our basic 5 pound gig and being told NO. He said he would find another group to take our place...Oh to feel wanted. The truth was there were other groups just waiting to take your place, such was the sixties.
Ian Kirkbride left to tour Germany whilst Roy Henshall went on to do stints with Wayne Fontana and then settling in the Canary Islands and still gigging!
Wonderful days of Reslo mikes and TVM PA's as well as the brand new 50 watts Selmer Zodiac guitar amp.
Remember the Warriors being one of the loudest groups around at the time using, I think, all selmer gear.
Also doing the Oasis club many times with Ivans Meads and Graham Bond.
Roy Henshall
Alan Forshaw reformed The Wild Life with Ian Kirkbride and Harvey Goldman in late1965 and found a girl vocalist called Linda Rothwell also a keyboard player.
Appeared at venues touring the north of England and Scotland, appearing with Lulu and Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers at Morecombe Winter Gardens and plenty of other sixties groups.
We had full diary as I did a bit of agency work with Sounds Entertainments and some Ian Hamilton, so we went pro. Llinda was offered a job by Barry Collins with the Lemon Line and had some fame with Les Nocturnes then the keybourd player left. That wasn't the end though, we got a new girl singer - Susan Barton who was a great singer. That formed the new line up, not forgetting my wife Christine Forshaw, our second girl singer.
We then we went to Germany but that is another story.
Alan Forshaw - 24/3/10
PS Alan - you didn't leave your email so couldn't thank you or add you to the mailing list.
Haha..This is your long lost singer Linda Rothwell..nice to see your page.I'm in the US (guess you know this). Wow - I'm having flashbacks of me singing"Will you still love me tomorrow" remember that..hey why am I not in the picture??
Linda Rothwell - 6/9/11
Thanks Linda for getting in touch. I did know you lived in the U.S.A and will find picture of you with the WILDLIFE. I am now having a flashback of us coming off stage at the Embassy Club where we finished with SHOUT when LULU met us at the side of the stage and said "That was great - I'm on later!"
Alll the best
Alan Forshaw - 12/2/12
1965 Gigs
Its amazing what you can dig up when you look. Amazingly Roy has just found theis 1965 gig list in an old box in his home in the Canaries.
- March 15. Bury Barracks.
- March 19 Unsworth Con club (6 quid)
- March 20 Unsworth Con club """"
- March 22 Bury Palais (5 quid)
- March 26 Failsworth Lab
- March 29 Bury Palais (5 quid)
- April 5 Bury Palais (5 quid)
- April 15 Whitefield Con ????(cant read this entry) Missing page,
- April 25 Black Night club, Waterfoot
Missing pages - May 7 Heywood Labour (7 quid)
- May 18 Station Hotel (poss Bury?)
- May 22 Bury Palais (5 quid)
- May 23 Mocambo coffee club (poss Rochdale?)
- May 27 Boneyard (Bolton)
- June 4 Gladstone Liberal (Bury)
- June 10 Black night club (where was this?)
Missing pages until... - July 12 Bury Palais
- July 17 Brewers arms (Bury)
- July 19 Bury Palais
- July 21 Bury Palais
- July 24 Standard Arms (No idea where)
Missing page. - August 6 Gladstone Club ???
- August 13 Heywood Labour
- August 19 Cubi Klub (Rochdale)
- August 21 Cubi Klub
- Sept 4 Staff of Life (Bury)
- Sept 5 Bury Odeon (I seem to remember us doing this before the main feature, could it have been the Beatles Help film?)
- Sept 5 (Same day) Fusiliers Arms.
- Sept 6 Jungfrau
- Sept 16 The Limit (Middleton)
- Sept 19 Manchester Victoria Rail Club
- Sept 24 Regency club (?)
- Sept 25 Staff of Life (Bury)
- Sept 27 Bury Palais
- Oct 9 Masons Arms (Bury)
- Oct 12 Oasis club
- Oct 18 Oldham astoria
- Oct 20 Fusiliers Arms (possibly now the Paddock on Regents Rd?)
- Oct 21 Fusiliers
- Oct 22 " "
- Oct 23 ""
- Oct 24/25 and 26 Fusiliers
- Nov 6 Staff of life
- Nov 10 Bury Palais
- Nov 13 Bury Palais
- Nov 21 Oldham catacombs (7 quid)
- Nov 29 Bury Palais
- Dec 3 Warrington youth club
- Dec 4 Middleton (cany read entry)
- Dec 15 Bury Palais
- Dec 20 Oldham catacombs
- Dec 24 free trade Inn (Bury)
- Dec 25 Staff of Life and Bury palais (possibly a dinner time session)
Also found this running sheet of songs for The Oasis
- Midnight hour
- Shame
- Spoonful
- You really got me
- One in the middle (Manfreds?)
- Wooly bully
- Sloopy(?)
- Satisfaction
- Roadrunner
- Take this hammer
- Louie Louie
(so, nothing too complicated in those days!!!)
Comments powered by CComment