THE BUNCH @ late 1967 with new vocalist Eric Jones on the far left (photo by Dave Cooper. )

It was late October 1964 when a young beat band from Christchurch, England, returned to the Winter Gardens in neighbouring Bournemouth in the hope of going three better in the ‘Big Beat and Vocal’ contest. Eight months prior, as Dave and The Concordes, they had come fourth in the inaugural competition. Now though, they entered as a slimmed-down quartet, with a new name – The Bunch.

They won of course, beating the original entry of thirty-five other hopefuls from the South of England to the ‘massive’ £10 prize.

As word spread, gigs outwith their immediate locale became more frequent, and so drummer and founder member John Sherry invested in a (battered) vintage 1949 ambulance, which was converted into a ‘tour bus’ of sorts, and used to transport the band around the venues of neighbouring counties.

Gigs weren’t just confined to the South Coast, either, and a month’s residency at the famous Star Club in Hamburg, Germany was secured.

The Bunch-mobile! A converted, battered 1949 ambulance.

On return to England, and in 1966 with the beat boom fading, John decided a change in direction was required. Not only that, a change, and expansion, in personnel too. The band now comprised seven members, including a brass section, and their set-list transformed from old-school R&B numbers to featuring songs from the Motown and Stax labels.

With a designated manager now on board, Jeffrey Rothner, and the backing of an agency, they moved up the gig-ladder if you like, playing as Edwin Starr‘s backing band on a three-week long UK tour with Lee Dorsey and Ike & Tina Turner.

Gigs were offered at some of the prestigious London venues, where they supported likes of The Herd, Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, Ben E. King and Bo Diddley.

The Bunch, with manager Jeffery Rothner (seated.) (Pic by Jeffrey Rothner)

The heavy gigging continued, and the band also made an appearance on German TV’s iconic ‘Beat Club’ show. A recording deal was secured with CBS and four singles released.

The first, ‘You Never Came Home‘ (above) was backed by the equally chipper ‘We’re Not What We Appear To Be.’

This single is much sought after, with Discogs showing, as I write, only one copy available for purchase … at £340, with one hundred and fifty four people registering their desire to get their hands on a copy!

The follow-up, ‘Don’t Come Back To Me,’ is a typical Mod / Northern Soul sing-a-long, but it seems that as with their debut, the label didn’t put too much effort into promotion, and both failed to make any real impression.

The band’s next release, with vocalist Pete Beckett replaced with Eric Jones and keyboard player Dave Cooper having left, saw another change in direction. Moving with the times, in November 1967 they released the more psychedelic feeling, ‘Spare a Shilling.’ The song was written by a studio engineer, John Pantry who had worked with The Kinks and The Small Faces. There are rumours that the track is not actually by The Bunch, but performed by another of Pantry’s bands, Peter & The Wolves ( who I believe, coincidentally, were also entered in the ‘Big Beat & Vocal’ competition won by The Bunch some years earlier.)

Whatever, the B-side was written by band saxophonist Dave Potter and most definitely recorded by the band! And it’s most definitely ‘psychedelia.’

This single is classed a ‘extremely rare’ – a fact borne out on Discogs, with no copies up for sale from the eighteen who own a copy, and a whopping four hundred and fifty people wanting a copy!

Again though, and this time despite being pushed by radio disc jockeys Tony Blackburn and Brian Matthew, it failed to sell in any great numbers.

The band’s final single came in September 1968. ‘Birthday‘ was another song written by studio engineer John Pantry and again, there are credible assertions that The Bunch may not have played on it! Still – it IS credited to the band, and despite some reports I’ve read, I really do like it! Ok – it’s more bubblegum pop than psychedelia, but hey, pop songs sell.

Though this one didn’t either! 😉

It didn’t really matter either way as to recorded the track as it happens, for by the time of release, The Bunch has ceased to be and the members gone their own way.

(In May 2019, Record Collector magazine released a Limited Edition album (500 copies) called Spare a Shilling. Collated by John Sherry’s son James, the fourteen songs include their first three singles with B sides, live tracks and demos on 180 gram vinyl.)

(For more information on The Bunch, check out the excellently researched article at Bournemouth Beat Boom, from where much of the information here has been gleaned.)

THE BUNCH

John Sherry – Drums
Chris Redwood – Guitar
John King – Bass
Mike Berry – Saxophone
Dave Berry – Saxophone
Dave Cooper – Keyboards
Pete Beckett – Vocals
+
Eric Jones – Vocals

TITLE	FORMAT	YEAR	LABEL	NOTES
You Never Came Home	7″ vinyl	1967	CBS
We’re Not What We Appear To Be	7″ vinyl	1967	IBC Studios
Don’t Come Back To Me	7″ vinyl	1967	CBS
Birthday	7″ vinyl	1967	CBS
Spare A Shilling	LP	2019	Record Collector Magazine	Limited 500 copies.