The band’s first single: ‘Find Somebody To Love.’

One of the things I love most about writing this LOUD HORIZON blog, is the money stumbling across bands that are related in some fashion, be that by having members in common, or because they have spawned other bands along the way.

I discovered The meddyEVILS initially on an excellent 4 x CD compilation, ‘British Mod Sounds of The 1960s.’ A little investigation led to my reading that the band have connections with The Quik and The Soul Agents – both of whom have already featured on this blog!

I guess it’s not surprising, really, given that they all emanated from the Southampton area of southern England – but who knew that city was such a hotbed of the Sixties music scene?

In 1961, guitarist Roy Roberts formed a band The Skylanes. With his younger brother, John on bass, they played mainly instrumental covers until they were joined by vocalist Tony Benson (aka, Anthony Hole) and became known as Tony Benson & The Skylanes.

The band did pretty well on the local circuit and were able to re-invest some of their earnings in better quality instruments and equipment.

A change in personnel saw Martin Smith join on drums and a keyboard player (I’m unable to ascertain his name, I’m afraid) took the place of the rhythm guitarist. A fresh start called for a fresh name, and the unusual moniker came about when the landlord of their rehearsal space happened to mention the unkempt looking lads reminded him of Medieval serfs! He also placed an emphasis on the second half of the word, accentuating the ‘evil’ part.

Eureka! There it was – The Meddy Evils. And with Roy coming from an Art School background, he convinced the others it should read The meddyEVILS, just to be different, and again to emphasize the latter part of the name.

They continued to gig and gathered a considerable following which attracted the attention of Avenue Artists in Southampton. They were now the new additions to a management roster that also included, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mitch & Titch; Rod Stewart & The Soul Agents, and Les Fleurs de Lys.

By 1965, The meddyEVILS were touring right across the UK, often in support / as openers for some of the day’s big-hitters.

On 2nd June of that year, they were invited to the Pye Records studio in central London, to audition for a recording contract with Tony Hatch. They impressed, and a deal was signed … at which point the unnamed keyboard player decided to leave (I gather he was a little ‘eccentric’ from what I’ve read.)

To bolster the band’s now one-guitar sound, Roy took it upon himself to learn tenor-sax, which he practiced incessantly in the back of the band’s tour van. Having played his uncle’s clarinets as a youngster, he took to the challenge quite easily.

The band released their first single (above) in October 1965, and played on the same bill as The Who (even jamming with them on one occasion) Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, The Yardbirds (with Jeff Beck), The Prettythings, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mitch & Titch, Peter Green and many more.

They were now a fully-fledged touring / recording band and played all over the UK. They appeared on regional / national radio and TV, the highlight of which was probably appearing on the BBC pop flagship show SATURDAY CLUB. This was hosted by Brian Matthew in front of approximately a 2,000 strong live audience and 22 MILLION listeners!

They even had a burgeoning ‘fan club’ .. remember them?

Their contract with Pye ran to a nine-singles / one album deal with the second single, ‘It’s All For You’ / ‘Ma’s Place‘ coming out in April 1966.

(You’ll hear a prominent organ line in these pieces, despite the band’s former keyboard player having departed … his place, for these recordings only, was Don Shinn – who played for The Soul Agents!)

With the UK (sort of) conquered, a European tour was lined up – but as always seems to happen to many of the bands featured here on LOUD HORIZON, disaster struck!

Firstly, vocalist Tony lost his voice and so the tour didn’t happen. Then to make matters worse for the band, one of those bands who would support them on occasion, The Troggs (heard of them? 😉 ) had a #1 hit in USA and #2 in UK with ‘Wild Thing.’

And that seems to be it! The meddyEVILS folded!

Martin Smith would go on to drum for Gentle Giant, while John Roberts carried on as The new meddyEVILS before they in turn morphed into The Quik, who are best known for the Mod classic instrumental, ‘Berts’ Apple Crumble.‘

Aah – the road to success in the music industry may be paved with gold …. but there’s sure one heck of a lot of boulders blocking the way!

**(Much of the info for this piece was gleaned from Roy Robert’s website at meddyevils.com )**

DECEMBER 2024 UPDATE!

I received an email from Roy Roberts who advised the organist whose name I could not ascertain was Roger Solomens. Sadly, Roger is no longer with us.

The BBC Saturday Club was alive gig, described by Roy simply as ‘scary!’ The band, who also backed The Downlands on the show, received a cheque for £24 from the BBC for their efforts! (Actually, I suppose that’s not too bad – by my reckoning, that’s the equivalent of £576 today … that plus the airplay / publicity.)

Roy is still playing a bit – and still working!

(Thanks for getting in touch, Roy. 🙂 )

The meddyEVILS

Roy Roberts – Guitar / Saxophone / Vocals
Tony Benson (aka Anthony Hole) – Vocals / Harmonica / Guitar
Roy Roberts – Bass / Vocals
Martin Smith – Drums

TITLE	FORMAT	YEAR	LABEL	NOTES
Find Somebody To Love	7″ Single	1965	Pye Records
It’s All For You	7″ Single	1966	Pye Records	One copy available on Discogs at £575 (November 2023)