The Klubs formed at the Birkenhead Institute for Boys, located in a borough called Wirral, which is across the Mersey River from Liverpool. Originally a band by the name of the Klubs was put together in just two days so that they could enter an R&B contest on the Isle of Man in September 1965 – and they actually won the contest.
By the end of the year, the line-up had settled into a sextet: Paddy Breen (vocals), Alan Walker (vocals, harmonica), Trevor Griffiths (lead guitar), John Reid (rhythm guitar), Norris Easterbrook (bass) and Kenny Marshall (drums). In the early years, they were a hard-driving rhythm and blues band that performed a lot of covers of Rolling Stones and Pretty Things songs.
Now a psychedelic band with a primitive light show, the Klubs began by taking a “flower power”" approach in their performances, complete with “Love not War” sloganeering. Sadly, drummer Kenny Marshall drowned in a boating accident shortly after leaving the band; he was replaced in the band by Peter Sinclair-Tidy, who had been in another local band called Crazy Chains.
(July 2013)
