THE CRYAN’ SHAMES
The Cryan’ Shames are an American garage rock band from Hinsdale, Illinois. They originally formed as The Travelers, with founding members Tom Doody (“Toad”), Gerry Stone (“Stonehenge”), Dave Purple (“Grape”) of The Prowlers, Denny Conroy and Jim Fairs from The Roosters, Jim Pilster (“J.C. Hooke”, so named because he was born without a left hand and wore a hook), and Bill Hughes. The band’s most successful moment came with their cover of The Searchers song, “Sugar and Spice”. (More from Wikipedia)
The Searchers is another Liverpool band that had numerous hits in the U.K., though they were less successful in the U.S.; their biggest hit songs here were remakes of “Love Potion No. 9” and “Needles and Pins”. The Swinging Blue Jeans barely missed the U.S. Top 20 with their cover of “Hippy Hippy Shake”, which was also recorded by the Beatles. Others include the Cryin’ Shames (not to be confused with the Cryan’ Shames, an American band from the same time period), the Merseybeats, the Hideaways, the Koobas (also known as the Kubas), and one of the first all-female rock bands, the Liverbirds.
(July 2013)
