Top Ten Club
Encyclopedia
The Top Ten Club was a music club in Hamburg
, Germany
owned by Peter Eckhorn. The address in Hamburg area St. Pauli
was 136 Reeperbahn
.
The Club was being managed at the time, by Ricky Barnes a kind of 'eminence grise' among expatriate musicians in Hamburg. Also on the bill that month were the Summer Set among whose members was Les Humphries who went on to 'discover' Boney-M, marry a Yugoslav princess and lead the South German equivalent of a James Last Band.
Feb 1966 one of the bands was allegedly Bluesology, according to what was carved into the woodwork, everywhere) featuring a keyboard player named Reg Dwight who grew up to be Elton John.
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
owned by Peter Eckhorn. The address in Hamburg area St. Pauli
St. Pauli
St. Pauli , located in the Hamburg-Mitte borough, is one of the 105 quarters of the city of Hamburg, Germany. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the Landungsbrücken are a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Pauli contains a world famous red light district around the street Reeperbahn...
was 136 Reeperbahn
Reeperbahn
The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district...
.
Musicians who have played here
- The Frank Sheen Sound 1966 March. Frank Sheen (Vocals - last seen in Nashville 2006,) John Cushen (bass - lost to music), John Herridge (Drums - lost to music), Jeff Condon (Tpt - last seen with Mark Almond), T.J. Huggett (Organ - lost to music), Bi-polar Mike (Sax keeping the Mental Health services in business). All seven lived in the dormitory above the club, (2 sinks, 1 toilet, no cooking or laundry facilities, no noise in dormitory after 8.p.m. because of the neighbours in the flats on either side).
The Club was being managed at the time, by Ricky Barnes a kind of 'eminence grise' among expatriate musicians in Hamburg. Also on the bill that month were the Summer Set among whose members was Les Humphries who went on to 'discover' Boney-M, marry a Yugoslav princess and lead the South German equivalent of a James Last Band.
Feb 1966 one of the bands was allegedly Bluesology, according to what was carved into the woodwork, everywhere) featuring a keyboard player named Reg Dwight who grew up to be Elton John.
- The Jets Iain Hines (Founder/Keyboards) Pete Wharton (bass), Colin Melander (guitar), Tony SheridanTony SheridanTony Sheridan , is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist...
(guitar), Rick Hardy (guitar). - The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, between March and July 1961. The Beatles lived in the attic above the club, and backed Tony Sheridan in their first official recording sessions during this period. - Next of Kin South Wales Rock Group (Ebbw Vale) Frankie Allan (vocals) Robert Evans (bass) Dai Johns (Lead Guitar) Mike Ashman (Rhythm Guitar) Alan Snell (drums) played there 1965 lived in the attic above the club
- Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & TichDave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & TichDave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich , were a British pop/rock group of the 1960s. Two of their single releases sold in excess of one million copies each, and they reached Number One in the UK with the second of them, "The Legend of Xanadu".-Biography:Five friends from Wiltshire, David John Harman,...
. - The Blackjacks Pat Harris (Vocals), Don Callard (Lead Guitar), Robbie Williams (Rhythm and Vocals), Bob Wilkinson (Bass) and Pete James (Drums) - March, 1963 then Moved onto Top Ten Club, Hannover.
- Universe'. South-Wales rock band. Played 5 residencies at the TOP TEN between May 1970 and August 1971. Members: Michael Blanche(You Tube aka HOLLOPOP), Steve Finn, John Healan, Mike Lloyd-Jones and Rob Reynolds.(Pete Hurley, Steve Keeley, Phil Summers)
- Strawberry Dust (later became Racing CarsRacing CarsRacing Cars are a Welsh pop band, formed in the Rhondda Valley, Wales in 1973.-Career:They were signed to one of the biggest British record labels of the time, Chrysalis Records. Racing Cars's debut album yielded their only hit single with "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"...
) South Wales rock band, February 1971. Members: Morty, Graham Williams, Jack Bass and Dicky Owen. - Quicksand South Wales rock band. 1971. Members: Phil Davies, Jimmy Davies, Jeff Hooper, Anthony Stone and Rob Collins.
- The Mastersounds - Liverpool R & B Combo - Mal Jefferson (Leader/ Bass/ Vocals), Adrian Lord (Vocals), Tony Cockayne (Guitar ES.175), Mike Price (Drums), Gerry Stewart (Tenor Sax), usually augmented by Ricky Barnes (In-House Tenor Sax Player) and Isobel Bond (In-House Vocals). Occasionally augmented by Iain Hines (Keyboards) and Jimmy Doyle (Drums). August 1964. Sweet Marriage 1969 Tony Merrick, Alan Doyle, Tony Macdonald, Ronnie
- The Smokeless Zone (Formerly also known as "The Jets") “Plum” Hollis (vocals), Deke LeonardDeke LeonardRoger "Deke" Leonard is a rock musician, "serving a life sentence in the music business." Best known as a member of the progressive rock band Man, which he joined and left several times, and for fronting his own rock and roll band Iceberg, which he formed and disbanded several times, he is also...
(guitar), Martin Ace (bass), Beau Adams and later Terry WilliamsTerry Williams (drummer)Terrence "Terry" Williams is a Welsh rock drummer, whose resume includes work for Dire Straits, B. B. King, and Bob Dylan....
(drums), with guest appearances by Tony Sheridan - Oswald Orange. South Wales rock band. February 1971. Members: Alice Ennis(guitar)Jeff Smith(guitar) Pete Smith(bass,vocals)John Russon(drums)
- Wayne Gibson & The Dynamic Sounds. South London rock band. Played from 1st Nov, 1961 to Jan, 1962. Wayne Gibson (vocals), Mick Todman (lead guitar), Ray Rogers (bass), Pete Gillies (rhythm guitar) and Larry Cole (drums).
- Mustard Cheshire rock band 1971. Members : Alan Williamson, Rick Shaw, Alan Hopkins, Melvyn Allen, Kenny Jones.
Trivia
- Each member of The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
were to be paid 35 deutschmarksGerman markThe Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...
. - The Mastersounds met Sean Connery and the Krupp Brothers in the club. They also were recorded by the secret in-house studio operated by Iain Hines. The songs were released on 45 rpm singles and they had a number of German Juke Box Hits including a No. 1 with 'Ooh My Soul!' - vocal by Mal Jefferson. The records were released on the club's own 'Top Ten' record label.
External links
- http://www.music.indiana.edu/som/courses/rock/hamburgclubs.html
- http://www.beatlesource.com/savage/1961/61.03.27%2007.02%20top%20ten/1961topten.html