Review Centre: 1950s & 60s Style Bands

"Amazing. Radio Dance floor full from first song to the last. Great energy. So friendly and kind. Excellent communication throughout. Highly recommend. Fabulous. Made the event what is was, MAGICAL. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"REVIEW OF OUR LATEST CD ALBUM IN JAZZ JOURNAL Kit Packham’s One Jump Ahead: Everybody Loves A Boogie The entertaining British jump-jive revival band ploughs the familiar furrow, offering cheeky covers and originals with occasional solos By Hugh Rainey -13 October 2023437 Formed in 1984, this UK group plays jump-jive in a bright and breezy, entertaining style, blended with R&B and vintage rock and roll, and seasoned with light-hearted humour. Leader Kit Packham sings confidently in appropriate style on every track bar one, and contributes alto and tenor to the backing throughout. Packham also composed and wrote the lyrics for eight of the tracks and alternative lyrics for some cheeky adaptations of standards – My Swingin’ Valentine (an upbeat treatment of My Funny Valentine, which surprisingly works quite well) and the very funny Basingstoke (to the melody of Baby Face) and Buy A CD (with appropriate uninhibited bathos to My Way). On the whole, the originals work well for the genre. Love Me, Love My Saxophone and I Dig Potatoes have amusing lyrics somewhat reminiscent of Louis Jordan and Slim Gaillard in style. Enjoyable versions of Don’t Get Around Much Any More, Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby and My Swingin’ Valentine, come closest to straightforward jazz treatment with some worthwhile brief solos and touches of arrangement. The tracks come from sessions in 2009, 2017 and 2023, mainly as six or seven piece lineups it seems, but with changing personnels. Though studio recorded, the CD comes across as cheery live entertainment – for dancers, rather than perhaps for close, serious listening. But it’s certainly good fun, with some inventive fresh material, and a sense of humour to give a welcome lift to your spirits in these troubled times. Discography Everybody Loves A Boogie; Don’t Clap On The First Beat Of The Bar; Old Rock “n” Roll Songs Never Die; Don’t Get Around Much Any More; Love Me, Love My Saxophone; Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby; Route 66; Alley Club Blues; As Time Goes By; Alright, OK, You Win; Lockdown Chase; My Swingin’ Valentine; I Dig Potatoes; Basingstoke; Buy A CD; We Had A Real Good Time/We’ll Meet Again (53.52) Collectively: Kit Packham (v, ts, as, bar, cl); Nick Tomalin, Perry White (p); John O’Reilly (g); Steve Knight (g, ts, bj); Alex Keen, Ollie Blanchflower (b); Derek Gayle, Kenrick Rowe (d); Simon Da Silva (t); Tracey Mendham (ts, cl). UK, 2009, 2017, 2023 (No further details.) Pelican records PEL CD 523 "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Called Cats Whiskers short notice Good Friday 2pm to play that night Friday 9pm at Paddington Packet boat Great Classic Oldies number 1 hits from 1950s 1960s and 70s Audience Loved the Set list very enjoyable pleasant evening was had by all have Rebooked them last Friday in June 2018 recommend to all other Venues Jackie Farmer Manageress "

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"Just to say a very big thank you for performing at our party last night. You were absolutely amazing and everybody loved it. Thank you!"

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"Hi Keith, please pass our thanks on to the band for such a great performance at our wedding. We loved every minute of it! Will be recommending you guys to everyone! Hope you all got back safely and thanks again for making our reception so memorable!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We just wanted to say a massive thank you for playing at our wedding - you were fantastic! You made it so personal and special to us. You helped us choose the songs and every person we spoke to said how amazing you guys were - having you play for us was a real highlight of of our wedding! Thank you Shoreline Sounds xxx "

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" Somerset Soul and Rebecca performed at our wedding in December 2021 and they were absolutely fantastic. Rebecca is a great singer and the band are superb musicians - there were great guitar solos. At the end of the evening and following the wedding, so many of our guests told us that they thought they were a great wedding band, and the dancefloor was full for the whole evening. They responded and reacted to the crowd expertly. The set list was a great selection of genres and decades, enjoyed by 3 generations. Rhona, their manager, was great to deal with before the wedding - she asked us questions, she shared an example set list, and she arranged for the first dance to be played."

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"Just to let you know that Tony was excellent and exceeded our expectations. I thanked him after his gig but please do pass on my thanks to him again. We were delighted with him. "

Reply by The British Bublé
Thank you for your kind words! It was my pleasure to perform for you all and it was amazing to see you all have such a wonderful time. Hope to perform for you again one day soon!

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"I would definitely recommend They Got The Party to anyone who wants a busy dance floor! They played at our wedding and everyone commented on how great the music was and the fantastic atmosphere. We also requested some of our favourite songs, which they learnt and played on the night - great memories! Thanks again..."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Soul Delight were very professional. We loved the set list and the quality of the covers. We had so many comments during the evening about how good they were. They got the party started brilliantly well!"

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"Many thanks for your efforts over the weekend, your act received the most feedback and everyone thought you were terrific. It was great that you got so involved and engaged with the audience. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We would just like to express how impressed we were with They Got The Party. They were absolutely brilliant and the dance floor wasn't empty at Any point during the night. Their playlist was exactly what we were hoping For and it meant that the music catered for all generations. Many of our Guests commented on how good the band was. It was a bonus that they Sang our first dance and we were very grateful for that. We will always Keep the band in mind for future events and recommend to others. Keep Up the good work."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"I just wanted to say a BIG thank you for playing at our Wedding, from start to finish you were absolutely brilliant we cannot thank you enough! Any questions we had prior to the Wedding you were always available it made the planning so easy for us. We have honestly had the most amount of compliments about you guys; you really did get the party going playing a whole range of tunes to suit everyone. Everyone has also commented on how much you guys seemed to enjoy playing and entertaining, you were just amazing!! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"You will not be disappointed, book The Vibrations now!"

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"A great evenings performance that had our event on its feet."

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