Peter Charles 'Pete' Chester (born 9 September 1941) is an English drummer and songwriter. He is the son of comedian and broadcaster Charlie Chester. [1]
Chester started his career by forming the band The Five Chesternuts with Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch in 1957, [2] which released the unsuccessful single "Teenage Love" on the Columbia label and appeared on the Six-Five Special on BBC television. [3] Marvin and Welch left in 1958 to join Cliff Richard and The Drifters, the forerunner of what became Cliff Richard and The Shadows the following year. [1] Chester had a UK Hit Record in 1960 - "Ten Swingin' Bottles" which reached the Top 30 in that year - Ref NME.
In 1959, Welch visited Chester and asked him if he had any songs as everybody was song writing at the time. They went through his list of songs and found "Please Don't Tease", which Chester had just written, and they worked on it together.[ citation needed ] Welch eventually sang it to Cliff Richard who recorded it. It went to number one for three weeks in 1960. [1]
Chester's song "Left Out Again", and "Tell Me" written with Bruce Welch, appeared on Cliff Richard's album Me and My Shadows released later in 1960. [4] The first single released under The Shadows' name was "Saturday Dance" written by Chester and Hank Marvin. [3]
Hank Brian Marvin is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for the Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the backing band for Cliff Richard, and subsequently for Marvin, Welch & Farrar.
Terence "Jet" Harris was an English rock and roll musician. He was the bass guitarist of the Shadows from 1958 until April 1962, and had subsequent success as a soloist and as a duo with the drummer Tony Meehan.
The Shadows were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre-Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard from 1958 to 1968, and have joined him for several reunion tours.
Bruce Welch is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer, singer and businessman best known as a founding member of the Shadows.
Marvin, Welch & Farrar were a 1970s British and Australian popular music group formed by Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, both members of The Shadows – as a change of direction manoeuvre during 1970 to 1973 – and John Farrar. The distinction was that while The Shadows were famous for their instrumental work, Marvin Welch & Farrar were a trio, vocal harmony group. They have been favourably compared to USA folk close harmony group Crosby Stills Nash and Young and The Hollies.
"Living Doll" is a song written by Lionel Bart made popular by Cliff Richard and the Shadows in 1959. It was the top selling single in the UK in 1959. It has topped the UK charts twice: in its original version in 1959 and a new version recorded in 1986 in aid of Comic Relief. It is one of the few songs released by an English singer to chart on the American Billboard charts before the British Invasion occurred.
"Foot Tapper" is an instrumental by British guitar group the Shadows, released as a single in February 1963. It went to number one in the UK Singles Chart, and was the Shadows' last UK number-one hit.
"Please Don't Tease" is a 1960 song recorded by Cliff Richard and the Shadows. Recorded in March and released as a single in June, the song became their third No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart spending three weeks at the summit. The song was written by the Shadows' rhythm guitarist Bruce Welch together with Pete Chester.
"I Love You" is the fourth UK number-one hit single by Cliff Richard and the Shadows. It was written by the Shadows' rhythm guitarist Bruce Welch. Released in November 1960, it was a Christmas No. 1 and stayed at the chart summit for two weeks, although it did not carry a traditional holiday theme. The song also reached No. 1 in New Zealand.
Reunited is a 2009 studio album by British pop singer Cliff Richard and his original backing band the Shadows. The album celebrates the 50th anniversary of Cliff's first recordings and performances with The Shadows, and is their first studio collaboration for forty years. It features re-recordings of their hits from the late 1950s and early 1960s, plus three rock and roll era songs not previously recorded by them; "C'mon Everybody", "Sea Cruise" and the album's only single "Singing the Blues".
"Theme for Young Lovers" is an instrumental by British group the Shadows, released as a single in February 1964. It peaked at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
"The Savage" is a song by British group the Shadows, released as a single in November 1961. It peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
"A Voice in the Wilderness" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, released as a single in January 1960. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and also received a silver disc for 250,000 sales.
"Nine Times Out of Ten" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, released as a single in September 1960. It peaked at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart and also received a silver disc for 250,000 sales.
Thank You Very Much is an album of the March 1978 reunion concerts at the London Palladium by English singer Cliff Richard and the group that backed him in the 1950s and 1960s The Shadows. It was released in February 1979 on the EMI label and reached No. 5 in the UK Albums Chart.
The Whole Story: His Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by Cliff Richard, released in 2000. It includes 46 of Richard's biggest hits, from his first single "Move It" to his then most recent single, "The Millennium Prayer". The album reached number 6 in the UK Albums Chart.
"Don't Forget to Catch Me" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, released as a single in November 1968 from their album Established 1958. It peaked at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Wonderful to Be Young" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and released as a single by Cliff Richard and the Shadows in September 1962, from their album Wonderful to Be Young.
"Catch Me" is a song written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett and was first recorded in 1960 by American teenage singer Jeri Lynne Fraser and released as the B-side of her single "Poor Begonia " in August 1960.
"Lessons in Love" is a song written by Sy Soloway and Shirley Wolfe and was first recorded by American teenage singer Jeri Lynne Fraser and released as a single in May 1961. The song has had chart success with covers by Cliff Richard and the Shadows and the Allisons.