The Montanas

Last updated

The Montanas were an English 1960s and 1970s pop rock band from Wolverhampton, England. Though they never found significant success in their home country, they had one moderate hit in the United States.

Contents

The group formed in 1964 and became known for their live shows. Their manager, Roger Allen, had them signed to Pye Records, and some of their early releases for Pye were written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent. In 1966 Terry Rowley joined the group on keyboards, and also worked with the group on composition and arranging. They released two singles in the year, the second of which, "That's When Happiness Began" b/w "Goodbye Little Girl", became a steady seller in the autumn of 1966 when it received extensive radio play. The band's breakthrough came later in the year when they became the opening act for the Walker Brothers tour across the UK, concluding in November 1966. More singles followed, and the band appeared on radio programmes like Easy Beat and Saturday Club, and touring expanded to other countries including France, the Netherlands, and Germany. One single in particular, "Ciao Baby" b/w "Anyone There", was released in March 1967, and sold over 10,000 copies in Britain alone. The band re-released the song "Ciao Baby" (written by Scott English and Larry Weiss) in 1969. [1]

Their several radio hits in England made little impact on the charts, but "You've Got to Be Loved", which was released on October 13, 1967, reached number 58 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1968, [2] and number 41 on Cashbox , [3] and number 33 on Record World , followed by "Run to Me" making it to number 121 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles charts and number 96 on Cashbox. The band, however, was unable to promote the single in the US, so no other national hits followed. Their lineup changed considerably in 1967 and again in 1968, and they continued releasing singles, often written by outside writers, that were more radio-friendly than their live sound. In 1969, the group left the Pye label, and Rowley and vocalist John Jones quit, wanting to perform more original material. [4] The group continued to perform throughout most of the 1970s, though mixing comedy with the music in their performances, and finally broke up in 1978.Vocaist Ian "Sludge" Lees later found success as a comedian, and Bassist Jake Elcock pursued a career in A&R. [5]

In 1997, Sequel Records issued a 26-track compilation CD, "You've Got To Be Loved (Singles A's & B's)," including ten tracks newly mixed from original multi-tracks.

Members

Road crew

Discography

Singles [4]
Compilation CD

Charts

YearTitlesPeak chart positionsAlbum
U.S. Billboard Hot 100
[6]

[7]

U.S. Cash Box
[3] 		U.S. Record World
1969"You've Got to Be Loved"584133
"Run to Me"12196
1970"Let's Get a Little Sentimental"———

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herman's Hermits</span> English beat rock band

Herman's Hermits are an English rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester and fronted by singer Peter Noone. Known for their jaunty beat sound and Noone's often tongue-in-cheek vocal style, the Hermits charted with numerous transatlantic hits in the UK and in America, where they ranked as one of the most successful acts in the Beatles-led British Invasion. Between March and August 1965 in the United States, the group logged twenty-four consecutive weeks in the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot 100 with five singles, including the two number ones "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry VIII, I Am".

The Action were an English band of the 1960s, formed as the Boys in August 1963, in Kentish Town, North West London. They were part of the mod subculture, and played soul music-influenced pop music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Troggs</span> English band

The Troggs are an English beat music band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper "Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all of which sold over 1 million copies and were awarded gold discs. "Wild Thing" is ranked No. 257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was an influence on garage rock and punk rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Turtles</span> American rock band

The Turtles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965 and best known for their 1967 hit song "Happy Together". They charted several other top 40 hits, including "It Ain't Me Babe" (1965), "You Baby" (1966), "She'd Rather Be With Me" (1967), "Elenore" (1968) and "You Showed Me" (1969).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Miller Band</span> American rock band

The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock, as well as several earlier psychedelic rock albums. Miller left his first band to move to San Francisco and form the Steve Miller Blues Band. Shortly after Harvey Kornspan negotiated the band's contract with Capitol Records in 1967, the band shortened its name to the Steve Miller Band. In February 1968, the band recorded its debut album, Children of the Future. It went on to produce the albums Sailor, Brave New World, Your Saving Grace, Number 5, Rock Love, Fly Like an Eagle, Book of Dreams, among others. The band's Greatest Hits 1974–78, released in 1978, sold over 13 million copies. In 2016, Steve Miller was inducted as a solo artist in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Episode Six were an English rock band formed in Harrow, London in 1965. The band did not have commercial success in the UK, releasing nine singles that all failed to chart, but they did find minor success in Beirut at the time. Group members Ian Gillan and Roger Glover left in 1969 to join Deep Purple, while drummer Mick Underwood founded Quatermass and later collaborated with Gillan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Gibbons (musician)</span> British rock musician

Steve Gibbons is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and bandleader. His music career spans more than 50 years.

Sheldon Talmy is an American record producer, songwriter and arranger, best known for his work in the UK in the 1960s with the Who, the Kinks and many others.

The Creation are an English rock band, formed in 1966. Their best-known songs are "Making Time", which was one of the first rock songs to feature a guitar played with a bow, and "Painter Man", which made the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart in late 1966, and reached No. 8 on the German chart in April 1967. It was covered by Boney M in 1979, and reached the No. 10 position on the UK chart. "Making Time" was used in the film Rushmore, and as the theme song from season 2 onwards of The Great Pottery Throw Down.

The Sorrows are a rock band formed in 1963 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, by Pip Whitcher, and were part of the British beat boom of the 1960s. They were a fixture in the English mod scene and are sometimes referred to as freakbeat.

Finders Keepers were an English band featuring then-future Trapeze members Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley, and Dave Holland.

The Human Instinct are a New Zealand blues rock band that has been active since the late 1960s. The band currently consists of Maurice Greer, Phil Pritchard (guitar), Joel Haines (guitar) and Tony Baird (bass). The band has had more than 25 members and has changed lineups several times since its formation under the leadership of Maurice Greer.

The Rockin' Berries are a beat group from Birmingham, England, who had several hit records in the UK in the 1960s. A version of the group, emphasising comedy routines as well as music, continues to perform to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Riot Squad</span> English pop group

The Riot Squad were a pop group from London, initially managed and produced by Larry Page and later, for their reunion, by Joe Meek.

Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers were a 1960s British rhythm and blues, soul and beat group who had two top 10 hits with "One Way Love" and "Got to Get You into My Life".

Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band are an England-based soul band.

The Koobas were an English beat group from Liverpool. Their music, and their early history, is similar in some ways to that of fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles, though they never achieved widespread popularity.

The Ian Campbell Folk Group were one of the most popular and respected folk groups of the British folk revival of the 1960s. The group made many appearances on radio, television, and at national and international venues and festivals. They performed a mixture of British traditional folk music and new material, including compositions by Campbell. Much of their popularity flowed from the variety of their performance which included a mixture of solos, group vocals and instrumentals.

Jimmy Powell was a British soul and rhythm and blues singer who recorded and performed throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, and is best remembered as the lead singer of Jimmy Powell and the 5 Dimensions, a group that briefly included Rod Stewart.


The Wild Angels is an English rock and roll group. The group got their name from the 1966 Roger Corman film The Wild Angels starring Peter Fonda.

References

  1. ↑ "The Montanas". brumbeat.net. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  2. ↑ AllMusic Charts
  3. 1 2 Cash Box Top 100 Singles, March 30, 1968
  4. 1 2 Roger Dopson, liner notes from the compilation CD
  5. ↑ Bruce Eder. "The Montanas – Biography". allmusic.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 – ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  7. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959–2004
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.