The Peddlers

History

The Peddlers formed in Manchester in April 1964, as a trio of

Morais, the drummer, had previously played with Faron's Flamingoes and Rory Storm and the Hurricanes (who had struggled to replace Ringo Starr after he had left to join The Beatles).

Martin, the bassist, noted for his peculiar style of playing a Gibson EB-2 bass guitar in an upright position as though it were a string bass.

Phillips, on vocals and keyboards, had been in The Saints, The Tornados, and also The Soundtracks.

In 1966, the group began a residency at Annies Room in London also playing the Scotch of St James and The Pickwick where the group's first album Live at the Pickwick, including an introduction by Pete Murray, was recorded.

The trio released six singles and an EP on the Philips record label before joining CBS in 1967. Their cover of "Let the Sunshine In" (1965) charted on the UK Singles Chart. In 1968 they released the album Freewheelers, consisting of standards arranged by Keith Mansfield. The follow-up, 1968's Three in a Cell, included a version of "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever", from the 1965 musical of the same name, which was later sampled for its bass and Hammond organ riff. The third and final CBS album, Birthday, followed in 1969, and brought the band two UK Top 40 singles in "Girlie", and "Birth" which reached No. 17. Following Birthday, the Peddlers returned to Philips, where they released Georgia on My Mind in 1971 and Suite London (1972).

On Philips they released Three for All in 1970 including "Tell the World Were Not In", "Working Again", "My Funny Valentine" and "Love for Sale".

Trevor Morais left the trio during an Australian tour in 1972, and was replaced on drums by New Zealander Paul Johnston. The Peddlers disbanded in 1976. The anthology How Cool Is Cool... The Complete CBS Recordings was released by CBS in 2002.

Electronic record producer Luke Vibert sampled their "Impressions (Part 3)" for "The Premise", a track which featured on his album, Musipal.

After the Peddlers

Trevor Morais joined Quantum Jump. He later opened the El Cortijo studio in Málaga, Spain, and has worked with David Essex, Howard Jones, Elkie Brooks and Björk.

Tab Martin lives in Portugal.

Roy Phillips now lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, and performs live shows around the country. He contributed lead vocals for the track "Closer" on the 2007 Lord Large album, The Lord's First XI.

Paul Johnston returned to New Zealand and became a chiropractor. He died in 2013.

A Peddlers reunion gig was held on 25 May 2009 in Auckland, New Zealand.

In popular culture

Albums

Singles