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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = The Fortunes| image =| caption =| image_size =| background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = Birmingham , England | genre = Pop music|Pop | years_active = 1963–present| label = Decca Records|Decca (US Press Records), United Artists Records|United Artists (US United Artists), (US World Pacific Records), Capitol Records|Capitol (US Capitol Records)| associated_acts =| website = http://www.thefortunes.co.uk/ Thefortunes.co.uk| current_members = Michael Smitham Bob Jackson (musician)|Bob Jackson Eddie Mooney Glen Taylor| past_members = Rod Allen (deceased) Paul Hooper Glen Dale Shel Macrae Barry Pritchard (deceased) Andy Brown David Carr (deceased) Ricky Persell John Davy John Trickett Geoff Turton The Fortunes are an England|English harmony beat group . Formed in Birmingham , The Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when " You've Got Your Troubles " broke into the United States|US and United Kingdom|UK Top 40|Top 10s . Afterwards they had a succession of hits including " Here It Comes Again (The Fortunes song)|Here It Comes Again " and "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again"; continuing into the 1970s with more globally successful releases such as "Storm in a Teacup" and "Freedom Come, Freedom Go".
In 1966, their manager Reginald Calvert was shot dead in a dispute over pirate radio radio station|station s.
Classic band line-up
Rod Allen (born Rodney Bainbridge, 31 March 1944, Leicester ; died 10 January 2008, Eastern Green , Coventry http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2241893,00.html The Guardian obituary on Rod Allen - 17 January 2008, by Dave Laing) — lead singer|vocalist and bassist
Glen Dale (born Richard Garforth, 24 April 1943, Deal, Kent|Deal , Kent ) — guitarist up to 1966
Shel Macrae (born Andrew Raeburn Semple, 8 March 1943, Burnbank , Scotland ) — co-lead vocalist, guitarist from 1966
Barry Pritchard (born Barry Arthur Pritchard, 3 April 1944, Birmingham & ndash; died 11 January 1999, Swindon , Wiltshire Allmusic|class=artist|id=p77076/biography|pure_url=yes Allmusic biography - accessed January 2008) — guitarist
Andy Brown (born Andrew Brown, 7 January 1946, Birmingham) — drummer
David Carr (born 4 August 1943, Leyton , London ; died 12 July 2011) — keyboard instrument|keyboards
Later band members
Ricky Persell (born 19 October 1954, Ruislip ) — guitarist/vocalist, 1977-1980
John Davey (born 13 September 1955, Watford ) — vocalist, 1977-1982
John Trickett (born Birmingham) — drummer, 1977-1980
Michael Smitham (born 29 July 1951, Nuneaton ) — guitarist/vocalist, 1983 to present
Paul Hooper (born 20 August 1948 Wolverhampton ) — drummer, 1984 to April 2010
Bob Jackson (born 6 January 1949, Coventry ) — keyboardist/vocalist, 1995 to present
Eddie Mooney (born 6 August 1957, Stoke-on-Trent ) — lead vocalist/bassist, 2007 to present
Glen Taylor (born 15 February 1951, Leicester ) — drummer, 2010 to present
Biography
Originally formed as a vocal trio backed by an instrumental group known as The Cliftones, the aggregation placed an instrumental track on a compilation album , Brumbeat , issued by the local Dial record label . "Cygnet Twitch" (similar to "Saturday Nite at the Duck-Pond" by The Cougars ) was a working of Tchaikovsky 's " Swan Lake ", and they subsequently signed to British Decca records|Decca in 1963. Their first single (music)|single , "Summertime, Summertime", was credited to the Fortunes and the Cliftones. However, the vocalists picked up guitars, jettisoned the Cliftones, and added Andy Brown on drums after Mike Redmond — drummer with popular local band the Sunrays — declined their offer, and Dave Carr on keyboards. The follow-up disc co-written by the singer-songwriter and future Ivy League member Perry Ford, "Caroline", was used as the signature tune for the pirate radio radio station|station , Radio Caroline .
The group's next two singles, Gordon Mills ' co-composition "I Like the Look of You" and a revival of The Four Esquires / Johnnie Ray 's " Look Homeward Angel " — like the initial brace of releases overseen by the United States|American record producer Shel Talmy — also failed to chart. Their fifth release, the Roger Greenaway / Roger Cook (songwriter)|Roger Cook number, " You've Got Your Troubles " (1965), reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart and was a worldwide hit record|hit , including reaching chart-topper|#1 in RPM number-one hits of 1965|Canada and the American Top 10. Their next two singles " Here It Comes Again (The Fortunes song)|Here It Comes Again " and "This Golden Ring" sold well, but each less than the previous release. Glen Dale left the band in the summer of 1966 seeking a solo (music)|solo career, and was replaced by the Scottish people|Scottish guitarist, Shel McCrae. Three more singles ("You Gave Me Somebody to Love", "Is It Really Worth Your While? " and "Our Love has Gone") all failed to chart.
At this point in 1967, The Fortunes left Decca for United Artists . They reunited with Talmy for their next release, "The Idol", a song they had written themselves, and although it did get some airplay in the UK, it did not become a hit. Minor controversy arose when they admitted they did not play on their classic hits.
In 1968 they tried cover version|covering The Move 's hit " Fire Brigade (Move song)|Fire Brigade " for the United States|US market, but with little airplay or sales. In 1970, they recorded an album for the US World Pacific record label, and then signed with Capitol Records|Capitol in both the UK and US in 1971.
Then followed a steady succession of singles, some of which were hits outside of the UK and US, culminating in 1972 with the release of "Storm in a Teacup". During this period, they had another worldwide hit, "Here Comes that Rainy Day Feeling" (1971). The Fortunes were also the human voice|voices for the United States|American Coca-Cola advertising|advertisements . http://www.thefortunes.co.uk/biography.htm The Fortunes official website Their first recording in 1967 was a version of the theme tune , "Things Go Better with Coke", but they are most remembered for introducing the 1969 new slogan recording, used as the main theme for Coca-Cola on both radio and television Advertising|commercial s — "It's The Real Thing".
Later work
Founding member, and lead vocalist, Allen continued fronting an ever changing version of The Fortunes from 1963 up to his death.
In 1983 and 1984 respectively, Michael Smitham and Paul Hooper joined Barry Pritchard and Rod Allen in The Fortunes. This line up of The Fortunes were awarded a Music recording sales certification|gold disc in 1987, for over 100,000 sales of their All The Hits and More album.
In March 1995 vocalist/keyboard/guitar player Bob Jackson (musician)|Bob Jackson was added to The Fortunes' ranks, after founder member Barry Pritchard left through illness. Jackson was a former member of the group Badfinger , to whom he pays homage onstage, with a version of the Badfinger penned song " Without You (Badfinger song)|Without You ". Jackson left for a year to follow other obligations and Geoff Turton , who was originally a member of the Birmingham based band, The Rockin' Berries , stood in Jackson's place. Turton also had a certain amount of success under the pen name|nom de plume Jefferson both at home and in the US.
On 10 January 2008 Rod Allen died after suffering for two months from Hepatocellular carcinoma|liver cancer . The remaining members of the band said they would continue touring and recruited The Dakotas (band)|The Dakotas lead singer Eddie Mooney . http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7183281.stm BBC.co.uk - website news - accessed January 2008 During 2008, the band regrouped, recording a new album Play On and appeared in Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas , the Netherlands and Belgium as well as the United Kingdom|UK . They toured Canada , the Netherlands and Sweden , in addition to the UK during 2009. The band have a busy schedule in the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Italy during 2010 and 2011, appearing in Belgium at the Vostertfeesten Festival in August 2010. Drummer Paul Hooper, left the band in early 2010, replaced by Glen Taylor, formerly of Marmalade (band)|Marmalade .
The keyboard player in the original line-up, David Carr, lived and worked in Hollywood, California , doing session musician|session work, frequently working with the well-known American guitar band The Ventures and also Kim Fowley (for example Carr played keyboards on the last album by Fowley's The Runaways ). Carr died on 12 July 2011, from a myocardial infarction|heart attack . http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/2011b.html Thedeadrockstarsclub.com
UK chart hit singles
" You've Got Your Troubles " - 1965 - Number 2.
" Here It Comes Again (The Fortunes song)|Here It Comes Again " - 1965 - Number 4.
"This Golden Ring" - 1966 - Number 15.
"Freedom Come, Freedom Go" - 1971 - Number 6.
"Storm in a Teacup" - 1972 - Number 7 (written by Lynsey de Paul and Ron Roker ).
cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | pages= 208 | isbn= 1-904994-10-5
US chart hit singles
" You've Got Your Troubles " - 1965 - Number 7.
" Here It Comes Again (The Fortunes)|Here It Comes Again " - 1965 - Number 27.
"This Golden Ring" - 1966 - Number 82.
"That Same Old Feeling" - 1970 - Number 62 (Originally recorded by the Foundations ; competing with a version by Pickettywitch ).
"Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling" - 1971 - Number 15.
"Freedom Come, Freedom Go" - 1971 - Number 72.
See also
List of Capitol Records artists
List of NME covers
List of performers on Top of the Pops
List of artists under the Decca Records label
Arts in Birmingham
References
reflist
External links
http://www.thefortunes.co.uk/ The official Fortunes website
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p77076|pure_url=yes The Fortunes biography at the Allmusic web site
http://www.zoneextra.co.uk/ The official Fortunes webpage - backed by the band on Zoneextra.co.uk
DEFAULTSORT:Fortunes, The Category:Beat groups Category:English pop music groups Category:Music in Birmingham, West Midlands Category:Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:Musical groups established in 1963 Category:Cub Records artists Category:Top Rank Records artists Category:Decca Records artists Category:Capitol Records artists
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