Tuesday's Children

Pictures

History

Tuesday's Children were formed in 1966 by Phil Cordell, Mick Ware and Derrick Gough who had been in a North London band called Steve Douglas and the Challengers who later changed their name to The Prophets. The Prophets did some recording with producer Joe Meek, but nothing was ever issued (we could safely assume that these lie somewhere within the infamous 'Tea Chest Tapes' collection that were sold at auction to a private bidder). When Steve Douglas and Freddie Fields left, the remaining members reformed the band as Tuesdays Children. Paul Kendrick subsequently joined on bass guitar. Tuesday's Children were signed to E.M.I. in 1966.

Their debut single (When You Walk In The Sand) was written by Phil Cordell and was recorded at Maximum Sound studio in The Old Kent Road, SE London. The engineer was Vic Keary and it was released on the Columbia label, DB7978 in August 1966. Tuesday's Children personnel was then Phil Cordell and Mick Ware, guitars, Paul Kendrick, bass guitar, and Derrick Gough, Drums. Dave Vidler (mentioned on the label) was the groups' manager. The B side was another song written by Phil Cordell entitled 'High and Drifting'. 'When You Walk In The Sand' was in the Radio London Fab Forty for 2 weeks, no. 39 on 7th August 1966 and at no. 27 on 14th August 1966. Radio London was one of the pirate radio stations that were broadcasting at the time, they were put out of business in 1967 when the government passed the Marine Offences Act,  BBC Radio 1 started directly as a result of this. Radio London also owned Pall Mall Music who published the Phil Cordell songs that were the first 3 Tuesday's Children singles.

Phil Cordell quit Tuesday's Children in summer of 1967 and subsequently had solo hits as Springwater. He also had a single  (Red Lady) released on Warner Brothers WB8001 in 1969. In August 1967 Bob Hodges (Hammond organ, ex-The Attack), Phil McKenzie (tenor sax, ex TNT, later Rod Stewart band) and Roger Davies (baritone sax) joined the reformed Tuesdays children. Trumpet player Hilary Roy also joined and did 4 gigs with the group in September 1967. 'Baby's Gone' was recorded at Abbey Road studios on 19th September 1967 and 3rd October 1967, the whole band played on the session plus some brass players from producer Jack Dorsey's band. Mick Ware sung the lead vocal and backing vocals were supplied by girl group the Paper Dolls. There is also a demo version of 'Baby's Gone' that has some brass on it but not the backing vocals. The song was written by Peter Callander and Mitch Murray and was released on the Pye lanel, no. 7N.17406. The B side was written by Mick Ware and was titled 'Guess I'm Losing You', this features the baritone sax of Roger Davies and the tenor sax of Phil McKenzie. 'Baby's Gone' was released on 10th November 1967.

By December 1967, Tuesday's Children had become a four-piece again with the departure of Roger Davies and Phil McKenzie. Tuesday's Children recorded two songs at the Chappel studio in New Bond Street, London, on the 3rd July 1968. By then Tuesday's Children were signed to Philips records who released the band's final single (on the Mercury label, no. MF1063). 'Bright Eyed Apples' was originally going to be the A side but 'She' became the A side after it was featured in a short film '29' which starred Alexis Kanner who had been in the TV series 'Softly Softly' and 'The Prisoner'. The film ran for just 26 minutes and also starred Yootha Joyce, who was well known as a TV actress appearing in the comedy 'George & Mildred' amongst other shows. Tuesday's Children had a cameo appearance in the film in a scene in a nightclub, which was filmed at the London club 'Sybillas' on the 6th April 1968, the group receiving the princely sum of £45.00 for its appearance. When the film was released it played as the 'B' movie to cult film 'If', directed by Lindsay Anderson (starring Malcolm McDowell). 'She' was written and sung by Mick Ware who also did the orchestral arrangement with Bob Hodges. Johnny Arthey directed the orchestra on the session. 'Bright Eyed Apples' had been a hit for an English group called 'The Rokes' in Italy under the title of 'Mele Mature'. The original (which was written by Shel Shapiro and Roger Shepstone of the Rokes) featured a sitar which was a popular instrument at the time, mainly due to George Harrison's influence.

By 1969, Tuesday's Children were changing direction adapting to the new sounds and trends of the music scene. The recordings presented here were made as demos by Tuesday's Children, but were later re-recorded when the band renamed themselves as Czar.

Location

North London.

Members

Mick Ware (guitar, vocals), Paul Kendrick (bass guitar, vocals), Derrick Gough (drums), Bob Hodges (keyboard, vocals).

Date

1969.

Copyright Notices

Notes adapted from original texts written by Bob Hodges and Mick Ware.

Special thanks to: Bob Hodges, Mick Ware, Roger Kinsey, Stefan Granados.

All photographic and recorded material copyright Robert Hodges and Michael Ware, Roger Kinsey. 2012.

www.czar.org.uk