Vince Taylor and Template:Infobox actor: Difference between pages

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'''Vince Taylor''' ([[July 14]] [[1939]] – [[August 28]] [[1991]]), a pioneering front man from the early days of English rock and roll, was born in London, England under the name '''Brian Maurice Holden'''. When Brian was seven years old, the Holdens immigrated to America and settled in New Jersey where his father took work in a coal mine. Around 1955, his sister married [[Joe Barbera]], of Hanna/Barbera, who became extremely successful in the cartoon industry. The whole family then moved to California where Brian attended [[Hollywood High]]. As a teenager, he loved to fly. He took flying lessons and received a pilot's license. At age 18, impressed by the music of [[Gene Vincent]] and [[Elvis Presley]], he began to sing at amateur gigs.

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[[Joe Barbera]], his brother-in-law, became, in a way, his manager. Joe went to London for business reasons and asked Brian to join him to check out the music scene. At that time, rock was experiencing phenomenal international growth among teenagers and American rockers were high in demand. Concerts starring [[Gene Vincent]], [[Eddie Cochran]], [[Chuck Berry]] and [[Bill Haley]] and [[the Comets]] (referred to collectively as the American Invasion), played to crowds of UK teenagers in sold out halls.

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In London, Brian went to a coffee bar on Old Compton Street called “The 2 I’s” where rocker [[Tommy Steele]] was playing. There, Brian met drummer [[Tony Meehan]] (future Shadows) and bass player Tex Makins. They formed a band called The Playboys. While looking at a packet of Pall Mall cigarettes, upon which is written “In hoc Vince’s”, Joe and Brian decided his new stage name would be Vince Taylor. After some changes, the final line-up of The Playboys became: [[Bobbie Clarke]] (drums), John Vance (bass), Alain Le Claire (piano) and Tony Harvey (guitar), who alternated with Bob Steel.

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His first single for Parlophone, “I Like Love” and “Right Behind You Baby”, was released in 1958, followed several months later by “Pledgin My Love” b/w “Brand New Cadillac”. Parlophone wasn’t satisfied with the immediate results and broke the contract. Vince moved to Palette Records and recorded “I’ll Be Your Hero” b/w “Jet Black Machine”, released August 19, 1960.

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Meanwhile, his unpredictable personality, although dynamic on stage, caused several arguments with the band, and The Playboys fired Vince Taylor and changed their name to "The Bobbie Clarke Noise". "The "Noise" was contacted to play at the prestigious Olympia in Paris in July, 1961. The top of the bill was Wee Willie Harris. Despite of what had happened, Vince was still friends with the band and he asked if he could come to Paris too.

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Vince dressed up for the occasion in his black leather gear and added a chain around his neck with a Joan of Arc medallion he had bought on arrival at Calais. He gave such an extraordinary performance at the sound check that even the band was amazed, and the organizers decided to put Vince at the top of the bill for both shows. As a result of his performance at those two shows [[Eddie Barclay]] signed him to a six-year record deal on the Barclay label.

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During 1961 and 1962, Vince Taylor toured Europe including The French Riviera, Brussels, Belgium, Spain, and The Netherlands, with Bobbie Clarke's band, once again called Vince Taylor and his Playboys (Vince Taylor et ses Play-Boys). In between gigs they recorded several EP records and an album of 20 songs, at Barclay Studios in Paris, such as “Sweet Little Sixteen”, “C’mon Everybody”, “Twenty Flight Rock”, “Love Me”, “Long Tall Sally”, “So Glad You’re Mine”, “Baby Let’s Play House”, “Lovin Up A Storm” to name a few. By the end of 1962, Vince Taylor and The Playboys were the top of the bill at the prestigious Olympia, in Paris.

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Although his interaction with The Playboys was fantastic on stage, as soon as they were off stage it always disintegrated, and the band ended up breaking up again. Vince left for La Côte d'Azur with his new love, top model Helene April. [[Bobbie Clarke]] became the drummer for [[Johnny Hallyday]] and the Golden Stars backed up by Joey and the Showmen, resulting in three Eps released in 1963. Meanwhile, Taylor played engagements backed by the English band The Dragons (who backed [[Gene Vincent]] whenever he played the UK), but he still presented the band as The Playboys.

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In February 1964, a new single “Memphis Tennessee” b/w “Shot of Rhythm and Blues” was released on the Barclay label. The record sleeve showed a mysterious new Playboys, who were secretly: Joey Greco and Claude Djaoui on guitars, Ralph Di Pietro on bass and [[Bobbie Clarke]] on drums, all under an exclusive contract for the [[Johnny Hallyday]] orchestra.

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[[Johnny Hallyday]] was drafted into the French Army, and [[Bobbie Clarke]] again joined Vince Taylor, starting up The Bobbie Clarke Noise with Ralph Danks (guitar), Alain Bugby of The Strangers (bass), and Johnny Taylor, ex lead singer for the Strangers (rhythm guitar), and Prince Stanislas “Stash” Kosslowski (percussion). Managed by Jean Claude Camus, the band toured discreetly in province to prepare themselves. Their high point was reached on the day in 1964 that Vince Taylor and the Bobbie Clarke Noise played as the opening act for [[The Rolling Stones]] on their first concert at the Olympia in Paris.

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Shortly thereafter, the band upgraded for an upcoming gig, with two new musicians, Ivan Jullien (trumpet) and Bob Garcia (saxophone). But as bad luck would have it, several days before the concert Vince and Stash went back to London for a gig where they met [[Bob Dylan]], [[Nico]] and a few other people from the Acid Rock scene. A mixture of acid, amphetamines and alcohol proved fatal to his mind. In front of a full house, on the brink of becoming a huge international star, he flipped. Starting by coming on stage and trying to evangelize the audience, he said he was the profit Matthew, and he preached until the band agreed with everything he was saying. The audience pretended not to understand, thinking that it was part of the show. But after 15 minutes and a few dodgy songs, he started to wreck the whole stage like [[The Who]], but ''before'' the set was played.

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The band finally gave up. Johnny Taylor joined a religious movement. Ralph Danks left to play guitar with [[Three Dog Night]], and later [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]], [[Elvis Presley]] and [[Bob Dylan]]. Stash, a close friend of [[The Rolling Stones]] would later produce The Dirty Strangers album featuring [[Keith Richards]] and [[Ron Wood]]. Bobbie Clark went on to replace drummer Don Conka for several studio sessions with the original line up of the band [[Love]]. He also played with [[Frank Zappa]], [[Jimi Hendrix]] and the first incarnation of [[Deep Purple]] before forming a group, Bodast, with [[Steve Howe (guitarist)|Steve Howe]] and Dave Curtis. In 1968 Bodast recorded an LP for MGM Records, opened for [[The Who]] and were the backing band for [[Chuck Berry]] at the [[Royal Albert Hall]] in London.

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Meanwhile, Clarke was involved in one last comeback for his friend Vince Taylor, a small one month tour across France, billed as: Vince Taylor and Bobbie Clarke backed by Les Rockers. After the first show Vince stopped singing and moving. The band started a song and he sang the first verse of another. However, one out of ten times, Vince came out of his state, suddenly singing 5 or 6 songs the way he knew, then without any apparent reason left the stage without a word. The finish of the tour was at Le Cadran at Colombes, a large bar with a room, seating 500 people. That year they booked [[The Animals]], [[The Spencer Davis Group]] and [[Jimi Hendrix]] & the Experience, before they played The Olympia as the opening act for [[Johnny Hallyday]].

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Just before going on stage Vince is reported to have said. “I can't sing. There is a bad spell here. If I start to sing everything will blow up. I feel it.” “Don’t be stupid,” said the band, “We've got to go on stage.” “I can't, I can't, it's all gonna explode… everything...,” said Vince. The crowd started to get impatient and shout. The owner came hurtling into the dressing room and forced the band on stage. They played the instrumental version of Memphis Tennessee, and then began the intro of 'Trouble' from the film [[King Creole]]. When Vince began to sing, the sound system and the amplifiers went down, and all the lights in the club blew out. There was total nothing, just Vince who started to yell uselessly into the microphone, “ I said so, I said so, and now look. I said so..."

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In autumn 1969, the magazines 'Bonjour les Amiss' and 'Disco-Revue' started a support campaign for Vince, asking readers to write in to Barclay's Record Company showing how much they would love to see the rock star make another record. [[Eddie Barclay]], finally convinced, gave a new chance to Vince who recorded again, and performed intermittently throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, until his death in 1991.

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During his career, Taylor wrote and recorded many songs, among them, his hit in Europe, "[[Brand New Cadillac]]" which has been recorded by many artists, such as [[The Clash]]. According to [[David Bowie]], Taylor was the main inspiration for Bowie’s song [[Ziggy Stardust]].

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During his last years, Vince Taylor lived in Switzerland where he took work as an airplane mechanic. He said it was the happiest time of his life.

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==References==

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Vince Taylor Illustrated Discography, By Phil "Heron" Guidal, Black Leather, 1988

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BODAST Spectral Nether Street, Cherry Red Records Ltd., Inlay essay by Jon Newey, London, January 2000

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==External links==

! colspan="2" style="text-align:center; background-color:{{{bgcolour|#ed8}}}; color:#000000;" {{!}} '''[[Academy Award]]s'''

*[http://www.rockabilly.nl/artists/vtaylor.htm Vince Taylor, the Black Leather Rebel] - Detailed Biography.

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*{{fr icon}} {{en icon}} [http://vince-taylor.ifrance.com/ Mr "BRAND NEW CADILLAC"] Detailed Infomation available in French and English.

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[[Category:1939 births|Taylor, Vince]]

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[[Category:1991 deaths|Taylor, Vince]]

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[[Category:Londoners|Taylor, Vince]]

! colspan="2" style="text-align:center; background-color:{{{bgcolour|#ed8}}}; color:#000000;" {{!}} '''[[Emmy Awards]]'''

[[Category:Music from London|Taylor, Vince]]

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[[Category:British male singers |Taylor, Vince]]

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[[Category:British songwriters|Taylor, Vince]]

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! colspan="2" style="text-align:center; background-color:{{{bgcolour|#ed8}}}; color:#000000;" {{!}} '''[[Tony Award]]s'''

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