Fivepenny Piece
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fivepenny Piece are (as their name implies) a five-piece band, originally formed in the area of East Lancashire around Ashton-under-Lyne and nearby Stalybridge in Cheshire. The band met and performed on Wednesday nights at Ashton's Broadoak Hotel, which gave them their original name The Wednesday Folk.
Their big break came when they entered and won the Granada TV talent show New Faces in 1968, which led to a contract with the famous Noel Gay agency, a recording contract with EMI, and their new name.
The band's original members all hailed from the Ashton/Stalybrige area and many of their mostly self-penned songs reflected their roots, using Lancashire dialect, with references to the mining and weaving trades, the mills and factories, and the Lancashire characters who lived in the area. But there was another side to the group's music, perhaps best described as more pop oriented. The band's music is most often categorised as folk, though many feel that is too limiting a description.
The original personnel were John Meeks (guitar, vocals); John's sister Lynda Meeks (vocals); brothers George Radcliffe (bass, vocals) and Colin Radcliffe (guitar, vocals); and Eddie Crotty (guitar, vocals). John and Colin wrote most of their best-known songs, although Eddie also produced a fair number. The unofficial sixth member of the band was drummer Phil Barlow, who accompanied them in many of their concerts and on their albums.
During the band's 1970s heyday they produced over a dozen albums for EMI and then Philips, and reached the Top 10 of the UK national charts with their LP King Cotton. They performed many times on national television, and had their own BBC TV series.
By the early 1980s the group had reached an impasse, and John's departure was followed soon afterwards by Lynda's. With John's replacement Trevor Chance and Andrea Mullins (formerly of the Caravelles), the band continued until 1985 when they broke up.
The band later reformed and has continued with occasional gigs until the present day, with various personnel, although Eddie Crotty and George Radcliffe were still in the band, along with Andrea. Lancashire folk singer and comedian Bernard Wrigley is one former member. George died at the end of 2002, leaving Eddie as the sole surviving original member.
The Fivepenny Piece and their music and humour are still fondly remembered by many fans, not only in Lancashire, but by fans all over the world - the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and even the rival county of Yorkshire.
