Major Lance did a number of gigs on this English tour which took place between December 2 and 20th 1965. He was certainly putting in the hours. This was the first of the two gigs he played that evening, the second seeing him traveling up West to do a late-night show at the Flamingo Club on Wardour Street.

Lance had a sizeable, although ostensibly underground UK following amongst the Mod fraternity. His American Recordings on Okeh were licenced in the UK through Columbia records and this tour would have seen him promoting his ‘Rhythm of Major Lance’ LP which had been released a few months before.

Although original Mods and later Northern Soul fans will be well of the Major’s work, it was Wayne Fontana & the Minders who scored a far bigger chart success with ‘Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um,’ one of Lance’s signature songs. A tune penned by Curtis Mayfield; Wayne Fontana took his inferior version to #5 in the UK charts, compared to Lance who managed to reach #40.

Bluesology, the backing band for the tour, are worth noting. Signed to Fontana and a popular beat band on the live circuit, chart success unfortunately eluded them. Although their keyboard player and vocalist Reg Dwight would find a tad more success later when he embarked on a solo career in the late 1960s and changed his name to Elton John.

A2 (420 × 594 mm / 16.54 × 23.39”)
PRINTED ON THICK RECYCLED CARD

Sound Map Collection

Charting the story of music in both Peckham and South London, Peckham Soul continues to excavate the deep mine of Social and Cultural History which music unearths. It is London’s unique story of migration, diversity and innovations. It is also a history which places not Rich elites at its centre, but instead tells the extraordinary tales of extra-ordinary Londoners.