Force Five, (not to be confused with the group of the same name from Southend on Sea, who cut some records and appeared on Ready Steady Go), were one of the many groups formed in Birmingham in the early sixties. They didn’t record anything or appear at any top venues but had fun playing the music of the day. They were active between 1962 and 1966
There were many members:-
Richard (Rick) Gale. Rythmn Guitar
Paul Davies. Bass/Vocals
Barry Gummery. Lead Guitar
Dave Curtis. Lead Guitar
John Rawson. Drums
John Proctor. Bass/vocals
John Goodchild. Drums
Dave Hall. Drums
Gordon Lee. Lead Guitar/vocals
Bill Taylor. Vocals
Ron Comley. (non playing, but wrote songs)
The most settled and active line up was Gale/Curtis/Goodchild/ Proctor and Taylor.
The band was managed by Rick Gale’s father, Dick, who also came up with the name.
The band started with friends Rick and Barry, who went to Kings Norton Grammar School getting together with Paul who went to Moseley Art School and was in the same class as Roy Wood. John Rawson, also of KNGS, was recruited and the band (then called The Deltones) used to go to the dances held each week at Bournville Church Hall and borrow the booked band’s amps and drums and do a few numbers in the interval. One of these bands was Carl Wayne and The Vikings who were really nice to us. Curtis and Proctor also of KNGS joined along with Taylor who went to Bournville Technical School. Bill’s friend Ron was a good songwriter and wrote several songs for us. Force Five then started playing at youth club dances, clubs, weddings and other social events around Birmingham. In the summer of 1966 Gale got a place at one of the London Universities, Proctor went off to train as a PE teacher in Loughborough, Curtis started a course at Aston University, Goodchild went to study Architecture and Taylor moved away with his job, so the band broke up. Fast forward to 2010…. Ron Comley, who in the Force Five days had also fronted The Impacts (mentioned on this site), had reformed The Impacts, which featured Bill Taylor on vocals. Bill had been a long time member of The Taylor Made Band. Ron was also in a second band called V60, playing bass and singing. V60 needed a guitarist and although they hadn’t been in contacy for nearly 50 years, he managed to trace Rick Gale through facebook. Rick then joined V60 who were playing much the same set list as Force Five did in the 60’s. In 2015 Ron, who by now, was over 70, decided to retire. V60 then recruited Bill Taylor from the now defunct Impacts. Tom Houghton took over on bass and vocals, to join Pam Holiday (drums/vocals) and Chris Watts (vocals/guitar). V60 changed their name to The Vintage Sixties Company. They rehearse regularly and play the occasional gig.
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The colour photo is of The Vintage Sixties Company with two original members of Force Five.
The line up is Chris Watts Guitar/Vocals, Tom Houghton Bass/Vocals, Rick Gale Guitar/vocals, Pam Holliday Drums/Vocals, Bill Taylor Vocals.
I’ve been contacted by another Kings Norton Grammar School old boy, Ernie Barnhurst, who spends half the year living in Greece and half in Enland. He’s a mad Villa fan like me. He reminded me that he was the vocalist for a while and I’m so sorry to have omitted him. He certainly had the hair for a pop star. One Sunday we were trying to rehearse at my parents house in Bournville. We struck the first chord and immediately the phone rang. It was a neighbour three doors away complaining about the noise. After that we practised at The Tin Chapel on Raddlebarn Road. I can’t remember how we came to part ways, but think he wanted to be a Dylan type protest singer. We restablished contact a couple of months ago via facebook and he did have some sucess over the following years.
Me and the afore mentioned Ernie Barnhurst have been in regular contact via facebook. He lives a long way away. He is also a mad Aston Villa fan like me. Last Saturday he drove up and we went to the game, which we won. It was lovely meeting up after 53 tears
Happy days, we had a good time practicing and playing local gigs and I remember going as a backing group to Aston Hippadrome. I continued playing the guitar and it helped me when I used it in the schools I taught in Nottinghamshire. When I retired Living in Mansfield I built up a collection of guitars which I still use today to enjoy those memories of Force Five in Birmingham.
It would be good if we could arrange a meeting of any of the original Force Five band to talk over memories and share some time. What happened to Dave Curtis and John Goodchild? I live in Mansfield but I still have family in the Birmingham area. So it would be nice to visit Bournville one more time. Email me if you have any ideas.