Extended Play CD

The Shadows
Extended Play CD

British instrumental kings The Shadows evolved from the Five Chesternuts to become Cliff Richards backing group, The Drifters.
By late 1958 the line-up had settled and they changed their name to the Shadows to avoid any confusion with the American group called The Drifters.
The line-up was Hank B. Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan.
Not long after backing Cliff Richard on his first single, they were signed as a group by EMI Columbia’s A&R manager Norrie Paramor.
After two singles under their old name The Drifters came the first single as The Shadows, but the vocal track Saturday Dance didn’t make any impression with the buying public.
It was in 1960 that things took a huge step forward when they met up with songwriter Jerry Lorden who gave them the finest instrumental of the era.
Apache became a UK number 1, topping the charts for six weeks as well as being voted single of the year by much of the music press.
This classic track established The Shadows in their own right, especially as it knocked Cliff’s Please Don’t Tease off the top spot.
They went on to be a huge influence on a new generation of groups that were to follow.
The instrumental hits continued with number 1s Kon-Tiki, Wonderful Land, Dance On and Foot Tapper, as well as other top ten hits The Frightened City, FBI, Guitar Tango and The Savage.