Peter and Gordon bring back Beat Boom craze

In the ‘60s, the Beatles launched the British Invasion that introduced music fans to the so-called Beat Boom era where mop tops, mohair suits, foot-tapping rhythm and lyrical harmonies revolutionized the world of pop.

Groups like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Dave Clark Five, the Searchers and the Kinks became legends in their own time. They were at the forefront of the new wave, conquering near and distant shores.

Then came an unlikely pair to shake up the rock ‘n‘ hierarchy.

Peter and Gordon claimed they wore mop tops before John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr did. But they were careful not to rival the Beatles‘ claim to supremacy for three reasons. First, they belonged to the same stable under manager Brian Epstein. Second, Peter‘s sister Jane Asher was going steady with McCartney. And third, they owed their rise to fame to Lennon and McCartney who composed A World Without Love, the pair‘s first of four million-sellers and a chart-topper in 10 countries.

Dave McAleer, writing in the book Beat Boom, said, "There is a strong possibility that – excluding Batman and Robin – the best-known male twosome in the mid-1960s was Peter and Gordon, the first British duo to make a sustained impression on both sides of the Atlantic (with) eight US and five UK Top 20 singles (in) 1964-66."

Peter and Gordon serenaded huge audiences throughout the world in their heyday. They were in demand all over the globe and performed in South Africa, Germany, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, among many other countries. But the stop they remembered fondly was Manila.

"We performed for over half a million people in several shows at the Araneta Coliseum in 1966," recalled Gordon. "It was fantastic and we even did a show at Subic Naval Base."

Gordon said during the Manila tour, he met a girl named Jen whom he has since been trying to contact unsuccessfully. He recalled being invited to a dinner at socialite Elvira Manahan‘s home in Forbes Park and mobbed by thousands of screaming fans.

"I personally had a great time in Manila," continued Gordon. "I can‘t forget this girl named Jen who was probably 14 at the time. She must now be in her 50s."

As all good things come to an end, Peter and Gordon called it quits in 1969 after a celebrated career that was marked by four Gold Disc awards, seven UK Top 30 singles, 14 US Hot 100 singles and seven US Top 100 albums.

They never sang again until the reception at Gordon‘s wedding to Georgina Steele in Los Angeles in 1998. Then, last August, they joined the Zombies, Denny Laine and Billy J. Kramer on stage in a benefit for paralyzed Dave Clark Five vocalist Mike Smith at the B. B. King Blues Club and Grill in New York City.

Peter and Gordon sang only five songs – A World Without Love, Lady Godiva, Woman, True Love Ways, and the Dave Clark Five hit Because – but were encouraged to embark on a reunion tour by a packed crowd that broke out into prolonged applause.

Pat Clarke, who witnessed the concert, wrote: "Vocally, they both nailed it. Peter knocked out the house when he brought out his Buddy Holly-style glasses. The crowd loved them. We could have listened to them all night long."

With the successful reunion, Gordon convinced Peter to start a world tour. And they decided to make Manila the kick-off leg.

Promoter Steve O‘Neal was first in line to offer Manila as their relaunching pad. O‘Neal, a DZRJ disc jockey and a serious record collector, is the country‘s premier exponent of the Beat Boom era and has brought in the Searchers, Pat Upton of Spiral Starecase, Chad and Jeremy, Chris Montez, John Ford Coley, the Cascades and Gary Lewis and the Playboys to perform here.

When O‘Neal heard that Peter and Gordon were back, he immediately made contact. Both were in Los Angeles so it was easy for O‘Neal to hammer out details of the contract between the two.

"This is history in the making," said O‘Neal. "Peter and Gordon are making a comeback after 37 years and will perform in Manila for the first time since 1966."

O‘Neal said Peter and Gordon recently turned down a $40,000 offer to perform in a US show because they preferred to start their world reunion tour in Manila. He added that the pair has been rehearsing feverishly to guarantee a sensational performance.

"We will make the show great," said Gordon. "I‘ve been working 15 hours constant on various things for it."

Peter and Gordon will wear suits for the Araneta Coliseum concert on Dec. 1 and casual outfits for the Hard Rock Café dinner show on Dec. 3. They plane in via Philippine Airlines on Nov. 27 and will be billeted at the Dusit Hotel in Makati.

O‘Neal said the tandem will sing at least 20 songs in each 60-minute show. The repertoire includes A World Without Love, Nobody I Know, True Love Ways, Lady Godiva, 500 Miles, All My Trials, I Go To Pieces, Woman, I Don‘t Want To See You Again, If I Were You, Let It Be Me, Crying In The Rain, Til There Was You, and Because.

Others on the list are Soft As The Dawn, Baby I‘m Yours, Young and Beautiful, When The Girl In Your Arms, All Shook Up, When I Fall In Love, and That‘s Alright, Mama.

What made Peter and Gordon click in the ‘60s was their beautiful harmony. They not only sang the perfect songs but they also recorded high-quality music.

Writer Clive Weaver, in the magazine The Beat Goes On, said, "Peter and Gordon were an integral part of the Beat Era and the quality of their recordings stands the test of time remarkably well."

For Peter, coming back to Manila is a nostalgic trip. Since the duo‘s split, he has concentrated on his work as a record producer. He was the top A&R (artists and repertoire) executive at Apple Records, then worked at MGM in Los Angeles before establishing his own talent company. In 1995, Peter was appointed senior vice president of Sony Music Entertainment and three years ago, became co-president of Sanctuary Artist Management. Among the talents Peter has produced are James Taylor, Linda Rondstadt, Neil Diamond, Ringo Starr, Cher, Diana Ross, Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac.

Peter has been nominated for five Grammys and won as Producer of the Year in 1978 and 1990.

When they were at their prime, Peter and Gordon were fixtures on TV variety shows like Shindig, and Hullaballoo. In 1964, they performed I Don‘t Want To See You Again, and 500 Miles on The Ed Sullivan Show and made an appearance at the New York World‘s Fair. They were featured on Dick Clark‘s Caravan of Stars tour in 1965 and on Murray the K‘s Christmas Show at the Brooklyn Fox Theater that same year. Peter and Gordon also had a cameo appearance on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Peter and Gordon were so popular that they even recorded a radio jingle for Macleans toothpaste.

In 1964, they were in the film Just For You with the Applejacks, Merseybeats, Bachelors, and Freddie and the Dreamers.

Aside from singing, acting was another Peter and Gordon talent. Peter made his movie debut as an eight-year-old in the 1952 film Outpost in Malaysia, with Jack Hawkins and Claudette Colbert. He went on to act in seven episodes as a page in the Richard Greene TV series Adventures of Robin Hood, and in Sword of Freedom.

In 1967, Gordon played a disc jockey on the BBC TV play The Fantastist, and in 1973, performed as the Pharoah, dressed like Elvis Presley, in the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, in Edinburgh, London and Sydney.

Peter and Gordon, who were doctors‘ sons, made a name for themselves as well-mannered, upper-class former choirboys in the Everly Brothers mold.

Summarizing their glory years, Peter said: "EMI used to let us do what we wanted on our albums and artistically, they were okay. Their contracts were very bad, like you get half royalties for overseas, which matter a lot if you‘re in England. We made very little money and we were poorly managed. I thought the records we were making then were good. I like most of them and I‘m proud of them."

Peter and Gordon turned covers into hits and weren‘t ashamed of not being original. Lennon and McCartney, for instance, delivered A World Without Love, Nobody I Know, I Don‘t Want To See You Again, and Woman to the pair. Buddy Holly wrote True Love Ways, Van McCoy, Baby I‘m Yours, and Phil Spector, To Know You Is To Love You.

"Elvis and the Everly Brothers used the same songwriters for God-knows-how-many-years and nobody had a go at them," said Gordon. And Peter chimed in, "Some revivals and covers are so similar they‘re just diabolical, however, if you give an old song your own interpretation, what‘s wrong with that?"

But it wasn‘t as if they didn‘t write their own songs because they did, like If I Were You, Hurting Is Loving, and Soft As The Dawn.

Surely, the Beatles weren‘t the only artists to influence Peter and Gordon. Peter liked folk music, particularly Woody Guthrie‘s. Gordon idolized Elvis and included the King‘s All Shook Up, and Mess of Blues in their set list. The Everlys‘ Crying In The Rain, Sleepless Nights, and Let It Be Me were tracks in Peter and Gordon albums. Showtime tunes like Exodus, Somewhere, Green Leaves of Summer, and High Noon, were also recorded by the pair.

No doubt, Peter and Gordon are firmly entrenched as legends in the pop world.

For those who remember and those who don‘t, O‘Neal is bringing back Peter and Gordon to sing the songs that made them legends during the Beat Boom era.

Tickets for the Araneta Coliseum concert are now available at Ticketnet, with tel. no. 951-5555, and all SM outlets. Reservations for the Hard Rock Café dinner show may be called in at 893-4661 to 64.