The Rockin' Vickers a.k.a. 'The Rockin' Vicars' (or 'The Wild Ones') was a notorious rock'n'roll group from Blackpool, England, whose first record "I Go Ape" was released on Decca in 1964. The Rockin' Vicars had a reputation of a wild and unexpected live band, which they strenghtened by using the priest costumes and dog collars as their stage outfit. However, after visiting in Northern Finland in the mid 1960s, they got the new idea of wearing Lappish national costumes, which no doubt looked even wilder in Britain.1963-4: Harry Feeney:vcl, Alex Hamilton:gtr, Peter Moorhouse:bs, Cyril "Ciggy" Shaw:dms
1964-5: Harry Feeney:vcl, Ian Holdbrook:gtr/hca, Nicholas Gribbon:gtr,
Stephen (Steven) "Mogsy" Morris:bs, Cyril Shaw:dms
1965-7: Harry Feeney:vcl, Ian "Lemmy" Willis/Dave Rossall/
Jeff Carter:gtr, Stephen Morris:bs, Cyril Shaw:dms
The Rockin' Vickers is also remembered as being one of the first British groups to perform behind the Iron Curtain, when they toured in Yugoslavia in July 1965 as part of a cultural exchange with the Red Army Youth Orchestra. In november 1965, the group was ready to conquer Finland as well. Besides touring here as Rev. Black & the Rockin' Vickers (mostly in Northern Finland), they also appeared at the recording studio, where they cut altogether 8 songs, including "Stella" and "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart", which were released by Decca of Finland in early 1966, and leased later to Decca of Ireland.
Only a month after the first trip, they toured again around the Southern Finland (towns of Hämeenlinna, Helsinki, Lahti and Turku). At this point they were calling themselves just The Rockin' Vickers, and the line-up consisted of Harry "Reverend Black" Feeney, Nicholas Gribbon, Stephen Morris, Ciggy Shaw and Ian Holbrook. It was unclear, when Ian Fraiser Willis alias Lemmy Kilmister (ex-Rainmakers/Motown Sect), the most famous member (and the son of a vicar!) joined the group. He might have been in the band already during the first Finnish tour, which would mean that he also appears on the Finnish Decca single. However, all the written sources published in Finland during these tours allude to another guitarist Nicholas Gribbon, a steady member of the group until late 1965. In any case, when the Vickers recorded their last recordings (including Pete Townsend-song "It's Alright" and Ray Davies-song "Dandy") in 1966 for CBS, the guitarist was unquestionably Lemmy. In December 1967, The Rockin' Vickers did their last tour in Finland, and quite soon after the group broke up. Lemmy continued working with (Sam) Gopal's Dream, Opal Butterfly, Hawkwind and Motorhead, and Ciggy Shaw for instance with Soloman King. Steve Wilks and Jeff Carter who were one of the last members to join the group, still play in a band called Manitou with another Blackpool music veteran Pete Gurney. Nicholas Gribbon has maintained some music activities as well, and plays nowadays with his band Nick Unlimited. Nod Turner who was also in the Vickers lives on the isle of Man, and Harry Feeney has a large local main dealership for cars.
An interesting curiosity is, that there was also another group titled as Rev. Black & the Rocking Vickers. This band was formed in Wollongong, Australia in 1966. They were previously known as The Finks, but changed their name after a British guitarist named Dave Rossall (who'd been a one-time member of the original Rockin' Vickers) joined them. The Australian Vickers toured nationally and recorded a handful of singles between 1967-1969.
45 RPM SINGLES
| DECCA F 11993 | THE ROCKING VICKERS | I Go Ape / Someone Like You | 1964 UK
| DECCA SD 5662 |
REV. BLACK AND THE ROCKING VICKERS |
Stella / Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart | (recorded in Finland on Nov. 9, 1965) 1966 FIN
| DECCA ? |
REV. BLACK AND THE ROCKING VICKERS |
Stella / Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart | 1966 IRE
| CBS/COLUMBIA 202 051 |
THE ROCKING VICKERS |
It's Alright / Stay By Me | 3/1966 UK
| CBS/COLUMBIA 202 241 |
THE ROCKIN' VICKERS |
Dandy / I Don't Need Your Kind | 10/1966 UK
| COLUMBIA 4-43818 |
THE ROCKIN' VICKERS |
Dandy / I Don't Need Your Kind | 1966 US
| Z.O.T. 20-31 |
REV. BLACK & THE ROCKIN' VICKERS (#2) |
Tears And Kisses / Whatcha Gonna Do | 1967 AUS
| LEEDON LK 1871 |
REV. BLACK & THE ROCKIN' VICKERS (#2) |
What'cha Gonna Do About It / Tears And Kisses | 1967 AUS
| SUNSHINE QK 2225 |
REV. BLACK & THE ROCKIN' VICKERS (#2) |
Down To The Last 500 / Sugar Train | 1968 AUS
| SUNSHINE QK 2752 |
REV. BLACK & THE ROCKIN' VICKERS (#2) |
Such A Lovely Day / Sorrowful Stoney | 1969 AUS
| SUNSHINE QK 2752 |
REV. BLACK & THE ROCKIN' VICKERS (#2) |
Walking And Talking / How Does It Feel? | 1969 AUS
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| DECCA DPA 3009/10 |
V/A: HARD UP HEROES 1963-68 (2-LP) The Rocking Vickers: I Go Ape | 1974 UK
| RPM CD 196/PURPLE PYRAMID-CLEOPATRA CLP 0870-2 |
THE COMPLETE - IT'S ALRIGHT! (CD/LP) | I Go Ape/Someone Like Me/Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart/Stella/It's Alright/Stay By Me/Dandy/I Don't Need Your Kind Of Love/Baby Never Say Goodbye/I Just Stand There/Say Mama/Shake Rattle & Roll/What The Matter Jane/Little Rosy (+ rehearsal extract) 1995/2000 UK
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