Candy Band Feature (1969-1975?)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Editor's Note: Researching the history of
Candy has been made quite complex by the fact that their history is
so intertwined with that of the band "Sunshine."
However, we have done our best...enjoy!
It would appear the beginning of Candy actually
started on Easter Sunday, April 6th, 1969 when the band, based in
Larne near Belfast, hit the road as a new pop "showband." Managed by
Cecil Thompson, the original line-up was: Bryce Norrie (vocals),
Stuart Bingham (guitar), Ray Toal (bass), Barry Patterson (drums),
George Doherty (keyboards), Sam Greenaway (trumpet), and Dave Smyth
(sax). Their seven piece line-up was typical for a showband at the
time, but they were one of a growing number of pure pop bands which
started as the split between country and pop bands became more
pronounced at the end of the 1960's.
Within a few weeks, in late May, they released
their first single, "A Little Bit of Soul"
with the George Doherty-penned song, "Signs of Love," on the B-side.
Although considered a "showband" by the standards of the day, they
made it clear in publicity, that they were to be known as simply
"Candy," a trend which would continue with pop bands like Chips, the
Memories, etc. However, they were often mistakenly referred to as
"The Candy."
In June, 1969, after only a few months on
the road, they had a single out and found themselves playing on the
same bill as the chart topping Troggs when they came to Ireland in
June. For the rest of 1969, the band went from strength to strength,
playing further afield and making great strides as they appeared to
pack ballrooms across the country. Cecil Thomason was doing his job
as they were receiving plenty of press for being "Sweeter than Sugar
- That's Candy," their advertising slogan. They were also being
compared to the North's leading pop outfit at the time,
the Freshmen.
In April, 1970, the band released it second
single, "Put Your Bell Bottoms On" with
"Crazy Bout My Baby" as the B-side. The release coincided with their
one year anniversary on the road. An interesting side note was that
for weeks before the release it was reported that their new single
would be "Girls, Girls, Girls." By mid 1971, the band, who had been
huge in the north, finally conquered Dublin with a few gigs around
the city, including the famous Television Club. Word was, they had
finally arrived.
At some point in, we think, December, 1971 (we
can't find any specific references to it in the papers) four members
of Candy left and formed a new pop band called "Bang." This band was
also a "showband" sized outfit with seven members. The band would
basically replace Candy and played the same gigs, in fact one advert
for the Ardree Hotel in Waterford was "welcoming
the band back," although the previous time they played there they
were Candy. Within a few months, Bang had disappeared and their new
name was Sunshine. The band would be advertised as "ex-Candy"
initially. We have also read that the rest of Candy may have become
a group called "Spring" for a short time.
In March, 1973 Stuart, Ray and Barry left
Sunshine to join up with Paul Lyttle's new band (Paul left Chips)
Lyttle People after he split with his original members.
Stuart also did a short stint with The Sands around that time. For a short time, Sunshine was forgotten.
Also in March the band Candy reappeared on the scene playing
the Adelphi Ballroom in Dundalk, so we assume they were back on the
road after the split. The band's history gets quite confusing here
as when the three lads left Sunshine, it appears the remaining
members, including Bryce Norrie, reformed Candy.
In late 1973, Lyttle People split with Paul and
Linda rejoining Chips, this left Stuart Bingham without a job. At
the same, it was reported that Candy was going through its own problems
and the end result was the reformation of Sunshine with the lineup
as: Bryce Norrie (vocals), Ray Toal (bass), Stuart Bingham (guitar),
Sammy Johnson (keyboards), Barry Patterson (drums) [both Sam and
Barry were with the original Sunshine], Fran Dennis (trombone) and
Gerry Mulryan (trumpet). However, despite being reported in Spotlight, Bryce did not leave Candy, and we do not know what
Stuart and the others actually did for the next few months.
While all this was going on a report in the
"Popping Around" column in the
Connaught Telegraph reported that future legendary promoter,
Louis Walsh, was putting together a band also called Sunshine
but this apparently never happened. An advert for the band in
the September, 1973 issue of Spotlight named George Doherty
as the manager, but he was still playing with the band as far as we
know.
However, in May 1974 an article in Spotlight
reported that Bryce was leaving Candy and was going to team up with
his old bandmate Stuart Bingham, who was playing cabaret with a
band called Tapestry. Tapestry had been on an extended tour of Canada and
when they returned they started
looking for a guitarist.
In late 1973, although it was
reported that Stuart and
Ray left the band to reform Sunshine, Stuart joined cabaret band,
Tapestry. The lineup in December, 1972 was: Bryce Norrie,
George Doherty, Denis Forbes, Colin Unknown, Martin Hughes, Alan Black and one
un-named member. A small blurb in the April 25, 1974 issue of
Spotlight reported that Bryce Norrie had quit the band and
was replaced by Jimmy Kirk. The same
article said that the band had been together for five years, but
took a break for a year when everyone in the band but George
Doherty left to form Sunshine.
In August, 1974 Spotlight's
Rock On column reported that Colm Martin and George Doherty had
both left the band, leaving it to continue as a 5 piece.
More to come.......
Photo Gallery
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