Vipers, The The Vipers Skiffle Group, featuring a young singer called Wally Whyton, became the first group to earn a residency at the… In 1964 Birmingham had its first group in the Top Ten. Their follow-up release was given to them by The Beatles! They made a film!! They appeared at the incredible NME Poll Winners concert!!! So, yes, you’re going to hear Megan talking about all of this, as well as other details like her other career as a clinical physiologist in neurophysiology in the National Health Service (that basically involves studying people’s brain waves) and just stuff about playing the bass guitar, how she’s still working on her technique and things like that. The Scouting movement was a big feature of my upbringing. Dad was a Scout Master and mum, a Guide Captain. At the age of fifteen, I moved from Girl Guides to assist with Wolf Cubs and in 1960, the 1st Olton Scout Group were preparing a Gang Show and when asked "Can anyone play an instrument?" a few of us took up the challenge. Martin Baggott, Phil Cash and I possessed guitars and Gerry Freeman was the obvious choice as the drummer because he was the lead drummer in the Scout band. Like Dreamers Do" / "(BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM) Everybody Fall Down" (Decca F 11916) June 1964 (#20 UK)

The solid body Hofners were an improvement, at least image-wise for a while but the dream of the majority of guitarists was to own a Fender. The year was 1962 and Selmer had just started distributing the Fender range of guitars (Stratocasters were 163 guineas new). "Monk" Mutch ( Johnny Neal and The Starliners) let me use his Fender bass at one of John Singer's Town Hall gigs and I was smitten (by the bass and Monk's playing).

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A couple of friends and I had a so called 'group'. I don't think we ever selected a name but we had lots of ideas! Margaret Griffiths, a lifelong friend, played the piano and her friend, Anne Abernethy, who lived across the road, improvised on 'drums' with knitting needles and biscuit tins. I proudly twanged away on my plastic strings! We just rehearsed a lot but were really a "sitting room group". We considered "Let's Have A Party" to be our best number.

Drummer Gerry Freeman persuaded Megan Davies, a fellow Sunday School teacher (and later his wife) to come in on bass. Adding organist Don Gould in 1962 the band went forth as The Jaguars, specialising in instrumentals.They notched up a highly respectable number 23 with "Three Little Words (I Love You) during that tour but after that things drifted. Arguments with the record label over their next single and general public apathy meant that like many good bands they faded from public awareness, although they continued touring up to the end of the sixties. The group quarrelled with Decca over their next single. Decca wanted them to record " Chim Chim Chiree", but the group disliked the song. Although the single had been announced (and is therefore listed in most discographies), it was never released. According to Megan Davies, [5] the group did not even record "Chim Chim Chiree". Thanks to that quarrel, their next single, "Bye Bye Girl", was released half a year after "Three Little Words". The 1960s was a really fruitful period in terms of modern British culture and I am proud of that part of our history. I find it fascinating, I like the music and I like the stories of the people involved, and I hope you do too. I guess I could ramble on for ages about gigs and groups from the 60s onwards. I still do a few gigs but not in the professional sense. Got involved with a musician so one of us had to get a proper job! I have a good position in the NHS at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London. I miss my music.

Tell Me When" / "Wishing Will Never Make It So" / "Over Suzanne" / "Hello Josephine" / "As a Matter Of Fact" / " Too Much Monkey Business" / " Memories of You" / "Ain't That Just Like Me" / " Kansas City" / "I Wonder" / "Three Little Words (I Love You)" / "Baby Jane" / "No Time" / "See If She Cares" / "What's the Matter Little Girl" / " What'd I Say" Cliff and The Shadows was definitely the way to go. There were very few other role models to choose from anyway, and we gradually went electric. It was obvious then, that one of us would have to change to bass guitar. Here, I think the story goes, "Well, you're the worst guitarist, Megan. You can play bass." I'm not sure that it was actually said in so many words, but that's the gist of how I got the job. Megan Davies joined a Brum group called Mongrel - the same band that provided members for Roy Wood's chart-topping "Wizzard" after he left the Electric Light Orchestra (see The Move). Megan later gave up music full-time to train as a radiologist after which she worked for many years at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London where she no doubt helped save many lives, surely a most worthy career for a former pop star. Right, without any further ado then, let’s listen to Megan Brady talking about playing the bass guitar and her story of being a pop star in the 1960s. Steppenwolf Canadian-American band Steppenwolf was formed by German-born guitarist and singer John Kay (real name, Joachim Fritz Krauledat) in 1967, playing…

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Tell Me When" / "Wishing Will Never Make It So" / "Over Suzanne" / "Hello Josephine" / "As a Matter of Fact" / " Too Much Monkey Business" / " Memories of You" / "Ain't That Just Like Me" / " Kansas City" / "I Wonder" / "Three Little Words (I Love You)" / "Baby Jane" / "No Time" / "See If She Cares" / "What's the Matter Little Girl" / " What'd I Say" / " Like Dreamers Do" / "Everybody Fall Down" / "You’re the One for Me" / " I Go to Sleep" In 1965 Megan Davies married drummer Gerry Freeman, making them probably the tightest rhythm section in pop. Originally called The Crestas, they formed in 1961 in Olton, Solihull. Phil Cash - rhythm guitar, Martin Baggot - lead guitar, Don Gould - organ, and Gerald Freeman -drums had been in the scouts together, they were complemented by Megan Davies on bass guitar, who stood out in the same way that Honey Lantree did in The Honeycombs.

Mystery BrumBeat personality Bulls Head Bob asked Megan for her early memories of starting out as a bass player and what guitars she opted for along the way; My Guitars... for the love of Freda TELL ME WHEN / WISHING WILL NEVER MAKE IT SO / OVER SUZANNE / HELLO JOSEPHINE / AS A MATTER OF FACT / TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS / MEM'RIES OF YOU / AIN'T THAT JUST LIKE ME // KANSAS CITY / I WONDER / THREE LITTLE WORDS (I LOVE YOU) / BABY JANE / NO TIME / SEE IF SHE CARES / WHAT'S THE MATTER LITTLE GIRL / WHAT'D I SAY I know Megan because I’m mates with one of her sons, Jake – or Jacob as she calls him. I met Jake at sixth form college and we played music together in bands over the years.

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So that’s how I know Megan. I am friends with her son, and now I’ve finally taken the initiative to interview her on this podcast. Megan is lovely and she was happy to do this, which I really appreciate. Vocabulary Upon later graduating to electric instruments, a bass guitarist was now considered essential. Megan recalled; "Cliff and The Shadows was definitely the way to go. It was obvious then, that one of us would have to change to bass guitar. "Well, you're the worst guitarist Megan. You can play bass!" I'm not sure that it was actually said in so many words, but that's the gist of how I got the job."