Ali decided to jack in his job at the local hardware store as he and the rest of the band turned professional. Until then The Birds had seemed quite happy playing at many of the local charity events, often for free. Leo though, ever the businessman, had other ideas. Soon the front cover of The Uxbridge Gazette screamed “NO MORE CHARITY SHOWS IN WEST DRAYTON”. It was accompanied by an article about a poorly attended charity night held at the community centre in aid of deaf children, where trouble had erupted. De Klerk added, “It was a crying shame, they were playing in


They appeared first on the bill, with a blistering cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘You’ll Be Mine’ and had Keith Fordyce describing it as “…a lively start.”


their home town for the first time since they turned professional and I thought I would be turning people away in their hundreds. At Uxbridge and Southall I can pack a hall with decent, clean cut mod-type youths.” He was also quoted as saying that “It is unlikely that there are any local halls big enough to have a crowd to pay the professional fee required of the group.” They were already moving on to bigger things.


The first casualty of their new professional status was drummer Bob Langham, whose mum wouldn’t allow him to take on the band as a full time job. So drum duties were passed on to Pete Hocking (later changing his surname to McDaniel, presumably after Bo Diddley’s songwriting name, Ellas McDaniel). Leo had connections that would


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help him promote his new acquisitions and, on a Monday night at the start of July, the band appeared in front of 10 million TV viewers in the beat contest Ready, Steady, Win compared by Ready, Steady, Go host Keith Fordyce. They appeared first on the bill, with a blistering cover of Howlin’ Wolf ’s ‘You’ll Be Mine’ and had Fordyce describing it as “…a lively start.” They later returned with their own composition ‘You’re On My Mind’ but it wasn’t enough to persuade the judges, who awarded them 62 points, placing them fifth out of the six competing groups.


To raise their profile nationally The Birds were packed off in their van to places such as The Il Rondo in Leicester, The Dungeon in Nottingham, The Oasis in Manchester and The Bristol Corn Exchange. Unlike many of their contemporaries at that time, they never played more than one gig a night. “Performance was my drug,” says Ali. “If we drove for 10 hours and played for one hour it was worth it. Playing live was my thing.”


Closer to home, they were offered the Monday night residency at London’s 100 Club. The bands that would regularly support them during this slot included The Clique, Blues By Five and The Tridents, who featured a young guitarist by the name of Jeff Beck. It was here that they were approached by Decca Records head Dick Rowe and his assistant Franklyn Boyd, with a view to being offered a recording contract. By November ’64 their debut single, the Ron Wood original ‘You’re On My Mind’ (backed with the maraca-laden ‘You Don’t Love Me’, featuring some great harmonica work by Wood), was released. The Birds performed the song at a BBC radio audition but were told they were “Not exciting, not very imaginative. Scruffy louts who made The Rolling Stones look like choir boys!”


A trip by Ali to Rainbow Records in Yiewsley High Street then proved very fruitful. Whilst


browsing through the latest soul releases he stumbled upon a Stateside EP entitled R&B Chartmakers No. 3. The record contained four artists hailing from the Motown stable. However, it was the first song on the flip side that caught Ali’s ear, a pounding piano-led tune entitled ‘Leaving Here’ by Eddie Holland. In April ’65 The Birds’ heavy fuzz guitar drenched version of the song came out backed by another Wood original, ‘Next In Line’.


“It’s funny that we’re always known for being a heavy R&B band,” muses Ali. “We did lots of soul covers live in our set. ‘Needle In A Haystack’ and lots by my favourite vocal trio The Impressions. You know stuff like ‘It’s Alright’ and ‘Talkin’ About My Baby’. I loved harmonies and got really into that soulful sound. I had no interest in The Beatles or the Stones. Tony and Ronnie were well into The Everly Brothers, though Ronnie also loved the blues, and Kimjust liked rocking stuff.”


When appearing on Thank Your Lucky Stars to promote the new single, the idea, due to being “Birds”, was that they should be lowered onto the stage with wires. It ended in chaos, with Pete facing the wrong way and Kimhovering above the stage! Still, they at least seemed to be on the path to success and were now playing to large audiences all over the country, from Brighton’s Aquarium to Sheffield’s Mojo Club. The boys also had their own fan club that set about promoting the single through thousands of little sticky pink labels describing them as “London’s most dynamic group”, accompanied by the record’s catalogue number. Unfortunately the champagne looked destined to remain on ice as the single suddenly stalled in the charts. Investigations as to why seemed to point to the fact that customers requesting it were being sold the wrong single. Hip young fans placing the single on their Dansettes were horrified to discover that instead of the raw opening guitar chords of ‘Leaving Here’, they


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