Bev Bevan : the death of The Diplomats

With the fine past reputations of both Denny Laine and the Diplomats and Gerry Levene and the Avengers to rely on, we had no problem in filling our gig diary. In fact, during the months of April and May, 1964 we notched up an incredible 56 shows.

We still had some confidence in making it big as The Diplomats (or the Dips as we were often called). We certainly weren't dipsomaniacs though - the occasional pint of lager and lime was about our limit.

Drugs were unheard of and I never even smoked (never have. in fact).

Girls were a different matter, but back in 1964 we were a few years short yet of the promiscuity of the "Swinging Sixties". The majority of the band had now acquired steady girlfriends and this was to be a factor in the eventual demise of the Diplomats.

But to begin with all went swimmingly well.

We shared a bill at Birmingham Town Hall with Little Richard and Gene Vincent and on May 2 we shared the stage with some ex-comrades, the Moody Blues Five, at the Carlton Club in Erdington.

Jim Onslow remembers: "The gig with the Moody Blues was a real face to face job, but in the end the Diplomats came out on top because the Moodies were very bluesy and the crowd weren't ready for that, at that time."

We also went into Hollick and Taylor recording studios to cut demos of a couple of songs written by Margaret Detheridge, wife of our publicist Denis Detheridge, In His Shoes and Put You Down.

Yet again, though, there were no takers from the record companies.

Through Denis's PR connections we got some good press coverage, including a nice piece in the TV Times, entitled "The Dips in the groove", which pictured us standing beside our lipstick-smeared Commer doormobile.

The opening paragraph read: "They grow their hair long and wear leather jackets, but the Diplomats are neither Mods nor Rockers. They are more interested in the beat boom than battling on the beaches".

This article had come about due to our appearances on local television - one show was kiddie's favourites The Tingha and Tucker Club (our nickname for the cute little puppet bears was "Finger and his mate") .

The other show was "For Teenagers Only" and our two appearances on that show (on April 30th and July 16th), were probably the career highlights of the Dips. The "Cameras, Lights, Action!" and all those screaming girls made us feel like proper rock'n'roll stars.

We also had a residency at Solihull Civic Hall, where every Monday night we would top the bill, with a local group made up of local schoolkids being our opening act.

It came as quite a shock and another blow to our pride when these still wet behind the ears kids got themselves a record deal and found themselves in the UK top ten in the summer of 1964.

It was The Applejacks with Tell Me When. After that we had to open the show for THEM!

By Autumn the gigs were beginning to dry up and money was running low, to the extent that we were struggling to keep up the hire purchase payments on our equipment and van. Economies had to be made.

We all got on very well so it was sad when four of us made the decision to sack bass player Steve Horton. "Why me?" he asked. "I've been in the band from the start."

"Well Steve, we've got two bass players - you and Jim," I explained. "Jim also sings, and you don't - so sorry mate". I think his reply was on the lines of: "You load of bastards!"

He had a point.

By December we were just about down and out. Rhythm guitarist Phil developed tonsillitis and jaundice, and for just a few gigs we continued as a trio (it must have sounded pretty dire ).

Our last ever show was at Walsall Town Hall on New Year's Eve 1964.

Phil Ackrill was anxious to settle down and get married to his fiancé Gill (who he'd met at a gig in '63 at the Hen and Chickens in Langley), and he got a job as an accountant at Ellis Travel in Birmingham city centre.

Phil now works as a financial consultant for both Jasper Carrott and myself.

Jim Onslow got married in 1965 and became a butcher, working at a shop in Shrewsbury. Jim now does gigs around the Midlands as a singer with backing tapes.

"Sprike" Hopkins, a fine guitarist, went on to join the band Lemon Tree and in later years played with Time, The Idle Race, Canadian group Fludd and that fine Midlands outfit Quartz.

Steve Horton returned to hairdressing and now lives in Spain.

When the Dips broke up, I was still desperate to hang on to my beloved kit of Ludwig drums, and I had no intention of quitting the music business. But with no drumming work on the horizon, and with those HP payments to meet, I found myself a job (for £9/10 shillings a week), at Birmingham's swankiest store, Kean & Scotts, as a furniture salesman.

The absolute lowpoint of a disappointing year came on December 25th, 1964, when I watched The Moody Blues on the Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops, performing their brilliant new single Go Now, which would go on to top the charts a month later).

There was my old colleague Denny Laine, singing this great song, surrounded by beautiful girls and very much a star in the making.

And me? All I had to look forward to was the January Sales ...