Darryl Read
Encyclopedia
Darryl Read is a British
poet
, singer, guitarist
, drummer
, actor
, and writer
. Read is among the forerunners of punk rock
. According to 2008's Pretty Vacant: A History of UK Punk, his second band Crushed Butler
"was, in many ways, Britain's first proto-punk
band." In addition to his work with Crushed Butler, spanning from the group's founding in 1969 to is dissolution in 1971, Read played briefly with Krayon Angels (1968–1969) and has released a number of solo albums. He has collaborated in recording with such musicians as Bill Legend
, Mickey Finn
, and Ray Manzarek
.
Read's involvement with film has included 1964's Daylight Robbery, for which Read won a Silver Lion medal award at the Venice Film Festival
at the age of 14. He wrote a screenplay with Bernard White for the feature film Remember a Day
, and also starred as Roger Bannerman, a character based on Pink Floyd
's Syd Barrett
. He acted on stage in two rock
-based plays. In "Let the Good Stones Roll", which debuted at the Edinburgh Festival
, he played Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards
. He was featured in "Bastard Angel", a play inspired by the band The Kinks
. Read has also worked on television as an actor in many productions.
He published a book of poems called Set in 1999, and in 2004 the biopic/novel entitled Stardom Road. Read currently does poetry readings and performs concerts internationally with his band Beat Existentialists.
) was a first assistant stage-hand and actor, and Darryl Michael Roy Read was born in Exeter
, England during the tour of A Streetcar Named Desire
. Read struggled at school (he was later diagnosed dyslexic) and after his parents divorced, he was brought up by his grandparents Paddy and Molly. Following his grandmother's death when he was seven years old, Read was sent to Parksisde Boarding School, in East Horsley. The new school did little to improve his academic achievements.
His mother got Read an audition for the Corona Academy for Dramatic Arts in Chiswick
, west London and he was accepted. He left boarding school the following term in early 1963, coming top in most classes, as he had cheated in all of them to leave on a good note.
Corona Academy saw Read work professionally within two weeks of starting. His first role being a background role on the 1963 film The V.I.P.'s
. The following week he featured in a Persil
commercial. By the end of his first term, he landed the lead part in the Children's Film Foundation
film The Young Detectives, when he replaced the original actor who fell ill. He then played Dick in the 1964 film Five Have a Mystery to Solve, based on an Enid Blyton
Famous Five book. Read was fortunate during filming, to take Enid round the film set, and was thrilled as her book had helped him to learn to read.
From his first term at Corona, Read worked constantly for the next five years. He got known as One Take Read on film sets, for his ability to get to do a scene in one take Read suffered from asthma and used an atomizer with Benzedrine
which allegedly helped him focus and perform first takes. Read was also a fast learner and learned horse riding or anything that he was required to do for a film.
The same applied when he purchased a drum kit and a guitar at the age of 14. Though professionally successful at Corona, Read continued to suffer a disruptive home life with his mother and her partner. Read managed at times to live in lodgings near Corona with other students from the school. Out of his professional acting jobs he paid his way through school, and lodging bills and all living expenses.
Read left Corona 1968 with a string of professional film and TV acting credits under his belt including a Venice Film Festival
award for his role in the Children's Film Foundation film Daylight Robbery. At 17 Read had become a Fabulous 208 magazine teenage pin up-star. Amongst the pupils during his time at Corona were: Mitch Mitchell
who became drummer with The Jimi Hendrix Experience
, Richard O'Sullivan, Judy Geeson
, Francesca Annis
, Dennis Waterman
and Michael Des Barres
with whom in 1967 he formed the rock pop group The Orange Illusion, along with Nicholas Young and Kit Williams. The teen pop rock group were split up by the school's acting agent Hazel Malone in early 1968 who wanted the students to continue their acting careers. Michael Des Barres went later became lead singer with 70s Glam Rock
group Silverhead
.
Read appeared in a lead role in an episode of Dixon of Dock Green
aired in late 1967 titled The Run, and due to readers requests Fabulous 208 magazine started to feature him regularly as a pin-up and write in-depth articles on him. Read gained a large following of female teenage fans, after further lead roles in The Lost Continent
and Z-Cars
. A fan club was formed for him by two teenage girls called Brenda and Stevie who came from Walworth, London, the club was publicized in Petticoat and Fabulous 208 magazines.
world of rock 'n' roll when a fan called Julia Smith turned him onto the Edgar Broughton Band
and Mick Farren
of The Deviants, whom he met on a couple of occasions. Read hung out with a woman called Nikki Johnson, who found him his first manager Robin Hemingway. Hemingway (sometimes known as the Cheetah) was a black hip hustler who had worked with T-Bone Walker
, and turned Read onto soul music. Whilst trying to secure a record contact for him, Hemingway got demo time at Decca Studios
, invited Read to a The Beatles
session in Abbey Road studios, and once introduced him to Jimi Hendrix
.
Read continued to switch between playing drums and guitar whilst continuing acting work. Read was asked by Emperor Rosko
to form a group for his brother Jeff Pasternak. Read recruited Lou Martin
and Stuart MacDonald members of Killing Floor
blues band, and guitarist Chris Gibbons to form the Krayon Angels.
They played the Marquee Club
and the Revolution Club and recorded a demo album. The group split in early 1969, when Jeff Pasternak and Chris Gibbons created a Simon & Garfunkel-type duo but performed poorly, Read gaving them the name Smooth Loser, which they later utilized as a rock band. The demo album Read made with Krayon Angels eventually was released in 1998, by Dig The Fuzz Records on vinyl as an archival works.
Out in the cold, and on the front cover of Fabulous 208 magazine, Read hooked up with an Edmonton-based black soul outfit called The Keith Locke Band, playing drums. Read was the only white player amongst Keith, Derrick Johnson and Rosko Gee
, who went onto to become members of Bob Marley
's band and Traffic
. At this time Read also rehearsed with a classical rock trio in Pimlico
, London, and after one rehearsal, came across Jesse Hector and Alan Butler, ex-Mods with hair to match, who arrived to rehearse without a drummer - they jammed and decided to work together, and inside eight weeks got backing and management from a Jewish East End market worker called Graham Breslau. Read came up with a band name Crushed Butler
and they recorded a demo in Regent Sound Studios Studios in Denmark Street called It's My Life. The trio played their first gig at The Country Club, West Hampstead, where they blew the top band Osibisa
off the stage with their ferociously aggressive, energetic, uptempo raw and improvised blend of rock and roll. Crushed Butler dressed in hand-cut slash neck red t-shirts, straight legged Levis with studded belts. Hector had short cropped hair with massive mutton chops, Butler had a crop cut centre parting hairdo and large sideburns, Read had a lions shag of dark hair and continually sported a black leather vintage motorcycle jacket, with a blue/white hooped t-shirt and Cuban heels. Altogether their image looked liked The Clash
several years before The Clash formed, and Hectors voice sounded like John Lydon
only in 1969. The trio didn't fit in with the conventional leftovers from the Flower Power
scene, they were more as Read put it: "Council Estate Rock!" a foreboding of what was to come, only it would be called Punk.
Graham pulled in his friend an ex-boxer called Gerald Horgan who originally managed Cat Stevens
to help manage the group. They recorded in EMI, Dick James Music DJM
studios (where they were thrown out for being rude to the sound engineer and caught on a surveillance camera swearing about Harold Champagne a senior executive of the company), De Lane Lea studios (sessions came to an early end as the studio was beginning to get trashed with curry on the floor, Hector dancing on a grand piano, and drumsticks sticking in the new pegboard ceiling). They also recorded at Decca's West Hampstead studios, and Marquee Studios, but they failed to get a recording deal even though they were supporting major acts like Mott The Hoople
, Atomic Rooster
and UFO
. The business simply refused to sign them, as Read once quoted in a record collector two-page spread article by Mark Paytress, "We were an incredible threat to the industry, they didn't want these young upstarts breaking into the scene and changing it!".
In under a year Graham pulled out of the management deal, and took all their equipment back, and Gerald Horgan remained friends with Read but couldn't do much to help further the group's career. The group changed their name to Tiger (the group)
and went through a succession of bass players including ex-Smile
bassist Barry Mitchell, and were managed by Neil Christian
for a while. After recruiting Alan Butler back in to the group they worked together again and recorded High School Dropout at Marquee Studios. They finally split in 1971 after being continually turned down and out of work. Hector and Butler later in 1977 got punk
success with their band The Hammersmith Gorillas, later shortened to The Gorillas
.
by The Who's manager Chris Stamp
as a songwriter and assistant to John Keen, also known as Speedy (who wrote the number one hit Something In The Air
). Read started working with Terry Stamp and Jim Avery of pro-Castro activist rockers Third World War as a songwriter. Read recorded a demo track in 1972 with Terry Stamp at Regent Sound Studios called Razor City, and continued to work on-and-off with Terry and Jim up until 2000. In late 1972 Read joined ex-Silverhead
guitarist Steve Forest, playing drums in Steve's Glam Rock
trio called Dizzy. The bass player was Australian born Jenny Tutton, they played gigs at the Marquee Club
and the Speakeasy Club
. The band split when their manager ran out of money, and stopped backing the band - reclaiming equipment he paid for. Read got a gig as drummer and bandleader of a national UK number one theatrical tour of the tribal rock musical Hair
. Read got Steve Forrest the job as lead guitarist, and they toured with the show for one year, Read had originally got the part of the Recruit in the show and was to be part of the Tribe, but realized he'd make more money if he played drums and became the bandleader.
In 1975 Read began pursuing a front man singer/guitarist career and continued to switch between music and acting and got a small song publishing deal with Famous Chapel. In early 1976 Read recorded songs at Polydor with Steve Forrest and Charlie Harty, including a track titled On The Streets Tonight. Again Read's songs and band were turned down again by Nick Mobs of EMI who said: "It wasn't funky enough!" Five months later Mobbs signed The Sex Pistols.
In 1977 Read did some stage shows, one playing Keith Richards
in the premier production Let the Good Stones Roll. There were more television performances including a featured role in Rock Follies
(1977)), Minder
(1978) and was taken on by Tony Meehan
to record five Read original tracks at Marcus studios, Bayswater, produced by Meehan, Jim Avery assisted in putting things together, and amongst the band members were Anthony Glynne and ex-Love Affair
vocalist Gus Yeadon who played Hammond organ
.
In 1980 Read landed a lead role in the premier production of the Royal Shakespeare production of Barrie Keeffe's play Bastard Angel and in the same year, recorded his first solo single Living on Borrowed Time/West End Girl produced by Ray Hendrikson at Scorpio Sounds studios, London.
Read left the music business in 1985 and moved to Spain. Whilst on a stop-off in Berlin, he started playing some bars and cafés and clubs, one being the Ex Und Pop punk club where he was rediscovered by Dimitri Leningrad, a hip impresario, who put him on the Berlin underground circuit as Darryl Read's Hearts of Darkness. This led to him recording a cover version of The Rolling Stones
' Play With Fire, which became an underground hit and played on German airwaves for three months. He signed a publishing deal with Peter Radzuhn and Tom Muller at Hansa Tone Studios who flew in Paul Thompson
of Roxy Music
to work with Read in the studio. The Hearts of Darkness now consisted of Read (lead vocals/guitar), Paul Thomson (drums), Volker Janssen (keyboards) and Graham Sears (bass). They recorded a mini album No Soul Through Midnight in 1986 and released a hard-edged unconventional B/W 16mm promo film titled No Place which featured Connover Farndon and ex-Stray Cats
manager Tony Bidgood. Read directed the piece with Steve Ingle and other students from the British Film School.
of The Doors
, who put them on with him at a live show featuring many acts at The Arts Variety Centre Theatre, Hollywood. This led to them making an album titled Book Of The Dead on funds Tarlow mysteriously hustled from two Iranian backers. The band were off and straight into a downtown, South Central LA recording studio. Read collaborated again with Terry Stamp, who now lived in LA, on some of the song writing duties. They scraped, begged and borrowed and cut the album, and even got a large advertising poster board up on Sunset Strip
outside Tower Records.
Some days the Hearts of Darkness were so broke they lived off happy hour snacks at La Express in Studio City, and drove around in a British hearse
that Tarlow brought over with him, eventually hoping to make lots of cash – the hearse ended up selling for peanuts in a car auction. During this time Read and his group appeared in a low-budget B horror movie entitled Midnight for Mortica. By chance he was introduced to Gloria Jones
and hung out with her discussing the possibilities of doing a film about Marc Bolan
as Gloria's friend Robert Hyatt had written a script on Marc's life. Read moved in with a young woman for two years, who had previously been dating Phil Spector
as Read heavily dug into LA's underground culture. Read eventually split with Wilde and Tarlow, after many disagreements and their sleight of hand
with backing monies, and went solo.
Read started hanging out with a hip club Rockabilly
group called The Mighty Hornets and jammed with them frequently at the Spice Club where they were the resident house group. Around this time he met John Entwistle
of The Who
, (the Who were Read's teen idols and somewhat inspiration), and jammed with him at the China Club; the jam was caught on video by the club's engineer as Read sung Townshend's I Cant' Explain. The Hornets and Read eventually made an album at Paramount Recording Studios in 1992 titled Beat Existentialist featuring Ray Manzarek on three tracks.
in 1994, to do shows featuring the works of Marc Bolan. Read had originally failed the audition for front man of what was to be called X T.Rex in 1994, but the musician they chose dropped out and Read was asked to join. The band were featured a week or two after, on Nationwide TV in a news spot.
After X T. Rex split, Read was introduced by Barry Smith (who ran a fan club for T. Rex) to Bill Legend of the original T.Rex. The two struck up a partnership - recording three records: Teenage Dream, Gods 'n' Angels and Walking in Shadows as Darryl Read and the Nightriders. Mickey Finn
also of the original T. Rex joined them on recordings and some shows. The last being an all-star line-up including Zoot Money
and Finn; the concert was filmed by a small crew at the 100 Club' in London'.
Bernard White (Syd Barrett aficionado) started to manage Read, and released his records on his White Label Records company. They went on to produce a promo film at the Roundhouse
London with Gerald Horgan. The promo film was for "Teenage Dream
", a Marc Bolan
song) and "Hard on Love" Read's original composition. Read and The Nightriders continued for a while and did a television slot for the Live TV Television company.
In 1998 Dig the Fuzz Records released Crushed Butler 'Uncrushed demos of Read's Proto Punk group who never got a deal, and changed Rock history over night. In 1999 White and Read wrote a screenplay for the low budget film production of Remember a Day and Richard Wright
of Pink Floyd
gave White the rights to the track of the same title to use for the drama based heavily on Syd Barrett
of Pink Floyd. The film also starred Zoot Money
, Jamie Foreman
, Peter Jenner
and Jenny Fabian - the author of Groupie. The film became an underground success.
In the same year Ray Manzarek and Read released a poetry album with music titled: Freshly Dug the album was subsequently re-issued twice thereafter, once in 2005 on Cherryl Red label (Lemon Records) and in 2006 on the Madstar Records label for Germany.
Read was inspired by Ray Manzarek to write a poetry book titled Set illustrated by George Underwood in 1999, hardcover, and in 2000 in a paper back version.
In 2002 Read teamed up again with Dave Goodman
the original producer and sound man for the Sex Pistols
, with whom he had previously worked with on the film Remember A Day. The two set about recording a whole rock album in 10 days. Read wrote the majority of the songs in the studio daily, and Dave co-wrote three of the 10-track album which he produced. Read worked well with Goodman, and particularly liked the production of The Man Will Know Us When We Get There track. The album was titled: Shaved and got released later that year in Germany. Dave Goodman died in 2005 of a heart attack at his studio in Malta. In 2004 a hardcover limited edition of Stardom Road his biographical/novel was published.
Read continued to play concerts in Europe under the banner of Darryl Read's Beat Existentialists, and in 2007 released another poetry/music album with Ray Manzarek titled: Bleeding Paradise. In 2008 he filmed additional sequences in the UK for a new version of Remember A Day (distributed by Contemporary films UK) and guested regularly on Radio Eins Berlin, as DJ with his own Beat X Show. Currently Read is working with his group internationally in rock concerts and performs poetry readings. In 2009 Set was translated into German, and Colectomatic Volume 3 was released. And in the same year Teenage Dream along with the promo from the Roundhouse was re-issued.
In mid 2009 Read recorded a Mick Farren
song titled: We Gotta Find Somewhere to Go the track will be featured in a forthcoming tribute album paying homage to the Pink Fairies
and The Deviants, which will also feature the likes of The Damned, The Dead Kennedys, Wilko Johnson
, The Only Ones
. In mid November 2009 Crushed Butler Uncrushed was re-issued for the fourth time; this version on 12 inch vinyl with a new bonus track, was released worldwide by Heartbeat Radio Records NYC.
August 2010 Windian Records USA released Crushed Butler's Its My Life/My Sons Alive on vinyl, and on September 19, 2010 Read released his latest album: All The Ghosts of Rock 'n' Roll, produced by Italian/German producer Stephan Kroll.
On May 17, 2011, Read released a new single called Money Number One which was recorded in Thailand and produced by Barry Upton
(known for work his with Steps). A promo video was filmed in Siam, Thailand to promote the Read/Upton composition.
Hardly of the same status of mainstream major rock contemporaries, but Read continues to be prolific as an artist, and something of a rock 'n' roll underground enigma, with a large portion of Beat poetry thrown in.
Albums
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, singer, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. Read is among the forerunners of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
. According to 2008's Pretty Vacant: A History of UK Punk, his second band Crushed Butler
Crushed Butler
Crushed Butler were a British protopunk/hard rock band that existed between 1969 and 1971. According to 2008's Pretty Vacant: A History of UK Punk, the band "was, in many ways, Britain's first proto-punk band." Band members went on to form Darryl Read's Beat Existentialists The Gorillas and to...
"was, in many ways, Britain's first proto-punk
Protopunk
Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of musicians who were important precursors of punk rock in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential...
band." In addition to his work with Crushed Butler, spanning from the group's founding in 1969 to is dissolution in 1971, Read played briefly with Krayon Angels (1968–1969) and has released a number of solo albums. He has collaborated in recording with such musicians as Bill Legend
Bill Legend
Bill Legend was the drummer for glam rock band T.Rex during their most successful period....
, Mickey Finn
Mickey Finn (musician)
Mickey Finn or occasionally Micky Finn , was the percussionist and sideman to Marc Bolan in his band Tyrannosaurus Rex , and later, the 1970s glam rock group, T.Rex...
, and Ray Manzarek
Ray Manzarek
Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, Nite City from 1977–1978 and Manzarek-Krieger since 2001.Manzarek is listed #4 on Digital Dreamdoor's "100...
.
Read's involvement with film has included 1964's Daylight Robbery, for which Read won a Silver Lion medal award at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
at the age of 14. He wrote a screenplay with Bernard White for the feature film Remember a Day
Remember a Day (2000 film)
Remember a Day is a low-budget film made in 2000 and inspired by an original story by Bernard White . The film depicts Roger Bannerman, a former rock star, now fading into obscurity and becoming a recluse...
, and also starred as Roger Bannerman, a character based on Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
. He acted on stage in two rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
-based plays. In "Let the Good Stones Roll", which debuted at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
, he played Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
. He was featured in "Bastard Angel", a play inspired by the band The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
. Read has also worked on television as an actor in many productions.
He published a book of poems called Set in 1999, and in 2004 the biopic/novel entitled Stardom Road. Read currently does poetry readings and performs concerts internationally with his band Beat Existentialists.
Early years and career
His father Hedley Read (a television producer for CBC televisionCBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
) was a first assistant stage-hand and actor, and Darryl Michael Roy Read was born in Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, England during the tour of A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
. Read struggled at school (he was later diagnosed dyslexic) and after his parents divorced, he was brought up by his grandparents Paddy and Molly. Following his grandmother's death when he was seven years old, Read was sent to Parksisde Boarding School, in East Horsley. The new school did little to improve his academic achievements.
His mother got Read an audition for the Corona Academy for Dramatic Arts in Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
, west London and he was accepted. He left boarding school the following term in early 1963, coming top in most classes, as he had cheated in all of them to leave on a good note.
Corona Academy saw Read work professionally within two weeks of starting. His first role being a background role on the 1963 film The V.I.P.'s
The V.I.P.'s
The V.I.P.'s were a British R&B musical ensemble formed in Carlisle, Cumberland, in late 1963, out of an earlier outfit known as The Ramrods, who had formed in Carlisle in 1960...
. The following week he featured in a Persil
Persil
Persil is a brand of laundry detergent currently and originally made by Henkel & Cie; but which is now also licensed for manufacture, distribution, and marketing in several countries by the Unilever Corporation. Henkel and Unilever both manufacture their own formulations...
commercial. By the end of his first term, he landed the lead part in the Children's Film Foundation
Children's Film Foundation
The Children's Film Foundation was a non-profit-making organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom, typically running for about 55 minutes. It was founded in 1951. For 30 years it was subsidised by the Eady Levy - a tax on box office receipts, but this was abolished in 1985...
film The Young Detectives, when he replaced the original actor who fell ill. He then played Dick in the 1964 film Five Have a Mystery to Solve, based on an Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton was an English children's writer also known as Mary Pollock.Noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups,her books have enjoyed huge success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 600 million copies.One of Blyton's most...
Famous Five book. Read was fortunate during filming, to take Enid round the film set, and was thrilled as her book had helped him to learn to read.
From his first term at Corona, Read worked constantly for the next five years. He got known as One Take Read on film sets, for his ability to get to do a scene in one take Read suffered from asthma and used an atomizer with Benzedrine
Benzedrine
Benzedrine is the trade name of the racemic mixture of amphetamine . It was marketed under this brandname in the USA by Smith, Kline & French in the form of inhalers, starting in 1928...
which allegedly helped him focus and perform first takes. Read was also a fast learner and learned horse riding or anything that he was required to do for a film.
The same applied when he purchased a drum kit and a guitar at the age of 14. Though professionally successful at Corona, Read continued to suffer a disruptive home life with his mother and her partner. Read managed at times to live in lodgings near Corona with other students from the school. Out of his professional acting jobs he paid his way through school, and lodging bills and all living expenses.
Read left Corona 1968 with a string of professional film and TV acting credits under his belt including a Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
award for his role in the Children's Film Foundation film Daylight Robbery. At 17 Read had become a Fabulous 208 magazine teenage pin up-star. Amongst the pupils during his time at Corona were: Mitch Mitchell
Mitch Mitchell
John Ronald "Mitch" Mitchell was an English drummer, best known for his work in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Early life and the Jimi Hendrix Experience:...
who became drummer with The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English-American psychedelic rock band that formed in London in October 1966. Comprising eponymous singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until June 1969, in which...
, Richard O'Sullivan, Judy Geeson
Judy Geeson
Judith Amanda "Judy" Geeson is an English actor.-Early life:Geeson was born in Arundel, Sussex, England on 10 September 1948. She came from a middle class family; her father edited the National Coal Board magazine. Her sister, Sally Geeson, is also an actress and is known for her roles in British...
, Francesca Annis
Francesca Annis
Francesca Annis is an English actress, known for her film and television appearances, most recently in the BBC series Wives and Daughters, Cranford, and Deceit.-Early life and education:...
, Dennis Waterman
Dennis Waterman
Dennis Waterman is a British actor and singer, best known for his tough-guy roles in television series including The Sweeney, Minder and New Tricks.-Early life:...
and Michael Des Barres
Michael Des Barres
Lord Michael Philip Des Barres is a British actor and rock singer. He is known for playing the recurring role of Murdoc on the television show MacGyver and for replacing the late Robert Palmer in the band Power Station, fronting the band at the 1985 Live Aid concert...
with whom in 1967 he formed the rock pop group The Orange Illusion, along with Nicholas Young and Kit Williams. The teen pop rock group were split up by the school's acting agent Hazel Malone in early 1968 who wanted the students to continue their acting careers. Michael Des Barres went later became lead singer with 70s Glam Rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
group Silverhead
Silverhead
Silverhead were a British band, fronted by the singer/actor, Michael Des Barres. The other members of the band were: Robbie Blunt , Rod Rook Davies , Nigel Harrison and Pete Thompson...
.
Read appeared in a lead role in an episode of Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
aired in late 1967 titled The Run, and due to readers requests Fabulous 208 magazine started to feature him regularly as a pin-up and write in-depth articles on him. Read gained a large following of female teenage fans, after further lead roles in The Lost Continent
The Lost Continent (1968 film)
The Lost Continent is a 1968 science fiction film made by Seven Arts - Hammer Films featuring Eric Porter, Hildegard Knef, Suzanna Leigh, Tony Beckley and James Cossins. The film was produced, directed and written by Michael Carreras based on Dennis Wheatley's 1938 novel Uncharted Seas...
and Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
. A fan club was formed for him by two teenage girls called Brenda and Stevie who came from Walworth, London, the club was publicized in Petticoat and Fabulous 208 magazines.
Proto Punk Rocker
In early 1968 Read ventured into the undergroundUnderground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
world of rock 'n' roll when a fan called Julia Smith turned him onto the Edgar Broughton Band
Edgar Broughton Band
The Edgar Broughton Band, founded in 1968 in Warwick, England, is an English Psychedelic Rock group.-Career:The band started their career as a blues group under the name of The Edgar Broughton Blues Band, playing to a dedicated but limited following in the region around their hometown of Warwick...
and Mick Farren
Mick Farren
Michael Anthony 'Mick' Farren is an English journalist, author and singer associated with counterculture and the UK Underground.-Music:...
of The Deviants, whom he met on a couple of occasions. Read hung out with a woman called Nikki Johnson, who found him his first manager Robin Hemingway. Hemingway (sometimes known as the Cheetah) was a black hip hustler who had worked with T-Bone Walker
T-Bone Walker
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was one of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the...
, and turned Read onto soul music. Whilst trying to secure a record contact for him, Hemingway got demo time at Decca Studios
Decca Studios
Decca Studios was a recording facility in Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, North London, England.Famously, The Beatles failed their audition with Decca Records at the location on 1 January 1962, and subsequently signed with Parlophone instead....
, invited Read to a The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
session in Abbey Road studios, and once introduced him to Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
.
Read continued to switch between playing drums and guitar whilst continuing acting work. Read was asked by Emperor Rosko
Emperor Rosko
Mike Pasternak, better known by his stage name of Emperor Rosko is a well known pop radio presenter.Born Michael Joseph Pasternak, he is the son of Hollywood film producer Joe Pasternak. He was influenced in his career choice by KYA Radio Los Angeles DJs Lord Tim Hudson and Wolfman Jack...
to form a group for his brother Jeff Pasternak. Read recruited Lou Martin
Lou Martin
Louis 'Lou' Martin Louis 'Lou' Martin Louis 'Lou' Martin (born 12 August 1949, Belfast, Northern Ireland is a piano and organ player, who is most famous for his work with the London-based band Killing Floor and fellow Irish musician Rory Gallagher....
and Stuart MacDonald members of Killing Floor
Killing Floor
"Killing Floor" is a song by American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist Howlin' Wolf. Called "one of the defining classics of Chicago electric blues", "Killing Floor" has been recorded by a variety of artists and has been acknowledged by the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.-Original song:Howlin'...
blues band, and guitarist Chris Gibbons to form the Krayon Angels.
They played the Marquee Club
Marquee Club
The Marquee was a music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts.It was also the location of the first ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962....
and the Revolution Club and recorded a demo album. The group split in early 1969, when Jeff Pasternak and Chris Gibbons created a Simon & Garfunkel-type duo but performed poorly, Read gaving them the name Smooth Loser, which they later utilized as a rock band. The demo album Read made with Krayon Angels eventually was released in 1998, by Dig The Fuzz Records on vinyl as an archival works.
Out in the cold, and on the front cover of Fabulous 208 magazine, Read hooked up with an Edmonton-based black soul outfit called The Keith Locke Band, playing drums. Read was the only white player amongst Keith, Derrick Johnson and Rosko Gee
Rosko Gee
Rosko Gee is a Jamaican bassist who has played with the English band Traffic on their albums When the Eagle Flies and The Last Great Traffic Jam , with the supergroup Go conceived by Stomu Yamashta, which also included Steve Winwood, Al Di Meola, Klaus Schulze and Michael Shrieve, and with the...
, who went onto to become members of Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
's band and Traffic
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
. At this time Read also rehearsed with a classical rock trio in Pimlico
Pimlico
Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as a southern extension, Pimlico is known for its grand garden squares and impressive Regency architecture....
, London, and after one rehearsal, came across Jesse Hector and Alan Butler, ex-Mods with hair to match, who arrived to rehearse without a drummer - they jammed and decided to work together, and inside eight weeks got backing and management from a Jewish East End market worker called Graham Breslau. Read came up with a band name Crushed Butler
Crushed Butler
Crushed Butler were a British protopunk/hard rock band that existed between 1969 and 1971. According to 2008's Pretty Vacant: A History of UK Punk, the band "was, in many ways, Britain's first proto-punk band." Band members went on to form Darryl Read's Beat Existentialists The Gorillas and to...
and they recorded a demo in Regent Sound Studios Studios in Denmark Street called It's My Life. The trio played their first gig at The Country Club, West Hampstead, where they blew the top band Osibisa
Osibisa
Osibisa is a British Afro-pop band, founded in London in 1969 by four expatriate African and three Caribbean musicians. Osibisa were one of the first African bands to become widely popular, leading to claims of founding World Music.-History:...
off the stage with their ferociously aggressive, energetic, uptempo raw and improvised blend of rock and roll. Crushed Butler dressed in hand-cut slash neck red t-shirts, straight legged Levis with studded belts. Hector had short cropped hair with massive mutton chops, Butler had a crop cut centre parting hairdo and large sideburns, Read had a lions shag of dark hair and continually sported a black leather vintage motorcycle jacket, with a blue/white hooped t-shirt and Cuban heels. Altogether their image looked liked The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
several years before The Clash formed, and Hectors voice sounded like John Lydon
John Lydon
John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...
only in 1969. The trio didn't fit in with the conventional leftovers from the Flower Power
Flower power
Flower power is a slogan used by the American counterculture movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence ideology. It is rooted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War. The expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in...
scene, they were more as Read put it: "Council Estate Rock!" a foreboding of what was to come, only it would be called Punk.
Graham pulled in his friend an ex-boxer called Gerald Horgan who originally managed Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
to help manage the group. They recorded in EMI, Dick James Music DJM
DJM
DJM is a range of DJ mixers made by Pioneer Electronics.Mixers in the DJM series include the DJM-300,DJM-400, DJM-500, DJM-600, DJM-700, DJM-707, DJM-800, DJM-900 nexus, DJM-909, DJM-1000 and the DJM-2000...
studios (where they were thrown out for being rude to the sound engineer and caught on a surveillance camera swearing about Harold Champagne a senior executive of the company), De Lane Lea studios (sessions came to an early end as the studio was beginning to get trashed with curry on the floor, Hector dancing on a grand piano, and drumsticks sticking in the new pegboard ceiling). They also recorded at Decca's West Hampstead studios, and Marquee Studios, but they failed to get a recording deal even though they were supporting major acts like Mott The Hoople
Mott the Hoople
Mott the Hoople were a British rock band with strong R&B roots, popular in the glam rock era of the early to mid 1970s. They are popularly known for the song "All the Young Dudes", written for them by David Bowie and appearing on their 1972 album of the same name.-The early years:Mott The Hoople...
, Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster
Atomic Rooster were an English progressive rock band, composed of former members of the The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Throughout their history, keyboardist Vincent Crane was the only constant member, and wrote the majority of their material. Their history is defined by two periods, in the early...
and UFO
UFO (band)
UFO are an English heavy metal and hard rock band, who were formed in 1969. UFO became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal...
. The business simply refused to sign them, as Read once quoted in a record collector two-page spread article by Mark Paytress, "We were an incredible threat to the industry, they didn't want these young upstarts breaking into the scene and changing it!".
In under a year Graham pulled out of the management deal, and took all their equipment back, and Gerald Horgan remained friends with Read but couldn't do much to help further the group's career. The group changed their name to Tiger (the group)
Tiger (the group)
Tiger was a protopunkgroup formed in 1971 by Jesse Hector , Alan Butler and Darryl Read . Initially called Crushed Butler the band reformed as Tiger in an attempt to get a recording deal as Crushed Butler were turned down by every record company in London, mainly because of their aggressive...
and went through a succession of bass players including ex-Smile
Smile (band)
Smile were a London-based blues rock band best known as the predecessor to renowned rock band Queen. The band was formed in 1968 by Brian May, who was to become Queen's guitarist. The group included Tim Staffell as singer and bassist, and, later, drummer Roger Taylor, who also went on to play for...
bassist Barry Mitchell, and were managed by Neil Christian
Neil Christian
Neil Christian, born Christopher Tidmarsh had a solo hit single in 1966, when "That's Nice" , reached Number 16 in the UK Singles Chart. He remains, however, a one-hit wonder. Follow-up singles "Oops" and "Two at a Time" never reached the charts...
for a while. After recruiting Alan Butler back in to the group they worked together again and recorded High School Dropout at Marquee Studios. They finally split in 1971 after being continually turned down and out of work. Hector and Butler later in 1977 got punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
success with their band The Hammersmith Gorillas, later shortened to The Gorillas
The Gorillas
The Gorillas were a rock group from Hammersmith, London, England formed in 1974, and fronted by Jesse Hector, who played high energy rock music.-History:...
.
Shadow Rock 'n' Roll
In 1971 Read was broke and disillusioned with the music business, and heavily into amphetamines and sleeping pills. He was given a job at Track RecordsTrack Records
Track Records is an English record label founded in London in 1966 by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of hard rock band The Who. The most successful artists whose work appeared on the Track label were The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Thunderclap...
by The Who's manager Chris Stamp
Chris Stamp
Christopher Stamp is a British psychodrama therapist based in the state of New York. Stamp is also known for co-founding the now defunct Track Records and for co-managing and producing such musical acts as The Who and Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s and '70s.-Childhood:Born into a working-class family,...
as a songwriter and assistant to John Keen, also known as Speedy (who wrote the number one hit Something In The Air
Something in the Air
Something in the Air was an Australian television soap opera transmitted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation between 2000 and 2002. It was one of the first programs in Australia that was filmed in widescreen.-Cast:...
). Read started working with Terry Stamp and Jim Avery of pro-Castro activist rockers Third World War as a songwriter. Read recorded a demo track in 1972 with Terry Stamp at Regent Sound Studios called Razor City, and continued to work on-and-off with Terry and Jim up until 2000. In late 1972 Read joined ex-Silverhead
Silverhead
Silverhead were a British band, fronted by the singer/actor, Michael Des Barres. The other members of the band were: Robbie Blunt , Rod Rook Davies , Nigel Harrison and Pete Thompson...
guitarist Steve Forest, playing drums in Steve's Glam Rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
trio called Dizzy. The bass player was Australian born Jenny Tutton, they played gigs at the Marquee Club
Marquee Club
The Marquee was a music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts.It was also the location of the first ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962....
and the Speakeasy Club
Speakeasy Club
The Speakeasy Club, 48 Margaret Street, London, England, was a late-night haunt for the music industry from 1966 to the late 1970s. The club was first managed Roy Flynn, who then became the manager of Yes. Tony Howard then became manager, having previously been the main artist booker from The Bryan...
. The band split when their manager ran out of money, and stopped backing the band - reclaiming equipment he paid for. Read got a gig as drummer and bandleader of a national UK number one theatrical tour of the tribal rock musical Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
. Read got Steve Forrest the job as lead guitarist, and they toured with the show for one year, Read had originally got the part of the Recruit in the show and was to be part of the Tribe, but realized he'd make more money if he played drums and became the bandleader.
In 1975 Read began pursuing a front man singer/guitarist career and continued to switch between music and acting and got a small song publishing deal with Famous Chapel. In early 1976 Read recorded songs at Polydor with Steve Forrest and Charlie Harty, including a track titled On The Streets Tonight. Again Read's songs and band were turned down again by Nick Mobs of EMI who said: "It wasn't funky enough!" Five months later Mobbs signed The Sex Pistols.
In 1977 Read did some stage shows, one playing Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
in the premier production Let the Good Stones Roll. There were more television performances including a featured role in Rock Follies
Rock Follies
Rock Follies, and its sequel, Rock Follies of '77, was a comedy musical drama shown on British television in the mid 1970s. The storyline, over 12 episodes and two series, followed the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the "Little Ladies" as they struggled for recognition and...
(1977)), Minder
Minder (TV series)
Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
(1978) and was taken on by Tony Meehan
Tony Meehan
Daniel Joseph Anthony "Tony" Meehan was a founder member of the British group The Shadows with Jet Harris, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch...
to record five Read original tracks at Marcus studios, Bayswater, produced by Meehan, Jim Avery assisted in putting things together, and amongst the band members were Anthony Glynne and ex-Love Affair
Love Affair (band)
Love Affair were a London based pop, soul, R&B group formed in 1966. They had several UK Singles Chart Top 10 hits, including the number one success "Everlasting Love".-Personnel:The band primarily featured the following —...
vocalist Gus Yeadon who played Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
.
In 1980 Read landed a lead role in the premier production of the Royal Shakespeare production of Barrie Keeffe's play Bastard Angel and in the same year, recorded his first solo single Living on Borrowed Time/West End Girl produced by Ray Hendrikson at Scorpio Sounds studios, London.
Read left the music business in 1985 and moved to Spain. Whilst on a stop-off in Berlin, he started playing some bars and cafés and clubs, one being the Ex Und Pop punk club where he was rediscovered by Dimitri Leningrad, a hip impresario, who put him on the Berlin underground circuit as Darryl Read's Hearts of Darkness. This led to him recording a cover version of The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
' Play With Fire, which became an underground hit and played on German airwaves for three months. He signed a publishing deal with Peter Radzuhn and Tom Muller at Hansa Tone Studios who flew in Paul Thompson
Paul Thompson (musician)
Paul Thompson is the drummer for Roxy Music from 1971 to 1980 and from 2001 onwards.In between those stints with Roxy Music, he was drummer in the Oi! band, Angelic Upstarts and the American alternative rock band Concrete Blonde...
of Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
to work with Read in the studio. The Hearts of Darkness now consisted of Read (lead vocals/guitar), Paul Thomson (drums), Volker Janssen (keyboards) and Graham Sears (bass). They recorded a mini album No Soul Through Midnight in 1986 and released a hard-edged unconventional B/W 16mm promo film titled No Place which featured Connover Farndon and ex-Stray Cats
Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American Rockabilly band formed in 1980 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer , upright bassist Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia and the U.S...
manager Tony Bidgood. Read directed the piece with Steve Ingle and other students from the British Film School.
Hollywood Underground
Unable to compromise with the acting industry, the music business or anything else that didn't spell freedom, Read reformed the Hearts Of Darkness and went to Hollywood, USA, with bassist Terry Wilde and a young Jewish manager called Scott Tarlow. Read was a friend of Ray ManzarekRay Manzarek
Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, Nite City from 1977–1978 and Manzarek-Krieger since 2001.Manzarek is listed #4 on Digital Dreamdoor's "100...
of The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, who put them on with him at a live show featuring many acts at The Arts Variety Centre Theatre, Hollywood. This led to them making an album titled Book Of The Dead on funds Tarlow mysteriously hustled from two Iranian backers. The band were off and straight into a downtown, South Central LA recording studio. Read collaborated again with Terry Stamp, who now lived in LA, on some of the song writing duties. They scraped, begged and borrowed and cut the album, and even got a large advertising poster board up on Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...
outside Tower Records.
Some days the Hearts of Darkness were so broke they lived off happy hour snacks at La Express in Studio City, and drove around in a British hearse
Hearse
A hearse is a funerary vehicle used to carry a coffin from a church or funeral home to a cemetery. In the funeral trade, hearses are often called funeral coaches.-History:...
that Tarlow brought over with him, eventually hoping to make lots of cash – the hearse ended up selling for peanuts in a car auction. During this time Read and his group appeared in a low-budget B horror movie entitled Midnight for Mortica. By chance he was introduced to Gloria Jones
Gloria Jones
Gloria Richetta Jones is an American singer and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She recorded the 1964 northern soul song, "Tainted Love", later a hit for the British synth-pop duo, Soft Cell. She was the girlfriend of glam rock artist Marc Bolan of the band T...
and hung out with her discussing the possibilities of doing a film about Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
as Gloria's friend Robert Hyatt had written a script on Marc's life. Read moved in with a young woman for two years, who had previously been dating Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
as Read heavily dug into LA's underground culture. Read eventually split with Wilde and Tarlow, after many disagreements and their sleight of hand
Sleight of hand
Sleight of hand, also known as prestidigitation or legerdemain, is the set of techniques used by a magician to manipulate objects such as cards and coins secretly....
with backing monies, and went solo.
Read started hanging out with a hip club Rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
group called The Mighty Hornets and jammed with them frequently at the Spice Club where they were the resident house group. Around this time he met John Entwistle
John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...
of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, (the Who were Read's teen idols and somewhat inspiration), and jammed with him at the China Club; the jam was caught on video by the club's engineer as Read sung Townshend's I Cant' Explain. The Hornets and Read eventually made an album at Paramount Recording Studios in 1992 titled Beat Existentialist featuring Ray Manzarek on three tracks.
Poetical beginnings
Read returned to the UK to live, and commuted on-and-off back to Hollywood. In London Read joined Dino Dines and Miller Anderson ex T . RexT. Rex (band)
T. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
in 1994, to do shows featuring the works of Marc Bolan. Read had originally failed the audition for front man of what was to be called X T.Rex in 1994, but the musician they chose dropped out and Read was asked to join. The band were featured a week or two after, on Nationwide TV in a news spot.
After X T. Rex split, Read was introduced by Barry Smith (who ran a fan club for T. Rex) to Bill Legend of the original T.Rex. The two struck up a partnership - recording three records: Teenage Dream, Gods 'n' Angels and Walking in Shadows as Darryl Read and the Nightriders. Mickey Finn
Mickey Finn (musician)
Mickey Finn or occasionally Micky Finn , was the percussionist and sideman to Marc Bolan in his band Tyrannosaurus Rex , and later, the 1970s glam rock group, T.Rex...
also of the original T. Rex joined them on recordings and some shows. The last being an all-star line-up including Zoot Money
Zoot Money
George Bruno Money, known as Zoot Money is a British vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band...
and Finn; the concert was filmed by a small crew at the 100 Club' in London'.
Bernard White (Syd Barrett aficionado) started to manage Read, and released his records on his White Label Records company. They went on to produce a promo film at the Roundhouse
The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...
London with Gerald Horgan. The promo film was for "Teenage Dream
Teenage Dream (Marc Bolan song)
"Teenage Dream" is a 1974 single by Marc Bolan and T. Rex, taken from the album Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow.-Background and recording:...
", a Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
song) and "Hard on Love" Read's original composition. Read and The Nightriders continued for a while and did a television slot for the Live TV Television company.
In 1998 Dig the Fuzz Records released Crushed Butler 'Uncrushed demos of Read's Proto Punk group who never got a deal, and changed Rock history over night. In 1999 White and Read wrote a screenplay for the low budget film production of Remember a Day and Richard Wright
Richard Wright (musician)
Richard William Wright was an English pianist, keyboardist and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd. Wright's richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd's sound...
of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
gave White the rights to the track of the same title to use for the drama based heavily on Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
of Pink Floyd. The film also starred Zoot Money
Zoot Money
George Bruno Money, known as Zoot Money is a British vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band...
, Jamie Foreman
Jamie Foreman
Jamie Foreman is an English actor best known for his roles as Duke in Layer Cake and Bill Sikes in Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist . He played opposite Ray Winstone and Kathy Burke in Gary Oldman's Nil by Mouth and also featured in Elizabeth , Gangster No. 1 and Sleepy Hollow...
, Peter Jenner
Peter Jenner
Peter Jenner is a British music manager and a record producer. Jenner, Andrew King and the original four members of Pink Floyd were partners in Blackhill Enterprises.- Early career :...
and Jenny Fabian - the author of Groupie. The film became an underground success.
In the same year Ray Manzarek and Read released a poetry album with music titled: Freshly Dug the album was subsequently re-issued twice thereafter, once in 2005 on Cherryl Red label (Lemon Records) and in 2006 on the Madstar Records label for Germany.
Read was inspired by Ray Manzarek to write a poetry book titled Set illustrated by George Underwood in 1999, hardcover, and in 2000 in a paper back version.
In 2002 Read teamed up again with Dave Goodman
Dave Goodman
Dave Goodman was a record producer and musician, perhaps best known as the live sound engineer for Sex Pistols, and the producer of three of their studio demo sessions.-Sex Pistols:...
the original producer and sound man for the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
, with whom he had previously worked with on the film Remember A Day. The two set about recording a whole rock album in 10 days. Read wrote the majority of the songs in the studio daily, and Dave co-wrote three of the 10-track album which he produced. Read worked well with Goodman, and particularly liked the production of The Man Will Know Us When We Get There track. The album was titled: Shaved and got released later that year in Germany. Dave Goodman died in 2005 of a heart attack at his studio in Malta. In 2004 a hardcover limited edition of Stardom Road his biographical/novel was published.
Read continued to play concerts in Europe under the banner of Darryl Read's Beat Existentialists, and in 2007 released another poetry/music album with Ray Manzarek titled: Bleeding Paradise. In 2008 he filmed additional sequences in the UK for a new version of Remember A Day (distributed by Contemporary films UK) and guested regularly on Radio Eins Berlin, as DJ with his own Beat X Show. Currently Read is working with his group internationally in rock concerts and performs poetry readings. In 2009 Set was translated into German, and Colectomatic Volume 3 was released. And in the same year Teenage Dream along with the promo from the Roundhouse was re-issued.
In mid 2009 Read recorded a Mick Farren
Mick Farren
Michael Anthony 'Mick' Farren is an English journalist, author and singer associated with counterculture and the UK Underground.-Music:...
song titled: We Gotta Find Somewhere to Go the track will be featured in a forthcoming tribute album paying homage to the Pink Fairies
Pink Fairies
Pink Fairies were an English rock band active in the London underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s. They promoted free music, drug taking and anarchy and often performed impromptu gigs and other agitprop stunts, such as playing for free outside the gates at the Bath and Isle of Wight...
and The Deviants, which will also feature the likes of The Damned, The Dead Kennedys, Wilko Johnson
Wilko Johnson
Wilko Johnson is an English guitarist and songwriter, particularly associated with the UK rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s.-Career:...
, The Only Ones
The Only Ones
The Only Ones are an English rock band. They were initially active in the late 1970s and were associated with punk rock, yet straddled the musical territory in between punk, power pop and hard rock, with noticeable influences from psychedelia...
. In mid November 2009 Crushed Butler Uncrushed was re-issued for the fourth time; this version on 12 inch vinyl with a new bonus track, was released worldwide by Heartbeat Radio Records NYC.
August 2010 Windian Records USA released Crushed Butler's Its My Life/My Sons Alive on vinyl, and on September 19, 2010 Read released his latest album: All The Ghosts of Rock 'n' Roll, produced by Italian/German producer Stephan Kroll.
On May 17, 2011, Read released a new single called Money Number One which was recorded in Thailand and produced by Barry Upton
Barry Upton
Barry Upton is an English songwriter, arranger, musician and producer of various forms of pop music. He is also a audio engineer and stage performer having appeared around the world in various capacities.-Career:...
(known for work his with Steps). A promo video was filmed in Siam, Thailand to promote the Read/Upton composition.
Hardly of the same status of mainstream major rock contemporaries, but Read continues to be prolific as an artist, and something of a rock 'n' roll underground enigma, with a large portion of Beat poetry thrown in.
Filmography
- The Young Detectives (1963) as Moggs
- Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1964) as Dick
- Daylight Robbery (1964) as Darryl
- Son of the Sahara (1966) as Abu
- River Rivals (1967) as Ricky Holmes
- Great Catherine (1968) as Young Peter
- The Lost ContinentThe Lost Continent (1968 film)The Lost Continent is a 1968 science fiction film made by Seven Arts - Hammer Films featuring Eric Porter, Hildegard Knef, Suzanna Leigh, Tony Beckley and James Cossins. The film was produced, directed and written by Michael Carreras based on Dennis Wheatley's 1938 novel Uncharted Seas...
(1968) as El Diablo - Remember a DayRemember a Day (2000 film)Remember a Day is a low-budget film made in 2000 and inspired by an original story by Bernard White . The film depicts Roger Bannerman, a former rock star, now fading into obscurity and becoming a recluse...
(2000) as Roger Bannerman
Television
- "Five O'Clock Club" (2 episodes, 1964) aka Ollie and Fred's Five O'Clock Club (UK: new title)
- "Theatre 625Theatre 625Theatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production and transmission being in the higher-definition 625-line...
" The Seekers (1964) TV episode as French peasant Boy - "Under Milk Wood" (BBC play 1964) as young Waldo
- "A Christmas Night with the Stars" (1 episode, 1964) - as featured, TV episode
- "The Flying Swan" as Michael (3 episodes, 1965) - The Contract (1965) TV episode as Michael - Lady in Waiting (1965) TV episode as Michael
- "A Tale of Two Cities" (3 episodes, 1965) TV episodes as Jerry Cruncher Jr.
- "Six" Andy's Game (1965) TV film as Malcolm
- "Our Man at St. Mark's" (1 episode, 1966) TV series as Peter
- "The Canterville GhostThe Canterville Ghost"The Canterville Ghost" is a popular short story by Oscar Wilde, widely adapted for the screen and stage. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in the magazine The Court and Society Review in February 1887. It was later included in a collection of short stories entitled...
" Mystery and ImaginationMystery and ImaginationMystery and Imagination is a British television anthology series of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 by ITV and featured plays based on the works of well-known authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, M. R. James, and...
(1966) TV episode as Stripe - "Lost Hearts" Mystery and ImaginationMystery and ImaginationMystery and Imagination is a British television anthology series of classic horror and supernatural dramas. Five series were broadcast from 1966 to 1970 by ITV and featured plays based on the works of well-known authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, M. R. James, and...
(1966) TV episode as Giovanni - "Mrs Thursday" We Don't Pay London Prices (1967) TV episode as Boy
- "Dixon of Dock GreenDixon of Dock GreenDixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
" (1 episode), The Run (1967) TV episode as Chris Conway - "Half Hour Story" as Delivery boy (1 episode, 1967)
- "You and the World" as Tony (2 episodes, 1968)
- "The SaintThe Saint (TV series)The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
" as French Student - The Ex-King of Diamonds (1 episode, 1969) - "Z-CarsZ-CarsZ-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
" as Tommy Jones (2 episodes, 1969) - Fear or Favour: Part 1 (1969) TV episode as Tommy Jones
- Fear or Favour: Part 2 (1969) TV episode as Tommy Jones
- "Rock Follies of '77" as Punk Rock Group Drummer (1 episode 1977) - The Hype TV episode as Punk Rock Group Drummer
- "A Bunch of FivesA Bunch of FivesA Bunch of Fives is an English children’s television show broadcast in the 1970s on ITV. A precursor of Grange Hill, it starred Lesley Manville and Jamie Foreman as Fifth formers who start a school newspaper. The show spawned one paperback tie-in....
" (1977) TV (2 episodes) as Ronnie - "MinderMinder (TV series)Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
" Come in T-64, Your Time Is Ticking Away (1979) TV episode as Billy - "Mackenzie" (1980) TV series as Rory (2 episodes)
Stage
- HairHair (musical)Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
National UK tour as Drummer (1973) - Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat as Benjamin at the Civic Theatre, ChelmsfordChelmsfordChelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
(1975) - Let The Good Stones Roll as Keith RichardsKeith RichardsKeith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
Premier production at the Edinburgh FestivalEdinburgh FestivalThe Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
(1977) - Teeth and Smiles as Inch at Wyndham's TheatreWyndham's TheatreWyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...
(1978) - Bastard Angel as Steve, Premier production of the Royal Shakespeare CompanyRoyal Shakespeare CompanyThe Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
(1980)
Discography
Singles/EPs- Let the Good Stones Roll (vinyl EP) Clubland Records (1977)
- Living on Borrowed Time/West End Girl Monarch Records
- Play with Fire/Trouble in the House of Love Berlin Limited Edition Records (1985)
- No Soul Through Midnight 'No Soul Through Midnight' (12" vinyl EP) Aim Records (1986)
- Teenage Dream Darryl Read and the Nightriders, (CD EP) White Label Records (1994)
- Walking In Shadows (CD EP) White Label Records (1995)
- Gods 'n' Angels (CD EP) White Label Records (1996)
- Maybe It's Good If You Look At It Twice Darryl Read & The Doctors, 'Poet House' (EP) Deep Bass Records Spain (2006)
- Stepping Ace Roadhouse (digital download EP) Beat Kat Records Germany (2008)
- Teenage DreamTeenage Dream (Marc Bolan song)"Teenage Dream" is a 1974 single by Marc Bolan and T. Rex, taken from the album Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow.-Background and recording:...
(digital download re-issue) Beat Kat Records Germany (2009) - It's My Life /My Son's Alive Crushed Butler, (12" vinyl) Windian Records USA (2010)
- Razor City Terry Stamp & Darryl Read, (digital download) Beat Kat Records 006 Germany (2011)
- Money No 1 Darryl Read, (digital download) Beat Kat Records 007 Thailand (2011)
Albums
- Book of the Dead (CD), USA Bardo Records (1989)
- Beat Existentialist (CD), Rock Chix Records (1993)
- Colectomatic Volume 1 (CD), White Label Records (1997)
- Book of the Dead (CD reissue with bonus tracks) White Label Records UK
- Uncrushed Crushed Butler (10" vinyl), Dig The Fuzz Records UK (1998)
- Freshly Dug Ray Manzarek & Darryl Read (CD), Ozit/Morpheus Records (1999)
- Nineteen Sixty Nine Krayon Angels (12" vinyl), Dig The Fuzz Records UK (2000)
- Shaved (CD) Madstar Records Germany (2002)
- Freshly Dug (Freshly Re-Dug reissue) Ray Manzarek & Darryl Read, Madstar Records Germany (2005)
- Bleeding Paradise Ray Manzarek & Darryl Read, Beat Kat Records Germany (2007)
- Colectomatic Volume 2 (digital download) Beat Kat Records Germany (2009)
- 'Crushed Butler' 'Uncrushed' (12" vinyl) Radio Heartbeat Records USA (2009)
- Colectomatic Volume 3 (digital download) Beat Kat Records Germany (2010)
- All The Ghosts of Rock 'n' Roll (digital download) Beat Kat Records Germany (2010)
- Portobello Shuffle (tribute to Boss Goodman/Deviants & Pink Fairies) compilation Easy Action Records UK (2010)