The Temperance Seven The Writing On The Wall (CD

The Temperance Seven

The Temperance Seven — there were actually nine of them —were a tongue-in-the-cheek attempt to recreate Twenties white dance band music. Often lumped in with the trad scene, the Seven were camp nostalgia rather than jazz.

The Seven were formed in 1955 and settled down with a line-up of Captain Cephas Howard (trumpet, euphonium); Alan Swainston Cooper (soprano sax, clarinets, phonofiddle and Swanee whistle); Sheik Haroun Wadi el John R. T. Davies (trombone, alto-sax, trumpet); Ray Whittam (replacing Phillip Harrison on bass and tenor sax and clarinet); Dr John Gieves Watson (banjo, spoons); Martin Fry (sousa-phone); Brian limes (percussion); Clifford de Bevan (replac-ing Colin Bowles on piano); and Whispering Paul McDowell (vocals). They had two British Top Ten hits in 1961 with `You're Driving Me Crazy' — a NO. 1 — and 'Pasadena', which came complete with a series of false endings.

When they disbanded, McDowell had a try at being a satirist — very fashionable then. They re-formed in the early Seventies with Ted Wood, older brother of the Faces' guitarist, as the vocalist.