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Merseybeat Nostalgia

Kingsize Taylor & the Dominoes

Line up 1962/63:*

Ted (kingsize) Taylor - Lead Guitar/Vocals

Sam Hardie - Piano

Dave Lovelady - Drums

Bobby Thompson - Bass Guitar

John Frankland - Rhythm Guitar

*

Possibly a different photograph to the above line up.

Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes appeared regularly at many local venues, especially St Lukes Hall, Crosby (also known as the ‘Jive Hive’). On many occasions, Cilla Black, Ted’s girlfriend at the time, would get up on stage and sing with the band and at one time was going to become a permanent member. In 1962 they

appeared at the ‘Star Club’ and proved so popular, were offered a residency. Drummer Dave Lovelady had taken time off from his architectural studies to appear for the short season but couldn’t remain for the residency. Ted offered Ringo Starr £20 a week to take over from Dave and Ringo accepted, a couple of days later Ringo wrote and said he had been offered £25 a week to join The Beatles and had accepted the offer, Brian Redman eventually replaced Dave on drums.

‘Kingsize’ was one of the best vocalists to come out of the ‘Mersey Scene’, the group had a strong repertoire of obscure but brilliant American rock ‘n’ roll songs Ted had somehow managed to find. The group spent a lot of time in Germany performing in Hamburg, Kiel and Berlin, a decision they felt (some years later) caused them to miss out on the Mersey Beat boom. When they did return to the UK to appear on a Chuck Berry Tour in 1964, they made an appearance on the popular television show ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’ performing ‘Stupidity’, a single released by Decca, which reached the No.1 spot in Germany. After a ‘trivial quarrel’, about which no-one can remember, The Dominoes split from ‘Kingsize’.

Ted Taylor had a very distinctive voice, his group were among the best to emerge from Liverpool and were superior to many of the groups who had found recording success in the ‘sixties’

Press ‘Play Button’ on the player to listen to the original recordings.

I have seen Ted performing live at the MerseyCats club (see MerseyCats page), he still sounds the same 40 years later and with the same passion!