The Koobas - Koobas (1969)

"Mr. Claire" by The Koobas


After Yes formed, they very quickly lost their drummer Bill Bruford who wished to attend university. They found a replacement in Tony O'Riley who had previously played with the recently broken up Merseybeat group The Koobas. Either O'Riley's style didn't mesh with Yes or his drumming skills didn't meet Yes standards, nonetheless, Chris Squire was forced to beg Bruford to rejoin the group as Yes became more successful. Bruford soon came back to Yes, and this left O'Riley to look for a new band.

The Koobas were a band that never found their own sound. The band's roots are in Liverpool and, formed in 1962, they naturally started with a Merseybeat-like sound (think early Beatles). Stu Leatherwood and Roy Morris shared guitar and vocal duties, Keith Ellis played bass, and O'Riley played drums. Much like The Beatles, they played a stint in Germany. And, much like The Beatles, they were managed by Brian Epstein. By 1964, they signed to Pye Records and released their first single a year later. Unlike The Beatles, they were not a success. The lack of hits followed them as they resigned with Columbia. By 1968 after six singles that failed to chart in the Top 20 (though "Sally" did decently on pirate radio), The Koobas called it quits. The next year, Columbia finally got around to unceremoniously releasing The Koobas's only LP, Koobas. Throughout their career, they tried out different styles like beat, blue-eyed soul, and psychedelia. Unfortunately, they never found a sound that suited them or helped them stand out of the fodder.

Here is the complete discography for The Koobas:

I Love Her (1965 single)
Take Me for a Little While (1965 single)
You'd Better Make Up Your Mind (1966 single)
Sweet Music (1966 single)
Sally (1967 single)
Gypsy Fred (1967 single)
The First Cut Is the Deepest (1968 single)
Koobas

"Shake" and "Take Me for a Little While" by The Koobas circa 1966 on the German TV Show Beat Beat Beat


"You'd Better Make Up Your Mind" and "You Don't Love Me" by The Koobas circa 1966 on the German TV Show Beat Beat Beat


If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm open to whatever as long as the artists are historically related in some way and go in an artist's chronological order.

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