Press clippings and trivia about The Presidents. The 60s rock band that almost made it big.


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Press Clippings, News & Presidential Trivia

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A collection of trivia including press clippings that appeared after release of the band's 45 rpm single,
"Let the Sun Shine In", backed by their (pirated) version of "Candy Man".

"Let the Sun Shine In" became the "A" side of the band's ill-fated 45 rpm single release in 1964.

Decca relegated "Candy Man", to the "B" side, denying The Presidents their chance to "make it big".

This press cutting from the Record Mirror of February 1st 1964, says it all. The "UNFAIR" tag sums up the band's feelings over how they were treated.

Judges comments after The Presidents' performance at a six-band rock-group contest in Surbiton, Surrey, in May 1962. The band tied for second place.

Presidents band members won three of the five individual trophies awarded at the Hook competition held in Surbiton, Surrey, on May 4th 1962.

Robin Mayhew won this individual trophy for
Best Lead Guitar at the Hook rock band competition
held in Surbiton, Surrey.

Published in the Surbiton Borough News May 4th 1962:

THE PRESIDENTS

This group really enjoyed themselves. Throughout their four numbers The Presidents made good use of the stage and although all their movements may not be coordinated, they certainly register--if not emphasise -- the rhythm of the music they play.

They opened their programme with a lively instrumental version of "Lucille" but halfway through vocalist Rick Tyrrell came on stage to transform the number into a vocal rendering. Rick Tyrrell was obviously the best singer on view at the final. His performance on "Pretend" and the fabulous "Summertime" confirmed this!

Despite having his broken wrist encased in plaster, The Presidents' drummer Phil Cunliffe put in some excellent work on the latter number. The tempo really stepped up on the group's closing number "Let The Sunshine In". Although Rick Tyrrell sounded a little distorted over the microphone, he -- and the group -- gave this number impact, and so, The Presidents left the stage to tremendous applause. All members of the group used the stage well and this provided some wonderful visual entertainment.

Besides a good performance from Rick Tyrrell I thought that lead guitarist Robin Mayhew and bass guitarist Colin Golding were instrumentally outstanding.

By Peter Foot

The above report about the Hook rock band competition appeared in Surbiton's local newspaper.

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It was the eaerly'60s and anyone with a fashion idea was looking for a way to market it. The band was asked to model these trendy cravats.		The buzz about the band was good after the release of "Let The Sun Shine In" and "Candy Man", so The Presidents had these fan club cards printed.

This poster promoted the "Sensational New Presidents" concert at the Foresters Hall in Epsom, Surrey, in 1964. Note that admission was only 4 shillings (20p) - a far cry from what they'd charge today!		This 1964 flyer promoted Epsom's "Kadiva Klub", also at the Foresters Hall. Epsom is noted for being both the home town of Jimmy Page and site of the early Rolling Stones' rented bungalow where they hosted many notoriously riotous parties.

A newspaper ad promoting The Presidents appearance at The Cellar Club in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey.		An early business card for the band, adding "Jeff Bond" to their name, in keeping with a trend common among rock groups in the late 1950s.

Above: A ticket to a concert at Fetcham Village Hall, featuring Neil Christian & The Crusaders and The Presidents. Note the exorbitant 4s 6d admission price! Above right: A concert list from Ewell Technical College, including some well known names with The Presidents. At right: A poster promoting a Rolling Stones and Presidents concert in Epsom, at amazingly low ticket prices. See below for an update on this collectible item. (Thanks to John Christian for these highly collectible trivia items from the '60s).

A meeting of two bands at Barnham, Sussex, in September 2008: The Presidents (on the right) held a reunion with members of the Simply Shadows band (on the left).
In 1999, Decca Records issued this compilation CD, "The Mod Scene -Volume 2" (sleeve shown above) with 25 classic songs digitally remastered from original tapes, including The Presidents' version of "Candy Man". Most of these records are collector's items today. Many of the songs have never been on CD before and all of them are worth another spin." John Reed, June 1999
A Presidents Rock Club (at the Red Lion pub, Sutton, Surrey) membership card #3. (Courtesy David Lewis) This poster promoted the "Sensational New Presidents" concert at the Foresters Hall in Epsom, Surrey, in 1964. Note that admission was only 4 shillings (20p) - a far cry from what they'd charge today!		A news item published in the Dec 06 2013 Surrey Advertiser, showing a Rolling Stones/Presidents poster to be sold by auction on Dec 13th 2013 as part of Brian Howard's pop memorabilia collection.

The above newspaper article was published in the Chichester Observer on 20th Nov. 2014. Click here to read the full text.
A PRECIOUS PIECE OF PRESIDENTS' HISTORY DISCOVERED IN SWEDEN In early 2019 Swedish author and avid record collector Torbjorn Karlsson found these Emisdisc acetate recordings while editing his extensive record collection. Curious about their relevance (and how he orginally came by them) he searched online and found references to the Slide Rule and Crantock tune titles on The Presidents website. This led to him contacting Robin Mayhew and generously returning two precious but missing recordings that are now part of the band's memorabilia archive. "Tack så mycket, Torbjorn!"


Slide Rule was written and performed by Ken Hedley accompanied by Robin Mayhew (guit), Colin Golding (bass) and Phil Cunliffe (drs).		Crantock was also written and performed by Ken Hedley. Both tunes were recorded at the IBC Studios, London, in September 1961.
TONY BLACKBURN TELLS THE "SHE SAID YEAH" STORY on BBC's "SOUNDS OF THE 60s" SHOW. 23rd Februrary 2019: Today the popular BBC radio show, "Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn" featured this revealing item about the recent discovery of the band's formerly missing original recording of "She Said Yeah". Click here to hear the song and discover what happened to it over 50 years ago.

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