Flintlock (band)

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Flintlock were a 1970s pop group from Essex, England. Its members were Derek Pascoe (vocals/saxophone), Mike Holoway (drums/percussion), Jamie Stone (bass/vocals), John Summerton (guitar/vocals) and Bill Rice (keyboards).

The group began under the name The Young Revivals, but after two years changed their name to Flintlock. The band was formed by Summerton and Holoway. The earliest version of the band included a female member (role in the band unknown) called Shirley White and a bass player called Miles Ridding.^[1][2] After seeing another band playing that included Derek Pascoe and Jamie Stone, John and Mike asked them to join the band, and Shirley and Miles parted ways.^[1] Soon after, they hired Bill Rice on keyboards. After a concert in the early 70s, they were approached by Roger Price, who had been in the audience. He liked how they played and asked them to be on television.^[1]

They came to national attention in the mid-1970s through regular appearances on the British children's television programmes You Must Be Joking and Pauline's Quirkes, the latter hosted by the then teenage actress Pauline Quirke. Flintlock also appeared on programmes such as Blue Peter, Magpie and Top of the Pops, and their own programme Fanfare.

Holoway also became known as an actor in the children's cult TV drama programme The Tomorrow People,^[3] in which Flintlock made a guest appearance in the Series 5 story The Heart of Sogguth.^[3] As a result of the band having a one-hit wonder status and having many television appearances to their name, Summerton has described Flintlock as a "TV band", comparing them to The Monkees.^[1]

Flintlock had one Top 30 hit single in the UK Singles Chart, "Dawn",^[3] in the summer of 1976.^[4] The song peaked at number 30 on the UK singles chart.^[5] After two small tours of Japan in 1980, Flintlock disbanded.^[6] According to Summerton, the main reason for the bands sudden end was due to the rise of punk music.^[1]

A one-off reunion concert took place in 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Summerton went on to play guitar and sing for The Rubettes until at least September 2020,^[7] then Gerry's Pacemakers (2022),^[8][9][10] and subsequently joined Herman's Hermits as vocalist and guitarist, where he remains as of July 2024^[update].^[11][12]

• "Learn to Cry" (August 1975)
• "A Little Bit of Lovin'" (February 1976)
• "Dawn" (April 1976)
• "Sea of Flames" (July 1976)
• "Russian Roulette" (November 1976)
• "Carry Me" (March 1977)
• "Anything for You" (September 1977)
• "Mony Mony" (February 1978)
• "(Hey You) You're like A Magnet" (January 1979)

Three further singles were released in Japan:

• "Amorous Lady" (1977)
• "Taken All Away" (1978)
• "Get With The Boys" (1979)

• On the Way (December 1975)
• Hot from the Lock (December 1976)
• Tears 'n' Cheers (October 1977)
• Stand Alone (February 1979)

A greatest hits album was also released in Japan and Germany.