Best of British January 2022

Kidd (b. Frederick Heath, 23 December 1939, Willesden, London, England, d. 7 October 1966, England), is now rightly revered as an influential figure in the birth of British rock. Although his backing group fluctuated, this enigmatic figure presided over several seminal pre- Beatles releases. Formed in January 1959, the original line-up consisted of two former members of the Five Nutters skiffle group, Kidd (lead vocals) and Alan Caddy (b. 2 February 1940, Chelsea, London, England, d. 16 August 2000; lead guitar), joined by Tony Docherty (rhythm guitar), Johnny Gordon (bass) and Ken McKay (drums), plus backing singers Mike West and Tom Brown. Their compulsive debut single, ‘Please Don’t Touch’ barely scraped into the UK Top 20, but it remains one of the few authentic home-grown rock ‘n’ roll performances to emerge from the 50s.