Danny Storm, Buddy Britten, Robby Hood

Danny Storm, Buddy Britten, Robby Hood

by Pete Clemons

In a recent article about Clifton Hall, Rugby, I mentioned the first three resident groups.

Danny Storm and the Strollers, Buddy Britten and the Regents and Robby Hood and his Merry Men.

As a 19 year old Danny Storm had packed a lot of experience into a short space of time. His talents as a ballad and rock singer earned him a growing legion of fans. The reception he would get at the Co-op hall in Nuneaton suggested he was destined to become a box office attraction. But Danny kept a cool head and always remained modest about his success. He became a big friend of Joe Brown and signed up for the Pye Piccadilly recording label that gave Joe, amongst others, his hit 'A Picture of You'. Danny himself made two big hits for the label 'Honest I Do' and 'Just You'. He also made a third cut 'I'm Thinking of You'. Danny also made several TV appearances and even featured in the film 'House That Rock Built'. Danny was backed by harmony duo The Strollers, Roger James and Tony Clarke who was a lad from Coventry and who became producer of The Moody Blues. But the Strollers were a versatile group who comprised various musicians during their existence.

Buddy Britten was once a guitarist for Billy Fury. But then he went a long way in a short space of time as he became a top billing artiste in his own right. He went from Billy's band to Vince Taylor as lead guitar. And it was while he was with Vince that he first met Reg Calvert. And it was at that point that Buddy began to star on his own as Reg saw more than a guitar player. Reg encouraged Buddy to sing. It was from there that Buddy was tested by the Decca recording company. 22 aspiring pop singers were tested that day but it was Buddy who got the nod. He was asked to make a record. The song he released was 'Dont Spread it Around'. After that test he moved to Clifton Hall where his success grew, particularly from Reg Calvert's Friday night dances. And that popularity produced a second single 'My Pride, My Joy, My little Girl'.

Robby Hood was from Bermondsey, London. He became well known for dressing up on stage as the legendary outlaw from Sherwood Forest. Several top show business personalities tipped Robby for stardom and to rival the likes of Adam Faith. For months Robby practised at Clifton Hall with his backing group, The Merrie Men, perfecting their stage presentation. Under his birth name of Mike West, six foot Robby began his career with Johnny Kidd and the Pirates where he added vocal support to their massive hit 'Shakin All Over'. It is understood that Robby gave Johnny Kidd the idea for the infamous eye patch in order to cover a squint. Robby stayed with the Pirates for over 12 months. Another break came when producer Jack good offered Robby a spot on ATV-TV's popular 'Boy Meets Girl' show that starred Marty Wilde. However, Robby turned this opportunity down in favour of a six month tour of Germany. On his return Robby took up the offer of a pantomime role in a production of Cinderella. It was a bit of an unusual career move but Robby said at the time 'you never know when the experience might come in handy'. Some of the group members of Robby's backing group The Merry Men went on to form the Fortunes.

During its time as the school of rock, Clifton Hall played host to many groups including Mike Everest and the Alpines, Tanya Day, Baby Bubbles, The Liberators who became Pinkertons Assorted Colours and a whole host of others.