4. We Make A Record

The Beatles record in the same Studio as THE BLACKHAWKS

The Blackhawks were going along fine but ,we felt the next stage in our career was to start recording and have a number one hit record! Now if we could cut a disc we would have one foot on the ladder to a million seller that would bring riches untold - as if! Well were do you start? We contacted all the big record company's that we could think off and if they bothered to reply, it was sorry, but we will keep you in mind as we have more 'groups' than we can cope with. If Mow won't go to the mount then the mount must come to us (old English saying) we would do it ourselves!

A very enterprising sound engineer in Liverpool had set up his own recording studio and for the princely sum of £5.00 you could cut a whole Long Playing Record and walk away with it at the end of the day! So we all chipped in a pound a head and off we went! The engineers name was Peter Phillips and the Studio was in Kensington Liverpool hence the record company was called Kensington. Cliff our first singer before Geoff, was home on leave from the Navy and as Geoff was unwell Cliff stood in on the record. We had a wee problem but soon sorted it out. Cliff wanted the name Cliff and the Blackhawks on the label but as you had to write your own details on the label mine says just the Blackhawks but his is Cliff and the Blackhawks!

Kensington Recording Studios

One Saturday morning way back in 1958 off we went on the bus with all our gear, amps, drums, guitars and even our dress outfits, just in case we were spotted by an impresario!!

The 'studio' was the front room of and old Victorian house with a half partition for the drums to go behind to 'balance' the sound, two mikes and a tape recorder! After waiting in the hall for half an hour in we went set up the gear and played and that was it ,no second takes, no dubbing, no added effects, one straight live recording. Back into the hall for half an hour then home we went clutching our precious record we were on our way to a million seller but in reality ,with family and friends, we sold twenty!!!

In the same year a then unknown group called the Beatles did exactly what we had done in the same studio and look what happened to them they sold millions and millions of records, where did we go wrong!!!

Next: The Dominoes - One Foot In The Door.