HISTORY OF THE DAKOTAS

The Hits Era 1963 - 1967

In early 1963 the Dakotas were now signed to Brian Epstein's NEMS agency, and, thanks to the success of the Beatles, signed up to EMI records subsidiary label, Parlophone. Billy J Kramer had been friends with John Lennon for some time and John gave the group a demo of a new song, "Do You Want to Know a Secret", which they perfected whilst working in Hamburg at the Star Club. On returning to Britain, the song was recorded at Abbey Road studios, with producer George Martin. It stormed up the charts and reached No.2 in the spring of 1963. It must be remembered that the Dakotas and Billy each had separate recording contracts with Parlophone, and that they were billed as "Billy J Kramer WITH the Dakotas". To maintain the group's identity, the guitar instrumental "The Cruel Sea" was released as a single, and it reached the Top 20 around the same time as "Secret". This Mike Maxfield tune was released in America as "The Cruel Surf", coinciding with the surf craze. Although it didn't chart 'stateside, a cover version by the Ventures did make the US charts as the flipside of "Walk Don't Run '64". Mike later admitted he knew absolutely nothing about surfing!

Whilst the first two singles were still in the UK charts, another single, "Bad To Me" made it three in the Top 30 at the same time. This Lennon-McCartney song went to No.1 that summer. Yet another Beatles song was given to the group for the next single, "I'll Keep You Satisfied" , which reached No.4 late in 1963. Remember that the UK charts at the time were extremely competitive, with records by the Beatles, Hermans Hermits, Rolling Stones, the Searchers and Freddie & the Dreamers all vying for the top spot. To have material written by the Beatles and produced by George Martin was an undoubted assett. The Dakotas had a crisp recorded sound, and Billy's voice had a very unique style.

The first Billy J Kramer with the Dakotas album, "Listen...", was released at the end of 1963, and eventually reached No.11 on the LP chart. Early in 1964, the group felt they needed to release a single that wasn't written by the Beatles (!) and chose "Little Children". This controversial move paid off, and the record went to No.1 on the British charts in the spring of 1964. Later that year, both "Bad To Me" and "Little Children" made the American Top 10, and the group visited the 'states, appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show, and playing to sell-out frenzied fans of the "British invasion" sound. The Dakotas with Billy were now at their peak, and the year finished off with a season at the Finsbury Park Astoria in London, with the Beatles.

To coincide with the Christmas gigs with the Beatles (see pic on left), the new single was a return to the Lennon and McCartney songwriting partnership. "From A Window", however, reached only No.10 in the UK charts (No.23 in America) and the group had turned down McCartney's "Yesterday"! The British Invasion continued in America, but musical styles were changing. In 1965, the band recorded Jackie De Shannon's "When You Walk in the Room", but lost out to the Searchers, who took their version to No.1. The Dakotas and Billy J Kramer's last Top 20 chart entry was "Trains and Boats and Planes", which competed with writer Burt Bacharach's own version, in the spring of 1965. By this time, bassist Ray Jones had been edged out of the band due to personality clashes, and,in 1966, Mike Maxfield left, to be replaced by Mick Green from Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. As the Beatles own career went into overdrive, Brian Epstein became an increasingly remote figure to most of his other acts. Following his death in 1967, the time had passed for most of the first wave of British Invasion/Merseybeat groups.

The Dakotas meanwhile forged ahead, Tony Bookbinder (Mansfield) vacating the drum stool and another ex-Pirate Frank Farley taking over in 1966 before splitting with Billy J Kramer. March '67 saw their next single, "I'm 'n 'Ardworkin' Barra Boy" released on Larry Page's Page One label while a year later saw their last waxing, "Can't Break The News" on the Philips label. The B-side "The Spider And The Fly" featured a menacing riff and solid solo, all of which served notice of the direction the band could have gone. By 1968, Billy had gone solo and the band soldiered on as backing band for Billy Fury until Robin MacDonald and Mick Green joined Engelbert Humperdinck in the 'states and the Dakotas disbanded. It would be twenty years before they took to the stage again.