Talk about being excited to feature a particular band, Darts are one of my favourite all-time Rock ‘n’ Roll groups. Way back in the 70’s, when I was just a young pup, their blend of 50’s music combined with their energy, fabulous vocal arrangements and humour had me glued to TOTP and the radio. They were simply, brilliant. Almost 50 years on I still have Darts in my playlists and I even perform a song or two of theirs in our own gigs. They are by far, one of my biggest influences in my own personal music journey. So imagine my delight when I heard they were playing in our area. I had to jump on the opportunity and get in touch. But before we get into the interview with Horace, let’s learn more about Darts.
The Darts are a nine-piece British group that revived the sound and style of doo-wop, a genre of vocal harmony music that originated in the 1950s. They formed during the mid 70’s and found success with a string of hits including Daddy Cool / The girl can’t help it, Come back my love, Boy from New York City, Duke of Earl and their own composition, It’s Raining.
The original Line up consisted of Den Hegarty (bass vocals), Griff Fender (tenor vocals), Rita Ray (alto vocals), and Horatio Hornblower (Horace Trubridge – baritone saxophone), Iain “Thump” Thomson (bass guitar), George Currie (lead guitar), John Dummer (drums), Hammy Howell (piano), and Bob Fish (falsetto vocals).