The Koobas
Possibly the least-known of Brian
Epstein's post-Beatles charges from
the Merseybeat era, The Koobas formed
in 1962 and broke up in 1968.
Their story read like virtually every other Liverpool beat
group: four young guys growing up in post-war Merseyside left
school to play in various local groups before hitting on the right
combination and forming their own band.
Leatherwood and Morris had been in The Thunderbeats, while
Morris and Ellis came from The Midnighters. The group were
originally called The Kubas and changed the spelling in 1965. Due
to local musical connections the band signed with Brian Epstein's
NEMS company and appeared in the Mersey-ploitation movie Ferry
Cross The Mersey.
The group secured a record deal with Pye and a support slot on
The Beatles' final UK tour in December 1965 (they knew their
manager!).
The Koobas' debut single was a cover of Kim Weston's Take Me
For A Little While, while the follow-up - You'd Better Make
Up Your Mind (May 1966) - was equally unsuccessful. The group
were very popular in Germany and spent a great deal of time there,
gigging and appearing on television shows like Bremen's Beat!
Beat! Beat!
In 1966 the group were offered a deal with Columbia/EMI but
their three-year stint with the label was disappointing, despite
some fine output including a cover of Cat
Stevens' The First Cut Is The Deepest going
head-to-head with PP Arnold's more successful version.
A quaintly English faux-psychedelic album (also called The
Koobas) was released in 1969 but by then the band had thrown
in the towel.
The album was destined to become something of a
collectors item (it commands over £600 in mint condition these
days) while Ellis went off to Van
der Graaf Generator and Leatherwood joined March Hare with
Pete Dello (ex-Honeybus).
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