Con
DecThe Original 60's Group.
Con
Dec
Con & Dec, 'The Bachelors', being Irish were influenced by Country Music although over the years they have seen their ideas change. Their original recordings 'Charmaine' with 'Tell old Bill' on the flip side are prime examples of the Country Influence. They were assisted by Shel Talmy in obtaining this unique Bachelors Sound. Shel had worked in America with the 'new' four track tape recorders and was able to show the boys the art of two tracking. This was a completely new concept in recording technique and The Bachelors were one of the first groups to use it in this country.
Shel Talmy also knew the secrets of stereo recording, and thus The Bachelors were again one of the first to have proper stereo on their records. If you listen to the early Beatles, for instance, their voices are on one side of the stereo and the instruments on the other! The Bachelors got it right from the start with lead voice in the middle surrounded on either side by harmony voices and orchestra.
Ivor Raymonde came on the scene later on and lent his experience to further assist 'The Bachelors' creating their 'Sound'. Con and Dec were fast learners and quickly made the recording studio their second home.
Dick Rowe who was their A & R man chose most of their early hit songs, and the biggest regret that Con & Dec 'The Bachelors' have is that they were not encouraged to write more of their own material. The year they released their first Christmas Record which they had written themselves, BBC put a ban on all Christmas records. This meant that 'The Bachelors' song 'Long Time Ago' was never heard on radio!
Turning from the country sound to the big ballads, Con's voice was shown to be a hit with songs like 'I Believe', and 'No arms can ever hold you'. Then with 'The Bachelors' beautiful unison and harmony blend they had hits with songs like 'Sound of Silence'. Paul Simon was very miffed that The Bachelors had a no.3 hit with his song and strongly criticizes them in his autobiography, but I'm sure he enjoyed the royalties!
'The Bachelors' Irish Album 'Under and Over' was before its time and was criticized by the purists who did not like the modern recording techniques used. The album was produced by Dec and was inspired by the comedy Television series in which The Bachelors starred. The show was of course called 'Under and Over'!
The last album 'The Bachelors' recorded with Decca was with Patricia Cahill, a well known soprano from their home town of Dublin. It was titled 'The Bachelors with Patricia Cahill' and was recorded with a sixty two piece orchestra in 1971 and is one of their best efforts. The orchestrations and the singing by both lots of artists is superb.
When Decca was sold 'The Bachelors' moved on to Philips in 1974 where they recorded a 'Singalong Album'. 'The Bachelors' were asked to record three songs as potential singles and for some reason John Stokes refused to learn the songs and walked off stage when they were performed live to make them ready for the recording studio. This led to John leaving the group in 1984, and he was replaced by Peter Phipps. Peter fitted in well with 'The Bachelors' but only recorded one album with them.
Peter Phipps left 'The Bachelors' amicably in 1993 and Con & Dec decided to go it alone.
Because some of 'The Bachelors' records were with different record companies, all their hit songs have never been on one album. To rectify this Con & Dec 'The Bachelors' have rerecorded all their hit songs and have released this, 'The Complete Bachelors' which was their 59th Album!
They are still recording today and have just released their 62nd album called 'Christmas with The Bachelors'.
Con & Dec The Bachelors
The Original 60's Group.
http://www.thebachelors.co.uk/music.htm -- Revised: 07/05/06
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