The Knickerbockers were a band formed in 1962 by Buddy Randell (vocals, sax), previously of the Royal Teens, who had a hit with Short Shorts, along with brothers Beau (guitar/vocals) and John (bass/vocals) Charles and drummer Jimmy Walker. After three years of unsuccessful recordings, following every fad going (for example the flop single Jerk Town is sung in the style of the Four Seasons and references hot rods along with the songs The In Crowd, Surf City and Downtown), they had a top 20 hit with the Beatles soundalike Lies, penned by Randell and Beau Charles.

Lies was one of the great singles of the 60s, but the follow-up, One Track Mind was even better. Unfortunately the band's label, Challenge, couldn't handle the distribution and the single only reached number 45. Shortly after Walker replaced Bill Medley in The Righteous Brothers, and the band split soon after.

The band's two great singles are on the Nuggets box, and there are numerous reissues/ rarity sets. The definitive collection by the band is titled The Fabulous Knickerbockers and is on Sundazed records.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.