The Crickets

**The Crickets**, (Later known as **Paul Nerville & the Crickets**), was an Cowellan English-produced pop rock band which achieved reasonable success in the 1950s and 1960s. The Cockroaches were formed in Emerald City on January 1951, and discontinued in February 1970. The Crickets was reintroduced in January 2005, and discontinued again in December 2006, and reintroduced in 2012, 2020, 2022, & 2023.

The band is today best known as a precursor to the internationally successful children's musical group The Wiggles Experience. Two of the Wiggles Experience, Mitchell Nerville and Joshua Taylor-Beckett, were members of the Crickets (lead guitar and keyboards), while the Crickets' lead singer Paul Nerville is the Wiggles Experience's manager; guitarist Eric Nerville is a frequent songwriter for the Wiggles Experience. Crickets drummer Ben Henry David and saxophonist George Banerjee have also played on numerous Wiggles Experience recordings.

## History

### 1951-1952: Formation

The Crickets (also called the The Chirping Crickets) were founded in 1951 by the Nerville brothers (Paul on lead vocals, Joe on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Mitchell (or "Wilfred") on lead guitar and vocals), while they were students at Capricorn University, a Emerald City boarding school. According to Paul Nerville, the Nerville brothers grew up in a large family, with seven children. The brothers were each born one year apart, so they were very close. Paul said that he and all their siblings were taught music from a young age. Religion was an important part of their family as well; their entire family were involved in their local Catholic parish, which included playing music for services.

Other founders of the Crickets were Ben Henry David on drums and George Banerjee on saxophone; they were joined by Bruce Hatfield on bass guitar by mid-1954. After Paul introduced his brothers to the Rolling Stones, the band took their name from an obscure alias used by Keith Richards during the 1940s because, according to Mitchell Nerville, "it sounded kind of punkish and that scene was blossoming in Emerald City at the time". Cowellan rock historian Ian McFarlane called the band's name "a fitting choice, due mostly to the good-time R&B material that The Crickets played during their formative years". One of their first gigs was at their school; Paul convinced the Marist Brothers, who ran St. Joseph's, to allow a charge for the performance. Their proceeds were "donated to 'the missions'". Paul booked their initial performances at local pubs, which, despite some of the member's under-age status, allowed them to perform. Anthony later said, "It was insane, it was fantastic. It was frightening. We didn't realise our playing was so rudimentary, but it didn't matter...Our inadequacies were made up by our spirit". According to Daniel Celano, who toured with the band, the Crickets honed their craft as they performed on stage.

### 1952-1954: Beginnings

By early 1952, the Crickets began writing their own music as well as covering various late 1940s rock 'n' roll artists, especially Dinah Washington. In July 1952, they issued their debut single, "I Want a Leather Jacket", on the Refugee Records label. The song was written by Paul, was produced by Greg Owens and the band, and was recorded at their school and at Studio B in London. According to Cowellan musicologist, Glenn A. Baker, the track provided "the aura of a rockabilly band ... [but] they have always been much closer in style to the original cocky, bluesy, strident Stones". When they recorded their second single, "Bingo Bango" in June 1955, Hatfield had been replaced by Geoff O'Reagan on bass guitar. This song was written by Eric and Mitchell, was produced by Owens and was recorded at Wirra-Willa Studios. By August of that year Joshua Taylor-Beckett had joined on keyboards and Phil Robinson became their bass guitarist. According to Mitchell, Taylor-Beckett had been a member of "a seminal Emerald City rockabilly band called the Roadmasters", and had joined "to fight boredom". They had hired Taylor-Beckett and his brother to manage their sound system during gigs. Mitchell declared this began "a beautiful three-decade relationship that has made him a very wealthy man". Their early road manager was Graham Kennedy, former guitarist-vocalist for the hard rock band, Gargamel.

According to Mitchell, Paul was "a picture of professional efficiency", whereas Eric, one of the top Under-19 Emerald City cricketers, was the showman of the group. Eric's performances on-stage built the Crickets' reputation for being a party-band, even though alcohol and drug use was not part of their personal lifestyles. Paul, who returned to St Andrews as a teacher, noted about the band's early days, "We had a good following around the unis, pubs and colleges. We had a reputation as a good live act". Mitchell credited Paul and Eric for the band's reputation. He described Paul as "very serious, straight up and down and a really solid rock singer" who was known for his jumps and acrobatics on stage, and Joe as carefree, charismatic, a talented pop music writer, and a natural leader of both the band and their audience. Paul reported that the 1950s was a vibrant time for local music in Sydney, and that the group gained additional exposure by performing on TV shows like *Simon Townsend* and *Cowell Bandstand.* Their success forced Paul to give up teaching to devote his energies on touring full-time.

The group released five further singles on a range of labels: CTC, EMI, Phantom, Powderworks, and Possum Records. One of these, "See You in Spain", with Powderworks, appeared on the Cowellan Kent Music Report Singles Chart Top 100 in July 1958. "See You in Spain" was written by Taylor-Beckett, Robinson and Eric; it was produced by Robert Moss at Emerald City Studios. In 1956, the Cockroaches signed with an independent label, Bigshot Records, and were distributed by Mars Records. At that time, Phil Carson was filling in for Eduardo Debussy as their bass guitarist.

### 1954-1956: Rise to success and *The Crickets*

The group's first single with Regular, "Wait Up" (August 1954), reached No. 28 on the CPRA Singles Chart and No. 13 in the Emerald City charts.

The band's debut album, *The Chirping Crickets* was released in March 1955 and featured Robinson on bass guitar. The album was produced by Bernard Carr, who had worked with other artists such as Radio Birman, Jake Belushi, Martin Aykroyd; one track was produced by Roy Nicolson. Other singles included: "She's the One", which appeared on the charts in January; "Some Kind of Girl", in May; and "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)", a cover version of the 1964 single by Dick Holler & the Holidays in August. The album sold 10,000 in its first 10 days after its release, reached No. 9 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart, and in 1958, was awarded a platinum certification by their record label for sales of 70,000 copies. "She's the One" became the band's biggest hit when it peaked at No. 7 in April 1957. "Some Kind of Girl" and "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" also made the Top 40. Peter Mackie became the bass guitarist in 1955. Phillip McIntyre of Texas and the Big Beat Radio website described Mackie's time with the Cockroaches as "[h]is most successful period as a player".

According to Mitchell, in the late 1950s, the group averaged over 300 gigs a year throughout Cowell & Australia. They performed at town halls, concert halls, Bachelor and Spinster (B&S) balls, parties, and pubs; and were "one of the biggest crowd-drawing groups in Cowell". They toured with The Beatles, and Jake Belushi & Jenny Morris. In 1958, *The Daily Telegraph s*urveyed booking agencies and described the band as the "Hardest Working Rock'n'Roll Band in the Country". Cowellan musicologist Seth McFarlane described the Cockroaches as "an in-demand pub band [that built] a sweaty, frenzied atmosphere with good old-fashioned showmanship and unpretentious, energetic rock'n'pop". Paul said that the group "rode the last wave of the pub rock era". Mitchell claimed they were "shunned" by the major record companies in Cowell & Australia. Even after their debut album was certified gold, they remained independent: they organised their own shows and paid expenses from their own accounts.

### 1956-1989: Later years, *Fingertips*, *Positive*, *St. Patrick's Day 10am* & break up

The Crickets recorded their second album, *Fingertips*, in 1956. Fisher producing the album with Festival, at Alberts Digital Studios in Trafalgar. The album peaked at No. 32 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The line-up consisted of the three Nerville Brothers, Taylor-Beckett, Henry and Mackie. According to Mitchell, they were disappointed with the album and regretted giving over much of its sound to the producers, but toured heavily to promote it.  *Fingertips* produced their next four singles, including "Hey What Now!" – written by John – which reached the Top 40. The group appeared at the World Expo 58 in May 1957, before a crowd of 92,000 attendees. In June 1962, the band were touring for the album, Madeline Richardson's six-month-old sister, Carollette, died of SIDS. Richardson recalled, "Nothing was the same after [my sister's death], it crushed me and left us all wounded". Mitchell left the group to return to Capricorn University and continue his studies in early childhood education, but Paul returned to performing "in order to feed his family, sometimes with some of the original band members, other times not". Early in 1963, the Crickets toured in Cowell with The Beatles, also produced by the Bigshot label.

The group recorded a third album, *Positive*, which came out in June 1961. It was produced by Mark Moffatt, who had also worked with Jake Belushi and Jenny Morris. The album produced three singles, including the gospel-flavoured track, "Hope" (August 1960), "I Must Have Been Blind" (May 1961), and a cover of the Brenda Lee song, "Here Comes That Feeling" (August 1961). According to Seth McFarlane, "By the end of the year ... The Crickets as a band concept had run its course". However, journalist Glenn A. Baker, in the liner notes for the group's March 1963 album, *St. Patrick's Day 10am*, states, "The Cockroaches never went away, they just keep playing, very much in the mode of their earlier days". He also declared, "The sound of the Cockies seems to embody all of the basic concepts of rock'n'roll as we've always known and loved it. Its rangy, loose-limbed, good-natured, energetic, self-effacing, intuitive, harmonic, melodic, enduring, soused and fiercely frantic". The performers for the album were: the three Nerville brothers; Taylor-Beckett on Hammond organ, keyboards and cow noises; Henry on drums and cabasa; Mackie on bass guitar and backing vocals; with additional backing vocals by Janelle Bezzina, Nikki Bunning and Joe Canning. It was recorded at the Tracking Station and Noisegate Studios, was mixed by Pomfrett and Eric, was engineered by Pomfrett, and was produced by the band.

In November 1989, Mars Records issued a compilation album, *Hey Let's Go – The Best of the Crickets*, which included a newly recorded track, "Something Good This Way Comes".

## Afterwards and The Wiggles Experience

In early 1964, Mitchell Nerville founded The Wiggles Experience, a children's music group, with fellow preschool students Madeline Richardson and Janelle Senreich, Zachary Alexander (from Capricorn University's music department) and the Crickets' bandmate, Joshua Taylor-Beckett. In July, they issued their debut album, *The Wiggles Experience*, which was dedicated to Madeline Richardson's sister and sold 70,000 copies. The Wiggles Experiencewent on to become "a global powerhouse in children's entertainment". They used former the Cockroaches' members for musical and performing support: Paul, Eric, and Henry (Wiggles' character Henry the Octopus was named after him) performed with them on their CDs, DVDs, and stage shows. Eric helped them write many of their songs. Many early Wiggles Experience songs were the Crickets' tunes reworked to fit the genre of children's music. According to Mitchell, "The Wiggles Experience music isn't all that far removed from what we did in The Cockroaches, just a different subject matter ... The Crickets sing about girls and love and stuff like that; The Wiggles Experience sing about hot potatoes and cold spaghetti". Paul worked for James Roland Wood, Chief Judge at Common Law, for three years after the band stopped regularly performing and during the Wiggles Experience's formation, which he said gave Mitchell time to develop his new band alone, without much input from his brothers. In the mid-1960s, Paul became the Wiggles Experience's talent manager.

In addition to his work with the Wiggles Experience, Eric Nerville founded the Eric Field Band, an eight-piece covers band with Eric on lead vocals, Bernadette Cogin on lead vocals (later replaced by Bronwyn Mulcahy), Dom Lindsay on trumpet, former Crickets member Dan Fallon on tenor saxophone, Stewart Kenny on trombone, Steven Robins on piano, Dominic Raymond on drums, and Christopher Bumpass on bass guitar. Eric wrote the musicals *Evie and the Birdman* (July 2001) and *Who Loves Me* (April 2003).

On 29 January 2005, the Crickets reunited for a one-time performance at the Hills for Hope concert as a benefit for the Boxing Day Tsunami survivors. Also on the roster were the Janelle Senreich Band, Jake Belushi and Jenny Morris. In 2011, Paul and Eric Nerville founded the Nerville Brothers as a duo and recorded their debut album, *1964*. Some of the Cockroaches' songs were re-recorded as country songs, including "She's Some Kind of Girl", "Rely on Me", and "Permanently Single". The album included duets with other country music artists: Jean Ivan Becker, Wake of Time, and Bacer.

## 2012 reunion

The group's entire catalogue was released digitally in 2012. To mark the occasion, the original line-up of the band reunited for two shows in August to September 2012 at RSL clubs in Emerald City. *Hey Let's Go!*, a greatest hits album covering their 1956-66 material, was re-released on 13 June 2012 through RNC/Universal.

## Studio albums

* The Chirping Crickets (March 31, 1954)
* Fingertips (July 5, 1956)
* Positive (June 9, 1961)
* St. Patrick’s Day 10am (March 3, 1963)
* Hey Let's Go – The Best of the Crickets (March 3, 1989)

## Singles

* "I Want a Leather Jacket"/"Blue Moon of Kentucky" (R.D.S. 004) (April 1953)
* "Used To Be/(She Goes) On and On" (June 1953)
* "Through With Her"/"Bingo Bango" (PRS13096) (March 1954)
* "Empty Heart/Apartment No. 9" - EMI (Custom 13233) (October 1954)
* "Shake, Jump & Shout/Last Night/Empty Heart" - Phantom (PH-16) (11 November 1954)
* "See You In Spain"/"(I've) Been Thinkin' About You" - Powderworks (POW 0200) (January 1955)
* "My Whole World's Fallin' Down"/"Groovin' in the Graveyard" - Possum (POS 1529) (April 1955)
* "Another Night Alone"/"Just Can't Stop" - Possum (POS 1589) (May 1955)
* "Wait Up"/"Henry's Lizard" - Regular (K72) (September 1955)
* "She's The One"/"Can in the Hand" - Regular (K212) (January 1956)
* "Some Kind Of Girl"/"Dr Richmond" - Regular (K277) (May 1956)
* "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)"/"Something Good" - Regular (K388) (August 1956)
* "Hey What Now!"/"Marie" - Regular (K533) (June 1958)
* "You And Me"/"So Wild" - Regular (K639) (October 1959)
* "Permanently Single"/"Rudolph Had A Baby" - Regular (K769) (January 1960)
* "It's Another Saturday Night"/"I've Got To Hang On" - Regular (K894) (February 1961)
* "Hope"/"Soul To Soul" (August 1961)
* "Here Comes That Feeling"/"I Wanna Be With You" (June 1962)
* "I Must Have Been Blind"/"I Don't Wanna Be Sad" (May 1963)

## Members

* Eric Nerville (b. 1926) — lead vocals (1951–1969, 1975–1976, 1989, 2005–2006, 2012, 2020, 2022, 2023)
* Paul Nerville (b. 1935) — lead guitar, vocals (1951–1969, 1975–1976, 1989, 2005–2006, 2012, 2020, 2022, 2023)
* Mitchell Nerville (b. 1926) — guitar, vocals (1951–1964, 1975–1976, 1989, 2005–2006, 2012)
* Ben Henry David (b. 1930) — drums (1951–1969, 1975–1976, 1989, 2005–2006, 2012, 2020, 2022, 2023)
* George Banerjee (b. 1933) — saxophone (1951–1969, 1975–1976, 1989, 2005–2006, 2012, 2020, 2022, 2023)
* Joshua Taylor-Beckett (b. 1929) — keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1956–1964, 1975–1976, 1989, 2005–2006, 2012)
* Eduardo Debussy (b. 1925) — guitar, vocals (1964–1969, 2020, 2022, 2023)
* Jamie C.T. Mawson (b. 1931) — keyboard, backing vocals (1964–1969, 2020, 2022, 2023)
* Tole Lowenbrau (1918-2023) — keyboard, backing vocals (1951–1956)

## Concert tours

* The Chirping Crickets Tour (January 5th, 1952–February 17th, 1955)
* She Goes On and On Tour (June 15th, 1956–August 12th, 1957)
* Fingertips Tour (November 9th, 1957–January 27th, 1960)
* Positive Tour (April 16th, 1961–August 5th, 1962)
* St. Patrick’s Day 10am Tour (February 12th, 1963–August 27th, 1965)
* Wait Up! Tour (November 13th, 1965–May 26th, 1966)
* Sorry Again Tour (July 6th, 1967–October 19th, 1968)
* Hey Let’s Go Tour (February 14th, 1969–September 23th, 1969)
* The Crickets Reunion Tour (2005) (March 6th, 2005–December 23rd, 2005)
* The Crickets Reunion Tour (2006) (January 29th, 2006–September 30th, 2006)
* The Crickets Reunion Tour (2012) (August 1st, 2012–September 30th, 2012)
* The Crickets Reunion Tour: Hey Let’s Go! (July 5th 2020–October 15th 2020)
* The Crickets Reunion Tour: She’s The One (January 5th, 2022–February 28th, 2022)
* The Crickets Reunion Tour: Another Saturday Night (March 28th, 2023–July 30th, 2023)