The Action were formed in north London in 1963. Reg King -
vocals, Alan King - rhythm guitar, Mike Evans - bass,
Roger Powell - drums and Pete Watson - lead guitar. Allied to
the mod movement in the same way that The Small Faces and
The Who were, The Action didn't follow the R 'n B and Rock
and Roll route. They stuck with their first love which was
the Tamla and burgeoning soul sound. Undoubtedly the most
expert British exponents of white soul by far, they were
good enough to attract The Beatles' producer George Martin
and together they created some marvellous material. Popular
on the club circuit, they nevertheless didn't manage to achieve
chart success with any of their five singles releases and
emerged from the sixties as another cult band.
With influential supporters such as Phil Collins and Paul Weller
these days remarking that The Action are their favourite band
of all time, it is evident that, once again, the cruel musical
lottery has dealt another blow for talent.
I recommend that you get yourself a copy of their material
if you haven't already and see what most of us missed the
first time around. Their music is breathtaking and
stands up incredibly well today.
Still performing today with the original line-up and also
hosting a web site and writing a book on their experiences,
The Action are very much still a force to be reckoned with.
