Little is known about the Penny Peeps, aside from the fact that they recorded two hopelessly obscure, 
yet highly collectable singles, which today fetch ridiculous sums of money. Collectors may be surprised
to learn, however, that the Penny Peeps’ guitarist was none other than future Jethro Tull axe man 
Martin Barre (b 17 November, 1946, Birmingham), who had joined the band in 1966 when it was 
known as the Motivation. 

Perhaps more surprising is news that the Penny Peeps recorded around 15 demos for the label in early 1968, 
including the marvellous “Meet Me At the Fair”, the band’s preferred choice for “the Model Village’s”
‘A’ side. The infectious soul-tinged rocker was subsequently dropped in favour of the more commercial
“Little Man With A Stick”. As fate would have it both “Little Man With A Stick” and its follow up single,
“I See the Morning” sank without a trace and the group’s lead singer departed that spring. The group briefly
continued under the name Gethsemane, recording two unreleased tracks for Liberty, before the musicians
went their separate ways in December 1968.  

While Martin Barre subsequently “landed on his feet” joining highly respected blues band, Jethro Tull, the
music he recorded with his pre-Tull bands has been sadly overlooked. However, with the recent discovery
of the Penny Peeps’ demos, the continued interest in “the Model Village”, and news that all of the band
members have finally been reunited after nearly 40 years, provides a perfect opportunity to set the record straight. 

To put the music in context, it is important to look back to the genesis of the group and Martin Barre’s 
pre-Penny Peeps career. Although the guitar was always his preferred choice of instrument, Barre 
also learnt saxophone and flute at an early age, and around 1963 joined his first serious group, the 
Birmingham beat combo, the Moonrakers. While the group operated for a number of years under 
the leadership of singer John Carter, it’s not certain how long Barre worked with the band because 
he also studied architecture at Lanchester Polytechnic (now Coventry University) sometime during
the early-mid ‘60s.

Whatever the exact details, Barre appears to have resumed his musical career in early 1966 after being
encouraged by fellow ex-Moonraker, Chris Rodger, a sax player from Solihull, to reply to an advert in 
Melody Maker asking for a horn player to join a soul covers outfit called the Noblemen. In the end, 
the group enlisted both musicians.
 
When Barre and Rodger signed up, the band had recently undergone a major reshuffling of its line up, 
after several years working as beat group Beau Brummell & the Noblemen and the Beau Brummell 
Orchestra (which itself had evolved out of Johnny Devlin & the Detours). The Noblemen’s bass player
Bryan Stevens (b. 13 November, 1941, North Borneo) and keyboard player and singer Mike Ketley
(b. 1 October, 1947, Balham, London) were the only surviving members of both groups, which hailed
from Bognor Regis on the UK’s south coast. 

Stevens had formed the Detours in February 1960 and had recruited Ketley from another local group, the 
Soundtracks, in 1962. The band had recorded a one-off single, “Sometimes”, for Pye Records in late
1963, and appeared as newcomers on Granada TV’s Thank Your Lucky Stars alongside Manfred
Mann, Matt Munro and others in February 1964, before meeting South African singer Mike Bush 
(aka Beau Brummell). 

Brummell, who now owns a naturist valley in Northern Transvaal, had arrived in England in 1961 and 
worked under various pseudonyms before adopting the title, “Beau Brummell”, named after the 
British dandy of the 19th century in late 1963. Recruiting the Detours (now renamed the Noblemen)
as his support group, Brummell allegedly toured around the UK, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Italy
in a converted London ambulance, equipped with a cocktail cabinet and other accessories and is 
even believed to have performed before the Aga Khan while in Rome! Not surprisingly, his exploits
gained him front-page headlines. 

The relationship however, was relatively short-lived and following a string of singles for Columbia Records,
the group parted company with Brummell after opening the famous Piper Club in Rome on 1 October 
1965. On the way back from Rome, the Noblemen got a gig at the famous Big Apple club in Munich
opening for the Spencer Davis Group. While the show went down extremely well (Ketley remembers
the Noblemen upstaging the headliners), most of the members decided that the group had run its course
and dropped out, leaving Ketley and Stevens to rebuild the band from scratch in late 1965/early 1966.

Back on the south coast, the new line-up started to take on shape with the recruitment of Welsh singer 
Jimmy Marsh and drummer Malcolm Tomlinson (b. 16 June, 1946, Isleworth, Middlesex), both of 
whom were playing in the London-based, the Delmar Trio. 

“We had met both Jim and Malcolm when we were still Johnny Devlin & the Detours preparing to become
the Noblemen,” remembers Ketley. “They played at a local gig in Littlehampton called the Top Hat club
which was owned by Bob Gaitley who managed Brummell and us and ran the Beat Ballard and Blues
Agency which was famous in the south in those days.”

Bryan Stevens continues the story. “Bob Gaitley gave me Jimmy’s number when we needed a singer
after we left Beau Brummell. Jimmy came down to Bognor and we got working with him shortly 
afterwards as he was a good ‘soul’ singer doing cover versions of Otis Redding hits.” 

Malcolm Tomlinson meanwhile was a talented musician, who while primarily a drummer was also adept
at guitar (and later flute), and whose voice bore some resemblance to Rod Stewart’s. His first musical 
outing had been the west London band the Panthers, but this was short-lived, and in 1962 he joined Jeff
Curtis & the Flames, the house band at the Ealing Jazz Club. While playing with the Flames, Tomlinson 
witnessed the nascent Rolling Stones get their act together. The Flames later recorded a five-track acetate
with the late Joe Meek, but Tomlinson moved on in 1964/1965 to play the club scene in Germany with 
James Deane & the London Cats, which is where he first met Jimmy Marsh.

Shortly after Marsh and Tomlinson’s arrival, Barre and Rodger were recruited via the Melody Maker 
advert. According to Ketley, Barre’s sound and technique was not particularly good at this point and 
from the outset, Rodger assumed the more prominent role, playing solos and supporting Barre until 
he got up to speed. “It wasn’t until months and months later that we would go to bed after a gig to
the sound of Martin practising on his 335, and wake up in the late afternoon and Martin was still playing
that we realised that he was a much better guitarist that he was a sax player,” says Ketley.

In fact, Barre later admitted to taking the job, so that he could get into the band and play guitar. “It wasn’t
until we had formed the Penny Peeps and especially Gethsemane that Martin owned up to getting the 
sax job under false pretences,” says Ketley. “Clever really and by then we had other plans so it was fine.”

The Noblemen next headed off to Italy where they “cut their teeth” as the house band at the famous Piper
club in Rome for six months. On their return, the band signed up with the Roy Tempest Agency and one
of its earliest gigs was supporting US soul act, the Vibrations at Tofts in Folkestone on 23 September 1966.

The Vibrations weren’t the only soul act the group got to work with. Over the next year, the band 
found itself heavily in demand, working with such notable soul artists as Alvin Robinson, Ike & Tina Turner,
the Coasters, the Drifters, Wilson Pickett and Ben E King, to name a few. Ketley has particularly fond 
memories of working with Lee Dorsey, who the group supported at the last gig at the original Cavern 
club in Liverpool. Says Stevens of this particular date: “The stage crew were standing by ready to cut up
the stage after the band had finished playing!”  

There were other personal highlights from this period. Ketley remembers a party in London where the
Coasters introduced him and Malcolm Tomlinson to an unknown black guitarist who just arrived in the
UK called Jimi Hendrix, while for the band’s drummer, it was the opportunity to meet his hero, 
Otis Redding and shake his hand at the Scotch of St James in spring 1967.

Aside from supporting US soul acts, the Motivation, as they now called themselves, also began to gain 
work on the burgeoning rock circuit. On two occasions, during February and March 1967, the band 
opened for the Herd at the Marquee in Wardour Street. A few months later, the Motivation also 
shared the bill with Eric Clapton’s band, Cream at a memorable date at the Upper Cut in Forest Gate on 1 July.

Despite the steady work, however, the pressures on the road were beginning to take its toll, and sometime
in the autumn both Jimmy Marsh and Chris Rodger decided to leave. No one knows what happened 
to Rodger but Marsh currently works as a window cleaner in London. Around the same time, another 
band called Motivation signed to Direction Records and the group retreated to Bognor and the Shoreline
club to reassess its musical future.

A decision was made to change the group’s name and a new lead singer was sought to front the band. 
Stevens and Ketley remembered a talented singer that they’d met at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg 
while playing with Beau Brummell in late 1965 and invited Denny Alexander Thomas (b. 10 March, 
1946, Liverpool) to join the reconstituted outfit – now going by the more “progressive” name the 
Penny Peep Show.

“When we decided we wanted a change after Jimmy Marsh, I contacted Denny who agreed to join up 
with us,” remembers Stevens. “I went up to Liverpool and brought him down to Bognor where he stayed
at the Shoreline Hotel (the only teenage hotel run by teenagers for teenagers in Bognor) while we got a 
new act together before going out on the road again.” 

Alexander, like his erstwhile colleagues, had been active since the early ‘60s, playing with Liverpool
bands Tony & the Chequers, the Aarons, the Secrets and finally the Clayton Squares, with whom he had
recorded two singles for Decca in late 1965 and early 1966. The band, which was managed by Don 
Arden, had played extensively at the Cavern but had arrived on the scene too late to capitalise on the 
success of the first wave of Merseyside bands. Alexander never the less brought both a strong voice and
some powerful original material to the Penny Peep Show.

After rehearsing new material, largely comprised of Alexander originals, at the Shoreline club in Bognor Regis, 
the Penny Peep Show resumed live work. Through Pete Hockham, formerly one of Bob Gaitley’s agents
at the Beat Ballad & Blues agency and now working for Brian Epstein’s NEMS agency, the band signed
up with NEMS and gained regular work in the London area. One of the group’s first London dates took 
place in January 1968, opening for the Mike Stuart Span at the famous 100 Club in Oxford Street.

That same month, the group signed a deal with Liberty Records and got to work recording over an 
album’s worth of material, most of which comprised demos. “When the Peeps got the Liberty contract, 
I also got a song writing contract with them from Metric Music, which was on Albermarle Street at the 
time,” says Alexander. “When I went to sign my contract…there was also a duo who were part of band
called the Idle Race. This turned out to be Jeff Lynne later of ELO fame and fortune. The other person
sitting in the corner very quietly and looking very shy and schoolboyish turned out be Mike Batt!”

“The contract required a certain amount of songs in a certain period,” continues Alexander “and the 
band used to act as sessionmen – and therefore got paid which helped when gigs were scare. Most songs
were recorded at the Marque studio at the back of the old Marquee club in Wardour Street. I probably 
wrote about 15 or 16 songs.” 

Some of these songs, such as “Helen Doesn’t Care” and “Into My Life She Came”, which features 
Martin Barre on flute, are little gems. So is “Meet Me at the Fair”, which the group had envisaged
would be coupled with Alexander’s organ and guitar driven rocker “Model Village” for the band’s 
debut single. Instead, Liberty chose to go with the poppy Les Reed-Barry Mason collaboration, 
“Little Man With A Stick”. 

“I remember how pissed off we all were when Liberty insisted that ‘Little Man With A Stick’ should 
be the ‘A’ side as it was not us and none of us liked it,” says Stevens. “I suppose it was the usual case
of the record company wanting to use their in-house musicians.”

Released on 16 February, under the new name, the Penny Peeps, “Little Man With A Stick” c/w 
“Model Village” failed to chart, although it did gain some radio exposure. 

“Tony Blackburn opened his Radio 1 show every morning for a week with it,” says Ketley. “Although
he said he liked the ‘B’ side, he never played it. Melody Maker and NME at the time all said ‘Model 
Village’ should have been released on the ‘A’ side and was much more representative of the band live.” 

“Little Man With A Stick” received a lukewarm welcome in the music press, with NME reporting: “A 
new British number by Les Reed and Barry Mason. It’s good fun with a strong novelty content, but not
one of the duo’s most memorable compositions. Competent performance.” (Note: a mint copy of the
single will now set you back about £35.)

The single’s release coincided with a memorable show at the Brighton Dome Theatre where the 
Penny Peeps backed the Scaffold on a bill that also included the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. 

In the long run, however, the decision to bury “Model Village” on the flip side of the band’s debut, 
coupled with a weak follow up, Alexander’s “I See the Morning” c/w “Curly, the Knight of the Road” 
(issued on 21 June) did the band no favours. Disillusioned, Denny Alexander left soon afterwards 
(subsequently becoming a publican). 

Reduced to a quartet, the group started to incorporate blues elements into its repertoire. It also took on
a new moniker, In the Garden of Gethsemane, which was soon abbreviated to Gethsemane. As Ketley 
acknowledges, the new musical direction that Gethsemane took, gave the band an opportunity to be more 
creative and to stretch out during live performances. One of the “features” of the band’s stage show 
during this period was a flute duet featuring Barre and Tomlinson. “Malcolm would come off drums, 
I would play ‘Hammond’ percussion and we would try to be creative for a while – in the middle of 
‘Work Song’ as I recall,” says Ketley.

From the summer onwards, Gethsemane gained steady live work, appearing at such colourful venues as 
London’s Roundhouse, Eel Pie Island in Twickenham and the Nags Head in Battersea. During this period, 
the band shared the bill with a wide range of acts, including David Bowie, Edgar Broughton and 
Fleetwood Mac. They also attracted the interest of DJ John Peel who allegedly became a big fan.

Without Alexander to front the group, the vocals were shared between with Malcolm Tomlinson and Mike 
Ketley. “Malc always had a great voice,” says Stevens. “At the ‘end’ we were doing cover versions of the 
Band as we had just got hold of an early copy of Music from Big Pink. If I remember right, Malc sang 
‘the Weight’ and ‘Chest Fever’. It was really good.”

Sometime during this period, Gethsemane piqued the interest of Bee Gees producer Robert Stigwood, 
and through this association signed with Dick James Music (Northern Songs). While the idea was to record 
an album, the band soon ran into problems in the studio. “We recorded ‘Grease Monkey’ (written by 
Tony McPhee),” says Ketley and “we did our version of ‘Lady Samantha’…but Elton did not like [it].” 
Far more serious – “musical differences” erupted between the group, Northern Songs and Robert 
Stigwood. It seems the producer was looking for something much more “poppy” from the group. 
The sessions were subsequently abandoned.

“Grease Monkey” fitted well into the group’s stage show, but the decision to cut Elton John’s “Lady 
Samantha” seemed a rather unusual choice. Perhaps the decision to record the song was made following
an Elton John radio session, taped on 28 October at BBC’s Agolin Hall. On that occasion, John 
recorded three tracks – “Lady Samantha”, “Across The Havens” and “Skyline Pigeon”, abetted 
by a studio group comprising long standing guitarist Caleb Quayle, session bass player Boots Slade and 
Malcolm Tomlinson on drums. The three songs were played on BBC’s Stuart Henry Show the following week.

Whatever the reason, the disappointment and frustration surrounding the album sessions appears to have
been a major factor in driving the band apart. After playing a memorable gig at Dundee College of Art 
on 12 December, opening for headliners, Pink Floyd, Gethsemane returned to London to fulfil a few 
final engagements before dissolving.  

Says Stevens: “The last gig we ever did was at a college in Brook Green, Hammersmith and a guy from 
Island Records asked if we would be interested in signing up. We didn’t want to know. We had had so 
many people saying so many times, ‘sign here and we will make you famous!’ Anyway, by that time, 
we had all decided to go our separate ways. Martin Barre had just been offered a job with Jethro Tull 
following an audition with them.”

Having learnt that original guitarist Mick Abrahams’ replacement Tommy Iommi had been dismissed 
after only a month in the band, Barre phoned Jethro Tull’s singer Ian Anderson to see if he could try 
out for the band (Barre, incidentally had first auditioned when Abrahams left in late November but 
Iommi got the nod). 

Stevens continues the story. “He didn’t have a very good guitar at the time and mentioned he desperately
wanted a Les Paul Gibson for the audition. The guy in the flat below us in our Chiswick flat offered to 
lend him the £500 – pretty good considering that was quite heavy money in the late ‘60s.” 

Invited round to Anderson’s flat for a second audition, Barre got the “gig of his dreams”. The rest as they
say is history. But what about his former band mates?

Having led a succession of groups from Johnny Devlin & the Detours through to Gethsemane, Bryan Stevens
decided to sell his bass and used the money to help finance his studies. Returning to college, he later 
became a surveyor and currently lives in Chiswick. 

Mike Ketley meanwhile returned to the south coast. Switching from keyboards to bass, he joined forces
with a several former Noblemen and for a couple of years worked in a local band called the Concords. 
He later abandoned live work and now works as senior director at Yamaha Kemble Music UK Limited. 
He lives in Northampton.

Stevens and Ketley have remained firm friends and in June 2002 rejoined former band mates in a Johnny 
Devlin & the Detours reunion held in Bognor Regis. Among the guests at the reunion was former 
Soundtracks guitarist Ray Flacke, who later went on to play with Mark Knopfler. Ketley has also recently
re-recorded “Model Village” with his son’s band. The Detours got together again in 2003 to headline a 
gathering of ‘60s groups from Bognor for a sell out night in aid of the hospice that looked after Barry 
Benson (P J Proby’s hairdresser) who had died of cancer a few months earlier. 

Stevens and Ketley were involved in another reunion more recently – after over 35 years, they finally met 
up with Penny Peeps singer Denny Alexander in Liverpool over the Christmas period. 

They have also renewed contact with Malcolm Tomlinson, who, aside from Martin Barre, was the only 
member of the band to maintain a significant musical profile. Following Gethsemane’s demise, 
Tomlinson moved first to Montreal and then to Toronto with his former Jeff Curtis & the Flames cohort 
Louis McKelvey where they fronted rock bands Milkwood and Damage. (In an interestingly side note, 
McKelvey was one of the many hopefuls who had auditioned for Jethro Tull following Mick Abrahams’
departure, but was passed over).

Following an appearance at Toronto’s Rock Pile, opening for the Who, Milkwood travelled to New York 
to record an album at the Hit Factory with noted producer, Jerry Ragavoy for Polydor Records. However, 
disagreements within the band resulted in the album being shelved and the group returned to Toronto 
where they opened the famous Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival concert, held on 13 September 1969.

In the early ‘70s, Tomlinson briefly worked with former Elektra band Rhinoceros, and Toronto-based 
artists Bill King, Syrinx and Bearfoot, before recording an album’s worth of material with Rick James and 
the original Stone City Band, which was subsequently shelved. In the late ‘70s he issued two solo albums
for A&M Records. Last year, he sang on Toronto group, the Cameo Blues Band’s latest album and 
continues to perform on the local scene. 
 
 

Thanks to Mike Ketley, Bryan Stevens, Denny Alexander, Malcolm Tomlinson, Louis McKelvey, 
Mike Paxman, Mike Read, Garth Chilvers, Tom Jasiukowicz, Vernon Joynson, Hugh MacLean, 
Pete Frame, Melody Maker, NME and Record Collector.

Nick Warburton can be contacted at: nick_warburton@hotmail.com

© Nick Warburton, January 2005.