The Fenmen

About

The Fenmen formed in early 1962 in a suburb in Kent, England and made just four rare singles under their own name in 1964-1966, the act originally getting billed as Bern Elliot & the Fenmen. With Elliot as frontman, they had a number 14 British hit in late 1963 with the oft-covered "Money," and a smaller one with their follow-up, a version of Gary "U.S." Bonds' "New Orleans." They also did an EP and a couple live tracks on the compilation At the Cavern, their recorded repertoire dominated by covers of American rock and soul songs. Elliot and the Fenmen separated in 1964, leaving the Fenmen to develop a different style heavily derivative of American pop/rock vocal harmony outfits. A couple flop Fenmen singles for Decca in 1964 and 1965 found the Four Seasons flavor especially strong, including a cover of the Seasons' smash "Rag Doll." The move to CBS for a couple of singles in 1966 was no more successful, including a cover of the Mamas & the Papas' "California Dreamin'" and, more impressively, the Wally Waller composition "Rejected," which showed the emergence of a more original style building off the group's vocal harmony base. The Fenmen ended, however, at the beginning of 1967