Circa: 1969
Home town: Salisbury
Members:
- Una Valli – Vocals
- Phil Aroza – Vocals
- Jerry Barnard – Guitar & vocals
- Nick Pickard – Guitar/keyboards & vocals
- Doug Smith – Bass guitar & vocals
- Mark Robbins – Drums
A union of some of the country’s finest musicians at the time including Mel French (ex Drifters), Doug Smith (The Executives) and Phil Aroza (The Soul & Blues Union), fronted by the extraordinary talents of leading South African female vocalist, Una Valli, Daddy Long Legs were destined for instant success. During the short period of their existence – nine months – the band were offered a gig at Ciro’s in Johannesburg, however, racial issues relating to the fact that the band’s line-up was a multiracial one, resulted in this gig never materialising. In due course Phil Aroza left the band and relocated to Holland. The remaining Daddy Long Legs’ members then changed the band’s name back to the Drifters, from whence many of them had originally come.
(See also DRIFTERS and SOUL & BLUES UNION)