Circa: 1968 – 1969
Home town: Salisbury
Members:
- Janine Deane-Dinnis – Lead vocals (replaced by Judy Alves)
- Tony Hopkins – Lead guitar & banjo
- Glynn Jones – Guitar & double bass
- Rob Milne – Rhythm guitar & accordion
A local newspaper described the evening’s events thus:
“The group which has a Seekers type of sound got to the top of the Stairway to the Stars with a combination of freshness, charm and the voice of 22 year old Judith Alves, a Sussex girl who came to Rhodesia in 1957.
The leader is Tony Hopkins who plays guitar and banjo. He was born in Eshowe, Zululand, and came to Rhodesia in the 60’s.
Glynn Jones, who plays guitar and double bass, was born in England and is the son of the well known musician, Eddie Jones.
The last of the group – he has only been with them for 3 months – is Rob Milne. He plays rhythm guitar and accordion and is the only Rhodesian born member of the group”.
The group was pressured into recording Rolf Harris’ “Two Little Boys” to beat the original version onto the shelves. They achieved this, their release making it to number 6 on the local Hit Parade. Another amusing memory that is recalled was the cover shoot for the band’s version of “Teach the World to Sing” which was recorded for Coca Cola. This image featured the band’s members standing in a bilharzia-infected river near Dombashawa in clothes provided by Concord Suits, sodden trousers being the order of the day!!
In subsequent years Judith Alves married and lived in Cape Town before succumbing to cancer on 24 August, 2011. Tony Hopkins, who was schooled at Allan Wilson, was last known to be in Johannesburg. Glynn Jones is happily retired in Johannesburg.
Obituary to Judy Alves.