Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich – The Legend Of Xanadu

The song I know most by them is Hold Tight but after finding that one I found this odd song by them. It was their only #1 song in the UK. It also did well in New Zealand peaking at #1, #10 in Canada, and #123 in the Billboard 100 in 1968. The song was written by Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley.

You know…before we continue. Sometimes a band’s name can help and maybe hurt them a little. In this case, the word HINDER comes into play… although I do get a laugh out of it…I had to serach my own site to find their correct name again.

David John Harman (Dave Dee), Trevor Leonard Ward-Davies (Dozy), John Dymond (Beaky), Michael Wilson (Mick) and Ian Frederick Stephen Amey (Tich), who were childhood friends from Wiltshire (same area as the Troggs) formed a group in 1961. They were originally called Dave Dee and the Bostons. A few years later they changed their names to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich.

Songwriter Ken Howard who recorded them: “We changed their name to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, because they were their actual nicknames and because we wanted to stress their very distinct personalities in a climate which regarded bands as collectives”.

They never made it big in America but they were huge in the UK. They had thirteen UK Top forty hits, eight UK Top 10’s,  and one Number 1 with this song.  In New Zealand, the band had three number-one hits, and seven other songs reached the top ten.

I heard them a bit through the 80s and 90s but not much. Quentin Tarantino must have liked them because he featured Hold Tight in his movie Death Proof during the infamous crash scene.

The group re-formed in the 1990s with Dee as lead vocalist once again. Dave Dee performed his last gig in Eisenburg, Germany on September 20, 2008, and died at Kingston Hospital, southwest London, in January 2009 at the age of 65, following a three-year battle with cancer.

The Legend Of Xanadu

Esta es la leyenda de Xanadu

You’ll hear my voice, on the wind, ‘cross the sandIf you should returnTo that black barren land that bears the name of Xanadu

Cursed without hope, was the love that I soughtLost from the startWas the duel that was s’pposed to win her heart in Xanadu

And the foot prints leave no tracesOnly shadows move in places where we used to goAnd the buildings open to the skyAll echo when the vultures cry as if to showOur love was for a dayThen doomed to pass awayIn Xanadu, in Xanadu, in Xanadu

In Xanadu, in Xanadu, in Xanadu

What was it to you that a man laid down his life for your loveWere those clear eyes of yours everFilled with the pain and the tears and the griefDid you ever give your self to any one man in this whole wide worldOr did you love me and will you find your way back one day to Xanadu

You’ll hear my voice, on the wind, ‘cross the sandIf you should returnTo that black barren land that bears the name of Xanadu

In Xanadu, in Xanadu, in Xanadu, in Xanadu

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

37 thoughts on “Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich – The Legend Of Xanadu”

  3. And Mercury Records thought ‘John Mellencamp’ was a bad name for an act! First thing I would have told these guys if I was a record company exec was ‘I’ll put out a record of yours…if you change that name!’. that said, interesting song, kind of weird and I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard it before. Quite like the Spanish-style guitar in it.

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    1. You probably have heard “Hold Tight” by them…if you have seen the movie Death Proof. I remember getting a hold of a record by these guys in the 80s. Well I wanted off the beaten path today…I think I did it.
      I’m interested to see what Obbverse think of these guys since they were so popular in New Zealand.

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    1. LOL… yea I heard George Harrison mention them in a studio recording joking when Lennon didn’t show up…saying “tich” is missing today but we will have to go on.

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  6. I immediately recognized their names because of Death Proof. So glad you decided to look beyond the movie soundtrack cut that was played during one of the most spectacular, unspeakably horrific scenes EVER in a movie. Your featured song today is put together so well. What an FX they had going there. The singer looks a lot like Ray Davies! This is a band I hope to learn and listen to more. Good choice for a write-up, Max.

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    1. Thanks Lisa…I always like finding something different.
      Here it is…it wasn’t Tich…he said Dave Dees…I love it. I wrote I Me Mine up last night and that is why I got to this one.

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  7. 1/Oh, these guys were big here in NZ for sure. I thought them very poppy, always looking for a hook, but there’s nothing wrong with that. I’d recommend a greatest hits package but my personal list would include ‘Bend It’ ‘Save Me’ which sounds very Dave Clark Five to me- ‘Okay!’ ‘Zabadak’, oh, its all just 60’s dumb fun. there are also another faux baroque songs by them, ‘The Wreck Of The Antoinette.’ As I say, just great pop.
    2/ Tarantino does place his music brilliantly. It then becomes keyed to the film.
    3/ On a 60s trivia night down at the local pissoir the question put out was ‘how many members were in DDDBM&T? So many said 6, just assuming Dave Dee was two people.

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    1. Thank you… I looked for info about them but mostly found the same info over and over….I even stole from myself from my one post about them. I do like what I’ve heard…they did record good pop songs.

      Funny you mentioned baroque because some do remind me of Walk Away Renee…not melody but that style.

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      1. ‘Walk Away Renee’ is another good one from that era too, and I see where you’re coming from too, now you mention it!
        They toured here in April ’67 with Eric Burdon and the Animals and Paul and Barry Ryan, who had a few hits over here- I think the Ryans were another Brit act that didn’t resonate in the US. Barry had a few solo hits, the bombastic ‘Eloise’ and one both brothers did that you may like- I know I do- ‘Keep It Out Of Sight.’ It’s got a lot going on production-wise.

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      2. Thanks Obbverse… I like Keep It Out Of Sight…very cool pop.
        I would have never found them. I’m surprised Eloise was a single being that long.

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  8. Brilliant record and an under rated back catalogue. Very varied and my fave is the very widescreen and dark dramatic Last Night In Soho. Epic. So epic Tarantino got Edgar wright to base the recent movie of the same name around the song. The film is stunning and the 60s setting and 60s songs are flawless. Well worth digging out.

    I saw the band on their final tour, dave dee still good looking and great, didnt look at all ill. He was a policeman in his younger days, he attended the car crash that killed Eddie Cochran so the story goes.

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      1. I don’t know of Death Proof. From the name it doesn’t sound like my kind of show. But I’ll look it up. I’ve been absent from interacting this week, but I enjoyed your post on the Ramones ‘I Want to be Sedated’, and that magnet fishing, wow! And I’m enjoying the Miss O’Dell book. I’ve reached the chapter where she returned to Apple.

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      2. Oh I’m so happy you are enjoying the book! I have listened to it twice. I’m going to get the physical copy also.
        I have covid so I’m stuck at home…we all have it… a VERY minor version of it though. I had one flu like night and I’m working at home…I’ve been great since last week but I was positive Sunday and I felt great since.

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      3. Wow, I’m sorry you all have been hit with covid. After all this time, it’s easy to forget it’s still out there. Yuck. I’m glad you have a minor version.

        I’m reading the physical O’Dell book. It’s what the library had. The chapters are short and easy to read.

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      4. Thanks….it shocked us because I thought we might have had a short bout with a flu…well at least I got to work from home this week…I try to look on the positive side.

        That book gave you more info on some of the rock stars personal life and how they were.

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  11. Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich – rolls right of your tongue! 🙂

    I didn’t recall “The Legend of Xanadu” based on the title, but once I started playing the clip, I recognized it right away – I would put this in the category of weirdly catchy!

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  12. Great band member names. I had to play the video and I have never heard the legend of Xanadu lol. The only Xanadu I know is by RUSH. I like that hombre who is playing the stand up bass on the video. Looks like he’s about to make a run for the border after the video shoot!

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  13. I’ve always thought of their names as a pun on Snow White’s seven dwarfs (am I allowed to say that anymore?) Just something catchy. It certainly was catchy, sort of had a sing-song type alliteration to it. And not the greatest musically, but still fun. I think I may have bought hold tight when it came out, but I don’t think I got any more by them. This one – xanadu – was dramatic at the time, and a lot of Brits of the time still remember it, but so much has come along that’s been better, since then. 🙂

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    1. You are here Val! I like finding these not so known ones. I did like Hold Tight the best…it had a little edge to it anyway.

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