Arrival

In the latter half of the 1960s a Liverpool-based septet coalesced when ex-NEMS staffer Dyan Birch joined forces with Paddie McHugh and Frank Collins, both previously of the Excels. The lineup expanded with the addition of Merseyside singer Carroll Carter and three further musicians—Lloyd Courtney, Don Hume and Tony O’Malley. The completed ensemble forwarded a demonstration tape to Decca’s A&R executive Tony Hall, whose enthusiasm led him to sign the act for both recording and management. Two early-seventies singles, “Friends” and “I Will Survive,” registered inside the UK Top 20 and showcased the group’s urgent delivery and polished vocal harmonies. Although the members voiced a collective aim to establish Arrival as a household name, the seven-piece configuration ultimately proved cumbersome, prompting a split; Birch, Collins, O’Malley and McHugh subsequently resurfaced in Kokomo.