Biography
Formed late in 1967 in Leeds, England, the six-piece West Indian group brought together Trevor Wisdom from Jamaica on organ, his compatriot Owen Wisdom on bass guitar, Leroy Mills and Reg Challenger both from St. Kitts handling trumpet and drums respectively, William Hixon from Monseratt on lead guitar, and Jamaica-born Paul Douglas on tenor saxophone. Their decisive opportunity arrived the following year when EMI Records invited them to cut material under the guidance of producer Norman Smith, who would later record as Hurricane Smith. To reach the studio they scraped together £25 for van hire, tracked a single in a single day, and saw their topical reading of the Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” released just forty-eight hours later. Within two weeks the record had climbed into the UK Top 20, only to be outsold by Marmalade’s chart-topping rendition. For their next release the Bedrocks turned to the rugby song “The Lovedene Girls,” yet scant radio exposure kept the single from registering on the charts, ending their realistic prospects of commercial breakthrough.