Biography
A mod outfit that rose to prominence in the mid-1960s, Hipster Image secured attention from Animals managers Mike Jeffries yet never placed a single on the charts despite issuing one 1965 release overseen by Alan Price. The group had formed near Keele University in northern Staffordshire, England, where Colin Cooper handled vocals and saxophone, Eric Leese played keyboards, Tony “Dirk” Durkin covered bass, Frank Proudlove also sang and played saxophone, and Keith Webb sat behind the drums. Two soul tracks, “Little Piece of Leather” and “All for You,” appeared on a flexidisc pressed for the university; the recording drew Jeffries’s interest and led the musicians to a London studio. Decca ultimately favored the flip side, “Make Her Mine,” which outperformed its A-side in clubs and became a favored spin on the circuit. Even with these opportunities, the ensemble could not maintain momentum and eventually disbanded, though all four of its extant recordings later surfaced on CD and “Make Her Mine” earned classic status through repeated inclusions on Northern soul and mod anthologies. In 2020 the previously cut 1965 track “True” surfaced from the archives and was released with several other previously unheard numbers.