Biography
Born Malcolm Holland during 1942 in Farnborough, Hampshire, England, the photogenic pop rocker of the early 1960s grew up as one of ten children. He assembled the quartet the Raiders before submitting a demonstration tape to the leading impresario Larry Parnes. Parnes offered a contract and placed him in the 1960 Blackpool summer revue Idols On Parade, whose cast featured Joe Brown, Tommy Bruce and Lance Fortune. Keene reached the UK Top 40 with his debut single ‘Image Of A Girl’, a version of the American success first recorded by the Safaris, even though Mark Wynter’s rival rendition topped the British chart. Two further HMV Records releases appeared, yet neither advanced the career of this would-be teen idol.