Biography
Tony Dangerfield ranked among the longest-lived performers to emerge from Joe Meek’s roster of talent. Though far less celebrated than Ritchie Blackmore, he moved through a series of distinctive and memorable groups. While performing with Screaming Lord Sutch’s Savages in 1964, Meek began shaping him for solo success in the mold of bassist Heinz Burt, positioning him as a counterpart to P.J. Proby. The result was the formation of Tony Dangerfield & the Thrills, who issued their lone single, “I’ve Seen Such Things,” on Pye under Meek’s production. The group enjoyed a period of popularity in Germany and supported Teddy “Kingsize” Taylor on the road there, yet Dangerfield soon returned to other ensemble work. Alongside Blackmore and Matthew Fisher he appeared briefly in Lord Caesar Sutch & the Roman Empire, rejoined Blackmore in Neil Christian & the Crusaders, and joined the original lineup of Rupert’s People, the offshoot of Fleur de Lys, all between 1966 and 1967. He continued performing as a vocalist and instrumentalist on England’s pub-rock circuit through the 1990s and died in July 2007.