- Take A Message/Second Thoughts (Parlophone R 5592) 1967
- 13 Women/Walking Down The Street (President PT 106) 1968
- No Man's Land/Sugar Loaf Mountain (Columbia DB 8383) 1968
- Cadillac/Every Minute Of The Day (Polydor BM 56508) 1970
- Bye Bye Johnny/She Lied (acetate only - unissued)
- Brum Beat (Dial Records DLP 1) February 1964 (The Renegades are included with 13 other bands on this LP)
- Cadillac/Bad Bad Baby (SCANDIA KS 563) 1964
- Seven Daffodils/Do The Shake (SCANDIA KS 577) 1965
- Matelot/You Love Me Too (SCANDIA KS 587) 1965
- White Brown And Black/Unchain My Heart (SCANDIA KS 598) 1965
- Take A Heart/Broken Heart Collector (SCANDIA KS 607) 1965
- Far From It/Every Minute Of The Day (SCANDIA KS 620) 1965
- Walking Down The Street/13 Women (SCANDIA KS 631) 1966
- Un Giorno Tu Mi Cercherai/Una Rosa Da Vienna (SCANDIA KS 644) 1966
- Too Many Heartaches/Blue Eyes (SCANDIA KS 662) 1966
- Can't You See/Never Get Married Kid (SCANDIA KS 671) 1966
- Cadillac (SCANDIA SLP 600) 1964
- The Renegades (SCANDIA SLP 601) 1965
- The Renegades (SCANDIA SLP 602) February 1965
- Pop (SCANDIA SLP 603) 1966
- Cadillac/Bad Bad Baby (Ariston Records, AR 0101) 1965
- Un Giorno Tu Mi Cercherai/Una Rosa Da Vienna (Ariston Records, AR 0112) 1966
- Thirteen Women/Don't Run To Me (Ariston Records, AR 0123) 1966
- Cadillac/Se Morisse Il Sole (Don't Run To Me) (Ariston Records, AR 0137) 1966
- That Song Really Knocks Me/You're Gonna Loose Her Loving (Ariston Records, AR 0163) 1966
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy/Il Piu Grande Amico (Ariston Records, AR 0167) 1967
- Uomo Solo/Take A Message (Parlophone, QMSP 16406) 1967
- L'amore E Blu/Mighty Quinn (Columbia, SCMQ 7090) 1968
- Lettere D'Amore (Love Letters)/Vino E Campagna (Columbia, SCMQ 7124) 1968
- Era Settembre Un Anno Fa/Piove Dentro Di Me (Columbia, SCMQ 7151) 1969
- Lola/Sun Arise (EMI Italiana, 3C006-17721) 1970
- Una Sera Al Piper (Ariston Records, AR 0119) 1966
- Half And Half (Ariston Records, AR 0162) 1967
- L'Interrogatorio Colonna Sonora (EMI Italiana, 3C062-17638) 1970
The Renegades
BIRMINGHAM and HELSINKI
Updated September, 2019
Kim (Mike) Brown lead vocal, guitar, harmonica
Denys "Denny" Gibson lead guitar (left in 1966)
Graham Johnson drums
Ian Mallett bass guitar, vocal
Joe Dunnett lead guitar (joined 1966 - left 1967)
Michael "Mick" Webley lead guitar (joined in 1967)
While almost unknown in Britain, Birmingham's own "Renegades" had much success in Finland and Italy during the 1960s where they attracted a large following of fans. Incredibly, the group's popularity in those countries was to rival that of The Beatles!
"Hungarian Mod"
The Renegades story begins during the early 1960s in Perry Barr, Birmingham where the band was formed. The line-up consisted of Kim Brown (lead vocal), Denys "Denny" Gibson (guitar), Ian Mallett (bass guitar) and Graham Johnson (drums). They were one of the fourteen young bands to be featured on David Gooch's 1964 "Brum Beat" album promoting the local groups.
The Renegades recorded their own arrangement of Liszt's 'Hungarian Rhapsody' - re-naming it 'Hungarian Mod' for the DIAL Brum Beat LP release. The notes written on the album back cover mentioned the group as thus; "The eye-catching uniform worn by The Renegades at The Adelphi Ballroom, Droitwitch, is matched by their offbeat material. Their HUNGARIAN MOD is an ultra-mod version of Hungarian Rhapsody".
The Renegades' real success came when they went to play a few dates in Helsinki, Finland in October of 1964. Finnish rock promoter/manager Leo Heinonen had the idea to invite The Renegades for a visit but the positive reaction to the group there was such that they ended up staying for seven weeks!
It wasn't long before the group were in the midst of a snowy winter, going from one venue to another in their van (without a heater or winter tires). Their stage show was wilder than anything previously seen in that country and they were soon regarded as substitutes for "The Beatles" as the Fab Four never played in Finland.
All four group members contributed to The Renegades dynamic (and often manic) stage show, especially their charismatic lead vocalist Kim Brown. He, along with the unique playing style of lead guitarist Denys Gibson, contributed much to The Renegades energetic and memorable stage performance.
The groups' strong visual image of wearing stage outfits styled on American Civil War era cavalry uniforms and playing a repertoire of many rock and R&B standards like their own versions of Ray Charles 'What'd I Say' and Bill Hayley's 'Thirteen Women' (of which a promo video exists) only enhanced their appeal. They also wrote songs of their own that were to become big hits in Finland.
The first Renegades single to storm the Finnish charts in 1964 was a twelve-bar blues influenced number titled 'Cadillac' that reached Number Two. It was said to have been a remake of Vince Taylor's 'Brand New Cadillac'. The Renegade's Cadillac was an amazingly simple and effective arrangement, not unlike The Troggs famous 'Wild Thing' and suited Kim Brown's bluesy vocal perfectly. The song became a staple of The Renegades stage show, ultimately becoming their most well-known record.
"Matelot"
The next two Renegades singles in 1965 were also their own tunes titled 'Seven Daffodils' and 'Matelot' that sold well and gained the band many fans. Another well-known Renegades composition, 'My Heart Must Do The Crying', was not issued as a single but only on their Finnish album (Cadillac).
Strangely, despite the huge success of the group in Finland, none of their records made it to number one in the charts. The Renegades were however, regular performers in Finnish TV shows and got to play a couple of songs in the Finnish musical film "Topralli".
The Renegades also toured Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Italy. Some of their music was released in those countries but proved to be the most popular in Italy where the band found more success. The Renegades were invited to play in the coveted Italian San Remo Music festival in 1966.
They recorded several singles (most sung in Italian) for release in Italy between 1966 and 1970 like 'Un Giorno Tu Mi Cercherai' and the un-characteristic L'amore é Blu that reached the Italian Top Twenty. It remains a mystery as to why none of The Renegades records had an impact on the British charts despite their success in Europe.
Denys Gibson left The Renegades at the end of 1966 to start a family and was replaced by Joe Dunnett on lead guitar. Joe stayed until September 1967 and was replaced by Mick Webley - formerly of the Brum band The Frame. Mick was called over from England as The Renegades were on tour in Europe at the time.
This line-up continued until 1971 when the group disbanded. The Renegades later re-united and visited Finland a couple of times during the 1970s to perform in 60s revival events. Kim Brown and Mick Webley along with Graham Johnson as their Manager (Ian Mallett had returned to England) carried on from 1977 until 1988 with other musicians in a new line up who were called "Kim & The Cadillacs".
"Kim & The Cadillacs"
This group re-located to Italy where they recorded several rock 'n' roll style Italian singles and albums and enjoyed much success in that country well into the 1980s before they disbanded. The Renegades drummer Graham Johnson decided to take up permanent residence in Italy.
Meanwhile back in the UK, Renegades former bass guitarist Ian Mallett worked for Warner Brothers Music until he caused a scandal during a TV interview by talking about record company "chart fixing". This effectively ended his career in the music business.
As the new century approached, who would have known more than 30 years after their success in Finland, that a Renegades revival was just around the corner! The Renegades had not performed together for many years, but repeated demand from their Finnish fans finally convinced them to re-unite for a tour of Finland in 1997.
The reunion tour was a big success starting in Helsinki where The Renegades performed a sold-out show to an audience of about five thousand. This resulted in the group continuing on to play the 1960s nostalgia circuit for the next ten years and Kim Brown emigrating to Finland to live there permanently.
The 1998 Finnish tour photo kindly supplied by Mick Webley shows (left to right) Ian Mallett, Graham Johnson, Mick Webley, and Kim Brown. The 1997 tour was the first time they had all played together in 26 years!
Sadly, bass guitarist Ian Mallett was to die suddenly of a heart attack in 2007. Kim Brown battled throat cancer, resulting in surgery that left him unable to sing or perform on stage. He passed away on October 11, 2011 at age 66 in his adopted country where he is still greatly missed by his many fans there.
Founding group member Denys "Denny" Gibson who left The Renegades in 1966, worked in a music shop but apparently never played in a band again. He lived in Birmingham until his death at age 71 on May 4, 2016. His unique guitar style was known to be an influence on Finnish guitar players who gave him a lot of credit over the years.
Mick Webley now lives in the USA where he is still active in music. Graham Johnson, the last surviving founding member of The Renegades, still lives in Italy where he plays drums occasionally although not as much anymore as he'd like to.
Original recordings by The Renegades have since aroused much interest in collectors of 1960s "garage" or "freakbeat" so it's quite possible that a new audience for the band may emerge as more around the world discover their music.
Thanks to Esko Havia of Finland for assistance in writing this page. Thanks also to Graham Johnson, Mick Webley, and Keith Mallett (brother of Ian). Thanks to Jori Venemies for news updates. This story of The Renegades is dedicated to the memory of Kim Brown, Ian Mallett, and Denys Gibson.
Copyright © BrumBeat.net
Renegades drummer Graham Johnson, the last surviving Renegade, played three concerts in Finland in August 2019 with Pekka Tiilikainen & Beatmakers as "The Renegades Revisited" featuring Graham Johnson. The following YLE Finnish television link has the story at https://areena.yle.fi/1-50270535
The Renegades 1960s Record Releases
U.K. Singles:
U.K. Albums:
Finland Singles:
Finland Albums:
Italian Singles:
Italian Albums:
If you would like to contribute to this page, please e-mail john@brumbeat.net
The Renegades story is now available as a book published in Finland - see link http://like.fi/kirjat/the-renegades/