Mike Sheridan & the Nightriders

Recording live to mono at Hollick & Taylor in Birmingham was the only way these kids could get that heavy, echo-drenched snap. Mike Sheridan was the face, but the Nightriders were really a high-speed incubator for the guys who would eventually rewire British pop. They weren't trying to change the world in '63; they were just trying to out-play every other beat group in the Midlands using cheap Selmer amps and sheer volume. By the time they hit the mid-60s, the band became a rotating door of future heavyweight songwriters. You had Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne passing through this lineup before they went off to start The Move and ELO. It’s the sound of a garage band realizing they have too much melody for the three-chord blues circuit. They never got the massive national hit they deserved, but the sheer pedigree of the players in that room makes their catalog mandatory for anyone tracing the roots of the Brumbeat scene.

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