| About Jinga | Geoff and Dave Edmunds started together in a small garage band called The Stompers in 1960. Prior to that, they had an act that played Boogie Woogie duets on the piano, performing concerts at local church halls and the like. They were 12 and 8 years old, respectively! One 'gig' when Geoff was 16 and Dave, 12, ended up getting them into some hot water. They were playing their brand of Boogie Woogie in a very rundown black blues club when police stormed through the door. At first, they were terrified that the police were searching for some dangerous criminals, but it turned out the cops were looking for Geoff and Dave! Mrs. Edmunds had followed through on her threat to call the police unless the boys were home by midnight. She had tracked them down and decided to teach the pair a lesson. Apparently it did not work, since they were right back at it the following weekend. After The Stompers, Geoff and Dave graduated to a band called “The Heartbeats”, a much more sophisticated group, complete with uniforms a la The Beatles. Very cool and professional at the time. It was 1961 and The Heartbeats became a big attraction in their native Wales, opening for Gene Vincent; Eddie Cochran; Joe Brown and the 'Bruvvers' (‘Brothers’ for those of us lacking the Cockney accent); Zoot Money and his Big Roll Band; Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames; Sounds Incorporated (who went on to open for The Beatles at Shea Stadium); Tommy Scott ( later to become Tom Jones) and the Senators; Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders; Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas; and numerous other ‘60’s British bands. Tom Jones even sang with Geoff and The Heartbeats on occasion between spells with his band. After a New Year’s Eve show, Geoff decided to leave the band and get a "straight" job. The Heartbeats broke up shortly thereafter. Dave decided to pursue a musical career and entered his experimental phase. He formed one of the very early "power trios" called The Raiders. They developed a huge cult following as they experimented with versions of the classics - Katchaturian's "Sabre Dance," Bizet's "Farandol," etc. This was the period 1961-1966. In 1967 Geoff emigrated to Canada and began work with Southam Newspapers Inc. in Hamilton, at the Hamilton Spectator. At the same time, Dave hit Number One on the British charts with "Sabre Dance" and his new band, Love Sculpture. A worldwide Number One followed: "I Hear You Knocking" marked the start of a successful solo career that continues today. Geoff returned to music in 1985 and signed a recording contract with Rocshire Records in Los Angeles; the first album, simply entitled “Geoff Edmunds”, did very well in Canada and earned a Juno Nomination in the "Most Promising Male Vocalist" category. Geoff recorded a second album in Calgary, Los Angeles, Nashville and Memphis with famed producer, Mark Goodman. Three tracks hit the Canadian country charts. Geoff’s most critically acclaimed album “The Best of Geoff Edmunds” contains four tracks recorded live in Victoria, Canada, with his brother, world-renowned rocker, Dave and famed drummer, Ainsley Dunbar from “Journey” and Frank Zappa. |
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