Eddie

Eddie McManus. Bass Guitarist

From the village of Stonegate in East Sussex bass guitarist Eddie McManus has been a session and touring musician since the early 1960's and has worked with some of the most well-known names in the music business. In the early days he played extensively for Robb Storme and The Whispers and enjoyed some minor chart successes as well as being educated in the tougher side of the business such as learning how hard life can be as a touring musician. It was with Robb and The Whispers that Eddie made his television debut on the weekly pop show of the time "Thank your lucky Stars".

It was at this time that Tony Hatch (composer/record producer) invited Eddie to venture into the competitive world of session music and it was an extremely nervous young bass player who wandered into Pye Recording Studios at London`s Marble Arch some time later to record his first session. Says Eddie, " I can remember feeling absolutely terrified, there I was surrounded by all these seasoned musicians but it went well. What they didn't know was that I had spent time with Tony (Hatch) beforehand going through the music - thank God he lived nearby and was able to do that with me".
Eddie than enjoyed a very successful spell with British songstress Kathy Kirby at the time of all her major hits ( who can forget such greats as "Secret Love", "Dance On" etc). He toured with Kathy and appeared with her on her radio and TV shows and live concerts. He also at the same time played concerts with Julie Rogers, Craig Douglas, Julie Grant and Marty Wilde whenever other commitments allowed.

Eddie also spent time playing for leather clad legend Gene Vincent touring both the UK and Europe in the early to mid 1960`s. He vividly remembers one particular concert in Paris in 1963. Says Eddie, "Vincent was massive at the time and was headlining a show at the Palais Des Sports in Paris (the French version of Wembley) and the streets were lined with screaming fans all held back by Gendarmes. It was like Beatlemania and after the concert we had to run from the stage door to our tour coach through a gauntlet of fans trying to tear us to pieces, really scary".

In the 1970`s Eddie teamed up with chart toppers Mathews Southern Comfort working in the UK and the States following the success of their No. 1 hit "Woodstock". Eddie continued working as a session musician and for a time played on the country music scene, he appeared twice on the prestigious Wembley Country Music Festival. His busy career has seen him working in some of the most famous venues in London such as The Royal Albert Hall and the world famous London Palladium. He also worked in a West End show for a year in the Notre Dame Theatre playing bass for Johnny Earle in the production "The Hall of Fame".

In 1998 Eddie met up with Terry Clemson and became a member of legendary London rockers The TT`s. It has been a good working relationship which has taken the guys around this country and to Finland and Sweden where their music has gone down a storm. Two CD`s have been released and Eddie hopes to see another one on the way soon.

When not working with the TT`s Eddie is still in demand as a session player and he also works with another set of musicians who get together on special occasions to do concerts. They are known as "Heaven's Jukebox" and the band consists of Eddie on bass, Cliff Hall (keyboard player of The Shadows), John Perry (Cliff Richard's band on guitar/vocals), Chris Hunt (Lonnie Donegan, The Bruvvers on drums). Terry Clemson also guests with the guys on occasions. Eddie also plays bass in a show with the classically trained vocalist Mandy Watsham - she played the lead female role in the West End production of "Phantom of the Opera" for many years and she now does a show singing the hits from the West End shows.

Despite all the varying types of music he is involved in Eddie's main love is rock`n`roll played the way the TT`s play it and he looks forward to many more years belting out bass behind Terry and Phil.