West Five

Originally a quartet known as West Four, this five-piece was signed to HMV in 1965 and debuted with a cover of the Mick Jagger-Keith Richards song "Congratulations," which failed to chart. Their sound was a lean, slightly bluesy pop-rock, heavily guitar-oriented and nicely stripped down, but without a charismatic lead singer, they never had a chance of finding a wide audience or getting serious air-play. They did little better with two follow-up singles, and disappeared after the mid-1960's, although "Congratulations" has gotten picked up for reissue on CD. ~ Bruce Eder