Dyan Birch

An update from Frank Collins about Dyan Birch - 24 March

Kokomo Live

Date	City	Venue	Country
8 Nov 17 8:00pm Half Moon, Putney Buy tickets
9 Nov 17 8:00pm Half Moon, Putney Buy tickets
12 Nov 17 7:30pm Colston HallSoul Summit: Average White Band + Kokomo£26.50 Buy tickets
16 Nov 17 The Stables, Milton Keynes Buy tickets

British soul pioneers, Kokomo, built their reputation and loyal following with awesome live shows. A series of packed reunion gigs since 2014 has proved that the band is grooving as well as ever. This led to the "Soul Summit", with old touring partners the Average White Band, that sold out the Royal Festival Hall in 2015.
Here's a snippet from I Can Understand It, the closing Kokomo number from that night - and the standing ovation. See the full version

The line-up

Tony O'Malley (vocals/keys)
Frank Collins (vocals)
Paddie McHugh (vocals)
Helena-May Harrison (vocals)
Neil Hubbard (guitar)
Jim Mullen (guitar)
Mel Collins (sax)
Jody Linscott (congas)
Andy Treacey (drums)
Jennifer Maidman (bass)

For further information and booking contact:

Sue Martin
Roots Around the World
Tel: 01243 811429
Mobile: 07740 105555
Email: sue.ratw@btopenworld.com

Kokomo on Record

Studio albums

Kokomo, the seminal first album was released in 1976. Mostly original material, plus a couple of popular covers from the live shows, it got rave reviews and is still seen as the band's highpoint on record. The review in Sounds gave it "Five stars and a Nobel prize"

Rise and Shine (1977) didn't quite live up to the promise of the first album. This didn't stop the NME referring to it as "the finest British funk album of the 1970s". The lead track, Use Your Imagination made some headway in the US R&B charts.

The third album, also called Kokomo, followed in 1982 after an extended hiatus. Its polished and radio-friendly sound failed to break through. However, A Little Bit Further Away was a big hit in Holland and made it to number 45 in the UK singles chart.

Other recordings

Live in Concert 1975, consisting mostly of material from the first two studio albums, saw a small scale release in 2001.

Released in 2004, To Be Cool is from rehearsals at the start of the Kokomo journey. With extended takes on the material that was the core of the live set, it captures the band in great form and clearly enjoying themselves.

The informally-recorded Live at the Venue '81 was mixed and released in 2014 to coincide with a series of reunion gigs. The recording quality is variable, but the groove is hot.