Biography
A beat group who were victim to endless line-up changes, the Game originally formed in Mitcham, Surrey, England, in 1964, the first line-up comprising Tony Bird (guitar/vocals), Terry Boyes (vocals), Allen Janaway (bass), Jim Nelson (drums) and Terry Spencer (lead guitar). Both Spencer and Janaway had previously played together in the Secrets, from whose ranks future Game member Terry Brown would later be drawn. At their outset the group worked as support act to popular comedian/singer Kenny Lynch, before signing to the Original Sound Productions management agency - formed by local songwriters Lesley Blake, Alan Gowing (who wrote much of their music) and the aforementioned Terry Brown. The group's first single, "Gotta Keep On Moving Baby', was released on Pye Records in 1965, but achieved no chart success. By the advent of its follow-up, 1966"s "Gonna Get me Someone", the group had moved to Decca Records and recruited Ray Charlesly as vocalist in place of Boyes. Promoted as a "mod" single in the wake of the Who's popularity, it again failed. Moving on once more to Parlophone Records, Charlesly now left as did Nelson, with Terry Brown taking over on drums and Bird adopting lead vocal duties. The group then recorded their best single, "The Addicted Man", a pulsating R&B track with hints of psychedelia. However, when it was voted a "miss" on television show Juke Box Jury, Parlophone withdrew it from retail outlets. The Game instead rush-released "It's Shocking What They Call Me", recorded in a single day. Remarkably the song, which was their most psychedelic offering to date, betrayed no signs of its hasty construction, but it too missed the charts. The group then broke up, Spencer and Decker, the bass player in the group's final line-up, joined Oak Records group Lavender Grove. They then joined Grail, who recorded a Rod Stewart-produced album for German label Metronome. In the 90s the Game reformed around Bird, Brown, Janaway and Spencer. In 1995 they released their first single for over 25 years, appropriately titled "Still On The Game".
Source: Encyclopedia of Popular Music
