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Bio:
Legendary Belfast band who were contemporaries of Them.
Frontman Brian Rossi had been singing with skiffle groups and big bands since the 50s,
including the Manhattan Showband with guitarist Herbie Armstrong (Did Van Morrison also have
a spell in the Manhattan?)
Rossi's shaven head gave him a distinctive presence (he also has a tattoo of a wheel on his
scalp).
The rest of
the band had been in The Golden Eagles. Rossi and Armstrong had both
earlier been members of the Manhattan Showband.
The band was based in Blackpool during 1964, playing the northern soul circuit
and living on a farm shared with the Rockin' Vicars (with a pre Motorhead Lemmy Kilminster).
Original rhythm guitarist Kit Carson left during this residency.
He was replaced by Rod Demick in late 1965 (other sources have Demick joining the
band before the move to the UK, circa 1963). Demick was born in Wales but
raised in Belfast. He'd been in skiffle group The Vibros who later became The Telstars.
Demick
sang most of the R & B numbers, while Rossi was more
of a crooner and did the more sophisticated material.
The band built up a very strong following in the North of England and
went on to record several wild beat singles.
They sent a demo tape to Phil Soloman in 1965.
In May '65 they recorded 3 songs at Regent Sounds: "Gloria", "Mona" and
a third track. "Gloria" was released in September 1965.
Their second single, "Bad Little Woman", was recorded twice,
once for the Irish/UK
market and once for the U.S. market released under the name The Wheel-A-Ways
in order to avoid confusion with Mitch Ryder's band.
The American version came out on Aurora Records and it is
generally considered the best of the two. The B-side is an R&B tune
with piano and harmonica.
"Bad Little Woman" was covered by Chicago legends The Shadows of Knight.
Brian Rossi left after the second single and was replaced by Eric Wrickson (AKA Eric Wrixon,
ex Them, The People, later in The Trixons).
Wrickson appears on the last single "Kicks", which stiffed.
Brian Rossi rejoined the band for a final tour
in 1967 after which the band split. Demick & Armstrong then worked together as a duo.
All Wheels singles tracks are compiled on the Belfast Beat Maritime Blues CD [1997]
along with five previously unreleased reccordings, making 12 tracks / 32 minutes
in all, the complete Wheels discography as we know it.
Finally, in 2012, Big Beat brought out the same material on vinyl on the "Road Block" album.
Either is an essential purchase.
Not related to obscure Belfast group the Wheels of Time.
Help!: We need your help to complete this entry. If you can tell us more about this band then please do! We welcome any corrections, missing details, connections to other bands, where are they now, etc. We also need photos, scans, copies of releases or live or demo recordings, and any other memorabilia gathering dust in the attic. If you can help, then please get in touch.