Artist: Mike Furber And The Bowery Boys
Title: Diddy Wah Diddy
Year Of Release: 1999
Country: UK / Australia
Label: Spin – D26296
Genre: Mod beat rhythm 'n' blues
Quality: FLAC | lossless

The story of Mike Furber's tragically brief tenure in the music business reads like a typical cautionary tale. Furber, born in London in 1948, emigrated along with his family to Australia in the '50s. A chance meeting in 1965 with two members of the fledgling garage band, The Bowery Boys, resulted in Furber joining the group as singer. At this point, the band was definitely a single entity, but when they were spotted by impresario Ivan Dayman and subsequently signed to his burgeoning Sunshine Records label, the emphasis shifted to Furber, who Dayman intended to launch as a solo act. Although Furber had a limited vocal range, Dayman saw his "little boy lost" teen-girl appeal and so the group became Mike FurberAnd The Bowery Boys. Just A Poor Boy (the band's first and only album), achieved modest chart success but brought the unwanted attention of the music press. T h ree more singles followed until, at Dayman's behest, Furber p a rted company with the highly-talented Bowery Boys to pursue a solo career, which, despite the patronage of Barry Gibb, failed to materialise. In October ' 6 7 , Furber released what many believed to be his finest single, Bring Your Love Back Home, but the record-buying public failed to concur, and the single disappeared without trace, an occurrence which prompted the first of many nervous breakdowns. Asingle penned by the Easybeats' Harry Vanda followed, along with a few recordings for EMI - Columbia which were never released. And that was almost that. Furber's career stumbled along for a few more years, but following his sacking from the stage musical Nuclear, he lapsed into another bout of depression, finally hanging himself in Sydney on 10 May 1973. The irony of this sorry little saga is that The Bowery Boys themselves were an extremely tight and accomplished band which, had it not been overshadowed by Furber, would undoubtedly have gone on to greater things, as this superb album amply attests.

Tracklist:
1. Just A Poor Boy (Paul Wade, Robert Van Delft, Neville Peard) - 2:26
2. You Stole My Love (Graham Gouldman) - 2:41
3. You (Mitchell Bottler, Harvey Price) - 1:58
4. Where Are You (Barry Gibb) - 2:03
5. Mailman Bring Me No More Blues (Ruth Roberts, Bill Katz, Stanley Clayton) - 2:56
6. It's Gonna Work Out Fine (Rose Marie McCoy, Joe Seneca) - 2:21
7. That's When Happiness Began (Dick Addrissi, Don Addrissi) - 2:16
8. Second Hand People (Barry Gibb) - 2:27
9. I'm So Glad (Skip James) - 3:10
10.It's Too Late (Bobby Goldsboro) - 2:31
11.Bring Your Love Back Home (Brian Henderson, Liza Strike) - 2:29
12.If You Need Me (Robert Bateman, Wilson Pickett, Sonny Sanders) - 2:24
13.You're Back Again (Lonnie Lee) - 2:18
14.Love Talk (Peter Best) - 1:26
15.Take This Hammer (Muff Winwood, Steve Winwood, Peter York, Spencer Davis) - 2:14
16.Diddy Wah Diddy (Willie Dixon, Ellas McDaniel) - 2:24
17.Mercy Mercy (Don Covay, Ronald Miller) - 2:40
18.Stop (Denny Laine, Mike Pinder) - 1:56
19.Keep A Little Love (Peter Lee Stirling, David Walker) - 2:56
20.There's No Love Left (In This Old Heart Of Mine) (Leon Huff) - 3:04
21.I'm On Fire (Harry Vanda, George Young) - 2:10
22.Watch Me Burn (Harry Vanda, George Young) - 3:12

Personnel:
Paul Wade - Bass
Neville Peard - Drums, Guitar
Robert Van Delft - Lead Guitar, Harmonica
Gregg Walker - Rhythm Guitar, Organ
Mike Furber - Vocals