The Dakotas

The Dakotas are one of the few original "British Invasion" bands still touring today.

With a history which includes touring and recording with the Beatles, and a recent schedule which has taken the group from their native UK, to Europe and America, the Dakotas are a totally unique musical experience!  The Dakotas, of course, toured with vocalist Billy J Kramer, and had international hits with singles such as Bad To Me, Little Children, Do You Want to Know a Secret and The Cruel Sea.

In the early days, much of the material was provided by Lennon and McCartney, who shared the same manager, Brian Epstein.

But the group continues to record and perform today

The Dakotas  were formed  in Manchester,  England,  in 1960,  and by 1961 the line-up comprised Mike Maxfield (guitar), Tony Bookbinder (drums), Robin MacDonald (guitar) and Ray Jones (bass). They teamed up with local singer Pete MacLaine and played the club and ballroom venues of northern England, and in particular, Manchester and Liverpool. Meanwhile, in Liverpool, Brian Epstein wanted to add local boy Billy J Kramer to his ever increasing stable of stars. The Dakotas had played at the legendary Cavern, with the Beatles among others, and quickly gained a reputation as a solid, professional group. When Brian Epstein asked them to back Billy J Kramer, it was an offer too good to refuse. Sadly, original singer Pete MacLaine was the first casualty of this arrangement.  He was and still is a fine frontman, and recorded some excellent material, such as the self-penned But I Do (on Decca).

John Lennon gave the group a demo of a new song, Do You Want to Know a Secret, which they perfected whilst working in Hamburg at the Star Club.

On returning to Britain, the song was recorded at Abbey Road studios, with producer George Martin. It  stormed up the charts and reached No.2 in the spring of 1963. It must be remembered that the Dakotas and Billy each had separate recording contracts with EMI's subsidiary, Parlophone, and that they were billed as "Billy J Kramer WITH the Dakotas". To maintain the group's identity, the guitar instrumental The Cruel Sea  was released as a single, and it reached the Top 20 around the same time as "Secret". This Mike Maxfield tune was released in America as The Cruel Surf, coinciding with the surf craze. Although it didn't chart Stateside, a cover version by the Ventures did make the US charts as the flipside of Walk Don't Run.

Whilst the first two singles were still in the UK charts, another  single, Bad To Me  made it three in the Top 30 at the same time!  

This Lennon-McCartney song went to No.1 that summer. Yet another Beatles song was given to the group for the next single, I'll Keep You Satisfied , which reached No.4  late in 1963. Remember that the UK charts at the time were extremely competitive, with records by the Beatles, Hermans Hermits, the Rolling Stones, the Searchers and Freddie and the Dreamers all vying for the top spot. To have material written by the Beatles and produced by George Martin was an undoubted assett. The Dakotas had a crisp recorded sound, and Billy's voice had a very unique style.

The first Billy J Kramer  with the Dakotas album, Listen..., was released at the end of 1963, and eventually reached No.11 on the LP chart. Early in 1964, the group felt they needed to release a single that wasn't written by the Beatles (!) and chose Little Children. This controversial move paid off, and the record went to No.1 on the British charts in the spring of 1964. Later that year, both Bad To Me and Little Children made the American Top 10, and the group visited the States, appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show, and playing to sell-out frenzied fans of the "British invasion" sound. The Dakotas with Billy were now at their peak, and the year finished off with a season at the Finsbury Park Astoria in London, with the Beatles.

To coincide with the Christmas gigs with the Beatles, the new single was a return to the Lennon and McCartney songwriting partnership. From A Window, however, reached only No.10 in the UK charts (No.23 in America) and the group had turned down  McCartney's Yesterday ! The British Invasion continued in America, but musical styles were changing. In 1965, the band recorded Jackie De Shannon's When You Walk in the Room, but lost out to the Searchers, who took their version to No.1. The Dakotas and Billy J Kramer's last  Top 20 chart entry was Trains and Boats and Planes, which competed with writer Burt Bacharach's own version, in the spring of 1965. By this time, bassist Ray Jones had been edged out of the band, and in 1966 Mike Maxfield left, to be replaced by Mick Green from Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. As the Beatles own career went into overdrive, Brian Epstein became an increasingly remote figure to most of his other acts. Following his death in 1967, the time had passed for most of the first wave of British Invasion / Merseybeat groups. By 1968, Billy had gone solo and shortly afterwards, the Dakotas disbanded.

During the 70's Billy J Kramer turned to cabaret and it was not until a chance meeting that the Dakotas were reborn in 1989. Original drummer Tony Bookbinder (Mansfield) returned from a lengthy spell in Canada and was introduced by mutual friend and former member of Freddie & Dreamers, Bernie Dwyer, to Manchester musician Eddie Mooney. Mike Maxfield was tempted back to the fold and a keyboard player Pete MacDonald was added. Pete was replaced by session player and record producer Toni Baker and the band toured Britain, Sweden, Ireland and have appeared with all the major 60's and 70's acts, such as Herman's Hermits, the Searchers, the Merseybeats, Wayne Fontana, the Animals, the Yardbirds and many others.

In 1995, the Dakotas went on tour with The Animals, Yardbirds and Denny Laine (ex Wings) and in summer 1998 appeared in America for the first time since the 60's. The Dakotas have released two albums and continue to record a mixture of contemporary and nostalgic material. The last single Your Love Made a Man Out of Me did well in Europe, and was showcased on Irish national television. In 1996, the Dakotas rejoined Billy J Kramer for an appearance at the prestigious Chelmsford Festival in Britain, in front of 40,000 people.  The Dakotas, based in Manchester, England,  have continued to work occasionally with Billy, who now lives in New York. Recently, Pete Hilton , ex-Freddie & Dreamers, has replaced Tony Bookbinder , who will be concentrating on his business interests.  The band  appeared  in North Carolina in April 1999,  and returned in July of that year, where they performed at thr Trask Colliseum, along with the Miracles, as well as continuing to perform regularly in Europe.

In 2000 the Dakotas teamed up to do concerts backing Wayne Fontana, of Game Of Love fame. In addition to UK shows, the band and Wayne appeared in Holland at the Zeendam Festival (along with the Troggs and Sailor). In July, Wayne was accompanied by the Dakotas at a "British Invasion" weekend at the prestigious Foxwoods Casino Resort in Connecticut, USA. This show was filmed by PBS Television for national US broadcast in December 2000. Other acts on the show included Peter Noone and Eric Burdon.