Part offshoot of the trad jazz movement and part offspring of the British surrealism of the Goons and the Alberts, the Temperance Seven were unlikely chart-toppers in 1961 with their 1920s dance band pastiche You're Driving Me Crazy. Brian Innes, who has died aged 86, was co-founder, percussionist and spokesperson for the band, before following a successful career as a publisher and author.
The success of You're Driving Me Crazy and subsequent chart hits ushered in an intensive period of concert and cabaret appearances, broadcasts and films for the Temperance Seven, including It's Trad Dad! (1962), Richard Lester's first feature film. The band took part in the 1961 Royal Variety Performance and made their West End debut in The Bed Sitting Room by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus, which ran for six weeks at the Mermaid theatre in 1963.
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