Darryl Read

Darryl Michael Roy Read (19 September 1951 – 23 June 2013) was a British singer, guitarist, drummer, actor, poet and writer. In the late 1960s, Read was a member of Crushed Butler, considered by some to be amongst the forerunners of proto punk and punk rock. He collaborated with musicians such as Bill Legend, Mickey Finn and Ray Manzarek.

Read appeared as a child actor in a number of films, including, aged 13, in Daylight Robbery (1964), for which he won a silver medal for best actor at the Venice Film Festival. He also appeared onstage in two rock-based plays and a number of television programmes. He was a published author of poetry as well as a biographical novel.

Read was killed in a motorcycle incident in Thailand in 2013.

Early years and career Read was born in Exeter, where his father Hedley Read was working on a stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Read struggled at school (he was later diagnosed dyslexic) and following his parents divorce, he lived with his grandparents. Following his grandmother's death when he was seven years old, Read was sent to Parkside Boarding School, in East Horsley. The establishment has moved location and is now known as Parkside School, Cobham.

Read attended an audition at the Corona Academy for Dramatic Arts in Chiswick, west London, and he was accepted. He left boarding school the following term in early 1963. Within two weeks of joining Corona Academy Read worked professionally, with a background role on the 1963 film The V.I.P.s. The following week he featured in a Persil commercial. By the end of his first term, he appeared in the Children's Film Foundation film The Young Detectives, replacing the original actor who had fallen ill. He then played Dick in the 1964 film Five Have a Mystery to Solve, based on an Enid Blyton Famous Five book.

He left Corona in 1968 with a small number of film and TV acting credits under his belt including a Venice Film Festival award for his role in the film Daylight Robbery. At 17 Read appeared in Fabulous 208, a teenage magazine. Read had been playing the drums and the guitar at the age of 14, and with Michael Des Barres he formed the rock pop group the Orange Illusion in 1967.

Read also appeared in a 1967 episode of Dixon of Dock Green, the 1968 film The Lost Continent and a 1969 episode of Z-Cars.

Late-1960s bands In early 1968 Read became interested in the Edgar Broughton Band and Mick Farren of the Deviants. Read's then girlfriend, Nikki Johnson, found him his first manager, Robin Hemingway. Hemingway had worked with T-Bone Walker and introduced Read to soul music. Whilst trying to secure a record contract for Read, Hemingway got Read to record demos at Decca Studios, as well as inviting him to a Beatles session at Abbey Road Studios, and introduced him to Jimi Hendrix.

Read continued to switch between playing drums and guitar whilst continuing acting work. Read was asked by Emperor Rosko to form a group for his brother Jeff Pasternak from American west coast psychedelic band The Pasternak Progress. The Pasternak Progress named after Jeff's surname "Pasternak", released one rare single "Cotton Soul" b/w "Flower Eyes" in 1967. Read recruited Lou Martin and Stuart MacDonald, members of blues outfit Killing Floor, and guitarist Chris Gibbons to form The Krayon Angels. and inside eight weeks got backing and management from an East End market worker called Graham Breslau. Read came up with a band name - Crushed Butler - and they recorded a demo at Regent Sound Studios in Denmark Street called 'It's My Life'. The trio played their first gig at the Country Club, West Hampstead, supporting Osibisa. Crushed Butler dressed in hand-cut slash neck red T-shirts, straight legged Levis jeans with studded belts. Hector had short cropped hair with massive mutton chops, Butler had a crop cut centre parting hairdo and large sideburns, Read had a lion's shag of dark hair and continually sported a black leather vintage motorbike jacket, with a blue/white hooped T-shirt and Cuban heels. Altogether their image looked liked the Clash several years before the Clash formed, and Hector's voice sounded like John Lydon, only in 1969.

Breslau pulled in his friend, Gerald Horgan to help manage the group. They recorded at EMI, Dick James Music DJM studios and De Lane Lea studios. They also recorded at Decca's West Hampstead studios and Marquee Studios, but they failed to get a recording deal even though they were supporting major acts like Mott the Hoople, Atomic Rooster and UFO.

Within a year Breslau pulled out of the management deal, and took all their equipment back, and though Gerald Horgan remained friends with Read he couldn't do much to help further the group's career. The group changed their name to 'Tiger' and went through a succession of bass players including ex-Smile bassist Barry Wyles, and were managed by Neil Christian for a while. After recruiting Alan Butler back into the group they worked together again and recorded "High School Dropout" at Marquee Studios. They finally split in 1971 after being continually turned down and out of work. Hector and Butler later found success with their band the Hammersmith Gorillas, later shortened to the Gorillas in 1977.

1970s to mid-1980s In 1971 Read was struggling financially and heavily using amphetamines and sleeping pills. He started working at Track Records as a songwriter and assistant to John "Speedy" Keen. demos of Read's proto punk group. Crushed Butler "Uncrushed" album was reissued on compact disc with a new bonus track entitled High School Dropout(2nd Version) by RPM/Cherry Red Records in 2005. In 1999 White and Read wrote a screenplay for the low-budget film production of Remember a Day and Richard Wright of Pink Floyd gave White the rights to the track of the same title to use for the drama which was based heavily on Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd. The film also starred Zoot Money, Jamie Foreman, Peter Jenner and Jenny Fabian – the author of Groupie.

Ray Manzarek Also in 1998, Ray Manzarek and Read released a poetry album with music titled Freshly Dug. The album was subsequently re-issued twice thereafter, once in 2005 on the 'Cherryl Red' label (Lemon Records) and in 2006 on the Madstar Records label for Germany. Read was inspired by Ray Manzarek to write a poetry book titled Set, In 2008 he filmed additional sequences in the UK for a new version of Remember A Day (distributed by Contemporary films UK) and guested regularly on Radio Eins Berlin, as DJ with his own Beat X show. In 2009 Set was translated into German, and Colectomatic Volume 3 was released. And in the same year "Teenage Dream" along with the promo from the Roundhouse was re-issued.

In mid-2009, Read recorded a Mick Farren song titled "Somewhere To Go". The track was featured on a tribute album paying homage to the Pink Fairies and the Deviants, which featured the likes of the Damned, the Dead Kennedys, Wilko Johnson, and the Only Ones. In mid November 2009 Crushed Butler Uncrushed was re-issued for the third time; this version on 12-inch vinyl with a new bonus track entitled Let It Ring, was released worldwide by Radio Heartbeat Records, New York City.

In August 2010, Windian Records USA released Crushed Butler's "It's My Life"/"My Son's Alive" on vinyl, and on 19 September 2010 Read released his latest album: All the Ghosts of Rock 'n' Roll, produced by Italo/German producer Stephan Kroll.

On 17 May 2011, Read released the single called "Money Number One" which was recorded in Thailand and produced by Barry Upton. In February 2013 a fourth re-issue on vinyl, of the Crushed Butler 'Uncrushed' album was released by Last Years Youth records in Germany. Read played concerts worldwide as well performing poetry readings and being involved with film production. He was to be featured in a documentary on his prolific career, produced by German film maker Bernd Libbach. This was in early stages of production at the time of his death.

Death Read died in a motorcycle road incident in Pattaya, Thailand, on 23 June 2013.

Filmography The Young Detectives (1963) as Moggs Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1964) as Dick Daylight Robbery (1964) as Darryl Son of the Sahara (1966) as Abu River Rivals (1967) as Ricky Holmes Great Catherine (1968) as Young Peter Remember a Day (2000) as Roger Bannerman (final film role)

Television

"Five O'Clock Club" (2 episodes, 1964) a.k.a. Ollie and Fred's Five O'Clock Club (UK: new title) "Theatre 625" The Seekers (1964) TV episode as French peasant boy "Under Milk Wood" (BBC play 1964) as young Waldo "Christmas Night with the Stars" (1 episode, 1964) – as featured, TV episode "The Flying Swan" as Michael (3 episodes, 1965) – The Contract (1965) TV episode as Michael – Lady in Waiting (1965) TV episode as Michael "A Tale of Two Cities" (3 episodes, 1965) TV episodes as Jerry Cruncher Jr. "Six" Andy's Game (1965) TV film as Malcolm "Our Man at St. Mark's" (1 episode, 1966) TV series as Peter "The Canterville Ghost" Mystery and Imagination (1966) TV episode as Stripe "Lost Hearts" Mystery and Imagination (1966) TV episode as Giovanni "Mrs Thursday" We Don't Pay London Prices (1967) TV episode as Boy "Dixon of Dock Green" (1 episode), The Run (1967) TV episode as Chris Conway "Half Hour Story" as Delivery boy (1 episode, 1967) "You and the World" as Tony (2 episodes, 1968) "The Saint" as French Student – The Ex-King of Diamonds (1 episode, 1969) "Z-Cars" as Tommy Jones (2 episodes, 1969) Fear or Favour: Part 1 (1969) TV episode as Tommy Jones Fear or Favour: Part 2 (1969) TV episode as Tommy Jones "Rock Follies of '77" as Punk Rock Group Drummer (1 episode 1977) – The Hype TV episode as Punk Rock Group Drummer "A Bunch of Fives" (1977) TV (2 episodes) as Ronnie "Minder" Come in T-64, Your Time Is Ticking Away (1979) TV episode as Billy "Mackenzie" (1980) TV series as Rory (2 episodes)

Stage Hair National UK tour as Drummer (1973) Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat as Benjamin at the Civic Theatre, Chelmsford (1975) Let The Good Stones Roll as Keith Richards Premier production at the Edinburgh Festival (1977) Teeth 'n' Smiles as Inch at Wyndham's Theatre (1978) Bastard Angel as Steve, Premier production of the Royal Shakespeare Company (1980)

Discography Singles and EPs Let the Good Stones Roll (vinyl EP) Clubland Records (1977) Living on Borrowed Time/West End Girl Monarch Records (1980) Play with Fire/Trouble in the House of Love Berlin Limited Edition Records (1985) No Soul Through Midnight 'No Soul Through Midnight' (12" vinyl EP) Aim Records (1986) Teenage Dream Darryl Read and the Nightriders, (CD EP) White Label Records (1994) Walking in Shadows (CD EP) White Label Records (1995) Gods 'n' Angels (CD EP) White Label Records (1996) Maybe It's Good If You Look at It Twice Darryl Read & The Doctors, 'Poet House' (EP) Deep Bass Records Spain (2006) Stepping Ace Roadhouse (digital download EP) Beat Kat Records Germany (2008) Teenage Dream (digital download re-issue) Beat Kat Records Germany (2009) It's My Life /My Son's Alive Crushed Butler, (7" vinyl) Windian Records USA (2010) Razor City Terry Stamp & Darryl Read, (digital download) Beat Kat Records 006 Germany (2011) Money No 1 Darryl Read, (digital download) Beat Kat Records 007 Thailand (2011)

Albums Book of the Dead (CD), USA Bardo Records (1989) Beat Existentialist (CD), Rock Chix Records (1993) Colectomatic Volume 1 (CD), White Label Records (1997) Book of the Dead (CD reissue with bonus tracks) White Label Records UK Uncrushed Crushed Butler (10" vinyl), Dig The Fuzz Records UK (1998) Freshly Dug Ray Manzarek & Darryl Read (CD), Ozit/Morpheus Records (1999) Nineteen Sixty Nine Krayon Angels (12" vinyl), Dig The Fuzz Records UK (2000) Shaved (CD) Madstar Records Germany (2002) Freshly Dug (Freshly Re-Dug reissue) Ray Manzarek & Darryl Read, Madstar Records Germany (2005) Bleeding Paradise Ray Manzarek & Darryl Read, Beat Kat Records Germany (2007) Colectomatic Volume 2 (digital download) Beat Kat Records Germany (2009) 'Crushed Butler' 'Uncrushed' (12" vinyl) Radio Heartbeat Records USA (2009) Colectomatic Volume 3 (digital download) Beat Kat Records Germany (2010) All The Ghosts of Rock 'n' Roll (digital download) Beat Kat Records Germany (2010) Portobello Shuffle (tribute to Boss Goodman/Deviants & Pink Fairies) compilation Easy Action Records UK (2010) Crushed Butler 'Uncrushed' (10" vinyl) Last Years Youth Records Germany (2013)