Freddie & The Dreamers

With a bouncy, yet soulful sound, the Manchester-based beat outfit Freddie & the Dreamers captured fancies on both side of the Atlantic in the early-1960s. Their debut single, the pleadingly melodic "If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody," would become an R&B standard in later years, but the follow-up hits were in the more effervescent vein for which the band would come to be known. They collected a remarkable parade of hits in 1963 and 1964. Just as their career began to wane in England, "I'm Telling You Now," soared to #1 in the U.S. on the heels of Beatlemania, but Freddiemania had slightly less staying power; however, they remained active on the cabaret circuit into the '90s.