Vanity Fare

Vanity Fare

Vanity Fare are a British pop and rock group from Kent, formed in 1966 and active to the present day. The band begins as school friends Trevor Brice, Tony Goulden, Dick Allix and Tony Jarrett, who first perform under the name The Avengers before changing it to Vanity Fare, taken from the title of William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel Vanity Fair. The group plays local clubs before being taken on by entrepreneur Roger Easterby, who becomes their manager and producer.

Chart success

The group signs to Page One Records, a division of Bell Records, and first reaches the UK charts with a cover of The Sunrays’ 1965 song “I Live for the Sun” in 1968. Two follow-up singles, “Summer Morning” and “Highway of Dreams”, do not chart in the UK. Their best-known release is “Early in the Morning”, written by Mike Leander and Eddie Seago, which reaches number eight in the UK in 1969 and number twelve in the United States in 1970.

Vanity Fare then add keyboardist Barry Landemen for “Hitchin’ a Ride”, written by Peter Callander and Mitch Murray. The song becomes a million-selling hit, reaches number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number sixteen in the UK, and earns a gold disc from the Recording Industry Association of America. It remains the song most closely associated with the group.

Line-up changes and later activity

After a United States tour, Dick Allix and Tony Goulden leave and are replaced by guitarist and singer Eddie Wheeler and drummer Mark Ellen. Wheeler becomes the longest-serving member, playing guitar from 1970 onwards. Further singles follow, including “Come Tomorrow” and “Carolina’s Coming Home” at the end of 1970, but neither charts. Tony Macaulay’s “Better by Far” appears on DJM Records in 1972, though it also fails to enter the charts. As chart success declines, the group focuses more on live work, touring Europe where they have hit records.

From the mid-1970s, Vanity Fare go through many line-up changes, including the departure of Tony Jarrett and the arrival of Bernie Hagley. In 1986, the band enters the UK selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with “Dreamer”, finishing third in the A Song for Europe heat with Jimmy Cassidy on vocals and Phil Kitto on keyboards alongside Ellen, Wheeler and Hagley. They tour with P. J. Proby in 2007 and remain together in a line-up including Hagley, Wheeler, Ellen and Steve Oakman.