Between 1973 and 1976 Mud were hardly ever out of the UK charts, notching up eleven top ten hits, including three number ones (Tiger Feet, Lonely This Christmas, and Oh Boy). But to find out more about the band behind the hits, we must take a trip to 1960s Surrey...

1961-67

Rob, Ray, Dave and Les all grew up in and around Mitcham and Carshalton, Surrey, England. It was around 1961 when Rob and Dave first played together in a band called THE APACHES. They continued to work together for the next few years in bands such as THE BARRACUDAS and REMAINDER.

When Remainder needed to find a new bass player, in stepped Ray Stiles, whose father worked with Rob.

Meanwhile, Les Gray was cultivating his liking for trad jazz playing trumpet in his own band, THE MOURNERS. But gradually the Mourners began to play more and more rock and roll, until there came a day when they needed a lead guitarist - and in stepped Rob Davis.

And for a year Les and Rob in the Mourners and Ray and Dave in Remainder were Mitcham’s top rival bands.

Eventually the Mourners changed their name to MUD and Ray left Remainder to join them. At this time, Les’s brother Pete was the drummer. In 1968 received an offer of a recording contract and the boys had to decide whether to become professional or not. Les, Rob and Ray were in favour, but Pete decided to leave to pursue a career as a draughtsman and Dave mount was brought in to replace him.

1968-71

The line up was now complete, and the boys played their first professional gig on 31st March 1968 at the Marquee Club, where they became a regular attraction.

MUD’s first single for CBS was a Rob Davis penned tune called “Flower Power”. It was recorded just before Dave joined the band and was an attempt to cash in on the hippie and flower children image of the time - it didn’t work! Although it was (and still is) an interesting tune, the single was a flop. MUD released one more single for CBS in 1968 called “Up The Airy Mountain”, another Rob Davis song, which once again failed to chart.

MUD then switched to Philips releasing “Shangri-La” in 1969 and what was their closest to a hit first time around, “Jumping Jehosaphat” in 1970. Although “Jumping Jehosaphat” received a lot of airplay and got the name MUD known for a little while, the record failed to make the top thirty.