The Pleazers


The Pleazers were an Australian-formed rhythm and blues musical group which were popular in New Zealand. They began in Brisbane as the G-Men in 1964. They released a sole studio album, Definitely Pleazers, in 1966, before disbanding in the following year.

History

The Pleazers began in Brisbane in 1964 as the G-Men with the line-up of Jim Cerezo on lead guitar, Dennis Gilmore on drums, Vince Lipton on bass guitar, Billy London on vocals and Peter Newing on rhythm guitar. They soon moved to Sydney, changed their name to the Pleazers, with the line-up of Gilmore, London and Newing joined by Bobby Bacon on lead vocals, Bruce "Phantom" Robinson on lead guitar, and Ronnie Peel on bass guitar.
The Pleazers were signed by Eldred Stebbing of Zodiac Records, who brought them to his home base in Auckland, New Zealand in 1965. They soon appeared on a local TV show, Let's Go. Their initial single, "Last Night", did poorly; while its follow-up, a cover version of Them's "Gloria", broke into the national singles chart. Richie Unterberger of AllMusic described the band as "one of the only New Zealand groups competently playing tough, British Invasion/R&B-styled rock & roll."
Early in 1966 Bacon was replaced by English-born vocalist, Shane Hale. They issued a five-track extended play, A Midnight Rave with the Pleazers, in March with the line-up of Gilmore, Hale, London, Newing, Peel and Robertson. One of its tracks, "Bald Headed Woman", was included on a various artists' compilation CD, .
The Pleazers released their debut studio album, Definitely Pleazers, in 1966 on the Zodiac label, which was produced by John Hawkins. They returned to Australia later that year with Gus Fenwick replacing Peel on bass guitar. The group disbanded in 1967. Raven Records issued a compilation album, A Midnight Rave with the Pleazers, in 1987. Unterberger rated it as three out of five stars and opined that the compilation was "focusing mostly on their original material. Competent British Invasion-style rock, usually in a Stonesy style, though sometimes in a poppier vein."

Members

Albums