"The 'In' Crowd' by The Fourmost

It was sixty years ago today, on March 7, 1966,  that rhythm guitarist and vocalist Mike Millward of The Fourmost died from leukaemia at the age of 23. Mike Millward had been with The Fourmost since the band was called The Four Jays way back in 1961.

As to who The Fourmost were, they were a Merseybeat group from Liverpool whose peak years were from about 1963 to 1965. Their first single, "Hello Little Girl," had been written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and had even been recorded by The Beatles themselves for their audition with Decca. It went to no. 9 on the UK singles chart. They would only have a few more hits, the biggest of which was "A Little Loving" in 1964, which went to no. 6. While other British bands would do well in the United States, The Fourmost never really had an impact there. The best they did was their cover of The Beatles' "Here, There and Everywhere," which bubbled under the Billboard Hot 100 at no. 120 in 1966. I have to suspect that The Fourmost never quite recovered from Mike Millward's death, so that while they continued to record into the Seventies, they never did as well as they had from 1963 to 1965. 

In the Sixties, The Fourmost released only one album, First and Fourmost. On that album was a cover of Dobie Gray's "The 'In' Crowd" on which Mike Millward sang lead. Here it is, in memory of Mike Millward, a talent who died far too young.