St. Louis Union

Biography & Overview

St. Louis Union were a short-lived mid-1960s English freakbeat rock band from Manchester who formed part of the mod rock scene. They were formed by singer Tony Cassidy, guitarist Keith Millar, tenor saxophone/flute player Alex Kirby (born 6 January 1947, Walkden, who left in late 1966 and was replaced by Lenni Zaksen and Bernie Brown), keyboardist David Tomlinson, bassist John Nichols and drummer Dave Webb.
They formed initially as The Satanists and then, after they changed their name, they won the Melody Maker National Beat Contest, in front of a 3,700 sold-out crowd on 15 August 1965 at Wimbledon Palais, leaving a fledgling The Pink Floyd (later known simply as Pink Floyd) in a lower placing. The judges included Graham Nash of The Hollies, Kenny Everett then a Radio London DJ and Vicki Wickham of Ready Steady Go!. The band's winning prizes included a Hammond organ, a recording contract with Decca Records, an appearance on ABC TV's Lucky Stars and a complete set of outfits from Cec...