No sooner has a new pop band hit the charts than they have spawned another tribute band to mimic the songs and styles and the ubiquitous dance routine.

We have more wannabees than you can shake a stick at, yet the mother of all tribute bands stands apart from them all: The Bootleg Beatles.

These guys are not just musicians with a mop head wigs on. They are established, relatively serious about their work and have been packing them in major venues for over 20 years.

Talking to Neil Harrison, who is John Lennon in the line up, I discovered that the BBs were formed from the cast of the West End musical Beatlemania and the band have been together longer than The Beatles.

The original Fab Four only notched up 10 years together and toured for just three.

But Neil is the first to admit that being a long-standing tribute band has reaped many rewards.

"We have our own fans and following. People out there still cling to anything linked to The Beatles. We set the scene for our show with lots of video footage of the times - not of the band but of the fashions and places linked in to that era.

"We do try to look like the real thing but that's not the important thing, it's the sound we recreate. The audience want to hear it like it was, " he said.

Is there any hysteria at their concerts?

"Well there's no screaming and fainting!" he laughed.

"Nobody throws knickers or jelly babies at us - perhaps some Philosan could be thrown at us along with zimmer frames!"

Authenticity is the key to their success. They do try to look like the real John, Paul, George and Ringo but Neil prefers to be at a distance from the audience.

"I think the image is more powerful. Whenever we have performed on television I've felt uncomfortable with the close ups. There's cameras up your nose and zooming in on the wig, I thought it was awful. I prefer live gigs definitely."

They sell merchandise from their tours but will not release any CDs.

"There's no point. If people want the sound it's all there on The Beatles' albums," he said.

Neil has met George Harrison.

"He was quite happy with what we do. He asked where's the Bootleg Epstein - he's the one with the money?"

The Bootlegs play about 120 shows a year now.

"We have cut down and as the audiences have grown we play bigger theatres," said Neil.

This December they will be at the Albert Hall.

"When we started out with the BBs we gave it six months, it's been a hell of a long six months!" he added.

Neil has a creative side to add to his musical talents. He is a playwright in his spare time, coincidentally writing a musical, Great Pretenders, about lookalikes.

He has recently completed two screenplays co-written with actress Susan Penhaligon. This year he has been working on a three-episode drama for television influenced by the exploits of The Bootleg Beatles in America, called Bogus Beatles.

Is there no end to the number of spin offs from a super pop group?

See The Bootleg Beatles at Fairfield, Croydon on Friday, October 19 at 8pm. Tickets are £16.50 and £14.50 from the box office on 020 8688 9291.

December 3, 2001 13:00