new member, he auditioned for them and beat Steve Marriott, (who went on to front the Small Faces) and was invited to join the group, which consisted of Dennis Taylor on lead guitar, bass guitarist Graham Evans, and, soon after David joined as lead singer, drummer Phil Lancaster.
Before Phil was hired, David was enlisted to vet him over coffee at La Gioconda. Phil remembered his first impression of David: “He wasquite striking because he was just skin and bones. He had shoulder-length hair, which had been bleached but had grown out. We had a good chat over a cup of tea. We talked about music. He even did a Bob Dylan impression for me—and it was very good.”
David warmed to Phil immediately and told him he’d made the band without even having to audition for it. For the next seven months, David and Phil worked together closely.
“The Lower Third had this ambulance we used to drive around in, which was great. It still had the bell and sign. Me and Dave used to sit in the back together and think of wacky ideas to get us noticed more,” Phil said. “David suddenly said: ‘How about wearing makeup?’ I thought he meant clown makeup so I was well up for it. But when I shouted it over to Graham in the front of the ambulance he wasn’t impressed. He told us, ‘Not fucking likely.’ ”
Despite what would soon transpire, Phil had no doubts whatsoever that David was heterosexual. “We were playing in a club, and a waitress offered us a night’s accommodation. I was in the same room as David and the waitress, who were in bed together. I knew from the noises that he was having sex with her. He wasn’t shy about doing it in the same room as me,” Phil Lancaster said.
After David and the Lower Third secured a record deal with Parlophone and recorded two tracks, “You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving” and “Baby Loves That Way,” David had a chance meeting with Ralph Horton, a former booker for the King Agency, then a roadie/driver for the Moody Blues. Ralph pitched himself to David as a manager. Impressed, David, in the kindest way possible, broke the news to the long-suffering Leslie Conn that he was leaving him and hiring another manager instead.
Aware that he had probably taken David as far as he could, Conn graciously stepped aside, and in July 1965, Ralph Horton took over as the manager of the Lower Third. In his late twenties, Horton was relatively open about being gay—a courageous stance in the midsixties, when the Sexual Offences Act, which decreed homosexuality tobe a criminal offense, was still the law in Britain, and would only be repealed in July 1967.
“Ralph was babyish, chubby-cheeked, and borrowed money so he could spend it on promoting David and the band,” said Kenny Bell, who worked for the Terry King Agency and shared an apartment with Ralph Horton in Warwick Square.
At first, as he booked the Lower Third for nationwide gigs, Horton’s sexuality didn’t come into play in terms of his style of management. But after a few months, it became clear that his interest in David was more than professional.
“Dave became a little more aloof and would go off with Ralph quite a lot. He stopped helping us load up the gear onto the van to and from gigs,” Phil Lancaster remembered, adding, “It had always been a joint effort, but now he’d just sit down and watch. Instead of coming back from gigs in the ambulance with us, he would go back with Ralph in his Jaguar.”
“Ralph Horton was uptight and tense. He was probably in love with David. He fancied David,” said John Hutchinson, who played with David in the Buzz, the band he formed after the Lower Third.
“David certainly slept with Ralph. He often stayed over at Warwick Square, where there were only two bedrooms. I slept in one and Ralph and David slept in the other one,” Kenny Bell said.
Clearly enthralled by David, Ralph openly favored him over the rest of the band, which, at the end of September 1965, he would rename Davie Jones and
Before Phil was hired, David was enlisted to vet him over coffee at La Gioconda. Phil remembered his first impression of David: “He wasquite striking because he was just skin and bones. He had shoulder-length hair, which had been bleached but had grown out. We had a good chat over a cup of tea. We talked about music. He even did a Bob Dylan impression for me—and it was very good.”
David warmed to Phil immediately and told him he’d made the band without even having to audition for it. For the next seven months, David and Phil worked together closely.
“The Lower Third had this ambulance we used to drive around in, which was great. It still had the bell and sign. Me and Dave used to sit in the back together and think of wacky ideas to get us noticed more,” Phil said. “David suddenly said: ‘How about wearing makeup?’ I thought he meant clown makeup so I was well up for it. But when I shouted it over to Graham in the front of the ambulance he wasn’t impressed. He told us, ‘Not fucking likely.’ ”
Despite what would soon transpire, Phil had no doubts whatsoever that David was heterosexual. “We were playing in a club, and a waitress offered us a night’s accommodation. I was in the same room as David and the waitress, who were in bed together. I knew from the noises that he was having sex with her. He wasn’t shy about doing it in the same room as me,” Phil Lancaster said.
After David and the Lower Third secured a record deal with Parlophone and recorded two tracks, “You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving” and “Baby Loves That Way,” David had a chance meeting with Ralph Horton, a former booker for the King Agency, then a roadie/driver for the Moody Blues. Ralph pitched himself to David as a manager. Impressed, David, in the kindest way possible, broke the news to the long-suffering Leslie Conn that he was leaving him and hiring another manager instead.
Aware that he had probably taken David as far as he could, Conn graciously stepped aside, and in July 1965, Ralph Horton took over as the manager of the Lower Third. In his late twenties, Horton was relatively open about being gay—a courageous stance in the midsixties, when the Sexual Offences Act, which decreed homosexuality tobe a criminal offense, was still the law in Britain, and would only be repealed in July 1967.
“Ralph was babyish, chubby-cheeked, and borrowed money so he could spend it on promoting David and the band,” said Kenny Bell, who worked for the Terry King Agency and shared an apartment with Ralph Horton in Warwick Square.
At first, as he booked the Lower Third for nationwide gigs, Horton’s sexuality didn’t come into play in terms of his style of management. But after a few months, it became clear that his interest in David was more than professional.
“Dave became a little more aloof and would go off with Ralph quite a lot. He stopped helping us load up the gear onto the van to and from gigs,” Phil Lancaster remembered, adding, “It had always been a joint effort, but now he’d just sit down and watch. Instead of coming back from gigs in the ambulance with us, he would go back with Ralph in his Jaguar.”
“Ralph Horton was uptight and tense. He was probably in love with David. He fancied David,” said John Hutchinson, who played with David in the Buzz, the band he formed after the Lower Third.
“David certainly slept with Ralph. He often stayed over at Warwick Square, where there were only two bedrooms. I slept in one and Ralph and David slept in the other one,” Kenny Bell said.
Clearly enthralled by David, Ralph openly favored him over the rest of the band, which, at the end of September 1965, he would rename Davie Jones and
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