The Rubettes were a Pop band from England assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-writer, Tony Waddington after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts. The band emerged at the tail end of the glam rock movement, wearing trademark white suits and cloth caps on stage. The line-up of the band was Alan Williams (born 22 December 1948); Tony Thorpe (born 20 July 1947); Bill Hurd (born 11 August 1948); Mick Clarke (born 10 August 1946), and John Richardson (born 3 May 1948). The Rubettes' first (and biggest hit) was "Sugar Baby Love" (released in 1974) which was a UK no. ...show more

The Rubettes were a Pop band from England assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-writer, Tony Waddington after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts. The band emerged at the tail end of the glam rock movement, wearing trademark white suits and cloth caps on stage. The line-up of the band was Alan Williams (born 22 December 1948); Tony Thorpe (born 20 July 1947); Bill Hurd (born 11 August 1948); Mick Clarke (born 10 August 1946), and John Richardson (born 3 May 1948). The Rubettes' first (and biggest hit) was "Sugar Baby Love" (released in 1974) which was a UK no.

1 and going on to sell around eight million copies worldwide. The distinctive falsetto lead vocal to "Sugar Baby Love" was however performed by Paul Da Vinci (real name: Paul Prewer) who left the group after a few weeks to be replaced by Williams. The Rubettes went on to have a number of other hits during the mid-seventies such as "Juke Box Jive" and "I Can Do It", mostly written by the Bickerton-Waddington song-writing team. Their final hit was the 'country rock' styled ballad - "Baby I Know" - which reached no.

10 in the UK in 1977. The Rubettes' first and biggest hit was "Sugar Baby Love" (1974) which was a UK number one, going on to sell around 500,000 copies in the UK and a reported global sale of three million copies. Two million copies being sold in France alone, an achievement matched by no other British group.[citation needed] With more three songs, "Sugar Baby Love" was recorded for Polydor in October 1973 at Landsdown Studios in Holland Park, London by some session musicians featuring the distinctive falsetto lead vocal by Paul Da Vinci (real name: Paul Prewer), but then he didn't seize the opportunity to actually become a member of the band put together by John Richardson and went for solo work. To be The Rubettes' debut single, "Sugar Baby Love" was their only UK #1 and sole U.S. ...show less