An underrated British quartet made up of John Rogan (bass),
Russ Ballard (lead guitar),
Peter Thorpe (rhythm guitar), and Bob Henrit (drums),
the Roulettes featured future
Argent alumnus
Russ Ballard on lead guitar. They were originally formed as a backing band for vocalist
Adam Faith, who enjoyed a massively successful light rock & roll career in the early '60s in England. Beginning in 1963 with the start of the rock & roll explosion coming out of Liverpool, the group was somewhat reorganized, and their and
Faith's work together became much more assertive; the result was
Faith's last big hit "The First Time" in August of 1963.
The group began recording on their own for
EMI in late 1963 and revealed themselves as an above-average group, fully competitive on a musical level with acts like
the Searchers and
the Hollies. Their records, though fewer in number, display many of the same virtues found on the better-known work of
the Beatles and
the Searchers, including soaring harmonies behind strong lead vocals, crisp guitar playing, and a good ear for memorable hooks.
Ballard and Henrit also appeared on "Concrete and Clay," a major hit for the acoustic rock outfit Unit Four Plus Two, but
the Roulettes' own records stubbornly failed to make the charts. By 1965, they'd split with
Adam Faith, but the concentration on their own careers didn't change the inexplicably lackluster performance of their records.
The group soldiered on through 1967 without any chart success, playing shows on the European continent, where any good British rock band could still earn a decent living. Finally,
Ballard and Henrit joined Unit Four Plus Two, while
Thorpe and Rogan left the music business. Following the breakup of Unit Four Plus Two in 1968,
Ballard and Henrit hooked up with
Rod Argent and Chris White, late of
the Zombies, and formed
Argent, a quartet that, for a brief time in the early '70s, enjoyed some of the chart success that had eluded
the Roulettes throughout their history. ~ Bruce Eder