P J Proby

P J Proby – week long residency at Baileys, Leicester- 10 February- 16 February 1974.

PJ. Proby (born James Marcus Smith; November 6, 1938) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor, who is best remembered for an incident – 31 January 1965, when his trousers split across the knees during a show in Croydon, capital of the United Kingdom. As a result, Proby was banned in every major theatre in Britain, plus appearing on the BBC and ITV television channels. The incident scandalised the British press and public, causing Proby’s career to lose momentum. Minor hits in 1966 were followed by flops, and in March 1968, “It’s Your Day Today”, gave Proby his last UK chart entry for nearly 30 years.

In 1967 Proby scored his only Billboard Hot 100 top forty hit with “Niki Hoeky”. In September 1968, he recorded Three Week Hero, released in 1969. A collection of country-style ballads mixed with blues, it used the New Yardbirds, later to become Led Zeppelin, as the backing band. The album was produced by Steve Rowland