HISTORY OF THE SIGNATURES
2009
The Signatures originally formed in 2009 out of a group called Mod Life Crisis – the change in the name followed the intention of becoming a purely Northern Soul group. At that time the frontman was Bill Mayall and the band was mainly made up of good friends wanting to make music together – we were regulars at scooter rallies and local music venues in the South East.
Changes in line-up have always been a part of The Signatures, keeping ten musicians together is a task in and of itself!
2015
2015 saw the departure of Bill as our lead singer, along with some of the other key musicians – this meant that most of the original line-up was gone! Many thought that the band wouldn’t survive…
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Gavin took over as band manager and recruited Lee Bonington from The Mannequins – this was a shock to some of our fans, as the group had clearly embraced a new kind of sound. The Signatures were changing direction, now focusing solely on Northern Soul. We continued to build on our success, playing more gigs and going further afield with each performance.
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Changes in line-up have always been a part of The Signatures, keeping ten musicians together is a task in and of itself!
2016
In 2016 Stefan Taylor sang at his first Sigs gig – the rest is, as they say, history! Lee slowly backed away from the group, and Stefan took over as our frontman.
The Signatures really came into their own in this period: playing music venues, rallies, music festivals, and promoting our own Northern Soul nights. We improved our presence online and experienced the harsh world of social media and how particular the Northern Soul scene can be.
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We met a singer on the soul scene, Paul Stuart Davies – he appreciated our direction and his interest in us as a backing band showed us how versatile that new direction could be.
After a few gigs with both Paul and Stefan, we were invited to attend as guests to the Northern Soul Survivors Weekender run by Russ Winstanley.
The Weekender was a true eye-opener – we had the honour to be introduced to artists like Dean Parrish, Tommy Hunt and many more. The Diana Shaw Band were the backing group for the artists, and we saw in them our aspirations for the future.
2017
Later, in 2017 we were approached by a legendary figure in the Northern Soul scene – Russ Winstanley. He told us that he could see how passionate we all were about the music, which as I am sure you can imagine was an incredible thing to hear from this pioneer of the scene. We performed a few months later with Dean Parrish, Brenda Holloway, Tommy Hunt and Tobi Legend (in her only UK live appearance).
We also struck up a great friendship with the incredible Tommy Hunt and began our relationship with ‘The Oldest Man in Soul’.
2018
We were fully part of Russ’s team at the Northern Soul Survivors Weekender – we were privileged to perform with Pat Lewis, Dean Parrish, Tommy Hunt, Jimmy Thomas, Spyder Turner, Ruby Andrews as well as Jackie Wilson’s son Bobby Wilson. Later that year we put on a great tour with Chairmen of the Board Ft. Ken Knox – this is where we would begin bringing over US artists for tours in the UK. We were starting to form a real following, even outside of the Northern Soul scene.
2019
2019 was incredible – a tour with Bobby Wilson and Nolan Porter; performing at the final Northern Soul Survivors Weekender with Gloria Jones, Chris Clarke, Brenda Holloway, The Flirtations and Tommy Hunt; and an incredible weekender that we put on in sunny Mallorca with Tommy Hunt, Nolan Porter, and Stefan Taylor. It was one of hardest but most creatively satisfying years for the group.
2020
In 2020 we entered a new market entirely – the theatre circuit! We have a UK tour with Lorraine Silver and our Mallorca Weekender in October with The Flirtations and Tommy Hunt. Work is almost finished on our first album, too… we’ve already released the first single! However, due to the COVID-19, many of the year’s performances at venues and festivals had been cancelled or postponed to 2021.
2021
We're thrilled that we managed to get back on tour in 2021. Our Northern Soul Live tour has been in full swing and will continue throughout 2022. We've also had our first full studio album 'Run For Cover' release and the pleasure of working with Georgia Crandon on tour.
2023
Over the last year we have been keeping busy with various live performances. Now, in 2023, we are back on tour and ready to take the UK by storm with a series of shows at renowned venues and festivals. Fans can expect to hear all their favourite classics. But that's not all - we has some big plans for the end of the year, with an exclusive weekender event scheduled for October. This is sure to be an unforgettable experience for Northern Soul fans, and not to be missed! All in all, The Signatures are going from strength to strength, and we have no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
PHOTOS
