Eddie & the Bats – Friday June 3, 2011
Eddie and the Bats – Eddie Eckstein joined by Paul Ditchfield, Pete Clifford and Derek Gordon.
Ja… We can laugh at ourselves, and you will if you treat yourself to a wonderful evening with Eddie and the Bats – Eddie Eckstein joined by Paul Ditchfield, Pete Clifford and Derek Gordon and their unique blend of music and comedy.
The Bats are back… not trying to be the Bats in the sixties, they are in their sixties being the Bats! The new show is full of their latest songs and the “comeback” has brought with it a fresh and “now” sound that just shows what great musicians they are. They love their music as well as taking the mickey out of everything and everyone.
If you have ever been lucky enough to see one of these fabulous shows, you will know that the Bats enjoy entertaining their audiences as much as the audience enjoys watching them.
These four wonderful musicians will take you on a nostalgic and hilarious journey that spans the ”40 Something” years they have been in the business – from their early hits of the sixties to their latest solo recordings, they will have you singing along and shouting for more.
An unforgettable evening with those unforgettable guys. As a member of the audience quipped at one of their recents show, “these guys are even better than they were 30 years ago!”
‘nuff said… Get ready for some toe tapping, hands clapping and side splitting laughter.
Some background …
It all started in 1964 when the Bats, Eddie Eckstein, Paul Ditchfield, Pete Clifford and the late Barry Jarman burst onto the local scene and became, to many ardent followers, South Africa’s answer to the Beatles. They toured extensively, both locally and internationally, wowing audiences from here to the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and Germany with their brilliant music and hilarious comedy show. More than just great musicians, they were also great entertainers, and it was this that kept them at the top of their game for 16 years, an amazing achievement for any band.
Eddie & the Bats won a Sarie Song of the Year Award in the early 70′s with ‘Who’s that Girl’ and in 1972 Paul’s composition ‘Oh God it’s beautiful’ was chosen to represent South Africa at the Tokyo World Song Festival. Paul took Eddie with him to Tokyo to perform the song and they reached the finals.
In 1980, with many hit singles, including ‘In a shabby little hut’ and ‘Vat Hom Dawie’ and a whole bunch of long playing vinyls under their belts, they decided to go their separate ways to pursue solo careers. This break just seemed to hone their talents because after 21 years, they are better musicians now than they were then!
Eddie & the Bats
After constant pressure from their fans to get back together again, Eddie, Paul & Pete were joined by Derek Gordon and got back on the road for what they thought would be a short ‘come back’.
Well – they are still going and they are back at Potters Place (Have a look at their facebook album ).
