The Invaders - Close your eyes

Описание: The history of The Invaders can be traced back to March 1961 and the first tour of South Africa by Cliff Richard and The Shadows. The 21-year-old Henry Burke (born 23 March 1940) of Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape attended their show at the Feather Market Hall in Port Elizabeth and was so inspired by their performance that he decided to form his own group there and then. Initially they were known as The Astronauts, with John Burke (bass), Desmond Solomon (guitar), Ike Dolley (vocals), Fozy Lukie (drums) and Richard (Toss) Smith (guitar), but they didn’t exist for very long. In 1962 John Burke formed the first Invaders with Errol Gobey (guitar, vocals), Desmond Solomon (guitar), Vernal Solomon (drums) and Ike Dolley (lead vocals). Once again, the band lasted only a year before the Solomon brothers departed to form The Telstars.

In January 1963 Cliff Richard and The Shadows again toured South Africa and again appeared in the Feather Market Hall, but this time both Errol Gobey and John Burke attended the show. With renewed inspiration derived from the show they then reformed The Invaders, with John Burke (bass), Errol Gobey (rhythm guitar and vocals) (born Errol James Gobey on 27 September 1943), John’s brother, Dave Burke (drums) (David Raymond Burke, born 20 June 1942) and Joe Moses (guitar) (Joseph Henry Moses, born 9 September 1947).

Initially they struggled for survival, with little money and poor instruments, until they won a talent competition in the Orient Hall in Uitenhage and received R15 in prize money. More importantly though, the win ensured that their popularity increased dramatically, thereby ensuring regular gigs at the Jubilee and Orient Halls in Uitenhage, and later at various venues in Port Elizabeth. In later years they purchased a panel van and started doing shows in neighbouring towns such as Graaff-Reinet, Willowmore, Oudtshoorn and Mossel Bay.

In 1965 The Invaders decided to record their first 7” single with “June” on the A-side and “I’ll Try Again” on the B-side, a project that they themselves financed. These days this single is a very sought-after item among vinyl collectors as only 100 copies were printed. In October 1966 they did their first show in Cape Town in a hall in Somerset West. As they became more popular, they were frequently mentioned in local newspapers, which in turn resulted in them being offered a recording contract by Trutone. Their first 7” single was “June”, with “The Wedding” on the B-side, and was released in 1966. They also received a Gold Disc Award for sales of the single.

In 1967 they released their first album, “Two Sides Of The Invaders”, and in the years that followed they released a further 6 albums and many 7” singles, 3 of which reached the South African Top 20:

1. Shock wave – 1967, #10, 5 weeks
2. Chapel of dreams- 1969, #16, 4 weeks
3. There's a light, there's a way – 1971, #18, 3 weeks

As is normally the case with most bands, the members changed from time to time, and so it happened that Lionel Petersen also became lead vocalist of The Invaders at one stage. The Invaders broke up in April 1971, but in 1976 Richard Jon Smith invited some of the members to record an album entitled “The Return Of The Invaders”. The album had no impact on the record buying public and signalled the end of The Invaders.

This song is off the album "New Image", released in 1969.