THE DETOURS ARE FINDING A WAY TO FAME

John Brunel's DIARY

Are you getting fed-up with the Beatles? Then try screaming for a homegrown group: The Detours. I'm sure they would appreciate it.

Twenty-year-old Angela Dives, of Gibbon-road, East Acton, is the girl to contact for information about the Detours.

She is the President of their fan club (over 30 members and growing fast).

And she has no doubts about the top-pop quality of her favourite group, though she wasn't quite sure what made them so special.

"They have a good sense of humour," she said after a little thought. "They laugh and crack jokes on the stage. And they can play very good harmonies."

The Detours are apparently a versatile group, too. They all sing, they all play the harmonica, one of their guitarists plays the trumpet as well and the vocalist plays the trombone.

The founders of the group got their experience years ago in the dark days of skiffle. Then they formed the Detours guitar group in the summer, 1961—and went steadily from success to success. Now the group, originally a five-man organization, consists of two guitarists, a drummer and a singer: Peter Townsend (19), John Entwistle (20), Doug Sandom (25) and Roger Daultry (21).

Roger, the vocalist and John, the bass guitarist, were with the group when it was founded. The others have joined since.

What happens when you join the Detours' fan club, I asked?

"We send you a photograph of the group and a letter of welcome," said blonde Angela, who operates an accounting machine when she's not dealing with the Detours' fan mail.

"And we're planning to send out a newsletter as well, though nothing has come of that yet."

Applications for membership are, I'm told, coming in fairly steadily. The average is three a day.

"And nearly all of them are from outside Acton," said Angela jubilantly. "We have members in Tunbridge Wells in Kent, in East London — all over the place!"

That's nice. But the time to start really celebrating will be when the fan mail starts pouring in from Liverpool!