In the early sixties the band found work during the Summer at various British seaside resorts and became much more than just a singing group. The inclusion of comedy in their stage act had become their trademark. The individual members held day jobs and the group remained semi-professional until they passed a BBC audition in 1963. Their first release, a cover version of James Ray's "If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody" climbed the U.K. record charts to the number 3 position and led to a series of TV appearances where audiences quickly remembered the band for their offbeat humor and stage antics. They turned to Mitch Murray (writer of some of Gerry and The Pacemakers' early hits) for their next two single releases, "I'm Telling You Now", which went to #2 in England and "You Were Made For Me" that reached #3. Their first album also sold well, peaking at #5 on the UK chart. In 1964 they enjoyed more success with "Over You", a cover of Paul Anka's "I Love You Baby", and a revival of The G. Clefs' "I Understand", which was to be their final U.K. Top Ten hit. An earlier release, "Just For You" had already missed the Top 20.
As the group's appeal started to decline in the U.K. they made a startling breakthrough in America, where audiences were eager for anything British. Tower Records released "I'm Telling You Now" and the tune quickly reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the Spring of 1965. The Dreamers soon found themselves appearing on major U.S. televisions shows like, Shindig, Hullabaloo and The Ed Sullivan Show. American audiences were amused by Garrity's zany stage antics and wanted to know more about the dance he seemed to do, swinging his arms and legs out to his sides. "It's called the Freddie," he innocently replied. A song called "Do The Freddie" was quickly written and released and resulted in a Billboard #18 hit. For a week or two it seemed like everyone was doing The Freddie, even Chubby Checker, who recorded a cover version. Despite the success of the song in the United States it was never issued in Great Britain. The shear silliness of the song completely undermined the group as serious musicians and they were quickly dismissed by most of the record buying public.
Back home in the U.K. the group enjoyed a couple of minor hits with "A Little You" and "Thou Shalt Not Steal" and appeared in the low budget musical film ,Everyday's A Holiday as singing chefs at a holiday camp. In 1966,they recorded a whole album's worth of Disney film songs and their final LP release, "Oliver In The Underworld" was really a children's album. When they finally bowed out with Graham Gouldman's "Susan Tuba" in 1970, Freddie went on to star in the successful British children's series Little Big Time.
In 1976 Garrity put the band back on the road with a new line-up. It was short-lived, but they did oldies tours in England, the U.S. and in Australia. Twelve years later, in 1988, he got his first serious acting role in a production of The Tempest. Freddie also appeared in several British theatre productions and continued to work with different versions of The Dreamers. The original members of the band all retired from the music business. Pete Birrell became a taxi driver, Roy Crewsdon bought a bar in the Canary Isles and Derek Quinn went to work for a soft drink company. Bernie Dwyer dropped out of site for many years and died on December 4th, 2002 at the age of 62. By 2004, Freddie Garrity's health began to fail and following an American tour he had a heart attack. He suffered from systemic sclerosis and had trouble breathing, spending much of his time in a wheelchair. Freddie died on May 19th, 2006, at the age of 65. Guitarist Derek Quinn passed away on October 22nd, 2020. He was 78.
In the final analysis, Freddie And The Dreamers are remembered most for their wacky stage show, and for being able to come up with a couple of light-hearted hits at the height of The British Invasion.
