Welcome! My name is Edward Johnstone [Eddie Johnson or Eddie Johnstone in a few publications].

This is my personal website re one of the earliest Soul bands in Scotland, The Hi-Fi Combo, also known as The Hi-Fi's for a short time. The guys all hailed from the west coast of Scotland in or within a 20 miles radius of Glasgow. Any further memorabilia, comment, or other means that you are able to contribute to my pages would be most welcome.

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What! You've never heard of the band? Sacre Bleu!  It just so happens that we were indubitably the best Soul Band in Scotland, at least to our millions / thousands / hundreds of loyal fans we were [ just choose per your fading memory]. Anyhow, this is the story of our journey to the elusive stars and back during the years 1965 and 1966 . . . and if you just happened to be a part of our story in any way - whether as a fan, a friend, or [gosh] even a member of those great rival Scottish bands from that time - do get in touch with your own memories. I'm at email: edwardbayly@aol.com or thehificombo@aol.com.

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In the autumn of 1965, a brand new 5-piece Scottish band hit the road, resplendent in their new 5/11d per yard curtain material jackets and high collared fitted shirts purchased at great expense from the famous "Esquires" men's clothes shop, situated just off the famous Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow.

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Raised, Phoenix-like, from the ashes of a popular early 1960's Glasgow/Ayrshire area Rock 'n' Roll band [boasting a sax section no less] called "The Hi-Fi Show Band", the guys emerged as cool Scottish Soul band The Hi-Fi Combo. The band, at the behest of their new Scottish record company, ALP - Andy Lothian Productions - a label allied to Polydor's distribution network, would soon drop their outdated 1950's name Combo and change it to the more 'hip' sounding name The Hi-Fi's in March 1966 . . . before quickly reverting to The Hi-Fi Combo  when it transpired that an American group had already had records out under that very same name since 1960.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHyJ_ZG3MYg  Their names were, Bette, Bill, Judy and Carol.

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Our band's aim at the outset was quite simple. EMI had earlier that year [1965] jumped on the Tamla-Motown label with the fantastic "Stop! In the Name of Love" by The Supremes being the first Tamla-Motown label release in March [they would later go on and take "Baby Love" to the top of the charts] so our band decided  to get in first and be the best "Tamla-Motown" style Soul band around in Scotland. We gathered as many Soul LP's as we could [3] and began our musical journey to the stars . . . or wherever. The first song I ever played in the band was Once Upon a Time.

                                                    

MY TRIBUTE WEBSITE TO MY BAND - THE HI-FI COMBO

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My name is Edward [Eddie] Johnstone. I am the shy, 17-year old blonde guy on the left of the topmost photograph . . . the one with the spaced-out eyes . . . probably just tiredness. Anyway, if you really have nothing better to do after you check out the band just come back to the top of the page where you can find out more about my childhood days in the lovely wee town of Kilwinning, Ayrshire, my musical influences and how I became a musician and joined The Hi-Fi Combo. How exciting! Not to be missed. 

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Perhaps, and indubitably more accurately, I should say I was the 17-year old blonde guy - after all it was over 50 years ago . .  so do the math. And, yes, that is the same blonde guy again behind the organ in the smaller on-stage photograph. Initially I was a classically trained pianist under Miss Elsa J. Baird of Kilwinning and hadn't a clue what Soul music was, but I joined the band as organist anyway even though I had never played an electric organ ever . . .  and incidentally  I also quit my nursing training at Ballochmyle Hospital midway through my training in order to do so.

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So, in the winter of 1964, there I was struggling with my nursing exams in Ballochmyle Hospital whilst playing pop songs by The Kinks, The Troggs, The Ivy League, Chris Farlowe, The Cryin’ Shames, Crispian St Peters et al, on the jukebox in the staff canteen, alongside my fellow live-in nurses. Within a few short months I would actually be up there on the same stage alongside all of those same big stars. How lucky were those guys . . . to get to gig with me?

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My website is of course a purely personal perspective of the band and of that very special eighteen months in my life [1965-1966] after I signed up as keyboard player with four other excellent musicians in a great Scottish Soul band, The Hi-Fi Combo. I do not speak for any other member of the band, my words are simply soaked in my personal experiences [at least those I can reveal] and memories of the journey the band made during that time only. For those fans and the musicians from the many other Scottish groups who were around at the time, my hope is that through these pages I may be able to rekindle some fond memories of the time, as many of them did make a similar journey to that of my own band. 

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For those visitors to this website who were too young - and therefore not fortunate enough to have been there to taste the swinging sixties and hear those great bands which passed our way - I hope to provide an insight into that wonderful era by way of my diary, music clips, photographs, plus of course - and more importantly - my memories. For instance, how many of you guys are aware that almost all the great British Pop Chart names from the sixties traversed Scotland, including The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Troggs, Chris Farlowe, et al, many of whom The Hi-Fi Combo were privileged to be thought good enough to support on stage. 

                                                                            

As I mentioned at the outset, I would be happy to hear from anyone from that time who may have been a part of my tale in some way, whether you were in a band or at The Hi-Fi Combo gigs and whether with just your memories or with photographs, music clips or whatever and I will be happy to share them here on my website.

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My personal email address link for instant contact re this website is: edwardbayly@aol.com 

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My fantastic "Hits of the 60's, 50's & 40's" website is at https://thehificombo.wixsite.com/thebeatlestotheblitz

          

[Not only will you hear every UK No.1 Hit of those years . . . but you will see the original artist on their original sheet music cover.]

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In August 2014 the Hi Fi Combo, re our 1966 recording of the old Hoagy Lands song "It's Gonna be Morning", were also inaugurated into the "Jock'n'roll Hall of Fame" by radio dee-jay Paul Johnston. If you really love the music from the 1960's and 1970's then you won't find a better show on the radio or net. He is at  https://jocknroll.wordpress.com   

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I gave up gigging locally in 2014 in order to write an e-book based on the music of the American Civil War, where I gave all the 1860's music a 1960's flavour - wrapped within a love story of two young girls - from Kilwinning. The book is called Shiloh Plain and you can find it by clicking here on the photograph - where you can also read a few chapters and hear a few songs [see the link below]. The book is also free to read from the Kilwinning Library. Enjoy.

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Kindest regards

Eddie Johnstone

 

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