John Steel (drummer) Jones and Art Blakey. They switched from jazz to embrace the new rock 'n' roll explosion. In March 1959, Steel met Alan Price at a church hop in Byker, Newcastle, and with Hilton Valentine (guitar) and Chas Chandler (bass) formed a band; by 1960 the Alan Price Combo had acquired a reputation in Newcastle. Burdon joined in 1962 from a band called the Pagans, and the Animals were born. Steel went on to play and record with them until February 1966. His last charted single with the group was "Inside Looking Out". Subsequently, Steel returned to Newcastle and became a
A Band Called O I Wouldn't Do" on a single to promote their tour with Sassafras and Randy Pie as the 'Hot on the Tracks' package. Filleul left and was replaced by Ian Lynne, after about 6 months he was also replaced by Jeff Bannister, formerly with the John Barry Seven, The Alan Bown Set and Jess Roden’s Bronco. The band changed label from CBS/Epic to United Artists, and played their third Peel Session on 23 March 1976 (the BBC credit all the Peel sessions to A Band Called O, although one or two were after the name change). Musically, their style had already