Afters-where-are-they-now?

During the brief history of the Bo Street Runners a total of thirteen musicians passed through the group.

Here's what happened to some of them; afters.

Of the five original members of the group here's what we know.

Gary Thomas

Gareth 'Gary' Thomas played guitar for the Bo Street Runners and was in the band for the entirety of its lifespan.
When the group finally collapsed he quit music and trained as a Primary Schoolteacher and spent his teaching career working in inner London schools. In 1980 he was appointed Headteacher of one of these schools where he stayed for ten years before moving into school management training.
At the end of the 1970's he once more caught the Blues bug and started to gather together a group of musicians that eventually became known as 'The Radical Sheiks'. By 1983 band was playing regularly on the London blues circuit and attracting an enthusiastic following. After being the supporting act for a number of visiting blues artists, including Bo Diddley, Dr John, Albert King, Peter Green, in 1984 they had the honour of supporting BB King at the Hammersmith Odeon.
As well as playing with the 'Sheiks', Gary spent the 1980's playing guitar with the equally popular singer Wolfie Witcher.
In 1994 Gary Thomas moved to the West coast of France where he has continued playing guitar with a variety of Blues and Jazz line-ups. By 2003 he was fronting a blues/soul group known as 'Funky Chicken' and during the summers of 2005/6 was joined by original Bo Street Runners members John Dominic and Nigel Hutchinson for several reunion concerts.
Gary is currently teaching guitar at a local music school and playing the occasional gig with an acoustic blues duo.

Bob O'Brien

Hi Folks,
I'm Bob, the original keyboard player with the Bos.

I've read this site with great interest -it's very well prepared as you can see.
Going back over 40 odd years has been great and has brought back only fond memories- in spite of driving up & down the M1 & going into the City the next morning!
You tend to remember quirky things like Micky Most comparing our Lead Singer with Guy Mitchell during a recording session & a sense of amazement during a concert at a very famous venue on seeing session musicians filling out the sound of Top Twenty Groups.
Since the Bos I have continued in music;- Teaching;MD Work; Choirs;Church Organ and am still performing in 2 Bands- the Groupies are much older now!
The Bo Sreet Runners were an excellent group- far lesser bands have been more successful but, hey, that s life.
I hope more of you write in.
Good Luck, Bob

John Dominic

After the failure of the Bo Street Runners 3rd single to make any impact in the pop charts singer John Dominic donned his parachute and bailed out of the group.
Returning to his day job as an advertising agency copywriter he was never again to join a musical lineup. John’s career in advertising gradually changed direction and he became more involved in film production. Directing and producing tv commercials led to his establishing his own production company and many years of artistic and commercial success.
However he never lost his love of the music that launched the Bo Street Runners and through the decades has been a regular ‘sitter in’ on harmonica and vocals with a range of London blues bands. He makes regular guest appearances and has recorded with the Debbie Bonham Band and in the winter of 2008 he appeared on stage in Las Vegas with long time friend Mick Fleetwood’s blues band!

Nigel Hutchinson

Nigel 'Hutch' Hutchinson was a founder member and first of the Bo Street Runners' five drummers. When the group decided to turn professional after the Ready Steady Win! Competition he left the band and more or less quit the music scene.
Hutch continued working as a publicist for the Walt Disney organisation until he was involved with the British actor David Hemmings in setting up the Hemdale film production company.
Some time in the 1970's whilst on a visit to New Zealand he discovered that this very photogenic country had very little in the way of film production facilities or expertise. Returning to the UK he filled a Landrover with filmaking equipment that he drove overland back to New Zealand!
One of Hutch's first projects was the cult road movie 'Goodbye Pork Pie'. There followed a long and successful career in film production and he can still be found most years at the Cannes Film Festival representing the New Zealand Film Board.

Dave Cameron

Dave Cameron was the Bo Street Runner’s original bass player and stayed with the group until its demise at the end of 1966.
It seems likely that he gave up music after the breakup of the band though he did appear on stage for a couple of numbers at a réunion gig in London’s Rock Garden in the early 1990’s
Instead Dave developed a career in IT and eventually retired from a senior position with IBM.

Glyn Thomas

The Bo Street Runner's second drummer, Glyn Thomas, came into the band after their success in the Ready Steady Win! Competition. Glyn was an established jazz musician playing on the London pub and club circuit. Glyn stayed with the group for less than a year, touring and cutting their second single,'Tell Me What You Gonna Do'. Following the failure of this disc to make any impact he returned to the world  of jazz. He subsequently became employed by Pearl Drums to demonstrate and develop their new kits and this led to a move to the US where he was influential in the development of electronic drums. In 1990 he returned to the UK to set up and direct an engineering company in the north of England. His full story can be found at; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyn_Thomas .

 
 
Roy Fry
 
Replacing Bob O'Brien on keyboards, when the Bo Street Runners turned  professional, was a rising star of the London jazz scene, Roy 'Fingers' Fry. Roy's talent and humour was a great asset to the band and he set to work to raise the general musicality of thegroup. His stay with the Runners was curtailed when their second single failed to sell and Roy returned to his first love, Jazz. He subsequently become musical director for the British pop singer Helen Shapiro and toured extensively across Europe. Tragically he died   in 1976 ; a sad loss to the world of music.
 
Tim Hinkley
 

Third, and final keyboard player in the Bo Street Runners was TimHinkley. It was he who radically changed their sound with the intruduction of his Hammond organ. He was to stay with the group until its final break up . Tim went on to carve out a substantial career in music, too full to describe here. Check out www.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Hinkley        For a detailed description of his achievements. After living and working in America for many years Tim can now found liiving in Switzerland and still at the keyboard of his trusty Hammond.

 
Mick Fleetwood

The only Bo Street Runner to find genuine musical fame and fortune was their third drummer Mick Fleetwood. Joining the band in time to record their third single 'Baby Never Say Goodbye' his stay was not a prolonged one. Acres of information has been compiled about Mick's glittering career, some of which can be found at; www.mickfleetwood.com