THE INNOCENTS

There are multiple bands called The Innocents: 1) The Innocents were a power pop band from the United Kingdom who released a single titled "One Way Love" on the Kingdom label in 1980, featuring the former drummer of Advertising. At their start, they were hyped as "England's Answer to Blondie", but the group folded quickly. 2) The Innocents were a power pop band formed in Hobart, Tasmania in 1975, whose popularity peaked in 1980 with their single "Sooner or Later", which reached number 2 in the Australian charts after a performance on ABC-TV's Countdown.

1) The Innocents were a power pop band from the United Kingdom who released a single titled "One Way Love" on the Kingdom label in 1980, featuring the former drummer of Advertising. At their start, they were hyped as "England's Answer to Blondie", but the group folded quickly.

2) The Innocents were a power pop band formed in Hobart, Tasmania in 1975, whose popularity peaked in 1980 with their single "Sooner or Later", which reached number 2 in the Australian charts after a performance on ABC-TV's Countdown.

The band - originally called Beathoven - featured singer/songwriters David Minchin, Charles Touber, Greg Cracknell and a cast of rotating drummers, are also one of the more tragic stories of major label foolishness and bad timing. After signing a much heralded international contract with EMI (under the Beathoven moniker) the band were overlooked by label management and released from the contract after only releasing the single Shy Girl. At the behest of huge fan Kim Fowley they the moniker The Innocents. With Fowley's influence the band signed with Trafalgar (a subsidiary of RCA) and recorded three singles (including "Come Tonight", also featured on Countdown) and an (unreleased) album before disbanding in 1981.

The Innocents reunited in the late 2000, and were invited to play at The International Pop Overthrow festival in the United States. Emboldened by their newfound popularity 2002 saw the release of a 2CD retrospective titled "The No Hit Wonders From Down Under", and the recognition of fan support from around the world led the band to record an album of brand new material titled "Pop Factory", released in 2006 and saw the band tour Asia and Europe (including a show at the legendary Cavern Club in Liverpool, UK).

The Innocents made headlines in October 2007 when they recorded "Tell Me If You Can", a previously unheard song written by Paul McCartney and Tony Sheridan in 1962. While touring Germany, the band were invited by Sheridan himself to the Friedrich-Ebert recording studios where he had recorded "My Bonnie" with The Beatles in the early 1960s. Sheridan claimed meeting The Innocents was 'fate': "I like the group. The way they play reminded me of what we used to do back then. They did great harmonies. It reminded me very much of The Beatles."

3) The Innocents was the name given to a vocal trio from Sun Valley, California, who met at High School in 1958 and began performing as The Echos after appearing on Wink Martindale's TV show. After changing their name to The Innocents, their single "Honest I Do" reached Number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. For a period, The Innocents performed as backing singers for a new talent, Kathy Young, but continued to perform on their own, releasing an album, "Innocently Yours" in 1961.
The trio disbanded in 1964, but have reunited for various concerts throughout the 1980s and 90s, as well as recording a new four-track EP, "Midnight Snack", in 2003.