(Les Vandyke)
Australia
#23 Melbourne
Second single, on RCA June 1965, the first that charted by Melbourne band influenced by British Invasion insects, They are notable for the involvement of Ronnie Burns, who later became a solo pop star. See releases by Ronnie Burns at this website.
Doin’ The Mod charted in June-July 1965 and was followed onto the Melbourne charts in September-October by Can’t You Feel, an original song by Ronnie Burns and John Thomas of The Flies (#26 Melbourne).
The Flies has been a surprisingly well-used band name over the years:
• The Flies, Melbourne, 1964-65, Doin’ The Mod
• The Flies, UK, c.1966-68, beat/psychedelic band
• The Flies, USA, 1969, alias of gospel artist Larry Norman
• The Flies, Sydney, 1984-1987, pop band
• The Flies, Greensboro NC, 1978-79, punk band
• The Flies, Massachusetts, 1980s, garage band
• The Flies, 1990s, Washington State, punk band.
• See also The Flys (UK), or The Flys (USA).
• If you have a strong stomach, you could even go back to an earlier stage of the cycle.
Thanks to Terry Stacey for uncovering all these Flies.
Further reading: Milesago’s history of The Flies and Ronnie Burns. For more Aussie insects, see Terry Stacey’s account of Sydney’s Cicadas at Poparchives: The Blog.
(Les Vandyke) Australia
#67 Sydney [2SM survey]
B-side on Columbia by thinly documented Sydney band active 1964-65. It was this B-side that peaked at #67 on 2SM’s survey 18 December 1964.
Apart from discography listings, the only source I found for them is an entry in Who’s Who of Australian Rock which gives the line-up as Warren O’Neill, Bob Murray, David Harker (g), Barry Page (g) and Frank Parrington (d). WWAR also names the A-side of another single One Day (1965) of which I can find no further evidence.
WWAR notes that Harker, Page, and Parrington were later in Tony Summers And The Echoes who released two singles on Spin 1966. One single is listed at Discogs and at 45cat, the other is added in NSFA’s sixties discography but again, further details are elusive. Drummer Parrington becomes Purrington at Discogs.com.
(Les Vandyke)
UK
Original version
Single on Picadilly April 1964.
According to Bruce Eder at All Music, Vandyke And The Bambis were an ultra-obscure British band teamed with songwriter Les Vandyke.
For a photo session, The Bambis wore hats and identical joke-shop beards, and London’s Daily Herald hints that they were “better known under a different name”. Whatever their backgrounds, they may well have been employed by Vandyke just for the recording sessions, a legitimate and not uncommon practice.
The name Bambis came from the childhood nickname of Les Vandyke’s son Dave.
Mods and rockers
Vandyke And The Bambis’ record is more than just a trendy dance tune. It appeared at a time when bad feeling between teenage subcultures could turn violent. The British papers were full of stories about clashes between the mods and the rockers. Headlines like this one from Swindon in May 1964 are easy to find: Holiday ‘spoilt for thousands’ by ‘Mods’ and ‘Rockers’ – SEAFRONT GANGS FIGHT WITH DECKCHAIRS.
Doin’ The Mod captures the mod mindset: Who’s that man in that leather jacket down there? Man, he’s so bad. He must be a rocker. Get him out of here!
The writer
Les Vandyke was a pseudonym of singer-songwriter John Worsley (1931-2021) who also recorded as Johnny Worth 1957-1962. He was born in London and his mother was Welsh, but he was apparently known as Yannis Skordalides to his Greek Cypriot father.
He wrote many well-known songs of the 60s and 70s including hits for Adam Faith (Poor Me, What Do You Want?), Eden Kane (Well I Ask You, Forget Me Not) and Jimmy Justice (Ain’t That Funny). Jet Harris & Tony Meehan, formerly of The Shadows, had a UK Top 5 hit with Applejack, co-written by Vandyke with Meehan’s wife Bridget De Mare.
When Les Vandyke recorded as Johnny Worth for the budget sound-alike label Embassy 1958-60 he sometimes covered his own compositions that were doing well for pop stars like Eden Kane and Adam Faith (see the YouTube videos below for one example).
See also Little Pattie’s hit Dance Puppet Dance and Mr Lee Grant’s NZ hit Thanks To You, both written by Les Vandyke.
Thanks to Johnny Worth’s son Dave for emailing with correction and information. Thanks also to Terry Stacey.
Further reading: 1. Les Vandyke biography by Bruce Eder at All Music. 3. John Worsley film scores listed at IMDb. 2. My 2026 blogpost about Vandyke And The Bambis.
Disambiguation?
If you were looking for Leroy Van Dyke (The Auctioneer, Walk On By), try over here.
Pop ArchivesAustralia's premier song history site since 2004
Website by Lyn Nuttall. © Lyn Nuttall 2004-2026. Chart positions courtesy of Gavin Ryan’s Australian Chart Books and Dean Scapolo’s Complete NZ Music Charts. Special thanks to Terry Stacey for information, corrections and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Watson, Philippe Edouard, Dave Overett.., More…
