The Rattlesnakes
The young boy band made their public debut in December 1957 at Manchester’s Gaumont Theatre. They were a skiffle/rock-n-roll group, with Barry on guitar and vocals, Robin and Maurice both on vocals, as well as friends Paul Frost on drums and Kenny Horrocks on tea-chest bass. As the story goes, the boys were planning to lip-sync to a record at the Gaumont cinema (as other kids had done in previous weeks).
BEE GEES, 1967. Photo By David Magnus/Shutterstock
In those days, venue owners commonly let children play records and mime performances during intervals of Saturday morning movies. But as the boys were running to the theatre, the shellac 78-RPM record fell and broke. The brothers were then forced to sing live. After receiving such a positive response from the audience, the group decided to pursue a singing career. But in 1958, the Rattlesnakes disbanded.