Rocky Sharpe & The Replays formed in 1976 from the ashes of Rocky Sharpe and The Razors.
The group enjoyed a string of hit singles between 1978 and 1982 beginning with Rama Lama Ding Dong, a cover of a track originally recorded by The Edsels which reached #17 in the UK Charts. Debut album, Rama Lama, was released on Chiswick Records shortly after.
Their second album, Rock It To Mars, was released in 1980 and spawned the single Martian Hop.
Follow-up albums Come On Let’s Go (1981) and Shout Shout (1982) were not commercially successful, although the single Shout Shout (Knock Yourself Out) reached #19. Meanwhile, the group remained a popular live act in Europe.
Helen Blizard left the group in 1982 and was replaced by Carole Forbes, who used the stage name of Gloria Sunshine.
Rocky Sharpe and The Replays moved to Polydor for their fifth album, Stop! Please Stop! (1983). Despite featuring some of their best work the album was not a commercial success.
When Polydor failed to renew their contract they returned to Chiswick Records and released a number of singles, but commercial success continued to elude them and the band called it a day at the end of 1984.
Sharpe was forced to retire from the business in the late 1980s after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He lived with his wife Paulina until late 2013 when he became a full-time resident at the Queen Alexandra Hospital Home (QAHH) in Worthing. He died in December 2019 at the age of 67.
Rocky Sharpe (Robert Podsiadly)
Vocals
Johnny Stud (Jan Podsiadly)
Vocals
Helen Highwater (Helen Blizard)
Vocals
Eric Rondo (Mike Vernon)
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Gloria Sunshine (Carole Forbes)
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