Vince Taylor was born Brian Maurice Holden on 14 July 1939 in Isleworth, Middlesex, England. With few post-war prospects on offer, the family moved to America in 1946.
After a short stay in New York City’s Bowery, they moved to New Jersey, where Brian’s father worked as a miner. By 1954, his sister Sheila was working in Hollywood, where she met and married Joe Barbera, soon to be half of the famous Hanna-Barbera cartoon-creating partnership. The 16-year-old Brian and his ageing parents subsequently moved west to California.
He returned to the UK in the summer of 1958 to create the finest fleeting moments in British rock ‘n’ roll.
Taylor looked and sounded like Gene Vincent, and his on-stage magnetism overshadowed his vocal limitations.
Collecting a backing group christened The Playboys, Taylor signed with Parlophone Records and released the single Right Behind You Baby. Despite three live appearances on Jack Good‘s Oh Boy! TV show in December 1958 and January 1959, the single failed to dent the charts.
A second Parlophone single was issued in April 1959. Taylor’s own Brand New Cadillac backed a sappy version of Johnny Ace’s Pledging My Love. Despite being tucked away on the flip side, Brand New Cadillac (later covered by The Clash) soon became recognised – along with Johnny Kidd‘s Shakin’ All Over and Cliff Richard‘s Move It – as a defining moment in British rock’n’roll.
But one great single couldn’t stop the band from falling apart. There were lots of rows and bassist Brian ‘Licorice’ Locking and drummer Brian Bennett departed to join Marty Wilde and ultimately The Shadows.
Taylor bounced back and recorded his most incendiary rocker, Jet Black Machine in 1960.
He then signed to Barclay Records in France, where he became domiciled. He was a thuggishly handsome rocker dressed head-to-toe in black leathers with a heavy bike chain wrapped around leather-gloved hands; his dyed-black hair combed high into an exaggerated ice-cream quiff. His looks were accentuated by an orange foundation, kohl eyeliner and a little lipstick.
On stage, Taylor screamed and wailed like a satanic Eddie Cochran, writhing on the stage, humping pillars, growling, and throwing himself into wild epileptic spasms.
His unstable character ultimately caused his downfall, and four years later, he was a filthy, drug-addled shell, carrying a roll of red material around with him, calling himself ‘Mateus’ and preaching in London coffee bars as “the new Jesus Christ”.
The rise and fall of Vince Taylor inspired David Bowie to create Ziggy Stardust.
Vince Taylor eventually moved to Switzerland after marrying Nathalie Minster in 1983, tackling his alcoholism during a six-month stay at a Montreux detox clinic in 1987.
He led a quiet life, sometimes appearing at small Swiss nightclubs, and after three months in hospital, he died of cancer on 27 August 1991. He was just 52.
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A second Parlophone single was issued in April 1959. Taylor’s own Brand New Cadillac backed a sappy version of Johnny Ace’s Pledging My Love. Despite being tucked away on the flip side, Brand New Cadillac (later covered by The Clash) soon became recognised – along with Johnny Kidd‘s Shakin’ All Over and Cliff Richard‘s Move It – as a defining moment in British rock’n’roll.
On stage, Taylor screamed and wailed like a satanic Eddie Cochran, writhing on the stage, humping pillars, growling, and throwing himself into wild epileptic spasms.
