Ray Hoff & The Offbeats - 1988 - Let's Go

Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go/Bama Lama Bama Loo/My Good Friend Mary Jane/Sinner's Prayer/Sweet Little Rock And Roller/Lookin' For My Pigs/Uncle Willee/Tossin' And Turnin'/ I've Got To Get You/Love, Love, Love/Chaser-I've Got My Mojo Working/In The Midnight Hour/Mercy, Mercy/Ain't Doing Too Bad




 Singer Ray Hoff formed the first version of Ray Hoff and the Off Beats in Sydney during the late 1950s. The band's style of rock'n'roll was raw with a strong R&B base. The band made little headway, despite several years of slogging around the Sydney dance/discotheque circuit. There were a number of different line-ups during the band's early days. John Ryan and his brother Vince (sax) were temporary members. In 1960, Jimmy Taylor left to join Johnny Devlin and the Devils, and Leon Isackson joined Dig Richards and the R'Jays.

RCA issued one single in 1964, a cover of Chuck Berry's `Little Queenie'/`Baby What Do You Want Me to Do?', before Hoff dissolved The Off Beats and headed over to Perth in Western Australia. The final version of The Off Beats contained Jimmy Taylor, Col Risby (lead guitar) and Mike Downes (rhythm guitar), all of whom joined Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs. In Perth, Hoff formed a new Off Beats line-up, a seven-piece band comprising Graham Bartlett (guitar), John Gray (bass), Basil V'Delli (keyboards), Warwick Findlay (drums), Robert Baxter (sax), Roger Bloom (sax) and David Birkbeck (trumpet). As Perth's premier R&B outfit, Ray Hoff and the Off Beats signed to the Clarion label and issued the singles `Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go'/`Bama Lama Bama Loo' (May 1966) and `Tossin' and Turnin''/`Looking for My Pigs' (October 1966).
 

Ray Hoff and the Off Beats' rare, self-titled debut album featured one side of live cuts and one side of studio material. Among obligatory covers of `Got My Mojo Working', `In the Midnight Hour' and `Mercy Mercy' was the wild instrumental `My Good Friend Mary Jane'. Ray Hoff and the Off Beats issued one more single, `Love Love Love'/ `I've Got to Get to You', this time on the Action label (August 1967). With the final break-up of The Off Beats, Hoff formed a duo with Andre De Moller (ex-Blue Dogs) before travelling to the UK. In late 1971, Hoff joined an ambitious rock'n'roll revue band in Perth called Likefun. The line-up also included Stevie Wright (vocals; ex-Easybeats), Shirley Reid (vocals), Morri Pierson (vocals), John Tucak (bass) and Alan Wilkes (organ).

Original line-up: Ray Hoff (born Ray Hough, vocals), Jimmy Taylor (piano; ex-Warren William and the Squares), Darby Wilson (guitar), John Ryan (bass), Leon Isackson (drums)

Albums: Ray Hoff and the Off Beats (Clarion, 1966), Let's Go: The Festival File (Festival, 1988).