Jamie was interviewed on Devon Air on 3rd March 2025 to talk about The Sounds of the 60s show coming to Devon over the next few months including the next show at The Beehive, Honiton, which is expected to be another sell out.
Nigel Tant is a specialist in 1960s music and has been a great help to The Zoots in the last few weeks, helping to spread the word in the South West.
Nigel Anyway, I hope you’re cosy and all feeling well and good this evening. Um, I’m going to be playing an interview with Jamie Goddard, first of all. Um, now he’s with a band called The Zoots. And they are coming to Honiton Beehive later this month. They’re a great 60s band. They do other things as well, actually. They do other shows as well. But this particular show is all about the 60s. And, uh, playing some 60s music in amongst it as well. Uh, but I’m going to kick off with this one, because he does talk about The Searchers and mention them quite a lot in the interview. So we’re going to hear from The Searchers, and then you’ll hear me talking to Jamie.
Friday the 14th of March at Honiton Beehive. The Zoots are back with their show, The Sound of the 60s. And I’m delighted to welcome back to Devon Air Radio, Jamie Goddard of the Zoots
Jamie Thank you so much for having me back, Nigel.
Nigel Oh, it’s absolutely my pleasure as always to, uh, to talk to guys, musicians.I love it. So, uh, welcome back. Let’s, let’s talk about this show. I know we spoke before Christmas because you had a New Year’s show, which I think was slightly different. But this is absolutely the 60s, isn’t it? This show.
Jamie Yeah, we’re doing, I counted it the other day. We’re doing 77 songs. From the 1960s.
Nigel No kidding, 77?
Jamie In just over two hours. But yeah, I counted them the other day. We were doing a lot of medleys of The Beatles. The Kinks. Uh, we’re doing a Searchers medley. Which has got four songs. And we’ve got a Flower Power medley to show that era. So that’s, that’s like a six minute long song of all the songs from the Power Flower.
The Doors and Cream and, and bands like that, California Dreaming by the Mamas and Papas, but it’s a great fun show and there’s a video show throughout as well, so it really takes you on a journey back to that time and It’s a really special show, and the last, as I was saying earlier, the last seven shows have sold out, so I’m really hoping for the Honiton, the Beehive.
Nigel Hmm. Oh, I’m sure it, I mean, as we, as we speak today, um, we’re talking on, uh, Monday the, uh, 3rd, isn’t it, I think? Um, it’s, it’s doing well, so people need to get in and get their tickets. Um, I’ll give all the ticket details towards the end, but yeah, people do need to get it booked. But back to the show, though.l Um, why the 6th, is Jamie? Hey, what what is it about the 60s?
Jamie I’ve always liked 60s music and when I first started playing music. The 60s music was the ones that I learned how to play, but had the Who records at home, we had the Kinks, we had the Rolling Stones, and those kind of acts were the first, like I went and saw the Rolling Stones in the 90s at Wembley Stadium. I went and saw Black Sabbath (in 1990). That was one of my first concerts I went to. So it was always bands from the 60s and 70s. That I was interested in. I’m not entirely sure why, but I think it was influenced by the record collection that my parents had and then by what my older brother had as well.
Nigel So you grew up with the music, but, um, I guess, I mean, that’s one thing, but it remains popular with audiences, doesn’tit?
Jamie It really does, Nigel, and it always fascinates me how Often I hear the songs from the 1960s on TV programs or adverts or radio adverts, that kind of thing.And it’s still really, really relevant. And even as far as far back from the 19 60, 19 60, I heard rubber ball on, on an advert recently when I was watching a cricket match. It’s just very, it’s still very relevant and, and also it brings back a lot of memories who, for people who were there in the actual. 60s as well.
Nigel Yeah, yeah. It can’t just be nostalgia. I mean, I’m of an old age. I grew up in the I was born in 1950, so I was perfect. I was a teenager in the 60s. By the way, little did I think that we would still be listening to this music 60 odd years later, I suppose, if I even thought about that. A lot of youngsters are picking up on 60s music, aren’t they? It’s not just old folks like me.
Jamie I think what happens is a lot of the people that come to the show bring their kids or sometimes there’s two generations, so they bring their grandkids as well. They seem to all know the songs as well, but there’s a few exceptions.
We played, um, I’m a Boy. We did a Who medley, uh, recently at one of our shows. And one of the songs was I’m a Boy, which is actually the Who’s biggest hit, which is why I thought it would be a good one to do. And that was interesting, because out of the whole show, that was the only one that the younger people didn’t seem to know.
But we’ve played all over the world, so we kind of get a gauge of which songs You know, if you’re playing to a Spanish audience, what songs you play, if you’re playing to a Scandinavian audience, it’s slightly different songs that will work in one territory, uh, or an American audience. American audiences, for example, don’t really know The Small Faces. But they still enjoy it, but they just don’t know it, and they don’t know Hi Ho Silver Lining. But obviously, if you play that to a UK audience, they really, really know that. And even though it wasn’t a massive, massive hit, it’s just something that has become Something else and then Sweet Caroline’s the same, you know, that was it was a fairly unknown song in 1969 and it actually wasn’t released in this country until 1971 as a sort of a follow up to crackling rose because they didn’t know they didn’t really have a song what they thought Would follow up very well in this country, but that’s another interesting one because it just wasn’t That much of a big deal, but over time it’s become bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. And just how popular that song is just bonkers.
Nigel Well, you don’t go to a wedding and not hear those, do you?
Jamie Well, I just guess that everybody of all ages knows that one, so you kind of have to play it, because I try and do it better than everyone else.
Nigel Of course. Um, Jamie, I was going to, actually, that leads us on to my next, in my notes here, I was going to ask you about setlists, because you say you do 77 songs. Which is a huge number of songs in two hours to visit, but picking a song, I mean some must presumably pick themselves, but there’s so much to choose from, um, how, how did you go about at the start choosing what to do, um, and today, do you, do you vary it, how do you put together your set list?
Jamie Well, this tour for this year It is a very different show to what we’ve been doing in the past, but we’ve still kept elements of being the same. So we started doing it in 2009 and I kind of knew what songs would potentially work because we’d had, I’d played them before, so I kind of knew which 60 songs would land well. But then when you start putting on a show, there’s other elements of, we started doing Shadows type moves or Freddy and the Dreamers type moves as part of the show for certain elements of it.
So there’s that to remember as well. So you try and, songs that have moves or movements, songs that could have video accompaniment and trying to capture all the elements of the 1960s. So yeah, it’s very, very difficult and I think this is what’s happened, why we’ve, we’ve ended up doing 77 songs because you speak to people in the crowd.
And they say, oh, you didn’t do any of such and such, but it’s so hard because we could be doing a five hour set and somebody would still come up and say, well, you didn’t do this one. So, but luckily we’ve got female vocals as well. So that gives us. A bit more scope, so we do a bit of, um, Our son of a preacher man is in the set. We do Nancy Sinatra, Boots Made for Walking. So we’re able to do those kind of songs well. And the searches are still very popular, so, There’s so much to fit in, so. I think I’ve done it on, based on how much clapping I’ve got after each song or how used the crowd have. So that’s what’s kind of happened. We kind of work out what one’s seen to, uh, land with the audience. And then it’s trying to capture everything. Because obviously, everyone’s got their own interpretation of the 60s. And it’s easy to forget there’s lots and lots of hit songs within that era. So, it’s actually quite a lot of responsibility.
And I do take that part of things really seriously. I really try and capture everything. That I possibly can. It is an impossible task.
Nigel I tell you what, let’s have some music, Jamie. Um, either one of your interpretations by the Zoots, or maybe a favourite 60s track which should play out. So Make a suggestion, what should, what should we play?
Jamie Well, for me it’s a Monday, but actually, or is it a Wednesday? I don’t know what day it is!
Nigel This, this is going, this is going, this will go out on a Wednesday, but we’re talking on a Monday, so it’s both really.
Jamie I quite famously announce this song and say happy Sunday to everybody, and somebody will shout out, it’s Friday! But um, I get a bit confused with days, but Lazy Sunday afternoon. Um, By the small faces.
Nigel Well that was Lazy Sunday by the small faces that was requested by Jamie Goddard of the Zoots who are bringing their show, the sounds of the sixties to, uh, the Huntington beehive, Friday the 14th of March. I’ll give you all the ticket details, prices and that later on. Um. Just, yeah, just perhaps briefly, Jamie, talk about your musical background, perhaps, and also the rest of the band, of course, because we haven’t really talked about them, so tell us a little bit about that.
Jamie Well, I was a choir boy at school. That’s my first introduction to music, but my dad was a drummer in a band, and he was in a band with Spencer James from The Searchers. Yeah. So it was a kind of offshoot of the first class, and they became something called Bobby Dazzler, and then they used to work quite a lot. They actually played, uh, Or what was the similar venue at the Beehive in Honiton, um, before I was born in 1974. So, but Dad was eventually replaced by Zak Starkey.
Nigel Oh, right, okay.
Jamie From, uh, now of The Who and formerly of Oasis and Ringo Starr’s son. So, he must have been pretty good. Yeah, but so basically I was born and Dad kind of gave up the music industry and he got ill as well so he buried his drums in the garden ceremoniously but he kept one drum kit up in the loft
Nigel Seriously! are you serious he buried his drums in the garden
Jamie yeah and also this just I looked it up recently, this drum kit, if he’d have kept it, it would be worth about ten grand. Um, it was a double drum kit, because he was a, the tints of the glam kind of rock thing at that time. Um, and he buried it in the garden.
Nigel Ha ha ha ha. Lord, okay.
Jamie But, I guess, from my point of view as a kid, he was always there for us when we were growing up, so, it wasn’t the worst decision in the world, but We had the drums up in the loft, so I got really interested and every day after school when I started going to secondary school, I would get back home an hour before my mum would get back from work and I would sneak up in the loft and play these drums along with, I’d had a few tapes of, of the who, who’s better, who’s best, just play along with that and also, So that’s how I got into music and my older brother was also playing guitar and he was very good at music. He had a music scholarship to a private school. So he was Very good at the cello. And then when he finished school, we did six form at my school and then we started a band and Yeah, once I did my first gig I was like, this is the best feeling in the world. And that was 1991 my first gig and I was like, this is what I want to do And I was playing drums at that time and then I started playing in pubs, uh, and at parties at schools.
I was far too young to be at pubs. I was like 13 or 14, but I had this big drum kit and I would just hide behind it in the breaks. But, and my dad would give me a lift down there to the, to the pubs, but it was good times. And in the nineties, when I was playing, there was a lot of venues that would take a chance of a band and it was very well supported.
Lots of people used to go. Watch live music at sort of grassroots level. So I was lucky because I don’t think that exists So much now. No, it’s hard for a band to kind of I I was lucky I had the opportunity to be bad for a very Long time learning my trade.
Nigel Sure, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And what about the rest of the band? Tell us who else is in the band, Jamie.
Jamie Our drummer, Simon Small, he’s been in and around the band now for over ten years. He comes from a blues background, he was nominated. Blues drummer of the year, and he’s also played on an album with Robert Plant. That’s his claim for fame. So, he hasn’t done all of the gigs since then, but he’s done the majority for them.
And he’s come back this year after a couple of years off, so that’s been really good. And Harriet, my partner, she’s the singer, the girl singer in the band for most of our shows. But she’s also quite a successful artist now, so we’re kind of struggling to keep hold of her because She sells all her artwork all over the world and uh, so we do a lot of work in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall and it’s an area that we really like to go and a few of the guys are into camper vans as well so it kind of ties in. Quite nicely with the nostalgia and the music as well.
Nigel Okay, so we got the gig at the Beehive in Hornets on Friday the 14th. What else is coming up for the Zoots in the immediate future?
Jamie We’ve also got a new show now that I was going to talk to you about. It’s called the 1960s Talent Show. It’s a brand new show that we’re doing and it’s debuting.
On the 20th of June, uh, in Burnham on Sea at Somerset. And I was approached by an agent for this new show. And initially, I was, I was thinking, Well, you know, our last few shows have sold out. But I really like the Sounds of the 60s show. And I thought about it for a while. And I was like, I can perform 60s music. This is a slightly different format of show. So, essentially, it would be like a 60s variety show. Where a compere and a lovely lady called Lauren Potter. She’s comes on, sings a song, and then she’ll tell a few jokes, and introduce a band, and we’ll come dressed up as the Searchers, or dressed up as the Beatles, and there’ll be a competition.
That the audience will vote for who they want to go through to the next round. So, it’ll be a bit more of a theatrical performance, because we will try and make an effort to act a little bit more like those people, or dress up a bit more like those people. But, I guess the difference is that the audience can kind of decide who plays in the second half.
Because it’d be eight bands that are planned to do Beach Boys, Monkees, Stones, Small Faces, The Kinks, The Beatles, and The Searchers. And I’ve probably forgotten one, (Beach Boys) but that’s what we’re going to start off doing. And then it’s just going to be a competition to see who goes through. So the next round, so we won’t actually know what happens in the second half because it’ll be different every time.
Nigel There could be, uh, there could be fisticuffs in the audience .
Jamie And also what I worried about is if, if, if, if we dress up like the wrong band, , dress up as the wrong band and come on stage and play the. the song of like another band
Nigel they all look they all look the same at one time anyway
Jamie it’s been quite a lot of work and research
Nigel interesting um and if people want to find out more about the Zoots and uh watch clips perhaps online where can they where can they find that our website
Jamie is thezoots.com and that’s where all Our gig dates are, we’ve got links to all the various theatres where you can buy tickets for the shows. And we also put lots of updated videos on our Instagram. You just type in The Zoots and also on our Facebook page as well, because we tend to put little clips up on there, like news and stuff. But also, on our website, I’ve got quite a lot of our radio interviews and stuff like that if you, if you ever miss the actual live recording.
Nigel Terrific, so that’s The Zoot’s Facebook page and the, and the website, and it’s easily found, I know. Um, Jamie, we could talk about the 60s forever, and we, we, we, we said this last time we spoke, I know, we could go on about music. for a long, long time. Um, and, uh, We spoke for about two hours last time. Well, we did.
After we, after the interview, I know, after the interview finished, we were chatting, weren’t we, for a long, long time. Um, but, yeah, um, I think we should, uh, have a, a try. I’m going to play one of yours now, one of the zoots, I think. Um, now I’ve got, I know I’ve got, uh, California Dreaming and Surfing USA, so which would you Which would you like to hear what should we play
Jamie both those songs really take me on a journey to a particular place now I’ve got a very vivid image of both of those songs, but I quite the California dreaming because I kind of feel when I went there that I had a real image of Uh, going to San Francisco and going around a lot of Los Angeles that, um, and California that I kind of got a real sense of that song and it made more sense to me after I’d been there. So I’d say California Dreaming because it’s, it’s a very special song. Lovely song. As it’s happening in the USA.
Nigel, Well, we’ll play California Dreaming, um, and, uh, we’ll, uh, yeah, we’ll play that out now. But, uh, Jamie, once again, thanks so much for joining us. Always a pleasure. Thank you.
Jamie I really, really, really appreciate that.You having me on the show, it makes such a big difference, and I’m so grateful, I really honestly am.
Nigel Oh well, thank you for that, that’s kind of you. Um, you can see the zoots doing the sounds of the sixes at Honiton Beehive, Friday the 14th of March. Friday night, perfect night for going out, and it’s just 24, and it is selling very well. Um, we’re talking on Monday the 3rd, and there’s some tickets left, but they will go, so. Get in and get your tickets now.
Jamie 30 something tickets left, Nigel.
Nigel 30 something? Well, there you go. There we go. Um, yeah, anyway, Jamie, once again, thanks a lot and I’ll see you soon.
