Barron Knights

by William RuhlmannThe Barron Knights are a five-piece musical comedy group formed in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England, in 1960. Members are Duke DMond (born Richard Palmer, February 25, 1945, Dunstable, Bedfordshire; vocals, guitar), Peter Pnut Langford (born April 10, 1943, Durham; vocals, guitar), Butch Baker (born Leslie John Baker, July 16, 1941, Amersham, Buckinghamshire; vocals, guitar), Barron Anthony Osmond (b. June 15, 1940, Abingdon, Berkshire; vocals, bass), and Dave Ballinger (b. January 17, 1941, Slough, Buckinghamshire; drums). They started out as a straight music group, then gained success doing parodies of the Merseybeat groups of the early 60s and never looked back, continuing to make fun of successive musical trends. Their first major hit was Call Up the Groups (number three, 1964), and they made the U.K. charts with a total of 13 singles through 1983, including Pop! Go the Workers (number five, 1965), Merry Gentle Pops (number nine, 1965), Live in Trouble (number seven, 1977), and A Taste for Aggro (number three, 1978). Their only U.S. chart entry came in 1979 with The Topical Song, a parody of Supertramps The Logical Song.