The second most important Tampa Bay band in the mid-sixties, and the only one to visit England, was The Roemans. They started out as The Romans, but changed the spelling of their name after they hooked up with Tommy Roe (of Sheila fame) and his producer Felton Jarvis. They backed Tommy on two fine singles on ABC Paramount Records, the first being I Think I Love You b/w Oh So Right in 1964, followed by the excellent Diane From Manchester Square b/w Love Me, Love Me in 1965.

The Roemans was a very good pop band in the mould of Paul Revere & The Raiders, and were a few years older than many of the other bands on the scene at the time. They released six excellent singles (all on the ABC label) between 1964 and 1966 – Give Me A Chance b/w Your Friend, Misirlou b/w Don’t (1964), Universal Soldier (this just may be the best version of this song done by anybody anywhere!!) b/w Lost Little Girl and Listen To Me b/w You Make Me Feel Good (all in 1965) and When The Sun Shines In The Mornin’ b/w Love (That’s All I Want) and All The Good Things b/w Pleasing You Pleases Me(1966).

They were signed to ABC Paramount after a show at the Bradenton Auditorium at which some important A&R men were present. Having been told by their manager that these people were going to be there the group decided that they should make a good impression. What they did was to get hold of about 300 members of their fan club – all of whom were girls! The front row was duly filled with teenaged girls sporting medallions and stickers and waving flags to support their favourite band. When the group walked on to the stage the place exploded, with the girls screaming, fainting and generally carrying on. It needed no more than ten minutes of this for the A&R man to make the decision to take them on.

The band’s greatest moment during 1965 was playing a show in Statesboro, Georgia as support to the Rolling Stones. The Stones were booed off the stage by a crowd that was impatient to see The Roemans! However, they out did themselves in 1966 by getting to tour the UK alongside PJ Proby. This was at the time of Proby’s infamous trouser-ripping antics – after one occasion he went too far and his pants fell off completely. He was replaced by Tom Jones who was currently riding high with "It’s Not Unusual". This tour was managed by Brian Epstein who was so impressed after witnessing their nightly performance that he was intent on signing them, although the band’s management back in the States turned him down. Who knows what the future might have had in store for The Roemans had they been able to sign with Epstein?!

All their singles received lots of airplay locally, as did many of the other bands on the scene. And their drummer, Bertie Higgins, later found fame in the US as a solo artist with his 1981 hit song Key Largo . . .

The full article is located at
http://www.shindig-magazine.com/4tampa.pdf