Welcome to the DC & The Topcats home page

DC & The Topcats

DC & The Topcats album 'Tails in the Air' is now available. Click on the 'Listen to our album' link on the left.

DAVE CROZIER: lead vocals & rhythm guitar

The son of a professional musician, Dave started singing and playing guitar in 1959 when he first heard Buddy Holly singing Rave On and his musical life changed forever. He rapidly developed a love for the guitar in all its forms and even won a talent competition at the age of 14 by singing Buddy Holly's Maybe Baby! It's been downhill ever since... Over the years he has performed both solo and with a number of bands the first of which, in 1964, was The Outsiders. There are pictures of him in this band with a quiff and a mean look! Only the hair has changed... Then followed The Weevils, Doug 'n' Dave, The Skerries, Three To The Bar, The Travellin' Band and Way Out West. In addition to 50s and 60s music (his first love), Dave also plays Country music and acoustic Folk music. He is married to a Fender Stratocaster (or so his wife says!).

DICK NELSON: lead guitar & vocals

Dick has been playing guitar in many different styles for ever, or so it seems. He has been in a number of hard working bands over the years including the infamous Brent Ford and The Nylons. The Nylons were best known for their punk versions of 19th Nervous Breakdown and C'mon Everybody and there is in existence some dead dodgy footage of him leaping up and down with the Nylons while wearing a nylon stocking over his head! He's a tiny bit quieter these days. The lure of Rock 'n' Roll was always strong for Dick and here he is now back behind his trusty Stratocaster struttin' his stuff and livin' it live. Please don't throw your nylon stockings at him. You just know what will happen...

PAUL SKINNER: double bass, bass guitar & vocals

Gentle giant Paul started playing in 1968 and has played continuously ever since on bass, guitar and keyboards. He began in a band called Grobs then in 1971 joined the pop band Jungle. He then expanded his playing career by being in several bands including Belair and The Designers. At the height of 70s madness, in 1974, Paul joined the soul band Zoo with whom he made several recordings. He has also played double bass and electric piano in various duos including Collard & Skinner, Well Alright, and Daydream. The big moment came and in 1985 he went solo, playing guitar and singing in various clubs and pubs plus a three year stint in a restaurant playing acoustic guitar and singing (but he was allowed home occasionally!). He is now firmly secured as a vital instrumental and vocal element of DC & The Topcats.

CHARLIE PERT: drums & vocals

Featuring all over Mike Read's book about south coast bands in the 60s, cheeky Charlie is a true drumming legend. He started making percussive noises in his extreme youth at The Dome in Brighton. At the zenith of the 60s beat group craze, in 1964, his first band was Chris Miller and the Rubies. Throughout this wonderful musical era, Charlie was in demand and played with The Guilty Party, The Total, Amalgamation and Omega Plus. He played support to The Who, The Hollies, Jimi Hendrix and Rod Stewart. Rumour has it that he now wears the support instead of playing it... His career spans many types of music but, like us all, his first love is 50s and 60s music. Just watch his hands flash across the skins, hear those cymbals sizzle, watch that cheeky smile and appreciate that you are watching a drumming legend at work!

Dave, Dick, Paul and Charlie: together, we are DC & The Topcats. We play well-loved songs and chart hits from the 1950s and 1960s. The combined age of the band members is........well, let's just say that we remember Officer Dibble. We were there when we were even younger and we are still doing it with loads of energy now. That energy, experience and, above all, fun drives our gig performances. Everything is performed live; no backing tracks of any kind are used in our concerts. We play instinctively as a band and constantly feed off each other as the enjoyment builds. This makes for an event where you cannot help joining in with singing, dancing, wriggling or simply tapping your feet - you definitely cannot sit still when DC & The Topcats are around!

We play at clubs, pubs, parties, weddings, music evenings and corporate events.

The perfect band for a great rockin' time!

DC & The Topcats

We help our 50s and 60s sounds by using the following gear:

A framed picture of Officer Dibble

Rob Williams VG Custom Set Neck, Walnut

Fender VG Stratocaster Custom, Olympic White

Fender Stratocaster, Olympic White

Gibson Les Paul Junior, Faded Cherry

Fender Precision Bass, Olympic White

Vox AC30 valve amplifier

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe valve amplifier

Watkins Copicat echo chamber

Line 6 Bass amp and Ampeg cab

Bose L1 Model 2 PA system with Tonematch mixer

Shure and Sennheiser microphones

Rotosound and Ernie Ball strings

Gretsch drums and cymbals which have been through rockin' hell!

1950s & 1960s hits 100% live!