Weren't the Raiders the first rock group to appear in costume on stage?
Weren't the Raiders the first rock group to appear in costume on stage?
Weren't the Raiders the first rock group to appear in costume on stage?
In other words, a time when fashion, style and/or a fashion statement gimmick on stage mattered.
Hmmm...how about Screamin' Jay Hawkins? Little Richard?
I thought it was interesting that his middle name was Revere. His parents had a sense of humor. Unless it was a legal change he made.
Meanwhile, I'm sure he took a lot of kidding about his real last name.
No. They weren't. Most bands in that era wore costumes, though the costumes were usually matching suits or sweater outfits. The Beatles wore leather until Brian Epstein changed their costumes to matching suits.
'Revere' was his real middle name.
I don't consider men's dress suits "costumes" as virtually every male singer appeared in those. The Beatles (and other Brit bands) did wear some unusual suits but they were suits nevertheless. The only bands prior to 1960 that I remember wearing what could be considered a costume were the Cuban bands but they weren't part of the Rock genre.
Well, if you want to make up your own definitions for words, then whatever you say means whatever you wanted it to mean. To the rest of the entertainment world, "costumes" are any special clothing worn on stage or other performance venue. A special set of matching outfits is, to any performing group, "costumes". When the Beach Boys wore those matching striped shirts and chinos, that was a stage costume. The matching white pants and turtlenecks with a dark blazer outfits that the Dave Clark Five wore when performing were costumes. Just because you have invented your own unique personal definition for "costume" doesn't make it so.
Screamin' Jay Hawkins was an American rhythm and blues musician, singer, and actor.
Note that my original post specified Rock (meaning genre).
Hawkins got more rock airplay than Revere. Revere was Top 40. Hawkins was not.