The group was founded in April 1962 in Liverpool by members who had previously played in local outfits such as the Thunderbeats and Roy Montrose and the Midnighters. They used both the spellings "Kubas" and "Koobas" at times. Late in 1963 they began playing at the Star Club in
Hamburg,
Germany, doing a three-week stint there.
Tony Stratton Smith signed them to a contract in 1964 and brokered them a deal with
Pye Records. In 1965, they were to appear in the film
Ferry Cross the Mersey (a
Gerry & The Pacemakers vehicle), as the losers in a
battle of the bands, but this footage was cut from the film's final release. By 1967, the band had started to change its sound from
R&B-rooted beat to
psychedelia, and began writing their own material. In 1968 they cut a version of the
Cat Stevens-penned "
The First Cut Is the Deepest", but were overshadowed by
P.P. Arnold's version, which hit the
UK Singles chart Top 20. Near the end of 1968, the group splintered just as EMI-Columbia prepped their
self-titled first LP, released early in 1969. The Koobas never made it into the official sales chart but their cover of the Gracie Fields hit, "Sally", climbed as high as number 21 on pirate station
Radio London's Fab 40 in January 1967. Drummer Tony O'Reilly joined
Yes in September 1968, after
Bill Bruford's departure to go to university, but Bruford returned in November of that year. He went on to play briefly with
Bakerloo.
Keith Ellis later played with
Van der Graaf Generator and
Juicy Lucy, while Stuart Leathwood formed the duo Gary & Stu and later played with March Hare. The group's entire post-1966 output was reissued on CD in 2000 by the Beat Goes On label. == Band members ==