Back in 1964, teenage twin brothers,Jack and Perry Crooner, spent the entire summer at the Pez Espada hotel in Torremolinos as their parents had been booked as children's entertainers for the hotel's kids club.

By chance Frank Sinatra was filming 'Von Ryan's Express' in Malaga and staying at the same Hotel.

On most evenings Old Blue eyes and his Gang occupied the executive Lounge bar at invite only events. Set up in the corner were a Grand Piano, drums and a double bass. Jack and Perry would sneak in every night to listen,which is when they switched on to swing music. 

Upon returning to their home in Romford they formed their own jazz trio with an Indian boy whose parents owned the Bombay Spice Restaurant. However realising two's company and three's only for special movies, the trio soon became a duo.

They worked tirelessly at writing and rehearsing their set in the cramped communal bathroom at the end of the hall, mostly in the middle of the night when the bathroom was less in demand.

Gigs were hard to come by and so they'd often perform outside the public toilets near Romford Market when, on one fortuitous occasion, Brian 'The Beagle' Goodwin, producer of the number 74 hit for local band 'Rise Park' earlier, happened to be passing, 

So impressed was Brian by the brothers' vocal talents, a few years later he booked some session time in Denmark Street studios for Jack & Perry to record with the legendary Buddy Norris Quintet. Sadly the alliance produced nothing of note and so the recordings were scrapped although Buddy had already forced them into signing a contract before the session began. The contract stipulated they were now signed to his production company and were not permitted to record with anyone else unless they paid him a settlement fee. Buddy's ties to the London underworld were well known and so the implications of breaking the contract were significant.

Frustrated yet still desperate for success as performers, the twins headed to Las Vegas in 1974  in search of greater opportunities and also far enough away from the clutches of Buddy Norris and his associates. Sadly they could only find work parking cars and working the cloakroom at The Flamingo Club, which was originally owned by Bugsy Seagal. Perry became dispondent that they were making little to no progress as artists and so he decided to head back to England. This angered Jack who wanted to continue,confident ithey would realise The American dream.This pivotal decision by Perry effectively was the final nail in the coffin for their act, Jack & Perry Crooner. They never spoke again for half a century

Their Grandfather Cyril who had been receiving end of Life care since 1993 and yet miraculously finally passed away in 2024. His dying wish was that he could hear his grandchildren sing together again. Although he passed before this could happen Jack and Perry were both present at Cyril's funeral and at the wake buried the fifty year hatchet and shared special memories of their days singing and performing together. They decided to visit Denmark street studios, partly out of nostalgia but also both secretly hoping it might reignite their passion to perform together. 

Unsurprisingly the studio was no longer there but the twins spotted a record store nearby and so decided to step inside. Whilst there they struck up a conversation with a young guy who introduced himself as Mickey, an up and coming drill producer but also with a love for big band music. In the middle of the record store, and unaccompanied, the brothers sang a repertoire of their original songs that had never been recorded. Mickey was blown away with the songs and offered to record an album with Jack & Perry at his studio.  

Finally, after fifty years in the making, Jack & Perry Crooner's debut album is complete:

The Dark Side of The Croon