Vanity Fare

Vanity Fare
The band in 1971.
Background information
Origin	Kent, England
Genres	Pop music
Years active	1966–present
Labels	Page One Records
Website	http://www.vanityfare.co.uk
Members	Bernie Hagley Eddie Wheeler Howard Tibble Steve Oakman
Past members	Trevor Brice Tony Goulden Dick Allix Tony Jarrett Barry Landemen Jimmy Cassidy Phil Kitto Brian Johnson Mark Ellen

Vanity Fare (due to the similarity of the novel and magazine title often misspelled Vanity Fair) are a UK pop/rock group formed in 1966, best remembered for its million-selling song, "Hitchin' a Ride", which became a worldwide hit in 1970.

School friends Trevor Brice (born 12 February 1945, Rochester, Kent, England) (vocals), Tony Goulden (born Anthony Goulden, 21 November 1942, Rochester) (guitar), Dick Allix (born Richard Allix, 3 May 1945, Gravesend, Kent) (drums) and Tony Jarrett (born Anthony Jarrett, 4 September 1943, in Rochester, Kent) (bass) formed the band in Kent in 1966, originally calling themselves The Avengers. They played local clubs and were spotted by entrepreneur Roger Easterby who became their manager and producer. Having changed the name of the band to Vanity Fare after the novel Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, they signed to Larry Page's Page One Records.

Vanity Fare achieved a UK hit single with their first release, a cover of "I Live For The Sun" (originally recorded by The Sunrays in 1965) in the summer of 1968.

Following two more singles, "Summer Morning" and "Highway Of Dreams," both of which failed to make the UK Singles Chart, they released their biggest UK hit, "Early in the Morning". Written by Mike Leander and Eddie Seago, it reached number 8 in that country in August 1969 and number 12 in the US in early 1970. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.