Billy J Kramer had been friends with John Lennon for some time and John gave the group a demo of a new song, “Do You Want to Know a Secret”, which they perfected whilst working in Hamburg at the Star Club. On returning to Britain, the song was recorded at Abbey Road studios, with producer George Martin. It stormed up the charts and reached No.2 in the spring of 1963. It must be remembered that the Dakotas and Billy each had separate recording contracts with Parlophone, and that they were billed as “Billy J Kramer WITH the Dakotas”. To maintain the group’s identity, the Dakotas’ guitar instrumental “The Cruel Sea” was released as a single, and it reached the Top 20 around the same time as “Secret”. This Mike Maxfield tune was released in America as “The Cruel Surf”, coinciding with the surf craze.
The first Billy J Kramer with the Dakotas album, “Listen…”, was released at the end of 1963, and eventually reached No.11 on the LP chart. Early in 1964, the group felt they needed to release a single that wasn’t written by the Beatles (!) and chose “Little Children”. This controversial move paid off, and the record went to No.1 on the British charts in the spring of 1964. Later that year, both “Bad To Me” and “Little Children” made the American Top 10, and the group visited the ‘states, appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show, and playing to sell-out frenzied fans of the “British invasion” sound.
The Reformation 1989 - 2008
The first studio album since the 60s “The Dakotas -Volume 1” was released in August 1991, including a contemporary orchestrated version of the 1963 hit single, “The Cruel Sea”. In April 1992 the Dakotas did a three week tour of Sweden with fellow Manchester band, Herman’s Hermits. Between 1992 and 1994 the band appeared all over the UK, as well as regular trips to Germany.
In 2003 the Dakotas released their fourth studio album, “Everlasting”, to coincide with a massive 70-date “Solid Silver 60s” tour of the UK and Ireland.The tour also featured the Searchers, Wayne Fontana, Dave Dee and Barry Ryan, and ran from February until May 2003. Later that year, the band’s keyboard player, Toni Baker wrote the theme music, and the Dakotas were among the session musicians for the immensely successful British TV comedy series “Phoenix Nights”, starring Peter Kay.
In the spring of 2004 the Dakotas undertook yet another major 50 date UK theatre tour, teaming up once again with Peter Noone and Wayne Fontana, plus Bryan Hyland and John Walker of the Walker Brothers. To tie in with the tour, the band released their fifth album, “Strong” named after the title track I’m Gonna be Strong originally recorded by Gene Pitney. Almost straight after the tour, Toni Baker started co-writing the new music with Peter Kay for his TV series “Max and Paddy’s Road To Nowhere”. The show also featured Tony Christie singing the theme song, also co-written by Toni & Peter Kay.
The Dakotas were filmed in an episode of Peter Kay’s “Max and Paddy”, which was eventually broadcast in October 2004. Dressed as various 80s characters, the band performed and also backed Peter Kay on “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues”.
In August 2004 tragedy struck, when guitarist Mike Maxfield suffered a stroke and had to stop performing, although he is still actively involved behind the scenes.
Richard Benson, who had worked with Toni on the Max & Paddy recordings, joined the band as lead guitarist but due to his heavy teaching schedule, couldn’t commit to long-term involvement.
Alan Clare has now taken over the role of the band’s lead guitarist.
In spring 2007 the Dakotas again toured the UK along with The Searchers, The Merseybeats, John Walker & Wayne Fontana on the Solid Silver 60s Tour.
Once again a new CD was released to coincide with this tour.
The CD, called “Evolution” to mark the changes undergone by the band over the last few years, features many new songs including an original song specially written for the band by Toni Baker called “Falling From Heaven”. There are 17 tracks in all.
You can hear and download some these songs on the music player at the top of the myspace page
Anyone wanting a copy of the CD can email the band at thedakotasuk@yahoo.com.
Eddie Mooney joined the Dakotas in the late 80s after being a member of the band “Park Avenue”. The drummer in that band was Tony Bookbinder, who had been the original drummer in the Dakotas, and this connection eventually led to the reforming of the band with Mike Maxfield.
After fronting The Dakotas for 20 years, Eddie amicably left The Dakotas in January 2008 to join The Fortunes after their long-standing frontman, Rod Allen sadly passed away.
Paul Rafferty was recruited to join the Dakotas as new frontman/bass player in late Feb 2008. Paul was well known to Toni & Pete from earlier years on Piccadilly Radio as a singer/songwriter & performer.
Paul has toured Britain before with his own band supporting Bucks Fizz and he has had two singles released on EMI lable: ‘The Man behind The Scenes’ which he wrote himself, and ‘Too Late Now’ written for him by Junior Campbell. They were recorded at Abbey Rd Studios London and can also be heard on our music player here on myspace.
For a few years, Paul sang & played bass at ‘Bookbinders’ a top Manchester night club. The owner of the club, the late Brian Bookbinder was also the uncle of Tony Bookbinder the Dakotas’ original drummer!
After several great singers and musicians were considered for the role of Dakotas’ frontman, Paul’s experience & fabulous vocals stood him in good stead when the final few were being considered. His natural experience of live gigs & recording made him feel instantly at home in his new environment.
Toni Baker joined the Dakotas early in the 90s, though he has a long history of working in well known bands. He played on Billy Ocean’s early recordings in the 70s, & was a member of “Shabby Tiger”, a hugely successful group in Europe, with many hit singles, such as the No.1, “Slow Down”.
Toni, who is still a top UK session man, now owns his own recording studio “Moose”. He is also a talented songwriter, who had a Number 5 hit in Japan with Eat You Up.
More recently Toni wrote all the music, including the theme tune, for Britain’s top comedian Peter Kay on his highly acclaimed comedy series “Phoenix Nights” and Max & Paddy’s Road to Nowhere.
Toni and fellow band member Pete Hilton also starred in the first episode of the first series of Phoenix Nights as members of a folk band called “Half A Shilling”. Toni continues his production and session work for major TV programmes including “Waterloo Road” and “League of Gentlemen”.
A CD containing much of his recent TV work - The Best of Peter Kay So Far -was released in December 2005.
Toni is working on the music production of a guitar tuition DVD at the moment, called “killerguitartips”.
Pete Hilton joined the Dakotas in 1999, but has also a long established pedigree. An ex-member of Freddie & the Dreamers, he is also a respected session drummer, and has been touring since 1963. In the late sixties Pete worked the original Liverpool Cavern Club with the eminent guitarist Robin Hill. Pete and Robin went on to form jazz rock band “Spring”. There were memorable live performances with Mike Oldfield, Joe Cocker, Canned Heat, Deep Purple, & Traffic. In the late seventies Pete worked theatres throughout the UK with many greats such as Frankie Howerd and Bob Monkhouse. Rolf Harris & Tommy Cooper also played an important role in Pete’s musical education! In the late seventies while working with pop group Family Affair (Alan Clare was also in the band!) Pete grabbed the opportunity to gig with the Supremes (Mary Wilson). He also worked alongside David Essex, who later inspired Pete to perform in “Godspell” while he was living in Canada. Pete is passionate about jazz and classical music and was delighted to collaborate with Robin Hill once again to perform the Claude Bolling concerto. Pete is currently recording again with Robin. He continues to teach drumming, as well as performing with the Dakotas.
Alan Clare joined the band in 2006. His varied guitar talents lend themselves perfectly to The Dakotas’ many faceted musical styles.
Alan has worked in many bands, including Freddie & the Dreamers alongside Pete Hilton, and is still a major session player, having worked with artists as diverse as the Supremes, Dionne Warwick, Buddy Greco, Cliff Richard, Gene Pitney, Gerard Kenny, Kenny Lynch, Lynn Paul and Ken Dodd.
As well as being one of the North’s leading session guitarists, Alan also teaches a master class in advanced jazz guitar techniques.
Don't Know The Reason
The Dakotas Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Til you've learned the meaning of the blues
Until you've loved a love you've had to lose,
You don't know what love is.
You don't know how lips hurt
Until you've kissed and had to pay the cost,
Until you've flipped your heart and you have lost,
Do you know how a lost heart fears
At the thought of reminiscing,
And how lips that taste of tears
Lose their taste for kissing?
You don't know how hearts burn
For love that can, not live yet never dies.
Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes,
You don't know what love is.
The Dakotas's song Don't Know The Reason is a melancholic lamentation about the experience of love and loss. The lyrics speak about the depth of emotions felt when someone truly loves and loses that love. The first verse sets the tone for the rest of the song, stating that you truly cannot understand the magnitude of love and the pain of separation until you have experienced it yourself.
The second verse speaks more specifically about the physical and emotional pain that comes with loving and losing. The idea that one cannot truly understand how much lips can hurt from a bad kiss or how a heart feels when it's been broken until you've personally experienced it is emphasized. The lyrics also touch on how memories of a lost love can haunt someone, making it difficult to move on.
The final verse brings everything together, describing how painful it is to face the morning after a sleepless night filled with thoughts of a broken heart. These lyrics, as a whole, paint the picture of the profound emotional toll that loving and losing someone can take on a person.
Line by Line Meaning
You don't know what love is
One cannot claim to truly know the nature of love until they have experienced its true essence.
'Til you've learned the meaning of the blues
The deep sorrow and despair that comes from heartache and loss is an integral part of truly understanding what love is.
Until you've loved a love you've had to lose,
The pain of losing someone you have loved deeply is a necessary experience in truly understanding the depths of love.
You don't know how lips hurt
Until you have been hurt by someone you love, you cannot comprehend the extent of pain inflicted by someone's words or actions.
Until you've flipped your heart and you have lost,
When someone you have given your heart to betrays your trust and leaves you brokenhearted, only then can you truly understand the pain of lost love.
Do you know how a lost heart fears
The fear and anxiety that comes from losing someone you love can be all-consuming and leave a permanent mark on one's soul and psyche.
At the thought of reminiscing,
Simply the thought of dwelling on memories of a lost love can be excruciatingly painful and provoke feelings of sadness and grief.
And how lips that taste of tears
After crying over a breakup or loss, even kissing can become a painful reminder of what was lost and leave a lasting bitter taste.
Lose their taste for kissing?
One may lose the desire for the physical act of kissing when their heart has been broken and they feel emotionally drained.
You don't know how hearts burn
The intense longing, passion, and desire that come with love can be so strong that it feels like a physical sensation in one's chest.
For love that can, not live yet never dies.
True love can survive even when a relationship cannot and can continue to affect a person's life, even long after the relationship ends.
Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes,
The emotional pain caused by heartbreak can be so great that it affects one's physical health and makes it difficult to sleep or face the day ahead.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DON RAYE, GENE DE PAUL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jmrodas9
This song is still very good to hear. It has nice language in its lyrics and nothing vulgar or obscene. The rhythm is very good too. The Beatles were musical geniuses really.
@philbrown9764
I remember hearing this on the radio during the 60s, when I was a teen. It still sounds great in my 70s.
@fuzzlewit9
You still have great taste in your 70's.
@davidwinn721
72 here, and I can ditto that observation. We used to have the transistor radio in bed at night during the early to mid 60's, listening to a Top 40 charting 45's and of course the Beatles had like 6 sides in the top 5-10 slots.....plus all these other great British Invasion singers and artists like Billy J Kramer, Petula Clark, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Peter Noone, Peter & Gordon, etc. What complimented The Beatles back then on the radio was Terry Stafford and Suspicion which held a top 5 position at the same time, and was a great song. I still love all Beatles compositions including Bad To Me, and they never tire or get old. McCartney-Lennon-Harrison wrote some really tasty chord progressions, melodies and lyrics, didn't they?
@rodmcdonough6111
You captured it so well, I was there back then and still here today... with an even greater appreciation of all those British Invasion bands you mentioned, as well as the musicianship, chord structure and vocal quality. It never gets old!
@utubemusiccritic
Always loved this song. The fact that Lennon/McCartney wrote it is amazing. Was there nothing they couldn't do?
@ashith1297
Well, they couldn't make bad music.
@milesfromneworleans
Their best song was "Something".
@darrenringer9811
Damn. This song popped into my head and I was determined to figure out what it was that made it noteworthy. But that is almost a cop-out.
@ClassicAustralianTV
I had no idea that they wrote it but now you mention it I can hear a bit of Beatles in this song.