Dave Mount

Dave Mount, who has died aged 59, was the drummer in the 1970s glam-rock group Mud, whose string of hits included the clumping Tiger Feet (1974) and the million-selling Christmas chart-topper of that year, Lonely This Christmas.

Mount formed Mud with frontman Les Gray, Rob Davis (guitar) and Ray Stiles (bass) in 1966, playing semi-professional dates at social clubs in the Surrey area.

They came to prominence when they were runners-up on the television talent show Opportunity Knocks, and went on to appear on children's programmes such as The Basil Brush Show and Crackerjack! They also opened for the American crooner Jack Jones during his 1973 British tour.

Originally signed to CBS, Mud switched to Mickie Most's Rak label after the impresario heard them play at the Revolution Club in London. The group had a trio of number ones in the mid-1970s with Lonely This Christmas, Oh Boy! and Tiger Feet, which went on to become the biggest-selling single of 1974,

David George Mount was born on March 3 1947 at Carshalton, Surrey. He was still a teenager in 1964 when, with guitarist Rob Davis, he formed a band called The Remainder. Two years later, Mount and Davis joined vocalist Les Gray in his group The Mourners, and changed the band's name to Mud because it was shorter and snappier.

In April 1966 they made their first live appearance, at Streatham Ice Rink, coinciding with the release of their debut CBS single Flower Power. The group turned professional in 1968.

Although their fourth single Jumping Jehosaphat (1970) also failed to chart, Mud finally achieved success in 1973 with a trio of Top 20 hits, Crazy, Hypnosis and Dyna-Mite, which got to number four that December.

It was Mount's thumping beat that propelled Tiger Feet to the top of the hit parade in February 1974, where it remained for four weeks, starting a short-lived dance craze with its insistent, mechanical urgency.

Two more singles followed — The Cat Crept In and Rocket — but it was Mud's Elvis Presley pastiche, Lonely This Christmas, that returned them to the top of the chart the following December. In a similar vein, The Secrets That You Keep reached number three in February 1975.

Mud's last chart hit was Lean On Me in 1976. The band split up the following year after severing their partnership with the producers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman.

Mount left the music business and worked as a kitchen salesman before moving into insurance.

Dave Mount, who died on December 2, was twice married. He is survived by four sons.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1538662/Dave-Mount.html