by Stephen Thomas ErlewineFreddie & the Dreamers were the clowns of the British Invasion, playing their pop music for laughs while the other groups of the time were dead serious. Lead singer Freddie Garrity (born November 14, 1940) began playing in skiffle groups in the late 50s, switching to rock & roll in the early 60s. After the Beatles broke the American market wide open, Freddie & the Dreamers followed in the flood of acts that tried to duplicate the overwhelming success of the Beatles. The groups hits were more numerous in the U.K. than in America, where they had only one Top Ten hit, the number one Im Telling You Now. As 1965 turned into 1966, the group stopped charting in the U.S. and the hits began to dwindle in the U.K.; by 1968 the original group disbanded. Garrity continues to tour with a new version of the Dreamers.