Singers Feargal Sharkey and Raymond Ennis honoured at investiture ceremony
Raymond Ennis said the Princess Royal recalled dancing to the Hippy Hippy Shake.
Swinging Blue Jeans lead singer Raymond Ennis said he was described as a “blast from the past” by the Princess Royal as he received his MBE.
Ennis was a founding member of the Merseybeat band which climbed the charts with Hippy Hippy Shake and played in the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool during their 60s heyday.
Now aged 79, Ennis, of Birkdale, near Southport, has received his MBE for services to music from Anne at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Ennis said: “It was brilliant, I really enjoyed it. What a very nice lady the Princess Royal is.
“She said ‘oh, you’re a blast from the past’, so I thought ‘yes, I am, I suppose’.
“I said I’m probably more from your mother’s era than yours, but she remembered. She said she had danced to the Hippy Shake many times.
“I said you don’t realise how much we have contributed to the NHS for hip replacements.
“She had a bit of a giggle at that.”
Former Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey also received his OBE during the ceremony for services to music.
