The Shadows are Britain's most successful instrumental and vocal group with a grand total of 69 (including twelve No.1's) UK hit singles: 35 (including five No.1's) as 'The Shadows' and 34 (including seven No.1's) as 'Cliff Richard and The Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. According to the Guinness Book of Hit Singles and Albums (19th edition), they are the third most successful UK charted hit-singles act, behind Cliff Richard (2nd) and Elvis Presley (1st). They are also the world's most successful backing group of all time.

The Shadows were the original pioneers of the four-member rock-group format in the UK. The group played a pivotal role in the development of UK rock music "Before-Beatles" (i.e. pre-1963), thus they are of extreme importance in rock music history. Formed in London in 1958–59, their "Apache" hit single paved the way for many thousands of guitar-based groups both in the UK and abroad. Many of their EPs charted in the EP chart (defunct since 1968); in fact they are the UK's most successful chart act in the EP charts (qv "Hit Albums and Singles") and most of their studio albums charted in various UK album charts.

The Shadows, along with Cliff Richard, were from 1958 to 1962 the UK's one and only major group. Both enjoyed a massive second wave revival spell of success and interest in their music from the late-1970s until disbandment in 1990. Their unique guitar sound was originally produced by a combination of American Fender guitars, British amplifiers made by Vox and an Italian Meazzi Echomatic echo unit.

Overview

The Shadows were formed from members of several late 1950s UK skiffle groups: The Newcastle-based "Railroaders" (and also The Five Chesternuts on Columbia Records) who supplied Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, both inspired by USA-pop music; and The Vipers Skiffle Group (on Parlophone records) who supplied Jet Harris and Tony Meehan from London, both inspired by UK jazz–skiffle music. The Shadows, although originally the live and recording backing band for Cliff Richard, were later marketed as an instrumental combo, following their explosive chart success with the Jerry Lordan composition "Apache". In the USA and Canada they were briefly marketed as a 'surf' group with two special compilation albums, i.e. The Shadows Know and Surfing with The Shadows (both on Atlantic records) to compete with the Ventures and the Surfaris. Although both these two US albums failed to chart in America, the band had hits worldwide and had a significant impact on guitarists before the Beatles (inspiring the likes of Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Mark Knopfler, & Mike Oldfield).

The original line-up of Marvin, Welch, Harris and Meehan remains iconic in the minds of die-hard fans.^{[citation needed]} Their creation arose out of Cliff Richard's urgent need in 1958, after the success of his "Move It" single, which had used a mixture of his own "The Five Chesternuts/later "Drifters" electrified skiffle group, plus session players, for a set of permanent backing musicians. According to Norrie Paramor, their first producer, the Shadows' first studio album was dogged throughout its creation by clashes within the band.

Harris and Meehan eventually recorded under their own names for Decca Records after first Harris and then Meehan left The Shadows following clashes. Meehan was replaced by ex-Krew Kats drummer Brian Bennett, Harris by bassist Brian ("Licorice") Locking then John Rostill until the late 60s.

The Shadows disbanded in 1968 but Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch subsequently formed a vocal–guitar trio Marvin Welch & Farrar. The Shadows reformed in 1973 with Brian Bennett as a full member and various extra musicians due to low sales and fans demanding Shadows numbers at MW&F gigs. They permanently disbanded in 1990 but temporarily reformed in 2004-05 for a UK and European tour, (the reunion being instigated in 2001 by Roger Field, a guitarist who knew Marvin) and again during 2008–10 to tour with Cliff Richard.