Raymond "Froggy" Froggatt was a singer/songwriter who spent much of his tumultuous career struggling to gain recognition. Born in Birmingham, England, he made his debut singing at a Dunlop factory party and received ten cents for his efforts. Froggatt was a sickly child who spent much of his youth battling tuberculosis in the Yardley Sanatorium. He left school in the 1950s to work a series of odd jobs. He had a recurrence of tuberculosis at age 18, and this time it attacked his kidneys and bladder. While isolated at yet another sanatorium, he took up poetry and decided to form a band. After advertising for musicians in the Birmingham Evening Post, he met young guitarist Hartley "H." Cain, bassist Lou Clark, and drummer Len Ablethorpe.