Le Popeye

Billy Hope was the drummer and bandleader of the Bad Men, which also included Franky Brunson (organ), Khalid Ali (bs), Khalil Malik (trumpet), Sonny Brockton (guitar, formerly of The Angels) and Billy’s older brother, Lynn Hope (sax). The Bad Men had released a few singles on Savoy in the US before arriving in Montreal. Lynn, who played sax in a honking style similar to Big Jay McNeely, had played in the King Kolax Band during WWII and then again in Chicago in 1950. The Hope family, including all their brothers & sisters, were part of the pre-Louis Farrakhan Afro-American movement that converted to Islam, as were other members of the Bad Men. While little is know about Billy Hope, we do know that Lynn (taking the name Abdullah Al Hajji Ahmed Rasheed) lived in Egypt and toured the Middle East for two years during the 1950s. By 1962-63, Billy Hope and his band were regulars at The Esquire Show Bar on Stanley Street and recorded their sole LP, for the Montreal-based Metro label. While the album was popular locally, Billy Hope & The Bad Men mysteriously disappeared from the scene shortly thereafter, never to be heard from again.

Billy Hope: drums, bandleader
Lynn Hope: saxophone
Sonny Brockton (formerly of The Angels): guitar
Khalil Malik: trumpet
Franky Brunson: organ
Khalid Ali: bass