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Over the 1960s, the crossBeaTs had up to 100 bookings per year, as they played their songs in churches, clubs, coffee bars, prisons and colleges. The monthly maximum for bookings (not including a weekly practice night and weekly prayer meeting for the work of the group) was 17 in a month. The following graph shows the number of bookings per month, for each month over the years 1963 to 1975. Much of the later data (eg 1975) is missing.
Taking an average number of bookings per month, over a number of
months, smooths out the above graph, and shows something of the trend in the
way bookings were taken on.
You can see the way in which there is a dip in bookings over the summer months in most years, and a rise at the beginning of each autumn session for churches - 1970 being the exception because of the tour of the USA. There is also a slight dip each Christmas. The dip between September 1967 and September 1968 coincided with weddings of the group members, and the departure of Eric Knowles (drummer). In early 1971, there was a deliberate policy to reduce bookings from what was believed to be 8 per month down to 4 per month, as married life and other commitments (along with full-time jobs and old age) took their toll.
Of the nearly 700 bookings noted, almost 80% of them took place
over the weekend, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The following graph shows the
actual distribution:
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