By Ron Tennant The Four Seasons of Frankie's fruitfulness... My wife Linda and I had booked tickets, way back in March, this year, to see a pop show in the Summer at the big Kursaal Theatre, in Ostend, on the coast of Belgium. What a Fab Frankie Valli night it was...
By Alan Thompson Radio times from the rock and roll eras... As Danny and the Juniors once sang Rock ’n’ Roll is here to stay. But I doubt even they realised what a poignant statement they were making in the late 1950s. A Rock ’n’ Roll radio programme scheduled on the...
By Derek Mead Half as nice as paradise for Amen Corner... Amen Corner is a Welsh rock group formed in Cardiff Wales in late 1966 with a limited life span of just four years. From 1966 to 1969 but with much interest including still popular hit singles and interesting...
By Derek Mead The British invaders - beating The Beatles After formation in 1958 and after a spelling correction in their name, the English group Brian Poole and The Tremeloes were invited on New Year's Day, 1962, to attend a Decca audition for a Beat group with an...
By Jane Quinn Share a cuppa tea with Jane and Chris Montez as he reveals his R ‘n' R musical history and the secret of eternal youth... In 1962 Chris Montez sang 'Let’s Dance' and - boy! - did we dance! Many huge hits followed, but our generation still seems to love...
What's in our 2020 September Beat issue... Savoy Brown makes our front cover. The legendary British Blues-rock band release a brand new album called Ain't Done Yet. We have two exclusive interviews this month. Ian Woolley chats with the most prolific and greatest...
By Ron Tennant Bad boy Billy had his heart on fame a real late, great pop idol - and it’s like he’s never been gone! Billy Fury was born as Ronald William Wycherley on April 17th, 1940. He was a war baby to his parents Albert and Jean Wycherley. Ronald had fair hair...
By Jane Quinn Dean chats with Jane about Lola, treehouses, and morality... He is sophisticated. He is funny. He is profound. He is Dean Friedman - a singer, multi-instrumentalist, a composer, a producer, a BBC Radio presenter, and much, much more. You will, of course,...
What's inside our 2020 August issue of the Beat... Billy Fury makes our August cover. The career of 60's heartthrob (formerly known as William Wycherley) is looked at in-depth by Ron Tennant. In our exclusive interviews this month, Ian Woolley chats with Mungo Jerry...
What's in our 2020 July Beat issue... Rock and Roll legend Eddie Cochrane makes our front cover this month. John Firminger looks back at the life of this icon 60 years after his tragic death in Chippenham, Wiltshire. Our exclusive interviews this month are with John...
What's in our 2020 June issue of the Beat... One of the last true remaining Rock 'n' Roll American legends Dion makes our front cover this month. Ian Woolley talks with Dion DiMucci about his incredible life as the lead singer with Dion & The Belmonts. Dion...
What's in our 2020 May issue of the Beat... Cliff's old backing group The Shadows make our front cover. Pat Murphy delves deeply into their album archive and back catalogue. Don't believe us? Why don't you give him a call? Talking of the '60s, Derek Mead looks back at...
A look at what's in our 2020 April issue of the Beat... One of the 60's favourites Mike Pender makes our latest cover. Having been invited to Buckingham Palace by the Queen to receive his MBE on March 12th he was given the prestigious honour by Prince Charles. We say...
By Jane Quinn Two new albums to enjoy... STEVE HARLEY UNCOVERED Sometimes a song comes along that is just too good to be sung only once. The new Steve Harley album contains many such tunes by composers as eclectic as Lennon/McCartney, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Keith...
Loose cannon BETTY DAVIS: THEY SAY I’M DIFFERENT MVD VISUAL DVD: MVD3032D Before watching ‘They Say I'm Different', I knew who BETTY DAVIS was, as I had some singles from the 70s in my collection plus a handful of others across various Funk compilations. But, despite...
Some of the latest album offerings to be released... KAY STARR - The One And Only! (Jasmine JASMCD 2698) Dynamic American vocalist with her third outing from Jasmine. Here, early singles tracks are included with those from a couple of landmark albums for Capitol...
Jim's Review Jim reviews some of the latest musical offerings... KIM WILDE ‘The RAK Reissues’ KIM WILDE was always going to be a pop star. Music was in her genes, both parents key figures from the early days of British rock’n’roll, Marty was one of the genre's first...
By Ian Woolley We caught up with two true survivors of the punk era – Toyah Wilcox & Hazel O’Connor... We talked to both of them about their career which, for both, spans more than 40 years. Born in Birmingham in 1958, Toyah Wilcox now regrets the rebellious stage...
REVIEWS BY Russell Newmark Here's another great selection from Russell... More tracks on The Beatles Book: On Track… The Solo Beatles 1969-1980 By Andrew Wild Sonic Bond Publishing, £14.99 160 pages It was inevitable that, after the Fab Four split up, the individual...
REVIEWS By Russell Newmark Another selection of new releases by Russell... Super super-group? CD: Blind Faith: Hyde Park‘69 London Calling With a collective personnel in which former members of Traffic and Family joined forces with two musicians lately with Cream, an...
By Ian Woolley For 25 years, Kiki Dee has toured with celebrated guitarist Carmelo Luggeri and now with another album out, they are still loving and free... In that time, they have written and recorded several albums together with their new one due out later in the...
Some of our March readers Letters to the Editor... Dear Editor All Charts Valid I read with interest Pat Murphy's Country 1960 feature in the March 2020 issue of The Beat. While identifying five chart-topping country recordings, he has done a disservice to another...
By Martin Hutchinson The original native New Yorkers, Steve and the band are filling the dancefloor... Disco legends Odyssey are taking their party night around the country in what promises to be an energetic and boogie-licious experience. Odyssey was one of the most...
By Derek Mead Here come the Manfred's... Manfred Mann was born in 1940 and has been active as a UK musician since 1961. 1962 - 1963; Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers 1962 to 1963 then changed name to - 1962 - 1969 Manfred Mann 1963 to 1969 during which time vocalists were...