By Pat Murphy Andy Williams was a consummate albums artiste... If you were searching for the quintessential non-rock American album artiste of the 1960s/70s, Andy Williams would definitely be on your shortlist. Between 1960 and 1972, he put 19 different albums onto...
By Derek Mead Memories keeping alive the music and songs of the early girl groups... It was inevitable that after extensive American male and female vocal and musical popularity from the 1950s, highlighted in two recent articles in The Beat, numerous girl groups...
By Martin Hutchinson It’s looking like a great year for fans of The Hollies... Not only do they have two UK tours to look forward to – one in the Spring and the other in Autumn – but the long-awaited autobiography of drummer Bobby Elliott has been published. ‘He Ain’t...
By Jane Quinn Julie talks about frogs, treehouses, and Mickie Most... Julie Felix is a singer, songwriter, musician, humanitarian, dreamer, doer of good deeds, mother and grandmother. Once upon a time long ago, in a land called California, this young girl dreamt of...
What's in our 2020 March issue of the Beat... Marty Wilde makes our front cover this month. In an exclusive interview for the Beat, he talks with Ian Woolley about his long and successful career to date. Songwriting for himself and others including daughter Kim, he...
What's in our 2020 February issue of the Beat... Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan makes our February cover. Inside, Ron Tennant goes along to one of his gigs in Belgium and tells about Gilbert's career to date. In our February exclusive interview for the...
What's inside our 2020 January issue of the Beat... In our special souvenir issue, we celebrate the 55th-anniversary tour of that legendary 60s band Hermans Hermits. In our exclusive interview for the Beat, the Hermits' drummer Barry Whitwam tells about their early...
The life and career of Carly Simon.
Her international singles.
By Martin Hutchinson Former Deep Purple bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes returns to his homeland to perform his Deep Purple Legacy show... Glenn was poached from the funk-rock band Trapeze in 1973 when just 20 years old, and as bassist and co-lead vocalist with Deep...
By Ian Woolley All that glitters isn't always gold... An aphorism means that not everything that is precious or true turns out to be so. For the Glitter Band, this was to prove very ironic. Originally, they started as the Mike Leander Showband back in 1965, when they...
A TRIBUTE
HER SONGS HER SUCCESS
HER HOPES MOST OF ALL – GLORIA
Country ladies who topped the pops
By Ian Woolley He's been there at the birth. Radio One's broadcaster still loves the job... Moving from Guildford to Bournemouth at a very early age, we asked Tony how he originally got into the music business. “I started performing at the Bournemouth Pavilion...
By James Stewart Last month Graham Hunter told us of the pleasure and satisfaction compiling retrospective collections that records had given him... Their policy had allowed him to go beyond the regular size sets you would expect for the artists and include one,...
REVIEW Rob Halford’s one-of-a-kind autobiography 'Confess' is to be published in hardback in Autumn, 2020... Rob is the frontman of Judas Priest, one of the most successful heavy metal bands of all time, with more than 50 million albums sold worldwide. Known as ‘The...
R J Gibb's spectacular new music show is planned to tour the UK... Following in Dad's footsteps, he will be singing his own songs and celebrating the hit songs of his father Robin Gibb and the Bee Gees, with ‘special guests’ performing their own songs and glamorous...
By Jane Quinn Brian Hyland talks about The Grassy Knoll, Flash Gordon, and The Three Stooges... I was nine years old when I first heard Brian Hyland sing Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. He was 16 (an older man), and I loved that record. By the time I...
By Ian Woolley The former Radio Luxembourg and Caroline DJ talks about the pranks of fellow DJ Noel Edmunds, fishing Roller fans out of a lake, and dressing as a chicken... Many disc jockeys harbour a secret ambition to also have a hit record. But Paul Burnett’s...
By Ian Woolley Drummer Romeo Challenger is still banging the drum for Showaddywaddy... Showaddywaddy started out in 1973 and their first hit was in the following year with Hey Rock 'n’ Roll. They have been on the road continuously since then, bringing joy with their...
By Martin Hutchinson Folk legends Steeleye Span are in a celebratory mood as they are about to set off on a 20-date UK tour to commemorate their 50th Anniversary... Many members have come and gone, but vocalist Maddy Prior is still there, as she was back in 1969....
By Derek Mead Boney M has a complicated background, almost political, and covering many countries. But after a brief introduction, we will move away from that scenario and concentrate solely on their music which, to say the least, is melodic dramatic, and totally...
By Pat Murphy If you're of a certain age, you’ll remember when the pre-eminent chart rivalry was between Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley... From the time Elvis came out of the army in early 1960 until the Beatles arrived in 1963, schoolyard debates about pop music...
By Derek Mead Steve is still bringing back the good times... This is a short story about the London-based pop and soul group formed in 1966 and active until 1971. There were five appearances in the UK Singles Chart with Everlasting Love reaching UK No.1 for two weeks...
By James Stewart Making people happy and meeting and greeting, that's Martika's way... One of the brightest stars to emerge during the '80s was Martika, formerly a child actress with a TV series and a role in the movie ‘Annie’ to her credit, who released two...