The Pretty Things have announced they are retiring from electric performances at the end of the year... All current and forthcoming dates throughout 2018 are being billed as part of a farewell tour. Their announcement read: "I am sorry to tell you that this year will...
‘A BEAUTIFUL NOISE’ is a lavish new production celebrating the life and music of Neil Diamond, and the show is about to tour the UK and Eire throughout October and November... This joyful celebration will be delivered with an assured virtuosity by the award-winning...
By Pat Murphy This is the fourth in a series marking Cliff’s 60th anniversary in the music business... The first three looked at the international dimension of his career and his live performances in the UK, but the focus this time is on the various TV dimensions....
By John Firminger Responsible for creating the hits with probably just as many misses – one of the most important, if not THE most important, people in the recording industry is the record producer. Some of them, like George Martin, Norrie Paramor, and even Joe Meek,...
Every Deep Purple true lover knows how much their magic and powerful style is the result of many different influences brought in by the single members, all merging into the powerful sound loved by millions of rock fans. Ian Gillan's love for American soul and R&B,...
By Pat Murphy Tommy, the rock ‘n’ roller who became Britain’s premier song and dance man... When Tommy Steele steps onto the stage of the London Coliseum this July, it’ll be almost 60 years since he debuted there in a lavish production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s...
By David Parker The new 'Brighton Music Walk of Fame' pays tribute to Sussex musicians... The 'Walk of Fame' is the brainchild of Walk of Fame Media and the owners of Brighton Palace Pier. From The Who and Abba to name but two of the great names, the Walk allows...
By Jane Quinn The boy star to master multi-musician talks Zorro, cornfields and Nicola Tesla... Do you remember a vintage television series called The Twilight Zone? If you said “yes” you will no doubt remember the episode about a six-year-old red-haired,...
The New Seekers release 1974 albums on CD for the first time, Together/Farewell, on April 20, 2018... The New Seekers recording catalogue has been vastly overlooked on CD, considering just how enormous this mixed vocal group was between 1970 and the group's split in...
Steve's everlasting sound of music and rhythm... “Maybe if we live long enough, we grow into what we always wanted to be. Just maybe, if we stick at what we love, it’ll come around and come good. Steve Ellis has earned the right to sing the Blues if he wants. And sing...
By Martin Hutchinson The Rolling Stones No Filter tour is in the UK and Ireland this summer, with more shows in Germany, France, the Czech Republic, and Poland. They play 13 shows in 12 venues across Europe in September and October. STONES – NO FILTER has Mick Jagger,...
By Jane Quinn Peter Noone talks broken hearts, and cats and dogs... Referring to himself as Peter NO-ONE. Well, he is not a no-one but, indeed, a SOME-ONE, and I had the pleasure of sharing a big cuppa tea with the ever-youthful Peter in my garden somewhere in the...
By Pat Murphy The early Grammys didn’t care for rock ‘n’ roll... The Grammys were invented in the late 1950s to give the American music industry its own version of Hollywood’s Oscars. Ostensibly, “artistic achievement, technical proficiency, and overall excellence”...
By Martin Hutchinson At the height of the Punk Rock explosion in the late seventies, a song by a relatively unknown American singer-songwriter drifted into the charts... Dean Friedman’s Lucky Stars followed his first chart entry, Woman Of Mine, which got to No.52 in...
From the music halls of Stoke-on-Trent to topping the charts with Frank Sinatra and Petula Clark, singer-songwriter Jackie Trent finally shares her colourful life in her fascinating new autobiography... “[Their songs] changed my life. They changed the whole course of...
Whole Lotta Shakin' - a tribute to Shakin' Stevens' is live at theatres in the UK... The 80s Welsh answer to Elvis finally has his own tribute show with all the hits, including 'This Ol' House', 'Green Door', 'Oh Julie'. The rags to riches story are based on his 40...
By Jane Quinn Wreckless Eric chats about Tom Petty, secrets, and plynths... Remember that legendary song The Whole Wide World? Of course, you do. Written by singer/songwriter/musician Wreckless Eric, it has been covered by many artists including The Monkees, Elvis...
Jack Good died on September 24, apparently without much of a fanfare... The early British TV producer Jack Good, whose shows included Six-Five Special and Oh Boy!, also found and managed UK rock ‘n’ roll stars Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, and Cliff Richard, and is also...
By Jane Quinn Alan Clayson of The Argonauts discusses Elvis and Elvis, monkeys, and new projects... Well, as I grew up in the American cornfields, I never suspected one day I would share a cuppa tea with a genuine Argonaut. But here we are, chatting about Elvis and...
By Martin Hutchinson “I can't remember his name, but he sang Nights In White Satin”... So said Jeff Wayne when he was casting his legendary album ‘The Musical Version of The War of the Worlds’. He wanted the perfect voice for the song Forever Autumn and he thought the...
By David Parker We interview the legend that is Steve Ellis. The voice of the Love Affair... Legend! There I’ve said it. From a No.1 single in 1968 with the iconic tune ‘Everlasting Love’, singing with his then band, Love Affair, to other Top Twenty hits like ‘Rainbow...
It's been a couple of years since we interviewed the rockin' 'n' rollin' singer/actor Rebel Dean, and boy has he been busy since then... He is the performer who the mighty Darrel Higham was quoted as saying: "Rebel Dean - probably the most successful male Rock n' Roll...
By David Parker Dame Vera talks exclusively with the Beat. A century of caring, sharing and family... Dame Vera Lynn, 100 years old, in conversation with David Parker Dame Vera: you were not even a teenager at the start of your singing career? Would you say you were...
By Jane Quinn I first saw Columbia recording group, The Cryan’ Shames, live in concert during the summer of 1966... Never – and I mean NEVER – have I been so excited by a live gig. The combination of musicality to such a high standard and performance energy was second...