Bobby Vee, the Sixties teen idol who had Hot 100 hits with ‘Take Good Care of My Baby,’ ‘Run to Him’ and ‘Rubber Ball,’ died on October 24, after five years with progressive Alzheimer’s disease. He was 73. Mark Wynter sent this via Graham Hunter. “Early on in my career, when I was...
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….BRIAN ‘SAXOPHONE’ JONES of The Undertakers By Jane Quinn Join Brian as he talks about hoarding, Mozart, and Marmite. The Undertakers were originally called Bob Evans and the Five Shillings; but that just doesn’t sound as good, does it? They started out as part of the Merseyside music scene in the early 1960s, and they are...
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Who is your favourite artist, band or group of the 50s and 60s?
Hit45s has teamed up with The Beat magazine to find out. Log on to the Hit45s.com website and vote now!
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By Martin Hutchinson Gary Numan is taking on a UK tour to celebrate three of his early albums; ‘Replicas’, ‘The Pleasure Principle’ and ‘Telekon’. The tour follows the success of his last album ‘Splinter (Songs From a Broken Mind)’ which reached the Top 20. “2016 seems an ideal time to revisit the three albums that changed my life....
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TOAD from The Cryan’ Shames as he discusses Elmer Fudd, Jackie Kennedy, and singing in the shower. Summer, 1966, and I was a teen correspondent for an American pop music magazine. My treasured press card gained me an audience with many of the top musicians of the heady days of the Sixties. Luck delivered an opportunity to interview...
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By John Firminger Taking a break from my usual ramble I would like to look at the rise and fall and rise again of the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis. It’s almost 60 years since the infamous British tour of Jerry Lee Lewis in May, 1958, and in part one we looks back at the furore surrounding it, and how Jerry’s career managed...
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By Jim Stewart As the 60th anniversary of entering a recording studio for the first time approaches, Phillies legend Darlene Love releases her best album of her long career. ‘Introducing Darlene Love’ returns Darlene to the capable hands of Steven Van Zandt, who created the perfect mix of Spector and Springsteen with ‘Alone At...
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THE LINDISFARNE STORY Fans of North-East legends Lindisfarne may be bemoaning the fact that the band itself never tours these days, content to perform their traditional Christmas Show in Newcastle’s City Hall during the festive season, but – thanks to two former members, the music will be echoing around the theatres of Britain from...
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A few sixties – and even eighties – packages are doing the rounds these days, but apparently not many from the seventies. However, that omission is being corrected as the latest ‘Glitz, Blitz and 70s Hitz tour is set for November and December. This is the fourth of the tours, which celebrate the ‘Glam’ rock era....
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There are rumours flying around that there is a superb tribute band to Fleetwood Mac doing the rounds. For once, the rumours are, in fact – er – fact, and the celebrated Rumours of Fleetwood Mac are touring their acclaimed show in an exhaustive 26-date UK tour. The original Fleetwood Mac had a string of hits from ‘Albatross’...
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By Martin Hutchinson After more than 50 years, the highly-influential band The Zombies are in the midst of a very productive and busy period. Not only are they gearing up for a five-week tour of the US, performing their iconic album ‘Odessey and Oracle’ (sic) which will be followed by shows on the continent, and then a tour of the...
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By Pat Murphy When I first started to buy albums more than 50 years ago, “greatest hits” compilations were a particular attraction. After all, you could get a whole whack of favourites in one package, most of which you hadn’t been able to afford as separate singles. It seemed like a perfect deal. Of all the hit collections around...
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By Jim Stewart ‘The Voice’ was one of The Moody Blues biggest hits and to their legion of fans worldwide JUSTIN HAYWARD is The Voice. Since joining the band late 1966, he has enjoyed incredible success both as a band member and a solo artist. In 2015 he is touring the UK in both guises, with promoting a new eight-disc box set ‘THE...
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By Pat Murphy The music industry historically awarded Gold Discs for sales of a million or more, but the overwhelming bulk of the discs were for performance in the American market. Relatively speaking, Britain was too small to compete in that league. Indeed, throughout the 1950s, it’s estimated that only three records – Rock Around...
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By Martin Hutchinson Veteran Scot-rockers Nazareth are undertaking a short UK tour in January, their first British dates with the bands’ new lead singer Linton Osbourne. After the retirement of co-founder member and singer Dan McCafferty, due to ill health, the band decided to continue and recruited Linton, who has been settling...
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By John Firminger Continuing with our look back at the mixed fortunes of British rocker Terry Dene, we look at the more positive side, namely his recorded work. As a vocalist he had managed to copy some of the vocal style he’d heard by a young singer from Tupelo, Mississippi. This may have been as a result of him working as a...
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From Takeovers to good Vibrations By Paul Francis WHILE working as a professional musician for many years, and playing in bands since the early 60s, I went through many highs and lows. When working with certain musicians you know straight away when it clicks and everything just seems to gel. When I put The Paul Francis Band...
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Back in 1957, singer Terry Dene (real name; Terry Williams) looked like being the ‘golden boy’ of British pop. With hit records, a film star and appearances on stage and TV he was riding high, before it all went pear-shaped. It was actually in a wrestling ring, in between bouts I might add, that Terry had given an impressive...
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