Looking back: 60s pop star Steve Ellis, 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 Valley’ and ‘Bringing on Back the Good Times’. In one form or the other, Steve […]
Read more
It’s been a couple of years since The Beat magazine 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 artiste in Britain today” and […]
Read more
Dame Vera Lynn, 100 years old, in conversation with David Parker Dame Vera: you were not even a teenager at the start your singing career? Would you say you were fortunate to have become a famous singer at such a young age? Yes, I was a great deal younger when I first began singing – […]
Read more
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 to none. Opening with the fastest-ever version of […]
Read more
Why was Tom Jones on a beach in Cornwall to begin his 2017 tour, widely thought to be his last stage show live appearances. Tom was in Perranporth, Cornwall, a venue very different to the world’s biggest stadiums where he is more likely to be billed. The show was part of the summer’s Bands In […]
Read more
Newly-honoured Tony Crane MBE in conversation with David Parker Tony: you were a teenager at the start your singing career, would you say you were walking into good fortune on stage in front of paying fans? We were lucky being in Liverpool at the time. There were lots of great bands around, but at the […]
Read more
By Jane Quinn PLEASE allow me to introduce you to THE IMP…Michael Joseph ‘Mike’ Pasternak, or as you will know him – ‘Emperor Rosko’. He is an American presenter of pop music programmes most widely-known for his shows on Radio Caroline and BBC Radio 1 in the 1960s and 70s. Around 1975, he briefly hosted […]
Read more
Looking back over 60 years, Marty Wilde has many memories and achievements, not least of all his MBE which will be presented to him this month.
Read more
If you read my review of SUZI QUATRO’s poetry book ‘Through My Eyes’ you will recall I gave a list of Suzi’s achievements over the past 50 years.
Read more
By Martin Hutchinson Back in the sixties, Manfred Mann was a big hit-making machine, and from 1964 to 1969, they were almost ever-present in the charts due to such classic hits as ‘5-4-3-2-1’, ‘Doo Wah Diddy Diddy’, ‘Pretty Flamingo’ and ‘Come Tomorrow’ to name but four. Their music was so good that they survived a change of...
read more
I caught up with the 2015 Solid Silver Sixties Tour in The Pavilion, Bournemouth last month. I was greeted at the stage door by the highly-professional tour manager Bob Balchin, who was obviously pleased to see me – I don’t know why! He gave me the layout of the dressing rooms so I went for a walk round to see who had...
read more
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...
read more
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...
read more
By Jim Stewart Ray Thomas, The Moody Blues, ‘The Magnificent Moodies’ 50th Anniversary Deluxe 2CD Edition, Esoteric Recordings: ECLEC 22473 As the sixties turned the page for 1965 the future looked good for THE MOODY BLUES, their UK No.1 ‘Go Now’ was now repeating its success worldwide, and their follow-up had also...
read more
Originally scheduled as the second leg of 10cc’s 2014-15 Nationwide Tour the dates now have a greater significance to their fans as the band will feature the complete ‘Sheet Music’ album onstage for the very first time. They begin at Reading Hexagon on February 5th, followed by The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury on Saturday 7th...
read more
Singer Jimmy Somerville is releasing his sixth solo album, Homage, on March 9. The record, a collection of 12 original disco tracks, is a tribute to the genre that inspired Jimmy so much during his teenage years. “A homage to disco is something I always wanted to do. I never really thought I could pull it off but I did, and it’s a...
read more
Martin Hutchinson They say the New Year is a time for new beginnings, and so it was exactly 40 years ago for Fleetwood Mac. After a number of hits between 1968 and 1970, blues-based, times were hard for the band. ‘Black Magic Woman’, ‘Albatross’, ‘Oh Well’ and ‘The Green Manalishi’ had all been successful, but they had not had a...
read more
By Katie Davis The Rag dolls, one of the top European Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons tribute acts, take you back through the Jersey Boy’s career and before their fame, playing songs such as Oh! Carol and Teenager in Love that Frankie, Tommy, Bobby and Nick would have covered in the early days. I had the pleasure of seeing them...
read more
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...
read more
