Beat Town (including Top Twenty Club & Newmarket Discotheque)

7th January 1963The Barron Knights 14th January 1963TONY BOLTON & THE FEDERALS From Watford and born out of long forgotten band The Beatniks, Bolton & The Feds were another group who recorded for Parlophone Records with their debut single “Brazil”, released during this very month. Despite employing the talents of Mr Bolton on vocals, it would appear that a lot of their output was Tornado-inspired instrumentals which suggests they had one of those contracts that allowed them to release material under both camps. Not that it mattered that much as chart action was non-existent either way. Other Parlophone 45’s followed, including a cover version ofRead More →

From January 1962 through to the summer break in May, The Top Twenty seemed to be treading a little water. A lot of the bands that appeared were either making return visits or were part of the Bristol/Bath/Southampton set-up that had served Graham Alford so well previously. It wasn’t until the very end of the year that we saw some fresh faces and by then, the seeds of a new era in British popular music were beginning to grow. 8th January 1962Johnny, Mike & The Shades 15th January 1962Danny DavisGARY and LEETHE PARAMOUNTS If you are a music enthusiast with a keen sense of rockRead More →

2nd January 1961Danny Davis/Tex RobergTHE NEVITT BROS Yet another booking from the Southampton roster managed by Len Canham. The Nevitt’s (Mike & Tony) were making their debut here and apart from a couple of faded photographs, the only other info about what was probably another Everly Bros inspired duo was the name of their backing band, The Jaguars. 16th January 1961 A great “double header” for this particular evening with two artists that were poles apart – a 60’s male crooner and a self-confessed raving loony from the North West of London. LANCE FORTUNE Lance Fortune was another scouser, this time from Birkenhead – justRead More →

29th August 1960JOHNNY KIDD & THE PIRATES It was imperative for Bridgwater’s new Monday night showcase to hit the ground running so booking someone substantial for this “Grand Opening Night” was of prime importance. With this first concert Graham Alford could not have done any better. From a Rock N’Roll perspective there was an awful lot of mediocrity in the British charts during the early 60’s, especially when compared to the Beat Boom that at this point was still 3 years away. But in Kidd & the Pirates, fresh from a headlining appearance at Bristol’s Colston Hall the night before, The Top Twenty not onlyRead More →

  1960 29/8/60 Johnny Kidd & The Pirates/Larry Boyd & The Davericks 5/9/60 Brian Fisher/Anne Beverley with the Four Strangers 12/9/60 Johnny Spencer & The Casuals/Gary Price/Pete & The Devils (local group) 19/9/60 NO INFO 26/9/60 Keith Kelly/Danny Davis/Lyn Tracey/Tex Roberg/The Strangers and The Semi-Tones (backing bands) 3/10/60 No concert 10/10/60 No concert 17/10/60 Dale Rivers & The Ramrods/Larry Boyd & The Davericks 24/10/60 Paul Hanford and The Rhythm Seekers/Clay Nichols & The Teenbeats 31/10/60 Barrie James & The Dominoes 7/11/60 NO INFO 14/11/60 The Brook Brothers/Barrie James & The Dominoes 21/11/60 NO INFO 28/11/60 Danny Hunter/Brian Fisher & The Strangers 5/12/60 Johnny Spencer &Read More →

In the great global scheme of things, Rock N’Roll’s origins are not that easy to track down. We know that it’s an American invention, we also understand that it was conceived from a successful amalgamation of Rhythm N’Blues with some of the more vibrant strains of Country & Western. But it’s emergence was not something that happened overnight, consequently it was always likely to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Theories abound as to what the first rock n’roll record may have been but no-one really knows for sure. As comedian Rich Hall recently put it “Trying to determine when rock n’roll was formed is like tryingRead More →