Rock History

Unique stories from the British Music scene

Category: Blog

  • Vic Flick joins the JB7

    Vic Flick joins the JB7

    The JB7 is short for the John Barry Seven and in the Sixties they were an all important route to fame and fortune. Originally John Barry was the music master for both Oh Boy! and the Six-Five Special and was Mr Fixit in the centre of all the London session business as well as having…

  • New book looms

    New book looms

    Yup I am back hard on the editing scene again working on a follow up to ‘Over Under Sideways Down’  with a whole new set of stories and secrets for you. There are some gems in there again, quite a few stories about Queen especially in the early days when they were trying to break…

  • Jive time and so much more

    Jive time and so much more

    This is Steve Jenkins with his book detailing the story of his life in the music business, out of Walsall he worked in the business at NEMS, Chrysalis, MCA and Mountain before finding his niche in the Seventies world of radio and shop promotion. Then moving on the become MD of Jive Records who became…

  • Don’t Knock Upon My Door – Six Dozen Great British ‘B’ Sides

    Don’t Knock Upon My Door – Six Dozen Great British ‘B’ Sides

    When I first became interested in Pop music, back in the late 50s, my pocket money wouldn’t stretch to records so I had to try and blag what I could from sundry uncles, aunts and cousins. The trouble was, their unwanted oldies were invariably either cracked old Embassy 78s or ancient, pre-R&R crooners/dancebands/novelty items, so my embryonic…

  • The Axemen Cometh – The Genesis Of The Great British Guitar Hero

    The Axemen Cometh – The Genesis Of The Great British Guitar Hero

    By the late 60s the British Guitar Hero was in the ascendency, and blokes like Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Alvin Lee were being deified. Rock Music was growing progressively louder, hair was flowing, trousers were tightening, and guitar solos were getting longer, flashier, more intricate and increasingly self-indulgent. The Axe…

  • The Mic Man is listening

    The Mic Man is listening

      It was a trip to Abbey Road Studios today as it is now known – once it was just EMI Studios and before that it was HMV Studios, I blame those Beatle chappies for the joys of trying to get across the road on ‘that’ crossing without being run over by frustrated drivers trying…

  • Sixties bass player – just busy doing gigs

    Sixties bass player – just busy doing gigs

    Managed to catch up with Richard Brown (aka Rick Fenson) yesterday who had played bass with Cyril Davies many moons ago. Over the years he played bass with The Savages, Brian Auger, Marty Wilde, Steampacket, Georgie Fame, Long John Baldry and he even turns up in Keith Richard’s book as the early Stones kept getting gigs…

  • Karl Dallas RIP

    Karl Dallas RIP

    I am sorry to report that Karl has died. A Melody Maker journalist with a strong interest in Folk music, his personal tastes actually veered all over the place. My wife worked for his for a period and we very much enjoyed his company and his views. I had seen him again recently as he…

  • from Sounds journalist to managing those groups

    from Sounds journalist to managing those groups

    Had a most enjoyable catch up today with one-time Sounds journalist John Ingham who championed the Sex Pistols right from the start and so is a prime candidate for our forthcoming book and documentary. Well it has been more than a few years since we met and the memories were being royally fired up on…

  • The EMI Records house snapper

    The EMI Records house snapper

    Peter Vernon got to take an endless role in the Seventies and Eighties photographing the artists as they came through EMI’s doors. He would have them constantly added to his diary and his role was to take press and promotion shots as well as some for record covers, record backs, inners or just to have.…

  • Jeff Jarratt was a new boy at Abbey Road

    Jeff Jarratt was a new boy at Abbey Road

    After starting work as a junior at Abbey Road, Jeff was asked to help with a new EMI signing called The Pink Floyd, so he went to see them at Regent Street Poly and absolutely loved them and especially their leading light Syd Barrett. Their first album was just his taste in the many years…

  • Gloria Bristow found that music publishing was quite fixed

    Gloria Bristow found that music publishing was quite fixed

    There was a era when music publishing was a cosy cartel and of course many of the deals that were made in the Sixties still apply today. Gloria became an exponent of fairer deals for the musicians.