Rock History

Unique stories from the British Music scene

Tag: RockHistory interview

  • The Rock History Archive is coming to British Music Vault

    The Rock History Archive is coming to British Music Vault

    This is a deeply personal post. For years after Mark Rye’s passing (or Dad, as I knew him) I’ve been carrying the responsibility of all of the people who shared their story with Rock History, and the legacy that Dad had left, unfinished. Dad had always planned to do more – to write more books,…

  • Rob Burns and bass playing memories

    Rob Burns and bass playing memories

    From starting touring aged just eighteen with the The Stylistics as they topped the charts in Britain as well as more soul legends such as Sam & Dave, Rob has made career of playing bass guitar with numerous parties such as David Gilmour, Albert Lee and Vivian Stanshall. His marvellous tales will be following on this…

  • Ray Connolly was a Fleet Street legend

    Ray Connolly was a Fleet Street legend

    Hailing originally from Liverpool, he eventually met The Beatles and interviewed them many times for the Fleet Street papers  as their pop specialist

  • Top Topham gave The Yardbirds the Blues

    Top Topham gave The Yardbirds the Blues

    Well they were all kids in those days messing about with instruments and trying to learn to play them. Top wanted to play in the group but his parents had other ideas  

  • Zoot Money – The Book Of Life… I’ve Read It

    Zoot Money – The Book Of Life… I’ve Read It

    Saw Zoot in fine form last night with the overview of his life so far with a band and the musical soundtrack to match. He went back to days of the Flamingo Club and a young Andy Summers on guitar playing R&B and Chuck Berry & Ray Charles numbers though those late, late nights till…

  • John Preston starts in the business at Bruces Records

    John Preston starts in the business at Bruces Records

    JP as he was known to many has just gone to the great gig in the sky for too early – here he related his start in the business at Bruce’s Record shop

  • Simon Carver the dance record shop man

    Simon Carver the dance record shop man

    It was all go as you can see from the above photograph when I sat down to discuss Eighties record retailing in Sheffield and then so much more beyond that city and that era. Simon is now a man with large shop and distribution experience, and he had great tales of the heady days of…

  • Gary Compton, a Kingston man in a Panama jug band

    Gary Compton, a Kingston man in a Panama jug band

    Gary had the harmonica bug and so was a regular watching the The Rolling Stones and the emerging Yardbirds as well as the American Blues legends such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Jimmy Reed all around the Kingston, Richmond, Twickenham area. Watching musicians at the Osterley Jazz & Folk Club eventually led to him…

  • James Moyes knew Alexis, Davy and Cyril

    James Moyes knew Alexis, Davy and Cyril

    A lovely evening was spent recently with James (and his daughter) with him recounting tales of Davy Graham for the ongoing film ‘The Man With The Guitar’ – hey can you believe we are nearly finished now? Well the director think we are and then another head pops up. James moved in that small circle…

  • 10 Tales about these Sex Pistols

    10 Tales about these Sex Pistols

    10 Tales about the early period of the Sex Pistols to celebrate it being 40 years since the release of their first album ‘Never Mind The Bollucks’. We have 10 Tales for you from the musician Chris Spedding who was an early champion, album producer Chris Thomas plus various EMI Records staff who recall signing the…

  • Top Topham was just 15 when he started in The Yardbirds

    Top Topham was just 15 when he started in The Yardbirds

    Yup their original lead guitarist was just fifteen and starting bands were not common place behaviour in those far off days he says, but of course the Skiffle Bug had hit him when he was twelve and his dad had kindly made him a tea-chest bass. Even taking him to the Ealing Club as a…

  • 10 Tales – Marc Bolan

    10 Tales – Marc Bolan

    This new mini E-Book featuring ten tales from people who worked behind the scenes with Marc Bolan is now available exclusively for your Kindle – just search their system for Mark Rye 10 Tales