Rock History

Unique stories from the British Music scene

The Stories

  • From Branson to Vicious

    From Branson to Vicious

    Last week we had the pleasure of a trip to the coast and a long chat with Sue Steward recounting her years with various madmen (and women). For many years she worked with Richard Branson in the early years of Virgin Records as it grew from a student newspaper into a indie record label. Then…

  • The Davy Graham documentary moves forward

    The Davy Graham documentary moves forward

    . We have been doing more filming recently and while outside Davy’s old flat in Camden, all sort of people saw us and stopped for a chat, telling us stories and memories of the man. This is Brian who lives next door with one of the photos he took of Davy all of which he…

  • Kingston-on-Thames shows off their musical history

    Kingston-on-Thames shows off their musical history

    For those of you interested in the musical history of the Kingston-on-Thames area, there is a new exhibition just opened at the local Rose Theatre. Supported by the Lottery Fund it collects together local history testimony covering the role of the American GIs based in nearby Bushey Park during WWII and their taste in ‘race’…

  • Nigel Grainge RIP

    Nigel Grainge RIP

    A hugely respected record company A&R man who signed Thin Lizzy and the Steve Miller Band to Phonogram and then went on the found Ensign Records with the likes of Sinead O’Connor and the Boomtown Rats. He was filmed about three years ago at his home in Santa Monica and the conversation and memories ranged…

  • Roy Tempest and BBC Records

    Roy Tempest and BBC Records

    I have been irritated today by the continued ease with which inaccurate articles appear on the internet and then become deemed to be actual fact. This week for example an article appeared on the august and mighty BBC website written about BBC Records and how wacky it was in the day. This was a company I used…

  • Artists on the road

    Artists on the road

    All that hanging around in hotel rooms could be very tiring

  • Caldwell Smythe launches Colonel Barefoot’s Rock Garden

    The old hotel had fallen by the wayside but when Colonel Barefoot’s Rock Garden sprang back to life on the Eel Pie island, it was to showcase so many brilliant rock groups

  • Willie Morgan goes from shop to jockey with a few diversions enroute

    Willie Morgan goes from shop to jockey with a few diversions enroute

    This week we have managed to film the current country music disc jockey Willie Morgan and hear tales of summer holiday jobs in record shops whilst under age in the Sixties. Hi-jinks with the artists at a variety of record companies in the Seventies and the role of an ever changing radio service for us all…

  • Vince Connolly working with the stars and musicians

    Vince Connolly working with the stars and musicians

    Vince Connolly was last week’s guest in front of the camera, spilling the beans on life as a Liverpool son who grew up there in the Beatle years. He eventually made his way down south to become a promotion man on radio and TV for the major record companies in London where of course he…

  • Vic Flick starts his extraordinary recording career

    Vic Flick starts his extraordinary recording career

    One from the archive that is proving eternally popular, session guitarist Vic Flick explains how he started off in the world of endless sessions