BANDS

 

The Bands' pages are dedicated to the groups from Hartlepool and Teesside who were operating in the 1960's. If your band is not mentioned here and you'd like to be considered, send me an email with all the details. If we don't know about you, we can't mention you!

The very latest on our bands pages website is that of Government. Thanks to former member, bass player Malcolm Buckton, we have a wonderful selection of photographs over the years and a great history of the band. This photograph was taken at The Excel Club in Middlesbrough in 1971 with Brian Rowe, David Coverdale, David Williamson, Malcolm Bradshaw, Malcolm Buckton & Mick Martin.

The Swinging Blue Jeans with Jeff Bannister on keyboards, Alan Lovell on lead guitar, Pete Oakman on bass and Graham Hollingworth on drums are all set to appear the the Beechwood and Easterside Club in Middlesbrough on Wednesday, June 26th.

When the Evening Gazette, in Middlesbrough, printed a story about The Zephyrs in March 2009, it certainly created a lot of interest. So much so that Paul Delplanque, who writes the "Remember When" column in the paper and has an on-line blog, has written more features based on the 'beat boom' of that era - When Teesside Really Rocked - and some wonderful articles on The Blue Caps, Barbara and the Vampires, The Condors and The Globe Theatre. Then, in April 2010 Paul wrote about some personal thoughts from Keith Roberts of The Crestas and The Johnny Taylor Five were featured in June the same year. The School of Rock from June 2011 was a wonderful article on The Crawdaddies and Plainsmen and we musn't forget The Milestones in May 2012. Then we had quite a long feature on The Denvers in February, 2013 and the latest feature on the bands is the Road Runners from March, 2013. What are your memories of those glory days and do you have photographs that you'd like to share? You can either email me or contact Paul at the Gazette. "Remember When" is the most popular non football blog in the Trinity Mirror Group and the eighth most popular overall (out of over 500). It also attracts more readers than all the blogs on the Scottish Daily Record combined.

How it all started: For almost fourteen years I lived on the Costa Blanca in Spain. Following a visit I made to my hometown of Hartlepool in June 2004, it was suggested to me to start a web page featuring some of the old bands, or groups, that graced the pubs and clubs of the area back in the 1960's. The idea started after Billy Crallan, George Hart and Ed Saul all joined forces to play some of the old songs to help celebrate Ron Blair's 60th birthday. Billy Crallan, Ron and I played together in The Trakkers and George, of course, was the original lead guitarist of The Hartbeats. The photograph above shows George, Billy, me and Ron at Hartlepool Cricket Club. So, what started as an idea has now expanded into many pages - and is dedicated to the great bands of that era and the friendship we all enjoyed. Photograph © Marion Crallan.

If you've enjoy your visit to our bands pages please do return because it's been nice of you to stop by. Why not sign our comments page and tell us about your time here and any memories you have of those glorious 60s - it would be appreciated.

 

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