One of the most cherished items in my music collection is an audio-cassette which has almost miraculously managed to be played time and again over the decades, while not being tangled and chewed up by the playing head. It was pressed into my hand in the circle bar at Bradford’s Alhambra theatre in 1991 by Emile Ford, who was a famous pop star in the 1960s and had gone on to be an ace record producer.
I’d last seen Emile 30 years before that when, as performer of such smash hits as What Do Wanna Make Those Eyes at Me For? and Slow Boat to China, he had wowed the audience at St George’s Hall and somewhat upstaged the top of the bill, Adam Faith. During Emile’s act was the first time I ever saw knickers thrown at the stage!
And here he was now, in his role as producer of a recently-recorded set of tracks by a talented bunch of musicians who had entertained audiences around Bradford in the late 1950s and early ‘60s and were still rocking on.
Now their time in the spotlight had come again thanks to the efforts and dedication of Derek AJ Lister who, as Dal Stevens, had been one of those performers as well as, for six years from 1959, a DJ at the Gaumont and Majestic ballrooms in Bradford, which gave him the chance to meet many of the big rock ‘n’ roll names of the day.
I had first met Derek in 1988. I confess that I had never heard of him until he rang me and explained what he had in mind and asked me if, as a writer with the Telegraph & Argus, I’d write a feature about a project he was embarking upon. It sounded promising, which was how I came to be sitting on the sofa in the lounge of his Bingley home while he outlined his plan to me.
His intention was to write a book about those golden years, and hoped to get in touch with as many people as possible. And for that to happen he needed publicity. As he ran through their names and sang their praises I warmed to the idea. I hadn’t heard of many of them - apart from The Dingos and The Cresters, whose rhythm guitarist Malcolm Clarke had been a near contemporary at Belle Vue Boys’ Grammar School, and Garth Cawood, who was related to a neighbour of ours when I was a child.
Apart from that, the whole scene had somehow passed me by. I had left school, headed to London to find fame and fortune, soon abandoned that idea, returned to Bradford, got married and immersed myself in domesticity. Meanwhile, a bunch of men (and a handful of women) two or three years older than me were rocking around various venues in Bradford and in some cases beyond.
So I wrote my feature, and it worked. Before long I was writing more features as Derek assembled many of those musicians who had contacted him and announced plans to hold a rock ‘n’ roll reunion night, which turned out to be the first of many.
Meanwhile the book had gone ahead. Bradford’s Rock ‘n Roll, which was launched at that Alhambra reception, soon became a local best-seller (it’s since been followed by When Bradford Rocked, a more ambitious, detailed project, and even more successful). And the musicians, many of whom were still active on the music scene, got together for a reunion gig in 1991 at the Pile Bar in the shadow of Lister’s Mill chimney.
What a night it was! I was blown away by it as I finally got to see and hear them in action. These people were very, very good indeed. Their musicianship and professionalism were outstanding. Why on earth had Brian Epstein not been around in Bradford during their glory days 30 years earlier instead of in Liverpool managing the likes of the Beatles, Gerry Marsden and Cilla Black?
People like Mel Clarke, Mike Sagar, Sammy King (who wrote the hit Penny Arcade for Roy Orbison), Ray Kennan, Garth Cawood, Kenny Fowler, Drew Charles, Sandra Day, Richard Harding (an ace lead guitarist, Bradford’s answer to the ubiquitous US virtuoso James Burton), and Derek himself who performed an excellent version of Move It on a CD of tracks recorded at the same time as my cherished cassette but released later.
Sadly, some of these people are no longer with us, or at least are no longer active musically, though some still are because rock ‘n’ roll tends to keep your spirit young (as anyone who has seen one of the 84-year-old Marty Wilde’s show recently will know).
But Derek A.J. Lister has ensured that their legend lives on, thanks to When Bradford Rocked, a book which names them all and many, many more and gives details of their lives, musical careers and achievements.
And now all that information and energy and the sights and sounds of that era have been made available for a new generation in the 21st century in a website painstakingly put together by Derek and his friend and collaborator Reuben Davison, which brings to life that very special time When Bradford Rocked. More of which next time...
www.whenbradfordrocked.co.uk
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