We danced, we waved, we clapped and went home with music ringing in our ears…join me on a rock ‘n’ roll ride back to Norfolk of the 1950s and 60s.
So often we read about famous musicians coming our way but what about the warm-up acts, the local heroes, boys and girls too often forgotten about.
And they were the ones who packed out the halls, clubs and pubs. They were our friends and boy, could they play.
Now they are being remembered in the brilliant book The Anglian Beat which has taken author Kingsley Harris many, many years to produce.
In this first book of its kind he looks back at the bands, groups and soloists across our region who entertained us during the frantic 50s and swinging 60s, and tells their story.
Kingsley has also found some great photographs which will raise great musical memories in many homes across our region. And you may spot grandpa or grandpa.
It is fascinating to discover just how many acts there were, with so many members moving around from one group to another…and the names were great.
Last time we looked at acts with names beginning with A and ended with G so let’s hop abroad the amplifier and continue our jive back in time to remember some more of the music-makers.
H: Habit (Norwich), The Hallucination (King’s Lynn), The Hangmen (Norwich), Hard Line (Downham Market), the Harmonics (Beccles), The Harmony Four (Mattishall), The Hartbeats (King’s Lynn), The Hawaiian Beats (Lowestoft), The Heartbeats (Norwich), The Hi-Jacks (Norwich), The Hobos (Lowestoft, and the Hucklebucks, not forgetting Ricky Lee, (Norwich).
I: Impi (the name means an armed body of men in Zulu), The Incrowd (Oulton Broad), Influence (Norwich), The Intervals (Lowestoft), The Invadors (Norwich.
J: The Jack O Diamonds (Norwich), The Jack Rogers Orch (Norwich) The Jacquards (Norwich), The Jailbirds (Norwich), The Jay Dee Ensemble (Wymondham), Jay Lane (Lowestoft), Just Us (Norwich), and a certain band that you may well have heard of….the one and only Jaywalkers with the great Peter Jay.
They were formed at Norwich City College in 1960 and were one of the best and most popular bands around, touring with the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and making regular TV appearances.
In the book Peter explains how he went from his home in Yarmouth to Norwich to study Television Production. He was walking down a corridor one day and noticed two big lads wearing leather jackets heading straight for him.
“At first I thought I was ‘for it’ and tried to move across the corridor, but they switched sides as well and were still heading in my direction.
“When we met, one said, ‘Are you Peter Jay’? Hesitantly I said yes. ‘You play the drums, don’t you?’ Yes. ‘Do you want to play in our band: we rehearse in the theatre room every lunchtime?’
“I think I said yes immediately, more out of relief,” recalled Peter.
And so it came to be that Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers arrived on the music scene. What a great band with some talented musicians, remember “Big Boy” Pete Miller?
The Anglian Beat. An Account of East Anglian Bands of the 50s and 60s featuring more than 1100 local acts, costs £30 and is available on eBay and Amazon or from info@musicfromtheeastzone.co.uk
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