MOJOS at the FORT

The Mersey Beat Story on Sunday 23rd June at Fort Perch Rock New Brighton featured The Mojos, led by Nicky Crouch.

What a Quiz Master!

Dave the Phone!

Compere for the afternoon was revivalist DJ "Ala Cra" who got the afternoon off to a fine start with one of his nostalgia quizzes - lots of easy questions but also one or two to test the old grey matter e.g. In school we were taught the 3 R's, what 4 F's make up the title of a Tom Jones hit?

Dave "the Phone" did the interview, chatting to both Nicky Crouch and Eric London about their early music days and the different bands that they played in.



The Interview



Following a short break The Mojos then played a brilliant set featuring some great numbers with lead vocals shared between Nicky and Sam Harding (The Dominoes).

The line-up of the band was

Nicky Crouch - Guitar Vocal

Eric London - Bass Guitar

Brian Jackson - Drums

Sam Harding - Piano



Eric London, Nicky Crouch



A very tight sound from these well seasoned musicians with a set that included such classic rock n roll numbers as - "Sweet Little 16", "Hey Good Lookin'", "Travellin' Light", "Kansas City", "Never Can Tell", "Everyday", "Raining In My Heart", "Flip Flop Fly", "Peggy Sue", "Love Hurts", "Walking The Dog", "That'll Be The Day", "old Black joe2, "Bye Bye Johnny", "Tequila", "Blueberry Hill", "Route  66", "Better Move On", and "Slow Down".

Answer to the Tom Jones Question -

"Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings".

ROCK AROUND THE SIXTIES

ROCK AROUND THE SIXTIES THEATRE SEVERN SHREWSBURY SUNDAY 9th JUNE 2013

 A rather small audience for this show which is not what it deserved, but an early start at 5pm on a rather hot day might be a contributary factor.

Opening act was "Walk Right Back" a tribute to the Everly Brothers which featured a fair number of classic Don & Phil tracks including - Walk Right Back, Till I Kissed You, Cathy's Clown, Bye Bye Love. So Sad, Wake Up Little Susie,  When Will I Be Loved, Dream, Claudette, and Let It Be Me. But what I didn't get was the inclusion of two Buddy Holly numbers, simply because the Everly's toured with Buddy. There is sufficient numbers in the Everly's song book not to have to do this.

Saying that, the two men concerned gave a polished performance, were smartly dressed with good patter with the audience but a band would have been better than using backing tracks, and if financial constraints mean that tracks have to be used then in a theatre enviroment get someone off stage to operate the tracks. For me this cheapened what otherwise was a brilliant and polished act.

Following the interval the main act of the show - The New Honeycombs, took to the stage. This is a well seasoned four piece with years of experience between them and keeping in pure Honeycombs tradition including a female member although not on drums, which was the main trademark of the original group.

Apart from The Honeycombs hits - "Have I The Right" "Is It Because" and "That's The Way" the band performed songs from - Billie Davie/ PP Arnold (Agelof the Morning), Beatles (Can't Buy Me Love, Twist & Shout), Couldn't Live Without Your Love (Petula Clark), Dusty Springfield (Only Want To Be With You), Bobby Vee (Take Good Care of My Baby), Mamas & Papas (California Dreamin'), Smokie (Living Next Door To Alice), Del Shannon (Runaway), Neil Sedaka (Breaking Up Is Hard To Do), The Seekers (Find Another You), The Searchers (Walk In The Room, Needles & Pins, Don't Throw Your Love Away), Spencer Davis (Gimme Some Lovin'), Tamla Motown (Rescue Me, Baby Love, Stop In Name Of Love, Dancing In The Street).

The instrumentation of this band was back to basics as it was in the sixties, guitar, bass, drums and vocal, but adding that extra something was the numbers played on the 12 string guitar.

Included in the set was a number written by guitarist John Quinn entitled "Girl From No6" a great 60s feel to this song probable because that's when John wrote it.

What made the show mostly enjoyable for me was the inclusion of a number of songs not normally performed on sixties shows.

If this show or simply the New Honeycombs is at a venue near you then take a visit I am sure you won't be dissapointed.

www.thenewhoneycombs.yolasite.com

Alan Crowe

If you visited this show or any other on the tour please feel Free to add your comments.

SEARCH FOR AN LP.

The family of a Midlands musician who claimed that he played on the hit song "My Boy Lollipop" with singer Millie Small are appealing for a rare UK copy of a 1964 LP to help them solve a long-held mystery.

Ray Deville, from Stourbridge, was a member of the Five Embers, the backing group to teenage singing star Millie Small in the 1960s.

Ray, who passed away recently, told his family that he had played the distinctive mouth organ part on the hit record.

However, this has been disputed by others, including Stuart Maconie a DJ and music expert, who states that another musician played it. I personally have always believed it to be someone else.

The family want to resolve the issue finally and are hoping to track down a UK copy of the LP My Boy Lollipop, which contains a list of credits.

So far their search has been fruitless but remain hopeful that someone that has a copy will get in touch with them. They are also trying to contact Millie herself to see if she can remember Ray playing on the record.

Sarah Aston, Ray's daughter, said that her father was a rather modest person who never talked up what he did, but was always adamant that he had played the mouth organ part on the record and that he wouldn't have said so unless he had.

As a lasting tribute to her father the family want to solve the mystery finally and believe the record credit would do that.

Do you have a copy of the LP or can throw some light on the mystery? then please call 01384 353205

REFLECTIONS OF A ROCK N ROLL TOUR

Five world-class musicians, singers and songwriters who, after years of touring and recording with some of the most iconic bands in the world, bring you a great new show highlighting some of the best British Rock and Pop music of a generation.

Featuring special guest Peter Howarth–lead singer with The Hollies, this band of current and former musicians with the Moody Blues, The Hollies, Cliff Richard, The Manfreds and The War of the Worlds bring you hit after hit, with some of the greatest songs that formed the soundtrack to our lives.

Whether it’s the vastness of the O2 Arena, the grandeur of The Royal Albert Hall, the eminence of The Hollywood Bowl, or the intimacy of Ronnie Scott’s, these guys have been there, done that, and they bring that world of experience to their show.

Having played and recorded with THE MOODY BLUES, THE HOLLIES, CLIFF RICHARD, THE MANFREDS, THE WAR of the WORLDS, THE WHO, ERIC CLAPTON, DIONNE WARWICK, DAVID ESSEX, LIONEL RITCHIE, MARK KNOPFLER, SHEENA EASTON, ANNIE LENNOX, THE NOTTING HILLBILLIES and literally dozens more, this isn’t just a covers band - these guys ARE the band that helped make these high-profile acts sound so good live and on record.........

For details of concert dates visit the website.

If you have been to see any of the shows feel free to add your comments.

SEARCHERS IN SHREWSBURY

THE SEARCHERS at THEATRE SEVERN SHREWSBURY THURSDAY 30th MAY 2013

For whatever reason it has been a few years since I lost saw these guys. In fact it is at least 3 as new boy Scott on drums has been with them 3 years and he wasn't there the last time I saw them.

This show was part of their current 50th anniversary tour, and the years of experience shone through great tunes, hit records and some great patter from Frankie Allen along with the banter between him ang John McNally kept us entertained.

With about 28 songs in the show of which only a handful of other peoples hits, from the opening song - "Sweets For My Sweet" through to final song the show featured not only the group's UK hits but album & EP tracks and foreign hits like "Bumble Bee" an EP track in the UK but a single in Australia. Included were "Goodbye My Love", "Sugar & Spice", Needles & Pins", Love Potion No9", "Walk In The Room"and "Don't Throw Your Love Away".

A number of other peoples songs were covered during the night including - Roy Orbison's "Running Scared", The Byrds "Mr Tambourine Man", Bette Midler "The Rose", The Beatles "Twist & Shout", Gerry & The Pacemakers' "You'll Never Walk Alone", plus an up tempo version of Gary Puckett's "Young Girl".

Smartly attired in suits the guys looked good on stage and despite their advanced years both Frankie Allen and John McNally look as if they have still got a good few more years left to keep reminding us of the songs that have established them as one of the greatest beat groups that the UK has produced.

Keep up to date with the band and tour dates by visiting their website

If you saw this show or any other on the tour please feel free to add your own comments!