Contact
Please email community@csrfm.com if you would like to ask any questions about the station, how to get involved and feedback on the blog.
Please email community@csrfm.com if you would like to ask any questions about the station, how to get involved and feedback on the blog.
June 13, 2008 at 11:49 am
Hi! I’m contacting you as Organiser of the University of Kent Rock’n'Roll Appreciation Society.
Lets stat by saying I personally would like to hear more (any?) 1950s/1960s rock’n'roll being played on the station! But I digress: lets tell you a little about us.
We plan to have regular meets (sometimes with a DJ) in The Missing Link on Mondays at 7pm. but we have some live music dates organised.
On 22nd October we have a Skiffle evening organised. The Lonnigans Skiffle Group will be playing in Origins Bar, which should start the academic year off with a swing. They are officially Britain’s no.1 skiffle group and are available for interview on that day in the studio.
Our next date to keep in mind is 19th January 2009, when Marsha (the newly elected Students With Disabilities Officer and my wife) will be celebrating her birthday with a show at The Gulbenkian Theatre that includes John Leyton (who had a massive set of hits in the early 60s including “Johnny Remember Me” and “Wild Wind”; as an actor he appeared in (among other films) “The Great Escape” and “Von Ryan’s Express”), Craig Douglas (who had a No1 hit in the 60s with a cover of Sam Cooke’s “Only Sixteen” and starred in a number of films with Helen Shapiro). They will be backed by The Flames, who are a “hot name” (forgive the pun) themselves on the rock’n'roll circuit, and a really fine guitar instrumental combo (listen to their version of The Chantays’ “Pipeline” sometime!). John Leyton is available for interview over a phone link on his musical and film acting career.
Part of that career involved having hits recorded by Joe Meek, who died on 3rd February 1967, the anniversary of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper on 3rd February 1959. We are celebrating the enduring power of rock’n'roll and the 50th anniversary of that day, which Don Maclean described as “the day the music died” (in his son “American Pie”). We are holding a live dance at The Venue with The Firebirds, Good Rockin’ Tonite!, The Triumphs with DJ Moonshine Mama, which we have called “THE BUDDY HOLLY MEMORIAL HOP”.
The Firebirds have been in existence 25 years, playing 1950s style rock’n'roll, and have a large following in this country, on the continent, and in the USA. They were the only non-US band to play the Rockabilly Festival 2002 and the only UK band to play the Carl Perkins Festival. Their latest album “Doo-Wop Vol. 1″ has brought critical acclaim from both sides of the Atlantic, including from members of the old close harmony doo-wop groups whose songs they have revived. The Firebirds will be available for interview in the studio on 3rd February 2009.
Good Rockin’ Tonite are a group specialising in the music of Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson,Elvis, early Cliff Richard and Bill Haley. They are the definition of good time rock’n'roll and will rock everybody’s blues away on the night.
The Triumphs are a band consisting (in the main) of members of the Joe Meek Society, and play only the music that Joe Meek recorded. One of their members is bassist Rob Hurley, bassist in The Savages who backed Screamin’Lord Sutch before his “political” career. Joe Meek was the first British producer and recording engineer and made some innovative recordings that changed the course of British recorded musical history. The recordings by The Tornados are most easily identified with Joe (eg. “Telstar” (which Joe Meek wrote), “Globetrotter”, “Robot”
and even more remarkable when you realise that they were recorded for the most part at his flat at 304 Holloway Road, London and not in a conventional recording studio. The 60s are well represented in The Triumphs music, and their set will include Mike Berry’s “Tribute To Buddy Holly” which brings us back to the event at The Venue.
The Society’s charity for which we shall be trying to raise funds during 2008/9 is DiabetesUK. All profits (if any) from THE BUDDY HOLLY MEMORIAL HOP will be donated to DiabetesUK. To help this good cause, sharpen up you winkle pickers, dust off your blue suede shoes, and come along and have a good time on 3rd February 2009 when real rock’n'roll comes to The Venue.
If you would like to know anything about the Society, or the details of its activities - or indeed rock’n'roll in general, please contact me..
Graham Todd
Organiser, University of Kent Rock’n'Roll Appreciation Society
Email: gct4@kent.ac.uk
Mobile: 07809110354