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MEMBERS


Max (Airfix)
 Born in 1959 and brought up in the circus, I was around rockers from an early age (these guys were mainly running from police or the girl they got pregnant) and joined the circus as helpers.  I remember sitting there watching them styling their hair and listening to the rock-n-roll records they always played. Now remember i was only about 4 or 5 yrs old and my mum even bought me a leather jacket and trousers, maybe because I wanted to be like the rockers. Or it could be they was easier to clean from all the mud I played in (like all kids do).

Anyway when i was about 16 yrs old and living in Liverpool, I used to go to BAILEY`S night club in Liverpool and one night a band called YAKATY YAK (not sure if spelt right) was playing.  This was my first live rock-n-roll band experience with loads of teddy boys there bopping to the band.  That was it, i was hooked on the music and the clothes.
 
A few weeks later I was lucky enough to go to a CHUCK BERRY concert in Liverpool and got chatting to a guy called Keith Morgan (sadly Keith is no longer with us) who showed me the ropes to the rock-n-roll scene.  A week later I had my first drape & crepes and even became one of "the Merseyside rock-n-roll society". In those days it was like a brotherhood where if you saw another Ted you would stop and chat  it didn't matter if it was another part of the country, you were always welcomed
 
Now moving on, my first encounter with rockabilly music was about 1975 when about three or four of us came down to London to go to the RAINBOW theatre.  I remember topping the bill was Crazy Cavan & his Rhythm Rockers. Also playing was Buddy Knox, Jack Scott and Warren Smith.  It was just an unberlievable night.  At the end of the night as we was leaving a riot broke out with people throwing whatever they could throw, and that was it, rockabilly was the way forward for me.  In those days it was donkey jackets, jeans, boots and flatop hair cuts but soon afterwards everyone started to wear box jackets and peg trousers.
 
I was known for my boppin' and jivin' when I was a Teddy boy which was handy when I got in to the rockabilly scene in the 70s. Although 30 plus years have passed I am still boppin' and jivin' nearly every weekend.  I have even appeared on the Russell Harty show dancing to Herb Miller's band (Glen Miller's brother) and have done some dance demos for the band and in the TV programme "Waking the Dead".  I've also been in the film "Last of the Blonde Bombshells", dancing with my other half Jean, and in the film "Last Orders". 
 
Cars, now what have i had? Lets see, I've had a Ford Pop(100E), which was my first car when i passed my test at 17 yrs old, Zephyrs, Consuls Mk1 and Mk2, PA Cresta, E type Cresta and my first American car was a Ford Galaxy 500. At the moment I'm building a Ford 32  3-window,  which is what I`ve always wanted.
 
And now, being into the hotrod scene as well as the rockin scene, I thought it would be a good idea to start a rockin'/hotrod club with a few friends for people who, like us, are into rockabilly and the hot rod/kustom/classic scene.
 
So if you see any RODKATZ members at an event come and say hello! 
.....Max




Perry
 
                        
Born in 1962, my earliest musical memory is being in my old man's Humber Super Snipe listerning to the 50 million fans can't be wrong ELVIS on the eight track. I was about eight at the time. From then on i started checking other Elvis stuff and so found the Sun recordings and just a short jump to the other Sun artists.

Back then there were plenty of venues. My local was the famous George on Hammersmith Broadway or the Trafalgar in Shepherds Bush (became Silks ) where we would rock to DJs like 50s Flash, Tongue-Tied Danny and Beezer Bill. There was also a pirate rock'n'roll station, Radio City, at the weekend. Some of the other Venues were The Bandwagon Soundhouse in Kingsbury Circus, Shades club Manor house, The Royalty Southgate. But then came two marrages and five kids

I never stopped rocking but 39 years have passed and that old gang of mine and the old places have all gone. This is why i think the RODKATZ are kool. The friends are new but the music never dies.

.....PERRY
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Paul (Q-ball)
 
Known as Q short for Q-ball.  When you see me you’ll know why. The better half (got to say that she’s in the same room) is Lynn or Jabber. When you meet her you’ll know why.

I started building customs and hot rods in the late 60s so, yes, I’m a sad old git. I had a break from rods in the early 80s when family and work commitments took a leading role. I also returned to biking. However, I never really left the scene changing any standard vehicle I had somewhat and building custom bikes, returning to the Hot Rods in the late 90s. 

Both Lynn and I love all types of hot rods, street rods, customs and classics, appreciating all the work, love and tears that have gone into them. For us they do not have to be show cars as every car has an enthusiastic owner trying their best within a given budget. In fact a lot of the low budget cars can have more inventive engineering. If I have a pet hate then it would be those that look down on others cars insinuating they are not up to their standards or perceived level.

Both Lynn and I have a passion not only for the cars but for the clothes, music, dancing and way of life in the 40s and 50s. In fact Lynn has her own 40s/50s vintage and retro cloth business ‘Dressing4Impressing’. 

As for cars well I have managed to turn our passion into a business by using them for weddings, film, advertising and PR work, with clothing giving that finishing touch.

Why am I a member of the RODKATZ? Well it's because they are like-minded people who are passionate about their cars, clothes, music and dancing, in fact the total scene. It is a laid back club with no one telling you what to do, when to do it and how. They're just a group of people who like each others company, wanting to enjoy themselves and share the same passions.

Cheers....

....Q-ball

 

 
Jez

I've been into all things rockin’ – the music, the clothes, the tatts, the bikes, the cars - since I was a teenager, when the rockabilly revival of the early 1980s kicked off. Back then the Stray Cats were in the charts and bands like the Cramps and the Meteors were rockin’ up a storm on the live scene. 

As the quiff has got a little thinner over the years, so has my musical taste mellowed. Elvis's Sun sessions of course.  Johnny Cash of the same era. Country and rockabilly like Mac Curtis, Charlie Feathers, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Roy Hall and Tex Williams.  But check out Aussie band, Rusty and the Drag Strip Trio. They stole the show at Viva Las Vegas 2007. Well, apart from Sleepy Le Beef.

All my tatts are old school. No tribal or celtic stuff here. They are the work of Jim Macairt, who can be found at Into You in Brighton, and Yan Spencer, who’s at Holy Cow in Eastbourne. They represent 30 years of rockin’...

....Jez

  

 Steve Stack-o-Wax
 (Honorary Member)
 
About myself; I have been on the rockin' scene since 1978 and started DJ'ing in and around the Nottingham area in 1983, before moving to the south coast of England. During the 1990's I DJ'd at rockin' venues all over the south, working alongside original rockers Mac Curtis, Sonny Burgess, Bill Haley's Comets, Billy Lee Riley, Ray Campi and ran several rockin' clubs myself,booking and promoting bands and guest DJs. 

Over the last 16 years,i have DJ'd at many weekender clubs in England (International Teddy Boy, Hemsby, Rhythm Riot, Rockers Reunion, Wildest Cats in Town, Boston Arms Rockabilly Club-London, Rotunda Club-Bristol, Tennessee Club-London, Roots Of Rhythm R&B Allnighter-Bristol) and weekender clubs on the European continent in Germany (Walldorf, Texas Club-Frankfurt, Westside Club-Essen), Holland (Vlissingen), Italy (Summer Jamboree, Rollin' & Tumblin' R&B Club-Milan), Spain (High Rockabilly, Rockin' Race Jamboree, Boiler R&B Club-Barcelona) & France (Retro Rhythm).
 
Check out Steve Stack-o-Wax every Wednesday on Forest FM from 8pm til 10pm.