Scunny Groups Page 2

'Somebody's People' started up late 1967.

The line was Ian McKay (vocals), Pete Mitchell (vocals),

Dave Krynicki (drums), Mick Harrison (lead guitar),

Irving Brundell (rhythm guitar) and Bill Cunningham bass).

'Somebody's People', later to be called 'People'

original members were

George Milton (drums)

Ivan Tate (vocals)

Steve Wright (lead guitar)

Gordon Blundell (bass)

Mick Harriman (rhythm)

later members were

Dennis Lonsdale

John Brady

Trevor Mitchell

and Ian McKay

They later changed their name again and became

Kaleidoscope. They were to disband within a short

time, after being ripped off by people who were

supposed to be helping them. A familiar story.

Kaleidoscope

Irving Brundell, Steve Wright, Dennis Lonsdale,

Trevor Mitchell and John Brady – in Central Park. 1969

The Colestreamers, a 1960's danceband,

over the years, the personel consisted of

Jack Tugby, saxophone

Frank Reeves, piano

Bob Duck, saxophone

Don Torrie, trombone

Barry Bradley, drums

Stan Corp, piano

Colin ??, drums

Jack Spafford, drums

and Keith Nicholson, saxophone

The 'Skyliners' were a fifties dance band, they played at the Crosby Hotel.

They would later morph into the 'Continentals'. The Continentals had a

residency spot at the Priory Hotel. The band featured Tom Ellis, tenor sax,

Tony Watson, alto sax, Dave Howsham, alto sax,Bob Johns, piano, Dave Stocks,

bass and Pete Thornton on drums. Bayliss Thomas later replaced Pete on drums.

Shortly after Bayliss joined, the band became 'Lou Lewis and the Stardusters'.

They played all the big venues of the time in Lincolnshire, Corn Exchanges and

Town Halls etc.

Bayliss Thomas would later join up with Johnny Mann and form the 'Johnny Mann

Quintet' other members were, Trevor Wheeler, piano, Don Ross, guitar and a bass

player.They played the Baths Hall, the Bridge and the Priory hotels.

Another dance band of the sixties were the Milestones. The band featured many

musicans over the years among them were Tony Watson, alto sax, Dave Stocks, bass,

Cliff Swinney, piano, Will Freear, Piano, Nev Chapman, bass, Trevor Leaning,trumpet,

Jimmy Walker, guitar, and Roy Frary, on vocals.

The Southlanders were a Scunthorpe Group that turned semi pro,

in the line up was a fellow countryman of mine Chuck Curtis (vocals),

Terry Huish (bass), Jack Pearson (drums) and Paul Davidson

( whom I remember as a excellent guitarist, on lead guitar, I recall

being at his house with Terry Huish and he showed us some chords

to 'Everyday' that even Buddy Holly hadn't thought of).

They spent many months down south, playing and rehearsing,

hoping for a recording contract which unfortunately never came

before disbanding.

The Southlanders made a demo in the early 60's.

Brown Eyed Handsome Man

Paul Davidson played with Maynard Fergusans band in america , had various periods writing music for many people ,then he ended up as a professor of music at Paul Mcartneys Acadamy in Liverpool.

Chuck Curtis worked as a solo artist after leaving the

'Southlanders' in 1967, He made a demo record with 'The Chills'

just before the band disbanded. He later emigrated to Australia,

where he sadly died, about 10 years ago

“Shelley” - Mel Oliver, Pete Swift, Mal Hatton, Terry Huish

"Shelley" originally consisted of Terry Huish, Mick Harriman,

Dave Krynicki on drums and Pete Humberston on vocals.

Pete Swift joined when Pete Humberston packed up, and over

the next ten years or so there were several different line-ups,

including Mel Oliver, Terry Huish, Pete Swift and Malc Hatton/

Stu Smith/Colin Hatton on drums, with quite a few well-known guys

'temping'. Mick Strangleman, Mal Evans, Pete 'Fenwick' Johnson,

Malc Hamilton amongst others.

Shelley 1970's Pete Swift, Mel Oliver, Terry Huish and Malc Hatton

Another group on the go in 1985 (name forgotten)

featured John Stevenson (of Freeways fame) on guitar

Ian (Mash) Baxter on vocals

Irving Brundell on bass and

Roger Gammidge on drums

John Stevenson went on to reform the 'Freeways' in 1986

The lineup was John as guitarist/vocalist

Roger Gammidge on drums and

Gordon Brundell on bass

Phase 5 (photos taken in 1967) Richard Brady (Bass), Dave Kryniki (Drums), John Brady (Vocals), Billy Cunningham (Guitar) and Irving Brundell (lead guitar). Irving would later switch to bass guitar, which would be his instrument of choice in later groups.

Phase 5 (a change of personnel) The lineup in sept 67 was Paul Ellerton (lead), Richard Brady (bass),David Krynicki (drums), William Cunningham (rhythm) and John Brady(vocals).

The Jesters

John Gouldthorpe, Dave Churchman, Angie Tidswell, Jimmy Shields Dereck Hodson, Jim Gourley

The Jesters used to run a dance and perform at the market hall at Crowle in the early sixties.They ran the venture for several months, but could not generate the crowds needed, to make it profitable. I guess Crowle wasn't ready for Jester's Rock n Roll,or maybe we were worse than we thought.

Derek went on to play in several local bands including Quatrz and The Dolphins

Dave Churchman joined a new group after the Jesters. The group was called Blues Syndicate and consisted of Martin Danks (piano),Alex Moore (drums), Alan Ardsley (Lead guitar) and Dave on Bass guitar. Dave later moved to South Yorkshire, where he played in several major bands including a showband called Shimmer and several Soul bands

Dave Churchman (top on right) 1944-2019 R.I.P.

A very good friend and fine musican, i will miss him.

The Jesters, Dereck Hodson, Angie Tidswell, Jim Gourley, John Gouldthorpe Dave Churchman at Gainsborough Drill Hall We (the Jesters) were setting up our gear, getting ready to play at a dance hall, i think it was somewhere near Bawtry. Dave our bass guitarist was standing near the front of the stage with both mine and his guitars,which were still in their cases. Someone asked Dave to check the lineup of amps and gear, not thinking he stepped back and fell about 5 foot off the stage. There was an almighty thud and the guitars went flying in opposite directions across the ballroom. Dave was spark out on the floor, I jumped off the stage, stepped over Dave and went after my guitar. Luckily it was not broken, just a bend machine head, I then went to the other corner of the hall and checked his, which again luckily was ok. By this time Dave had woken up and was back this earth, i walked over to him and said, 'no damage done mate, the guitars are ok'. I don't think he saw the funny side of it.On another occasion we (The Jesters)were playing a noon and night booking at Bel Isle Club,at Leeds. The resident drummer at the club,was a bit of a character, he asked us if we would play at a nightclub in Leeds, after we finished our night spot.We agreed a price and arrived at the night club about midnight. It was up a small alleyway, with the usual door with a hatch, after the customary 'Louie sent me', we were allowed in. We had been to some weird places before, but this took the biscuit, every kind of weirdo was there, ACDC,BBc,DVD and MP3, you name it they were there.I have never seen so many misfits in the one place before. The drummer we had met, was also the croupier there, and he showed us why we should never ever play cards again. He could do any thing with those cards. We played our spots and then got the hell out of there. You live and learn, or do you.

The Tennesseans

The lineup was Les Goddard lead and vocals, Frank Sikora on drums and Paddy O,Connor on bass, Paddy left in Aug 1968 and was replaced by Rod Clarke.

The Dolphins 1978/80

The lineup was Derek Hodson, lead, John Whitely vocals, Colin Hatton drums

Jenny Smith keyboards and guitar and Chris Whitely on bass

Jenny also did a solo disc dancing spot just before the second spot, which went down very well

Misc info.1967. Mick Strangleman, Dave Churchman, Jim Gourley, Dave Stocks, Hugh Gourley and Ernie Boyton all played football for 'Britannia'. Other local musicans in football teams were, Pete Hood, Ian King, John Stevenson and Ricky Hood.

Quote of the week comes from ‘The Les’ a new group in 1967, When asked what they were like, the drummer Peter Wright replied, “We’re a bit like the Beatles, but not as good”. Magic! The line up was, Peter (13) drums, Steve Hudson (14) vocals, Arthur Leaning (13) bass and John Ryall (13) lead. The guys are all from ‘Thomas Sumper ‘school. They were firstly going to call themselves ‘The Left’, but settled on ‘The Les’.They were also considering whether to grow moustaches, to keep in with the present times

“Quartz” - Colin Chambers, Bernie Owen, Simon Patterson, Colin Hatton You'd get a few bob on ebay for those shirts!

Colin Chambers (above) has played in numerous band, he started out with'Mal Pennell and the Starnotes', which later became 'The Metronomes' His first pop group was 'Tandy and the Turnabouts'.He later joined 'Assortment' with Martin Danks, Ian King,Roger Gammidge, Mick Harriman and Irving Brunnel.Other groups followed, including 'Quartz' and'The Dolphins'.

The Del Vikings

Photo lineup L/R Bas Brader, Trevor Gammidge, Richard Paul, Mal Smith, Les Stringfellow. The band was formed in 1963 approx. under the name of ‘The Vikings’and the original line-up was Bas Brader (Gtr/Vocs), Les Stringfellow (Bass/Vocs), Colin Tucksworth (Gtr/Keyboard/Vocs) and Pete Allison (Drums/Vocs).

The group played the usual Scunthorpe haunts the Sherpa, Queen Bess, Jazz Workshop etc. Trevor Gambridge replaced Pete Allison on drums, and soon after Mal Smith joined the line-up. Colin Tucksworth left the group in 1967 and was replaced by Roy Emerson. Roy Emerson left in 1968 and was replaced by Richard Paul, about this time the group was renamed 'The Del Vikings'. Mal smith left in 1969 and Trevor Gambridge left in 1972.Dick Paul took over Mal's guitar role and John Cuthbert took over on drums. Shortly after this last change,the band disbanded in 1974.

Del Vikings misc info:- (1969) singer Richard Paul, stage name Paul Keene is a member of the Brigg operatic society and also plays trumpet. guitarist Malcolm Smith Plays violin in the Scunthorpe Youth Orchestra. He also plays the Buzz Horn. Guitarist Basil Brader doubles on Ryhthm as well as lead. Drummer Trevor Gammidge comes from a long line of musicans, his father was the Musical Director of the Brigg Operatic Society. Bass player Les Stringfellow is incorporating the recorder into the act.

Redwood Country

with Marshall Lovell (Guitar) John Manderson(Drums) Keith Grice (Guitar) Pete Leadenham (Bass) 1978-1982

The New Era

'The New Era' formed in approx 1969, lead guitarist was Keith Grice. The other members were Ron Oakden,Rhythm Guitar /vocals Ron Blackburn,Drums / vocals and Eric Marris,Bass Guitar A later line up was Keith Grice,Lead Guitar / vocals Peter Leadenham,Bass Guitar / vocals, John Coult,Drums / vocals Ron Oakden,Rhythm Guitar / vocals

The New Era 1969

'The New Era' would reform with Keith Grice,lead/vocals, Pete Leadenham, bass/vocals, and Pete's son Tony Leadenham on drums/vocals. Phillip Green would later replace Pete Leadenham on bass/vocals and the band continued playing until 1997.

The New Era changed to a Shadows tribute band. Pete Leadenham replaced Eric Marris on bass and Keith Grice replaced Milton on lead guitar. Milton was still in the army while playing in the group, the guys payed for him to leave the army, and when he finaly left, he also left the group. Ron the drummer now lives in Australia near Hank Marvin. Hank called in at their Shadows club one night and remarked that The New Era were the original Shadows tribute band.... Praise indeed.

They changed their name to the 'Back Beats 'in 1994.They were a sixties tribute band and played 'The Cavern'at Liverpool,the show that night was to recognize the passing of John Lennon on the anniversary of his death. Keith has a website detailing the history of 'The New Era', there are also a dozen or so tracks of Keith playing instrumental hits, including a great version of 'Apache' .

He is also a passionate astronomer and has a fantastic site entitled 'Griceland Observatory', which is well worth a visit.

The Four of Clubs

Jim Gourley, Hugh Gourley, Colin Hatton, Terry

The Four of Clubs

pic taken at Kirton Lindsey Cement Works Club

The Four of Clubs were mainly a nightclub/workingmans club group. Although based in Scunthorpe, the played mostly in Yorkshire and Grimsby. They had a resident spot at Titos Nightclub which was at the Arrow Bowling Alley, Doncaster Road.

The Four of Clubs at The Oswald, Scunthorpe

Colin Hatton has been on the Scunthorpe music scene forever. He started out as a pianist but then turned his hand to the drums, and this has been his instrument of choice since. His early days were spent playing at The Friendship at Keadby. My brother Hugh was in the group too, they went under the weird name of Lenny Tombstone & The Skeletons. The line-up was Colin on drums, John Hill (lead guitar), Rod Clarke (bass) Hugh Gourley (guitar) and Lenny Radley (vocals). Ian King then took over on vocals and the band was renamed Ian King & The Classics. When the Classics disbanded, Colin joined The Four of Clubs and this is where I met up with him.Not only was he an excellent drummer, he also taught the rest of the group to drive. He spent many hours on long trips to a gig, sitting in the passenger seat, instructing us, and never once getting irate. Colin emigrated to Australia in 1965, we had a great going away party at his house.His brother Malcom was also a drummer of note, and he took over Colin's role in the group.On his last night with us, we arranged to have both sets of drums set up on stage. If I remember rightly, it was at Redbourne Club on Cememtery road. They finished the night off, both on stage playing together, a great night. Colin returned from Australia about 1972 and joined a local band The Dolphins which lasted til the mid 80's. Later he joined another local band The Quartz which lasted until the early 90's. He has also been in The Scunthorpe Big Band and The New Trentsiders. Another of his groups has been The Ancholme River Jazz Band. Colin's brother Mal died in 2003, Mal, like Colin was an excellent drummer, we played in The Jesters and The Four of Clubs together. Colin has been a major player in the Scunthorpe Music scene and long may he be so. Well done mate.

Mal Hatton was not just a very good drummer, he was also a very good driver. I recall, once, we (The Jesters) were travelling to a booking in Rossington, I can't remember the make of the van, but it was very large. We had all the gear packed in it, and i think about seven or eight of us as well. Mal was driving and batting on, suddenly the road just finished, blocked off by two concrete bollards, (they do things like that in Yorkshire). Mal stood on the brakes, everything, including us, went flying through the air, somehow he managed to steer us through the bollards and onto the grassed area. this was the days before disc brakes, abs, etc. etc. After giving him a good mouthful for travelling too fast, we gave him a deserved pat on the back.

Gerry Graham & His Beat Group

Tony Graham, Dave Markee, Mally Turner & Toyne Tomlinson

Pete Johnson, Pete Spencer, Johnnie Dobbs & Harry Meadows

The Mick Hughes Band

l/r Mick Hughes ( sax/vocals), Barry Garner (guitar), Stuart Webb (Drums) and Wynn Hinds (piano)

The Dimples

The Dimples were one of Scunthorpe Premier groups

The Dimples

Craig Austen, Terry Wincott, John Gladwin, Stu Smith and Greg Tomilson

The Dimples as a four piece before Greg Tomilson joined them

The Dimples morphed into 'Gospel Garden' in 1966 , with Craig Austin, Steve Cox, and Jeff Tindall, and in the 1970s, intoAmazing Blondel,.

They would later change again into 'Methuselah'

Gospel Garden single 'Finders Keepers released May 1968

Amazing Blondell Terry Wincott, John Gladwin and Edward Baird

Amazing Blondell John Gladwin and Terry Wincott had been in a couple of rock & roll bands in school together,before forming the Dimples.They then formed Gospel Garden, with Craig Austin, Steve Cox, and Jeff Tindall, before evolving intoMethuselah which in turn evolved into Amazing Blondel. Amazing Blondel were a trio whose members played instruments and songs dating from medieval to Elizabethan times. The group consisted of three musicians from Scunthorpe, John Gladwin Terry Wincott and Edward Baird

“Gerry Dean & The Lincoln County Boys” (Pete Jackson, ????, Paddy O’Connor, Gerry Dean (Farnham) Pat Banks,

Eric Day

Gerry Dean and the Lincoln County Boys

(Geoff Marshall, Paddy O’Connor, Gerry Dean (Farnham) Pete Jackson, Maggie McGee, Stuart Taylor, Gordon Mumby

Mel Oliver, Pete Jackson, John Robinson, Greg Tomlinson

A Few of Mel Oliver's Bands. Mel was and still is, a major player on the Scunthorpe music scene. He has been the backbone and driving force in many of Scunthorpe's leading bands. I would like to thank him for the majority of the photos on this webpage. My thanks Mel, keep up the good work

“The Cadillacs” - “Mill Road Club” - Mel Oliver, Alan Harsley, Mick Cowling, Tony Borrell, Mal Evans

Johnny Mann Quintett (L-R) Cliff Swinney (Piano), Bayliss Thomas (Drums),

??? (Bass), Don Ross (Guitar), Johnny Mann (Vibes)

“Apex Jazz Band” (Allan Dickinson, Eric Johnson, Kevin Rogers,

Pete Tabois, Dave Howsham, Dennis Aylwin

misc info

The Apex Jazzmen lineup in 1966 was

Eric Johnson on trumpet

Mike Taylor on trombone

David Howsam on clarinaet

Ray Hodson on drums

Mike Saville on banjo

Owen Moorin on bass

Colin Chambers, - Alkborough Village Hall Colin Drane Drums), Bill Cranidge, Feank Burrows (Piano)

The New Trentsiders,

Brian Cawkwell /Trombone, Kenny Blades /bass, Alan Morgan /piano

Hedley Hickling /trumpet, Colin Hatton /drums, Bob Duck /sax

Hedley and Bob have sadly passed on and have been replaced by

Frank Tartellin and a lady called Nickie Blackburn.

Scunthorpe Youth Centre (Back l-r Paddy O’Connor, Ralph Jackson, ???, Jimmy Ryder, Pete Hornsby, Mal Turner) (Front l-r Maureen Ford, Margaret Hickson)

Paddy O'Connor has been involved in many

local Bands, ranging from the late fifties

up to the present day. The bands include

Jimmy Ryder & The Nightriders,

Nick James & The Four Cents,

The Turnabouts, The Shantells and

The Lincoln County Boys

Photo taken in 1956 on their way to The International Youth Festival

at Lincoln.

Scunthorpe Youth Centre Group Photo (l-r Mal Turner, Snowy Wright, Johnnie Robinson, Phil Targett, Tony Graham, Pete Hornsby, Howard Bycroft, Tony Roddis, John Quickfall, Ken Smith, Frank Dexter. Front Trevor Wilson, John Espin)

Tangled Garden

“Tangled Garden”. The guys being (left to right) Jim Gash - acoustic Gtr

& Lead Vocals, Andy Tinkler – Lead Gtr & Vocals, Ken Gribben – Drums &

Vocals, Dek Strong – Bass and Mark Kiddle Rhythm Gtr.

The Band came together in 1976 and played original soft/ progressive rock.

They played local venues such as “The Priory” “The Berkeley” and also

the Folk Club in Brigg. Previous to this Band, Jem had won “The Melody Maker”

Folk Section award in 1974/5 with his friend Mick Walker. The Band broke

up in 1978, when Ken decided to travel around Europe.

Ken is currently playing in the classic country band “The Lincoln County

Boys”

Scott-Davies Orchestra(‘Crosby’) – 1946

(Front L-R) Geoff Cheeseman (Piano), Les Markham (Guitar) (Back L-R) Bayliss Thomas (Drums)

Les Markham went on to form The Les Markham Sextet. They had a long Saturday Night residency at the Berkely Hotel ballroom. The Pianist Geoff Cheeseman had a barber shop in Ashby, where we all went to have our quiffs and sideburns trimmed in the sixties.

Another band of the time was The Arcadians, they had a residency spot at The Royal Hotel, Scunthorpe. One of the regulars on trumpet was Tommy Nicholson, father of Saxophonist Keith Nicholson.

The Arcadians, based mainly at the Royal, Jack Tugby, Stan Melton, Cyril Gammidge, with trumpet deps. Tommy Nicholson. Geoff Harrison, Shelly Begg, Bass, Reg Seargeant, drums, later being Shelly on drums, Clem Harsley on bass, and son Alan on guitar. Pianist was an ex. pro. from London not sure of his name, later followed by Reg. King. Reg. also played with the Lowbrows, led by “cube” Len Bainton, who played on a “high pitch” Conn saxophone when everyone else in the dance band world played on a “low pitch”. Sometimes Jack Spafford on drums, Tommy Nicholson on trumpet, on occasions son Keith on trumpet.

Keith Ivor Nicholson writes

The Melody Boys, Melody Maker Contest winners, with Maurice Lings, piano, Eric Hall, alto, Les Sharpe, tenor, Tommy Thompson trumpet, sometimes Alan Chambers tenor, Gordon Lewis alto, followed by Keith Nicholson on alto and Geoff Harrison trumpet, and Alan Kirkby on drums. Bernard Snelling came over from Grimsby about 1953, played alto and drums. The band had a minor falling out and Keith Ivor and his band formed in1954, when I used all the available guys except Maurice, but I made it up with him in 1958. The Playtimers, were terrific with Gordon Lewis on alto, Ken Francis on piano, Jimmy Walker on guitar and Jack(spaff)Spafford on drums. It was “Dancers Playtime” on a Wednesday night at the Crosby. Later to be followed by the accordion band “The Blighty Boys”. Jack Fagan had a very capable band that stuck to olde tyme dancing at the Drill Hall. In 1960 the Johnny Mann Band was born. This was to play for Monday nights in the upstairs at the “Baths”. Trevor Wheeler, piano, (not Cliff Swinney), Bill Frear a little later on piano, Owen Moorin on bass(that is not him on the picture of the Apex surely). Johnny (Mann) Denman, on drums, later learning the vibes and Malcom Scott coming in on drums. Don Ross on guitar, Trevor Leaning on trumpet, John Thompson on alto, Keith Ivor Nicholson on tenor later followed by Doug Wattam on bass, Bill Steel on trumpet, Pete Nicklin on piano all from Doncaster. When the Jack Stone Orchestra came as the house band a year later, Trevor Leaning, John Thompson and Keith Nicholson augmented the band. Also, in forming the Keith Ivor band in 1954, I was approached by Lou Lewis, to form an eight piece band, where we played at The Drill Hall, The Corn Exchange etc. The price to pay was that I had to bring in Pete Thornton on drums and lose Alan Kirkby, I went along with it under pressure from the rest of the band, and was never happy about this. In September of 1959, I was called up for National Service, as a result Lou Louis took the music(my pad), augmented the band and formed The Stardusters. So for some time after coming out of the army I was in the wilderness, until joining John Denman, although I did a few Dep. jobs locally. After playing with Jack Stone, I played the Baths residency with Roy Kentons Orchestra and that of Joe Garratt. After that I became Keith Ivor Vocalist and Multi-instrumentalist for 22 years, have since played with the Sounds Easy, Monsonaires, and my own small group on both trumpet and all the saxes.

. Cliff Swinney was a pianist and instrumental together with Trevor Leaning, Tony Watson, Bayliss Thomas in forming “The Milestones” not so much for dancing to but for playing jazz. Also in the fifties and sixties, Geoff Beacroft on drums together with Stan Corp on piano would get small jobs here and there, I can’t remember the band name . In the late fifties, a band was formed at “The Big Social”and played there for a few years, Maurice Lings, Stan Corp and Joan Godfrey being pianists there over the period, Barry Bradley, Ron (Goodman?) Jack Spafford used on drums, Viv Eames(Haymes), on bass(formerly with Ivy Benson), Bob Duck, Keith Nicholson on saxes. I forgot that Rex Cottam played guitar with the Arcadians in the fifties, his sister was Merle Cottam who had the dancing school. I also think it should be mentioned that Trevor Wheeler who played with the Johnny Mann band had a talented sister Joan, who was a much sought after operatic singer, who in later years became known as “Brittania” starring in the open air Belton Concerts. Wes Lawrence was a local teacher who formed a one off band for a parent teacher dinner dance, which the became the start of the Scunthorpe Big Band around 1982. This came to a halt some years later and then John Nockles formed the Don Thorpe band around 2000. This was comprised of musicians from Hull, Grimsby, Doncaster, Lincoln and Scunthorpe . After John died the band struggled on a few years but is now no longer.

Info supplied by Keith Ivor Nicholson

“The Ambassadors” - Alan Kirkby (Drums), Basil Richardson (Bass), Winston Hind (Sax), Bernard Snelling (Alto), Audrey Emerson (Accordian), Freddie Fidell (Piano)

- Pete Johnson, Dave Stocks, (Piano?), (Sax)?

Dave Stocks was a regular at my old drinking hole, the

Snug in Britania Corners, we spent many hour there,

sorting the world out.

(we didn't do a very good job sorting it though, it's still

in a bit of a mess, oh well)

A young Jimmy Ryder and Pete Hornsby performing as The Love Brothers.

The multi talented Pete Hornsby (Brennen)

Pete Hornsby started of his musical career in the

late fifties, singing Everly Bros style harmony

with Jimmy Ryder. They later transformed into Jimmy Ryder & the NightRiders with the addition of Paddy O'Connor, Tony Sumper and Toyne Tomlinson. Pete later changed to playing bass guitar and the group line-up changed to Jimmy Ryder, Mal Turner, Pete, and Toyne Tomlinson. Once again they changed, this time to the Shantells with Pete Johnson Taking over from Toyne on drums. Eventually they teamed up with Jimmy Crawford

to become Jimmy Crawford and the Shantells. Mal Turnerhad moved on to pursue a solo career. Over the years Pete performed in other bands, including The Pip Welsh Foursome, he also toured as a solo multi instrumentist/vocalist and comedian. Another great artist.

‘Black Beauty’ (Concert Room) – (L-R) Mal Hamilton (Gtr),

Stuart Taylor (Gtr/Vocs) , Mel Oliver (Piano)

A little snippet of info from way back....

Lysaght's steelworks was a breeding ground for musicians in the early days.

How about this for a line up of people working in the central engineering

workshops all at the same time.

Paddy O'connor, Mel Oliver, Martin Danks, Tony Borrell, Mick Cowling,

Ralph Beacroft, Greg Tomlinson, Dave Edwards and John Hill. There was also

a guy who used to manage a couple of groups, Frank Conroy I believe.

Johnny Dobbs and Keith Harrison were in different departments as was

"Little Eddie", the original singer with the Freeways, who unsurprisingly

went by the name of Little Eddie and the Freeways before Maureen joined them.

The Cadillacs were booked to play at the pipe section dinner/dance one year

and Tony completely forgot about it and took a booking somewhere else.

Imagine the stick he got at work the following morning.

Memoirs of The Martin Bros. John Hill and Jeb Westby

We arrived at a shack called the "Ivy Leaf Club" which I think was in Retford.

We got the gear set up, ordered a pint and started to take stock of the venue,

noting that the lamp shades round the edge of the ceiling were in fact

plastic buckets. The concert chairman told us the roof was a bit dodgy and

these buckets were strategically placed to best combat any rain, adding

"I hope you're not too loud, we had a trumpet player here last week and

every time he hit a high note, a bit more fell off the ceiling". Talk about

bringing the house down!!!

The gig went fine and the audience was wonderfully appreciative.

We were loading the van at the end of the night and the steward put the till

and takings into his car boot after hiding some of the bar stock. He didn't

live on the premises but confided that the back door of the club wouldn't

lock and that anyone could just walk in........adding that they may not make

it that far without being stung to death by the nettles which were growing

up to 5 feet tall out back.

Wonderful night.

John Hill played with the Classics, Tony & the Cadillacs and the Johnny Ballad Group.

At that time Frank Coult was drumming, Barry Garner on rhythm, Mel Oliver piano,

Johnny Ballad (Dobbs) vocals, Mal Evans on Bass plus John on lead guitar.

John later went on to join up with Jed Westby in the early 70's to form the

Martin Bros.

I received this response from John Hill, who after reading my tale of woe on the 'home 'page, about The Four of Clubs van, decided to tell his own experiences on a Bedford Van

That article on the Bedford brought back some memories which are just as funny. The Martin Bros got a roadie with a Bedford shed for about 6 months and we had similar experiences. The guy was always having to bodge up to keep us on the road and a regular thing when he picked us up was to give a rundown on what repairs he'd had to do. He arrived one night with the apparently mandatory mole grips acting as gear lever and they only fell off twice during a round trip to Leeds. Our door fell off at a roadside cafe about 1-30am .....with a load of hairy arsed bikers peering through the cafe window. There was a hole in the floor sort of in front of the passenger's feet. We were going up the M62 and Jed Said pull off at the next exit. Bill reckoned we didn't want to be off yet, but Jed insisted. Pull over, said Jed. What's up??

The bit of rag that was stuffed in the hole in the floor was right above the exhaust and Jed calmly announced that "Der van's on foir"

One Sunday the sob story was the radiator was fkt, they didn't have one in the scrapper, so he'd used one from a Ford Anglia but had to burn the hose connector off one side, weld it up, then burn a hole in the opposite side and weld the connector on. He had pronounced the job"Good as new", which it appeared to be until we got as far as Crowle roundabout on the way home. Not having to use the can of water earlier, we seemed in luck until it transpired that there was no can of water. Anyway, being close to the canal it didn't seem to be a huge problem. We could just scoop water out of the canal in a container and be on our way. Except there was no container of any description in the van, on the van, under the van or anywhere near the van. Jed solved the problem admirably. "Who's got the biggest feet?" Bill admitted it was him. The Irish brogue disturbed the still, traffic free, bright moonlit night "Den ya'll haf at fill yer shoe a few toyms an' pass it up ta me" There was always a can of petrol and a can of water after that night.

Happy days, happier nights, like walking alongside the van in thick fog, advising left a bit, bugger.. Not that far. Or believing outright lies like "It's always got a quarter of a tank when it shows empty" John

The Stuart Taylor Band

Stuart Taylor; Malcolm Hamilton; Peter Jackson; Hugh Gourley

The Badd Ladds

"Badd Ladds" Left to Right) Graham 'Chalkie' White - Trumpet / Vocals

Mel Oliver - Piano, John 'Boot' Ancliffe - Bass / Vocals

Steve Rickell - Guitar, John Cuthbert - Drums, Dave Lee - Sax / Vocals

(Front) Ivan 'Spud' Tate - Vocals

Toyne Tomlinson

Toyne has been involved in the Scunthorpe music scene

right from the early days.

He kicked off by playing in a skiffle group.

He later joined 'Jimmy Ryder in the Nightriders', playing

drums. The line up was, Jimmy Ryder (lead guitar), Mal

Turner (rhythm Guitar), Pete Hornsby (bass guitar) and

Toyne on drums.He then went on to join Nicky James and

the Four Cents. The lineup was Nicky James (vocals),

Paddy O'Connor (guitar), Mel Oliver (Piano), Tony Davis on Bass and Toyne on drums. Following that he had a spell with 'The Johnny Ballad Group'. A short spell with 'The Apex Jazzmen' followed. He then joined 'Gerry Dean and The Lincoln County Boys', before joining 'The Mel Oliver Band'.All and all, a very busy and versatile drummer

Toyne Tomilson playing drums with The Four Cents late 1950's

The Vince Launderdale Rock n Roll Revival Show

Steve Wright, Rupert (or Vince Lauderdale as he was known then), Dennis Lonsdale on drums

and Irving Blundell. Cocked Hat late 60's

Raving Rupert (real name Mal Halsall), is well worth a mention, he has been on the music

scene since the early sixties and is still going strong today. One of his early groups

was, an early version of the Rock n Roll Revival Show, Mal went under the stage name of

Vince Lauderdale, other group members were Steve Wright (lead Guitar), Dennis Lonsdale

(drums) and Gordon (Irving) Blundell on Bass. The music was 1950's rock n roll, with a

huge accent on Elvis Presley songs. They performed at the Cocked Hat Rock n Roll Club

in the 1960's. Raving Rupert and the Rock n Roll Revival Show took off big time in the

late sixties, when they managed to secure a London based agent. This resulted in major

bookings at home and abroad. The band members over the years were,Mal Halsall (Rupert),

Irving Blundell, Keith Mullard, Trevor Mitchell, Dennis Lonsdale,Steve Wright and Lionel

Sargeant. The massive amount of travelling and touring, took it's toll and Irving Blundell

left the band in 1971. After the band disbanded, Rupert carried on with several different

bands, still doing his 'Elvis' act. Rupert married Maureen of Maureen and the Freeways

fame, they are still touring today, Rupert as a Elvis impersonator and Maureen as a

tribute act for Tina Turner. He now holds The longest running Elvis Presley tribute in

the world, from the early 1960's til the present day. Gotta be a record.

The Vince Launderdale Rock n Roll Revival Show

Members left to right

Gordon Blundell, Mal Halsall, John Brady

Keith Mullard and Trevor Mitchell.

Enroute to Denmark 1969

“Hybrid”

- Chris Whiteley, John Vessey,

Roly Smith, Terry Pitchfork & Kevin Oades

about 1981

Southbank 1977

Southbank featured John Vessey, John and Chris Whiteley.

Ocean Blue 1978

Ocean blue also featured John Vessey, John and Chris Whiteley..

Red Hot 1980-1981

Red Hot featured Keith Mullard on lead guitar,John Vessey the well know drummer on bass

The late Roy 'Animal' Allenby on drums,the vocalist was Spud Woodward from Grimsby.

The band played good old Rock'n'Roll, they had an unusual drum solo, in that, having

two drummers, John would swap with Roy during the drum solo in 'Wipe Out', Spud would

then take over on bass to finish the number off. On 'Shadows' numbers, John would play

lead guitar and Keith would take over on bass.

One night 'Spud' couldn't make it for a booking at Stainforth,

Jock McKay stood in, he did as little singing as possible,but

had the audience thrilled with his banter and jokes. On another

night, John Steveson stood in and went down great as well. So

good when you can talented backup like that, Scunthorpe has

always been awash with lots of talent.

Contact Four 1983?

Contact Four over the years featured Paddy Oconnor,bass, Roly Smith, vocals,

Toyne Tomilson,drums, Trev Mitchell, drums, and Frank Cornish,bass.

Pete Spencer - Bass Johnny Robinson - Gtr/Vocs Greg Tomlnson - Gtr Pete Jackson - Drums Mel Oliver - Piano Picture taken in 1971 the venue is Burton upon Stather, either 'The Sheffield Arms' pub or 'Westlands Club'. The band played regularly also at 'The Brown Cow' (Ashby), 'The Priory' )Ashby) and 'The Iron and Steel Club' (Scunthorpe).

M Oliver, K Nicholson, T Tomlinson, A Harsley, M Evans

Trish Rickell, Jamie Huish, Terry Huish, Mel Oliver & John Medlar Terry's son, James Huish (seen above) is doing really well in Belfast N.Ireland, were he has his own Michael Buble Tribute Swing band. He is playing to packed houses, all over Ireland

Mel and the Gang

Mel Oliver, Greg Tomilson, John Ancliffe, Trev Mitchell and front Ivan (spud) Tate

The Executioners

"Ral Shaun and the Bluenotes" later morphed into "The Exeucutioners"

(L-R) Roy Jepson (Lead Gtr), Mick Cowling (Drums), Terry Cowling (Rhythm Gtr), Ralph Beacroft (Bass Gtr), Tony Wallis

"Ral Shaun" was the late Ralph Beacroft. Not sure of the line up,

but Mick Cowling was the drummer and a probability of Martin Danks

and Roy Jepson or Alan Harsley on guitar.

Mick was a really big guy back then and would take it on himself

to jump around the stage from time to time. He did so one night

at the Embassy ballroom in Skegness with unfortunate results.

The front of the stage was covered with large mirrors and the

vibration from Mick's leaping and bounding dislodged one of the

mirrors, much to the band's embarrassment.

Mick and Martin Danks worked together at Burton's tailoring and

there were some hilarious tales of their antics there.

Another line up of Ral Shaun and the Bluenotes was,

Ral Shaun (Ralph Beacroft - singer), Terry Cowling (drums), Martin Danks (piano) and Tony Dixon ( lead guitar).

Ralph’s understanding parents allowed them to practice in the family home in Church Lane. Whilst they were still working up their act, one or more others who’d been involved with the band before Tony Dixon joined, turned up and laid claim to some of the gear, which left them a bit short of equipment a bit short of equipment. The main loss was Terry’s drum kit, so he switched to rhythm guitar. This was a pity because he was an accomplished drummer but a beginner on guitar. Mick Cowling, Martin’s colleague from Burton’s (the tailor) joined them as drummer (he had his own kit which is always a good plus).

Martin and Mick measured them up for jackets so we acquired a uniform and started taking bookings. Keadby youth club was their first but eventually they moved up market, especially after they acquired an agent (Lightowler and Eldridge if I remember correctly). They regularly worked within a radius of about 40 miles from Scunthorpe. Amongst the well known artists at whose gigs they worked as the support act, were Billie Davis (Lincoln Drill Hall), Jess Conrad (Retford Town Hall). Also supported Sounds Incorporated (Gainsborough Drill Hall). Their gear was a bit basic and transport to our venues was provided by Ralph and Terry in their cars. One oddity was that they didn’t have a bass player. Ralph was a great lover of rhythm and blues and their repertoire consisted mainly of the usual numbers, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Elvis, Little Richard and so forth.

For Tony it all came to an end one Sunday afternoon when one of the lads came around to inform him that Ralph, Terry and Mick were splitting to form a new band which turned out to be The Executioners in which Ralph switched from singing to bass guitar. The split was uncomfortable for Mick and Martin who still had to work together in Burton’s store. Martin of course went on to work with better bands and Mick became a very polished performer when working professionally in Jimmy Crawford’s band alongside Jimmy Ryder.

Tony Dixon never joined another band but did stand in for a while with the band at the Jazz Workshop when they couldn’t get a banjo player. I think it was Friday nights that we played.

These days he plays the organ at St Hugh’s church and guitar in the church’s music group also adding a bit of vocal harmony. Recently he had the good fortune to play guitar once or twice in the backing band for Duane Towe’s choir concerts alongside Alan Harsley and Pete Spencer.