A Rainy Night in Southport

Saturday 26 January 2019. Our first gig of the year took us on a stormy journey to Ainsdale near Southport to play at a 70th birthday party.

The venue was Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club where we found the best "can do" staff and an enthusiastic audience who kept the dance floor occupied throughout the evening. We kept the dancers busy and were asked to do our version of the Moody Blues' Nights in White Satin which earned us a standing ovation. Thanks to all concerned - we had just as fabulous a night as we hoped you did!

Double 70th Birthday Party in Darwen

Saturday 3 September 2017. Last weekend we motored across to Darwen to play at a double 70th Birthday Party. One of the couple's birthdays was in June - the other in December. September was the obvious time then!

We had a great night with a full room and lots of enthusiastic people in the audience. Thanks all for the booking and the wonderful feedback and comments. It was a pleasure playing for your party.

Myerscough College Open Day 2017

This year is the sixteenth year we have played this particular event. We always have to keep a wary eye on the weather as with any outdoor gig, but this year apart from one short but quite heavy shower and a bit of wind which made a gazebo near us think it wanted to be a kite, we managed very well.

You can usually find us opposite the entrance to the college bar - The Stumble Inn - so on a really good day we can have quite a large audience sitting at tables or just standing about, drinking and enjoying the music.

And it even got warm enough for me to get all giddy and take my jacket off!

Our Second Golden Wedding of The Year!

Last night we were out on the edge of the Trough of Bowland - a beautiful area of countryside, forests and rivers in Lancashire.

We were playing for the Golden Wedding celebration of Jack and Margaret and the night was a great success.

The Priory at Scorton was the venue for the night. The audience were in fine voice and singing along to all the songs, which is always a good sign!

Then we were asked for The Twist which we have never played before, but I found a suitable backing style on the keyboard and we surprised ourselves - I even pulled off a passable piano solo! Certainly it filled the floor so you can look forward to us playing it at future gigs!

Creeping Bentgrass Harvest Song Fest

Last night David and I played at a Harvest Festival in Darwen, Lancashire. We were in a church hall which filled up nicely quite early on before we started and we played a taster of all the different styles of music we cover as we went through the night.

Two young boys were sitting right at the front and from the word Go they were playing imaginary guitars along to the music and looking as though they were having the most fabulous time. I dug out a couple of plectrums (guitar picks) from my supply and gave them one each and their smiles went skyward! As we took a break whilst food was being served they came over to talk to us - a 6 and an 8-year-old, bursting with things to tell us about all sorts of things, school, how they had a guitar at home. One of their teachers was called Miss Chadwick... They were lovely.

We spoke to their parents who were equally friendly and lovely and it turned out that they were a family of refugees who had been settled locally. They had been brought to the event by one of their local councillors as a way of introducing them into the community and he was almost overcome with the way we welcomed them. We had actually treated them as we would anyone else. That's all you have to do...

Club Night in Preston

On Saturday night we were playing at the Thurlby Club in Lea, Preston. A tiny stage forced me to re-think our usual layout and I placed the keyboard at an angle to give myself enough room to stand. It worked very well as I felt there was less of a barrier between me and the audience.

Usually I stand with the keyboard in front of me, the mic stand in front of that and then usually some floor-standing swivelling lights in front of that again. We were expecting a few games of Bingo, but in the event they played a Spanish game that they called "Cassie-Cassie" (Sp?) This had each player with a sheet of nine playing cards having three rows of three cards and the caller turned over a card from a second full deck. Like Bingo they played four corners, then a T shape with the cross bar either at the top or the bottom, two vertical rows and a full house. It was quite good fun and didn't take as long as Bingo with 90 balls to choose from.

We played two sets mainly from our 60s song-list to an enthusiastic crowd of around 50-60 people and were told later that in the audience was a guitarist who used to play with The Ivy League who had apparently said "These lads are bloody good!". Thank you kind sir! Our first playing of the Elvis song Can't Help Falling In Love With You.

Fylde Farm Weekend, 2016

Friday 24 June 2016. The Fylde Farm Weekend. We are once again in a marquee, this time in a field next to the M55 motorway in Treales.

The weather had been a bit damp during the day, but it was fine and the field was firm enough as we drove in and made our way towards the back of the field where the beer tent was situated.

This is usually a quieter event for us than the Steam Fair, but there was a good-sized audience of between 70-80 people for most of the night and as usual there were some regulars and familiar faces to be spotted.

Nice lighting effect!

Instrumental time! Photo opportunity!

Another good night - favourite quote of the night: "We come here every year and always say you couldn't possibly get better - but you do!" Thank you kind sir and we hope your hearing improves soon!

Birthday Party at Coast Riders

Monday 13 June 2016. We had been asked to play at the significant (must have been 21...) birthday party of the lovely Andrea who rules our favourite venue, Blackpool Coast Riders Diner & Bar, with a rod of iron. (That is what you asked me to put isn't it Andrea?)

Here's the birthday girl with the two of us after our set. The venue has recently started a carvery project which we went to try out the other Sunday lunchtime - yummy!

Not only was it Andrea's birthday celebration but someone else who had reached the age of 70. Obviously I cannot mention a lady's age, but added together they would have been 110... Hang on kids... Did you just blow those candles out...?

I'd brought out the ice blue guitar at Myerscough on the previous day, so tonight I gave the woody a chance to come out and rock and roll! A lovely looking guitar, but I still personally prefer the tone from the cherry red guitar. Everyone else says they can't tell the difference, so maybe it's just different, not necessarily better. Another great night at Coast Riders - and (why was I expecting this?) a couple of challenges for next time in the form of half-forgotten songs from way back!

Eccleston Steam Fair

Saturday 4 June 2016. We found ourselves driving down twisting country lanes somewhere to the west of Eccleston in Lancashire. The Heskin Hall Steam Fair that we had played for years has moved from this year and we were heading for a farmer's field out in the country.

The event looked bigger than ever and with our long-time collaborator, Jack Gerrard at the helm, we knew that the facilities would be top notch. The marquee is always the size of a small palace and with a dance floor and twinkling LED lights set in the draperies over the stage area, it looks the biz, particularly once it goes dark.

There's always been a good crowd in the marquee at this event and so it proved this year. Despite the new venue, we recognised lots of regular faces and we gained some great feedback and a couple of future gigs too!

I even got to play a couple of instrumentals too - that'll teach him to "lubricate his throat" so much...

Darwen Gig

Last Saturday saw us out at a church hall in Darwen, where we played for a Harvest celebration.

One of those nights where the audience could be seen - and heard - enjoying themselves! People were singing along, clapping, dancing and nodding their heads in time with the music and they were very generous with their applause. A raffle and tombola helped the night along and there was a rather excellent supper served as well.

We got some good rapport going with the audience as I called out the raffle numbers and the time went all too quickly. I always love it when the organiser of an event says "Oh, everyone stayed a lot longer than I expected them to...!"

Remembering Sunnyside, 2014

It's that time of year again! So often this weekend marks our first gig of the year and so it was for 2014. We set off down to Wellingborough in Northamptonshire early Friday morning 21 March.

Our destination was the Hind Hotel, the venue for this private weekend for the regulars and friends who were originally drawn together on the forums at billyfury.com. Although the weekend is held in remembrance of Billy Fury, it is just a Sixties music based weekend - the theme is Billy Fury and his time rather than just the man himself. Of course a rather disproportionate number of his songs may be heard during the weekend...!

Creeping Bentgrass started things off on Friday night. We had several acts and some occasional singers and more were due to arrive on Saturday for the main night.

We don't have any facilities to play recorded backing tracks so apart from all our gear, our good friend and fellow entertainer, Dave Jay from Macclesfield had brought his own PA and means of playing CDs, mini disks and mp3s on memory sticks.

We invited Chris Eley up to sing Johnny B. Goode with us. A bit of a groovy mover is our Chris on the dance floor and you'll find his name against a few album notes if you look. I think he enjoyed himself here!

Saturday came and we went out for a breather of fresh air. We were joined by Peter and Shelagh from Garstang who we have known for years and who were going to do a couple of numbers with us in addition to their own set on Saturday night. For some reason the girls managed to spend ages at a button stall on the market. We weren't sure quite how they managed this, but their excuse seemed to be that the button stall was huge... Still confusion reigned in our male minds. Is there a rule that you have to look at every button? Is it like a collection thing - "Hey look I haven't got this one!" - or what?

We went off to have a look at the second-hand book stall (but without peering intently at every book). However there was one somewhat untidy gent who was certainly old enough to know better who was peering very intently at every picture in a book of 1970s pin-ups... We thought of forming a queue behind him...

Saturday night got started. A couple of acts had had to give backword and we stepped in with an impromptu set, bringing up Shelagh and Dave Savage to help out on The Fields of Athenry and performing a set of mainly ballads, a couple of Bee Gees classics and our tribute to our favourite woman - When You Say Nothing At All... We played a few "Billys" to get the audience in the right mood.

Steve Reynolds played a set of instrumentals in the classic Shadows style, which he applied not only to Shadows tunes but to more modern stuff too. He played the Westlife hit "Wind Beneath My Wings" which he said he had recently played to Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden at the Britain's Got Talent auditions. It takes nerve to go in front of that sort of panel so every respect to you Steve!

Certainly he had the ladies lining up to do The Shadows' Walk... Thankfully injuries were kept to a minimum and a couple of times they nearly got it right...

I've not got photos of everyone I'm afraid. Roger Sea gave a fabulous set and had our table enthusiastically belting out the backing vocals to his version of Bobby Darin's Things (like a walk in the park...) which I think he appreciated. He looked in danger of bursting out laughing at one point though... Sorreeee!

Local lad Snowy is always up for a raucous and energetic set and this year was no exception - even though only a fortnight before he had been undergoing an operation to have two stents fitted... We watched aghast as he launched himself wholeheartedly (sorry!) into voice, leg and arm contortions and I wondered where we would be able to get an oxygen tank at such a late hour... A brilliant showman!

Dave Jay's own set was mind bogglingly good. I think his adrenaline was kicking in - looking after a stream of singers is no easy task. They do not always think to arrange their songs on a CD in the order they want to sing them and it can be a nightmare for the techie looking after them. Whatever it was, I've never heard a better set from Dave - well done that man!

Peter and Shelagh did their own set and brought us on for the last two - Nancy Whiskey's Freight Train and The Beatles' All My Loving. Peter plays guitar and in his own description "strips back" songs to their basic tune with a simple arrangement. They went down well.

We stayed on to play our main set - Little Sister, I'd Never Find Another You, It's Now Or Never, Suddenly You Love Me, House Of The Rising Sun. On The Tremeloes song we had the audience belting out "Zie zie zie zie!" and everyone looked as though they were having fun! We certainly were!

The night was brought to a close by this chap - the one and only Johnny Storm, all the way from the Isle of Wight. Something of a legend to the Billy Fury forum regulars and certainly as far as the ladies are concerned, something of a heart-throb! I usually settle for a manly hand shake myself, but you couldn't hope to meet a nicer guy than Johnny and after last year's absence he was back in excellent form with a great set.

And then all too soon it was the end of the night and as dictated by tradition, all the singers gathered to the floor to sing Billy Fury's greatest hit Halfway To Paradise with the audience up on their feet, forming a ring to sing along with us. A great night and some great comments. Dave Jay thanked us publicly over the mic, saying we had made it a great weekend. Well... we made our bits good... But thanks to all who gave us some very kind comments and compliments. And of course we all agreed to come back next year and do it all over again!

Remembering Sunnyside 2013 Part One

Friday 22 March 2013. The Billy Fury weekend has moved from the Sunnyside in Northampton to the Hind Hotel in Wellingborough and is a quieter affair aimed at the regulars on the forum rather than being open to the public.

The weather is a little different to last year... Last year we walked from the hotel to the venue with no jackets on but this year as we halt for a breakfast break on the motorway there's snow on the ground.

Inside though, this collection of folks in fancy dress seems to auger well for a 1960s themed weekend!

We arrive in Wellingborough and do a couple of tours of the one-way system before finding the way into the Hind. It's a gorgeously old hotel and has loads of atmosphere whilst being very comfortable.

We lug all the gear into the concert room upstairs and folks start to arrive for the weekend. It's time to renew old friendships and make a few new ones!

There are lots of artists and Dave Jay and I are kept busy making sure they can all be heard and that their backing tracks are coming through. We cater for a mix of mp3, CD and mini-disk users. We get a chance to do our thing as well!

A motley collection of singers at the end of the night, belting out Billy Fury's best known hit, Halfway to Paradise!

Billy's friend and one-person Fury evangelist Moya had come over from New Zealand with the express purpose of ensuring I had a lipstick design on my head... Just because I'd washed off the one she left in 2009...

Ok! We're gathered and the Friday night was a success! Join us next for a look round Wellingborough and another night of music!

Songs to Change the World

Let no one say we don't mix in the right circles! This new release, Songs to Change the World has just been released by the Peaksoft label. It is an album of protest songs from the beginnings of recorded sound through to songs that were Internet download hits without troubling the official Charts.

We are featured on the opening track, having been asked by the man behind Peaksoft, Mr Harry Whitehouse, if we could record a song made famous in the early 1960s on the many CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) marches.

"The words of H Bomb's Thunder" (writes Harry in the sleeve notes) "were written by the best-selling novelist John Brunner and set to the traditional tune Miner's Lifeguard in 1958. Its haunting melody has helped it to live on in the memories of those who marched 50 years ago."

It was recorded by a youth choir on an early LP record, long since deleted and unavailable and Harry asked us if we could contribute an arrangement for this album.

This is not the first Peaksoft compilation we have contributed to, but never before have we found ourselves in such exalted company as Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Paul Robeson, Billie Holliday, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Ewan MacColl and others. But nice to be in the company of our fellow artiste from Harry's Billy Fury website; the Gentleman from the Isle of Wight, Johnny Storme!

The CD is available through the merchandise page of the Billy Fury website, from the Peaksoft website, or from Amazon and some independant retailers.

Sunnyside 2011 - Saturday 19 March

The second half of my report of our annual Billy Fury tribute at the club which saw his final public performance.

Saturday dawned and we sat down to an excellent cooked breakfast before heading into Northampton for a look round. In past years we've gone into Wellingborough so it was a morning of discovery, which I'll show a little of in another entry. I know they are a bit few on the ground recently, I've been rather busy!

Then we headed for Sunnyside to suss out the new layout. The old club layout has now totally gone and the place is a pub restaurant. The new layout works very well for that, with new wall partitions with gaps or "windows" cut through to allow views into different parts of what once was the concert room.

The old stage area at the bottom end of the large room is therefore cut off from the rest of the space. It was reached down a ramp from a slightly higher floor at the back of the room where there was a bar. The balcony created by the higher floor extended down one side of the ramp to overlook the stage area on the left, whilst on the right, tables gave a same-level view of the stage area with access on that side into the main pub.

It was in this area that we set up the stage to allow a viewpoint from as much of the room as possible.

It did mean that the artists were singing to a line of people getting progressively taller on the ramp, but it worked fairly well!

We had been asked to bring our own kit this year as, rather than a band, the main professional act was Johnny Red, a well-known local act with a great Billy tribute set. Taking all our own gear meant that we needed a full half hour to set up. We decided to leave this until later as once Johnny Red had set up his very comprehensive stage gear, a crowd of singers gathered to test their tonsils around the mic and we walked back to the hotel to get showered and changed.

Then I got the PA, speakers and keyboard set up and we blasted through our version of Bad Moon Rising to test the sound, Jeannie and Miss Franny running round the different areas of the place to listen for any imperfections in the sound - hiccups, burps, slurred words, bum notes, swear words, that sort of thing...

We'd had to crank it up a bit because of the size of the room and standing just in front of the speakers, I have to say we enjoyed ourselves immensely on that test; it was obvious that a ripple of excitement had gone round the room and it was a struggle to force ourselves off, but we did!

More new faces turned up - I'd never met Russ Dee or Roger Sea before, despite having "known them" from the billyfury.com forums for years and it was great to shake their hands and catch up.

And then, such was the number of artists attending, the music started at 4:30pm. Dave Jay, thwarted from walking into the audience by the new layout, still delivered some cracking numbers and then switched on his polished MC mode, introducing each act. There are very few seats now with a view of the stage. People were standing and crowding around the gaps and doorways through the new walls and partitions.

It did make it a bit frustrating but the sound carried and there was plenty of applause and cheering and a really brilliant atmosphere and there were some absolutely superb acts.

Jane Hubert made her Sunnyside debut with some fabulous vocals. She sang a fast Helen Shapiro song and then started "Funny... but it's true..." and I went cold and all the small hairs on the palms of my hands - er... I mean back of my neck - stood up. Wonderful!

Roger Sea had a brilliant mirrored jacket - I want it when he's done with it ha ha! We followed Michelle Gibson onto the stage. David had blabbed it was my birthday and Dave Jay got the audience to sing Happy Birthday to me. As he said, "suitably embarrassed"!

Harry, the organiser (who has obviously got to know us by now), came to whisper in my ear to make sure we finished our set on time! We started with an Elvis number, Suspicion (the video of this is at YouTube) and then went through our set, ditching a planned number in order to get in a request from the audience dedicated to the perfect woman - When You Say Nothing At All...

We had to ditch another song in order to finish on time (a Cliffy too - Moya would have loved that one...) as both having to bring instruments forward from the back of the stage and the Happy Birthday bit had eaten into our time, but when I checked my watch we had finished on the dot of our allotted time - by heck, and I still had a joke or two in hand...

Laura and Emily followed us after the raffle. A brilliant set and two great girls - we were chatting with them later (closely watched by Miss Franny and Jeannie of course...)

Johnny Red delivered a great tribute act to Billy and then we all came on for the traditional rendition of Halfway to Paradise to finish the night.

A brilliant night! Everyone calling for a repeat next year. Everyone happy. Everyone quite willing to have stayed another few hours and sung some more. Harry, we salute you. Sunnyside 2012 will be on 16-17 March. Can't wait!