Our Chairman David McPhie writes.
Last year I did an illustrated talk for CADLHS on ‘100 Years of Chesterfield Music,’ but quite seriously over-ran my allotted time span, covering the early Dance Band years of the 1920s, 30s and 40s, the Queens Park Hotel Folk Clubs during both Roger Buck and Graham Blankley’s eras, my own Smokestack Club (also at the QPH), the Carlton and Aquarius Clubs as covered by John Cuttriss’s books, and the (albeit sparse) Country Music, Jazz and Skiffle groups from the 1950s and 60s.
I listed the big names who appeared on the stage of the ABC/Regal Cinema in the 50s and 60s (including Jimi Hendrix, Lonnie Donegan, Cliff Richard & the Shadows, Eddie Cochran, Billy Fury, Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Small Faces, Walker Brothers, etc.), and told the story of the Top Rank era at the Victoria Ballroom, when I was the resident DJ and compere during the time when just about every British Rock Group of any note appeared during the first half of the 1960s.
I believe that ‘time may have been called’ at the meeting during my recounting of the (twin level) ‘Velvet Underground’ years, when the venue hosted the ‘Progressive’ bands from the second half of the 60s, including Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Yes, Free, Fairport Convention, etc.
As I will not be continuing with a ‘Part Two’ talk, the interview with me by Aaron Brown of the S40Time podcast On YouTube and linked below) from about 4/5 years ago, will I believe continue the timeline and fill in some of the omissions from my curtailed story, including Hudsons Music Shop, ‘Some Kinda Mushroom’, Joe Cocker, Pink Floyd, the Blueberries and Shape of the Rain.
The continuing Chesterfield Music Story, encompassing the latter half of the 70s, the 80s, 90s and the year 2000 to the present, will have to be told by Stuart Smith (the Fusion Club), Pete Dodd (Thompson Twins), Aaron Brown (numerous groups from the 90s onwards to his current WonderWhys incarnation, and S40Time podcast) and David Palfreyman (currently researching the Derbyshire Times archives for advertising and editorial content on ‘live’ music and venues in the town from the early 60s onwards).
Reading material
‘Sounds in the Shadow of the Crooked Spire’ by David McPhie and Ian Lee, and ‘Dirty Stop Outs Guide to 1960s Chesterfield by Pete Dodd.
Interview
How Joe Cocker got his record deal, Pink Floyd and Hendrix in Chesterfield in the 1960s