Elvis Presley
HOUND DOG
1956
Later on that year my brother
and I were really getting into our
rock’n’roll music and our cousin
decided to give us an old record
player he had that played both
78 & 45rpm records. All of our
records at that time were 78rpm
and broke easily, so we started
duplicating them with 45rpms.
The first 7" 45rpm we purchased
was Hound Dog with Don’t Be Cruel
as a B-side and this became the
catalyst for our mother and father
who both became massive Elvis
Presley fans and played and played
this record continually.
Tommy Steele
SINGING THE BLUES
1957
Thanks to my grandparents I was
fast becoming a Tommy Steele fan
and they would turn the volume up
on their cable entertainment
system whenever one of his records
was played. Tommy’s most popular
record was Singing The Blues and
I think much of his popularity was
due to him being a Londoner as we
could all relate to him. The extra fun
we gained from Singing The Blues
was the rivalry between Tommy
and Guy Mitchell who also covered
it as they battled to get to No.1.
What made it more fun was that
they both hit No.1 in the charts at
the same time.Gene Vincent
BE-BOP-A-LULA
1956
If ever a record haunted me it
was Be-Bop-A-Lula. Gene’s
amazing vocal along with the
haunting echo first attracted me to
it and, once again, my brother gave
me a 78rpm record of it which was
never off the turntable. In my
wildest dreams I never thought I’d
meet Gene, let alone become a
friend. It was at Hounslow
Swimming Baths I first saw him
perform and he was great, but
sadly it was his excessive drinking
that lead to his demise as an artist
as well as his life. A true gentleman
most of the time, but impossible
after a drink.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
THAT’LL BE THE DAY
1957
I was only seven years old when my
brother returned home from his
newspaper round one morning and
my mother immediately brought
the paper to me in bed as the
headlines related to Buddy Holly,
The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens
having been killed in a plane crash
following a concert. I was just
getting into music courtesy of my
bass-playing brother and I
remember him being very upset
by the news. The headlines also
prompted me to take an interest
in Buddy Holly and I loved what
I heard and I’m still hooked on
his music.Tab Hunter
YOUNG LOVE
1956
This was definitely the first
ballad-type song that I could get
my teeth into. I remember going
shopping with my mum to
Hounslow where there was a
grocery store that proved very
popular with the ladies. I don’t think
it was just because he was a
good-looking grocery man or that
he sold exceptional groceries, it was
because he had a record player in
his shop that he played at almost
full volume and could be heard a
long time before you arrived at his
store. Young Love seemed to be
played all the time and certainly
stuck with me.The Coasters
YAKETY YAK
1958
My grandparents lived in Margate in
Kent in a very old Victorian house
that still only had gas when my
grandad died in 1972. Their only
media entertainment such as radio
was via a wire that came into the
house and was supplied by a
company called Rediffusion who
piped the entertainment into
homes for a monthly fee. When at
my grandparents I spent a lot of
time at the Dreamland
entertainment complex where they
had a jukebox on which I would
always play Yakety Yak which
featured a brilliant sax solo that
was the highlight of the record.Ricky Nelson
HELLO MARY LOU
1961
I first heard this record whilst
driving to a wedding. My car radio
was permanently tuned into Radio
Luxembourg and it became my
lifeline to all that was great about
rock’n’roll. I hadn’t long started
singing with groups and I felt this
was definitely a “to do” number.
What intrigued me was that I
discovered it was written by Gene
Pitney and it had also been covered
by Johnny Duncan, but it was the
guitar riff and the solo that totally
blew my mind. I later discovered
that James Burton was responsible
for the brilliant guitar work that
made the recording so special.Johnny Duncan And The
Blue Grass Boys
LAST TRAIN TO SAN FERNANDO
1957
This is a brilliant record that I still
have and love to play again and
again along with the B-side
Rockabilly Baby. What I thought
was particularly brilliant was the
line “biddy biddy bum bum”. My
brother and I always had a good
laugh at that line and it was only a
few days ago that I discovered the
record when clearing out my
brother’s house following his
passing. My sister and I played it
straight away and it bought a
smile to our faces at a very difficult
time. Thanks, Johnny, for some
wonderful memories.Soundtrack of my life