When the stars of pop came to see us

Dec 3 2008 by Andrew Baldwin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Cilla Black, the Tremeloes, Johnny Kidd, Lulu, the Applejacks and the Shadows – all big names who played to local audiences in the heyday of pop. ANDREW BALDWIN looks at a new book bringing back a host of musical memories

ALTOGETHER now. “Woke up this mornin’ feelin’ fine

“There’s somethin’ special on my mind

“Last night I met a new girl in the neighbourhood, whoa yeah

“Somethin’ tells me I’m into something good.”

Ah, Herman’s Hermits and their 1964 hit I’m Into Something Good.

They probably would have sung it in Brighouse on a tour in the early 1970s – but events were to prove otherwise.

They went to town at the Ritz with a huge billboard advertising Herman’s Hermits.

But gap-toothed frontman Peter Noone objected as soon as he saw it.

“The correct billing should be Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits as I’m the star of this show,” he said.

A row ensued and Noone packed his bags without performing – depriving fans of the chance to hear one of the biggest groups of their time.

Trevor Simpson recalls the incident in his new book Small Town Saturday Night Vol 2, continuing the story of popular music in Halifax during the 1960s.

Packed with masses of memorabilia and unpublished photographs, it tells of visits by an unbelievable number of artists.

No stone is left unturned in the story and although a big hill stands between the two towns, there is much of interest for readers in Huddersfield.

Elton John was at the ill-fated Yorkshire Folk, Blues and Jazz Festival, held at Krumlin, near Barkisland in 1970.

Ill-fated because it was a disaster when it turned out to be the wettest, windiest and coldest August weekend in living memory.

Trevor says: “My friend John Summerskill was at the front and recalls Elton John running across the stage filling everyone’s glass with Jack Daniels whisky, a drink that the majority of folks had never even heard of in 1971.”

Cilla Black, the Tremeloes, Johnny Kidd, Lulu, the Applejacks and the Shadows – all big names and all acts which appeared in Halifax at this time.

Rastrick guitarist Alan Brearey, just 18 in 1963 and later to be renamed Tab Martin, crops up in the book.

He signed a contract with legendary producer Joe Meek and had a short stint with the Tornados, who had shot to fame with hit single Telstar.

Tab eventually joined the Peddlers, a group whose name is largely forgotten now but which continued until 1976.

He became a successful producer for A & M Records and, according to Trevor, was last heard of in Portugal in 2002 when he was running an audio systems business for the tourist industry.

But what of Aub Hirst and his Orchestra, the dance band which was resident at the Victoria Hall from the late 1940s to the early 1960s.

Trevor Simpson tracked last surviving member Gordon Dransfield to his home in Linthwaite and interviewed him for the book.

Gordon told him he was glad when the end came because not only was the journey hard work, but the advent of the new rock ‘n’ roll was not his cup of tea either.

Trevor describes the 1960s as an age “when the artists came to see us, in our town”.

He adds: “It all changed later as the artists appeared at bigger venues, mainly in cities, and we had to go and see them.”

The venues in Halifax are all gone now.

The Alexandra Hall is office space, Princess Ballroom is a McDonald’s store room and the Marlborough Hall is a rollerblading centre.

Small Town Saturday Night Volume 2, by Trevor Simpson, is published in softback at £16.95. It is available in Huddersfield at Wall of Sound, 42 John William Street.