Memories of Huddersfield’s vibrant music scene in the 1970s will be revived when an expert on the era leads a personal musical tour of the town. Stephen Dorril will be talking about putting on concerts in the town in the 1970s and 1980s, with a host of stories about the major artists who played here including Elvis Costello, Dire Straits, Talking Heads, The Jam, The Stranglers, Joy Division, folk, reggae, the Mod revival and legendary Huddersfield band the Killermeters, the beginnings of punk and the Sex Pistols, and lots more.
The tour will be this Saturday, May 5.
Stephen said: “I thought it would be good to get some of the history of this down on paper before I forget it. When I did look at my diaries from the period I realised that there really was a lot going on. I put on over 100 national bands, 40 local bands, nearly 30 mod bands plus reggae and other genres. Lots of good times and good stories to tell.”
Stephen recently took early retirement although he continues to lecture on journalism at the University of Huddersfield where he was course leader of music journalism for nearly 20 years.
He arrived in Huddersfield in 1974 as a student at the then polytechnic and was social secretary from 1976 to 1979, the key years of punk and new wave. He was also the DJ at the Coach House Club from 1977 to 1982.
The Walk and Talk begins at 1pm outside the Harold Wilson Building on the University of Huddersfield campus and ends at the Northern Quarter (The Builders Club), Wood Street where there will be an exhibition of photos by Brian Lawton who took pictures of music’s greats along with blues and folk stars when they visited Huddersfield. There will be live music from Emily Druce and Steve Jones along with the Ribble Beck Band from 2pm.
Entry is free.
