The rock 'n' roll years

In 1991, when I wrote ‘Bradford’s Rock n' Roll the Golden Years 1959-65’, most of the book was about me, firstly, with my own groups, ‘Dal Stevens and the Blue Jays’ and ‘Dal Stevens and the Four Dukes’. This was followed by my life as a disc jockey for five years from 1960 until 1965 with Top Rank at the Gaumont and Majestic Ballrooms in Bradford.

It was in 1965 when I decided that my rock 'n' roll world was changing and would be taken over by the beat boom with Mod style and Beatle suits, thus calling it a day for my music world. Music tastes changed almost overnight with the advent of Blues, R&B, Soul, Harmony Groups, and Pop Art, progressing to psychedelically painted trucks, long hair, drugs, flower power, hippies, and the music associated with all this. 

Now the songs and music that explored the ups and downs of teenage romance sung by the Tabs, Bobbies, and Frankie’s were on the decline. It was at this time I decided to ‘pack my tent and slowly steal away’ from my rock and roll world. As the book was almost finished, suddenly, as an afterthought, I decided to try to add a few of our local groups and celebrities. I, therefore, devoted the epilogue, of the book, to those whom I could contact. However, time was short due to the book's forthcoming publication, and I only managed to cover a few, with only brief details of their careers.

It has now become very apparent that there is a need to record something in more detail about our very own local ‘Rock and Roll Groups’, who, through this period 1954–1966 gave immeasurable pleasure to thousands of young people in Bradford and the surrounding districts. Bradford had a wealth of talent – vocalists, guitarists, and drummers – who compared favourably with the top groups of the country. 

Our local groups exported this talent to other parts of the county, and in some cases nationally, but they were never recognised with a title like the ‘Bradford’ or the ‘The Yorkshire Sound’. Most groups over the border seemed to acquire some success, but our very own talented groups never achieved the fame that most of them richly deserved.

Derek A J Lister  - 2022

WHERE YOU SEE A NAME IN BOLD TYPE AND UNDERLINED, IT'S A CLICKABLE LINK TO FURTHER INFORMATION.

What a revelation it would have been if we'd had today's digital cameras to record our rock 'n' roll history.

You were lucky if you had a Kodak Box Brownie. And then you only had black and white images.