rockinluke

on Sunday March 27th i went to the Riverside Reception in new Farm to see an show called Old Rockers Annual Get Together show which is the Brisbane rock'n'roll bands from the 60's and early 70's get together and perform for the special thing that raises money for the Queensland Institute of Medical research. the show on Sunday was my 2nd as my first was on April 6th 2008 and the show was just FANTASTIC and had an great time. The bands that were playing on the day were- Poor Man's Son, 6 O'Clock ROck band, the Dominoes an Brisbane band that was formed in 1962, the Beauman, this'n'That, the Avengers and Gingerbread and they all played great doing good old rock'n'roll music which many people were dancing and having an great time. I saw my Friend David who I meet at shows, Kay Howick from BAY FM 100.3, Glen who I knew from the Gym when Tuesday options went to the Gym in Stafford which he actually sang with Gingerbread as I had no idea that he sang...

last Saturday March 26th I went to South bank Cinema with Lifestream and saw Rango. Rango(johnny Deep) an chameleon who accidentally is stranded in the desert of Mojave after his terraium falls from his owner's car and he meets Roadkill(Alfred Molina) an armadillo who is seeking the mystical Spirit of the west and after an surreal nightmare he meets the lizard Beans(Isla Fisher) who is the rancher's daughter which she takes him to an Old West town populated by desert animals Dirt. Meanwhile Rango encounters an variety of villainy and also the Mayor tortoise John (Ned Beatty) who is wheelchair bound and gets very interesting throughout the movie. It's excellent and funny and excellent performances by Johnny Deep, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Ned Beatty, Ray Winstone, Harry Dean Stanton, Bill Nighy and others. John Logan did the screenplay who also did the story, Gore Verbinski directs this film who also produces with John B Carls and Graham King and hans Zimm...

Let's look at an album that has been hailed as one of the greatest albums of all time "Sgt Peppers Lonely hearts Club Band" by the Beatles. It's late 1966 and the Beatles had stopped touring after playing their last gig @ Candlestick park on August 29th as they were starting to retreat in the studio. they took a 2 month break as they took their own thing which George Harrison went to India to continue to develop more in the studio his sitar playing which he was invited by Ravi Shankar, John Lennon went to Spain to do the movie "how I Won the War" and attended art galleries where he would met his 2nd future wife , Paul McCartney wrote music with producer George Martin for a movie called "The Family Way" that starred Hayley Mills which he won an Ivor Novello award for best film song for a song called "Love In the Open Air" and Ringo Starr spent time with his wife Maureen and son Zak. It was Paul McCartney who came up with the concept of ...

Last Saturday March 19th I went to the Balmoral cinema to see the movie "the Adjustment Bureau". In 2006 David Norris (Matt Damon) an Congressman who is planning to run for the Senate seat of New York but he loses his lead due to the New york Post revealing an minor incident from his past and in the men's room he meets Elise(Emily Blunt) an beautiful English woman who is an dancer. Later on they meet again on a bus and they started to have feelings for each other but there is strange forces planning to have them apart which it's the men from the Adjustment Bureau who control the world somehow and have plans for David which it's get very interesting and adventurous throughout the movie. it's an excellent and a superb movie with Excellent acting by Emily blunt and Matt Damon as well as Terence Stamp who plays Thompson who is the head of the bureau, Anthony Mackie plays harry brown, John Slattery who plays Richardson and others. the effects are excellent and it...

Last Friday March 18th I went to see legendary British 60's group Gerry and the Pacemakers @ Kedron-Wavell as my fourth time seeing them which the first was at the British 60's concert @ Festival Hall on Saturday February 11th 1995, 2nd @ Kedron-Wavell with the Reelin and Rockin show Thursday February 14th 2002 and 3rd @ Twin Towns also with the Reelin & rockin show on Saturday June 7th 2003 during Wintersun which it was my very first trip there. The show @ kedron-Wavell was FANTASTIC and it was sold out which it's great to see that. the support act on the night were the All Stars an group from Melbourne with Ian B Allen on bass who have been the support acts for the legendary rockers who toured Australia as well as Ian been the promoter too and they did an set of rock'n'roll songs which was just GREAT. There was an interval where I saw an Lady i work with @ St Andrews War memorial Hospital named Maryanne Jamieson and bought Coke Zero which i drank it and also ...

It will be 5 years this year when I had 2 phone calls from an legendary Australian rock'n'roll singer from the 60's and his name is Merv Benton. Merv Benton remembered for hits like Cincinnati Fireball, I got Burned, Yield Not To Temptation, Come On and get me, it's love baby and others and appeared on TV shows like the Go Show, Bandstand, Sing Sing Sing etc. I was doing an guest stint one Saturday each month for 3 months from April 8th-July 15th 2006 on a community radio station "BAY FM 100.3" which it's based in Thornlands on a show called "Good Timez Rock'n'Roll hosted by Kay howick when it happened and how it was all done was when kay saw Mum and Dad at Wintersun in Coolangatta in 2006 which it was arranged so Mum & dad knew about it but I didn't know what was going on. So when i had the phone call on Wednesday June 14th in the afternoon which I didn't know who it was and this voice said "hello Luke this is Merv Benton...

Last Saturday March 12th I went to see an rockabilly group called Brandi and the Badcats @ Carina Leagues Club and it was FANTASTIC. It's my 10th time seeing this group who were originally formed in Melbourne but have been based in Brisbane since 2005 and do gigs around the area as well as the gold and sunshine coast and also Brandi and the band does an Suzi Quatro tribute show as well which it's great as she does an excellent job doing the Suzi Quatro stuff. I saw first Brandi and the badcats @ the Night Owl Store during Wintersun on Sunday June 12th 2005 which I saw the first 20 minutes as I was on my way to see Aussie rocker Digger Revell and the last 15 minutes which they were great and i met Brandi after the show and the drummer had at the time was legendary rock drummer Harold Frith who was from one of the early Australian rock groups from Melbourne in the the 50's & early 60's The Thunderbirds known for the hits like Wild Weekend,New Orleans Beat and Machine ...

Lets' look at another classic album which this time we are going back to the 1950's rock'n'roll era and it's Buddy Holly and the Crickets with the Chirping Crickets. The Chirping Crickets was the only album Buddy holly recorded with the Crickets and this album was recorded from February 25th-September 28th 1957 which most of it were recorded in Clovis New Mexico and 4 tracks were recorded @ Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City Oklahoma on September 28th 1957. This was also the only album that had the quartet line up of the Crickets with Buddy Holly on guitar and vocals, Joe B Mauldin on bass, Jerry Allison on drums and Niki Sullivan on guitar which he was the group until he left in late 1957 which they then became an trio. The background vocals one most of the tracks were done by an vocal group called the Picks which had the Pickering Brothers John and Bill and Bill Lapham and Gary and Romona Tollett who sang around Lubbock did the background vocals on That'll...

Last Sunday afternoon March 6th I went to see big Kitty and the Scaredy Cats at the Story Bridge Hotel in kangaroo Point and they were just FANTASTIC. It was my 3rd time seeing the group which the first was at the Cannon Hill Bowls Club with Corn Liquor on Saturday April 21st 2007 and the 2nd was at the Bleeding Heart in the city for the Rockabilly Relief Concert on February 25th this year. The band played great with Anna Eves on lead singer which she sang an mixture of originals and covers including Ruth Brown, Wanda Jackson, Ray Charles and others as well as jazz,blues and rockabilly and Rupert Jenner played excellent guitar and Matt played great bass. I only stayed for 3 sets as My dad had to pick me up @ 5.30pm but enjoyed the afternoon and i met 4 people that afternoon including Terry,Leigh and Brenda. I enjoyed seeing Anna and the band and I look forward to seeing them live in the future which they are just great live. i saw that afternoon my friends Kat creasey, her boyfriend...

Last Saturday March 5th I went to see an local group from Brisbane called "On The Move" at Carina Leagues Club and they were Excellent. this group has been around since late 2008 when they were formed and they play throughout South East Queensland as well as the Gold Coast,Ipswich and Toowoomba. It was my 2nd time seeing them as I saw them the first time @ Kedron-Wavell on Sunday August 29th last year (2010) as part of the Rock'n'Roll Spectacular show to raise money for the Endeavour Foundation and they opened the show that day. The group does an mixture of classic rock'n'roll like Elvis, Buddy Holly, Dion, Chuck Berry, Dusty Springfield, Ricky Nelson to modern country from people like Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, The Mavericks as well as classic country like the Bellamy Brothers, Jim Reeves etc and they get everyone singing along and dancing as well. I met Dave the bass player who lived in the Camp Hill area long time ago and Marilyn the singer/keyboardist ...

Let's look at another classic album from the rock'n'roll era and this time is the landmark 1968 album "Sweetheart of The Rodeo" by US rock group the Byrds. At the Beginning of 1968 the Byrds had 2 original members left from the line up that was formed in 1964- Roger Mcguinn on lead guitar and vocals and Chris Hillman on bass guitar and vocals as they had been through line-up changes in 1966 with the departure of Gene Clark the group's main songwriter at the time and 1967 with the departures of both David Crosby in October and drummer Michael Clarke in November during the making of the Notorious Byrd Brothers. in January 1968 Drummer Kevin Kelley who was the cousin of CHris Hillman who had played in LA cult band The Rising Sons with Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder joined the byrds and in February Gram Parsons who had played in the International Submarine Band who recorded an album "Safe At Home" on the :LHI label owned by singer-songwriter Lee hazelwood as...

US singer Johnny Preston known for hits in the early 60's like Running Bear, Cradle Of Love, Charming Billy, Feel So Fine etc passed away on Friday March 4th aged 71 from heart failure and had bypass surgery last year which had ongoing problems since. He was born in Port Arthur Texas on August 18th 1939 and while he was at high school formed an group called the Shades. They were performing at an local club by JP Richardson aka "The Big Bopper" and he offered Johnny Preston to record the Song "Running bear" which he had written and it was @ Gold Star Studios in Houston, Texas with the Big Bopper,record producer Bill hall and country singer George Jones doing the Indian chants. the song was released in August 1959 on the Mercury label 6 months after the Big Bopper's death in the plane crash with Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly and it was number 1 in the USA,UK and Australia. Preston had hits like "Cradle of Love, Charming Billy, Feel So Fine, leave My Kit...

This was Elvis' first recording session after being out of the army and this was first studio album since King Cerole soundtrack album in 1958. The "Elvis Is Back" album was recorded in Nashville in 2 nights which the tracks were recorded on March 20th and April 3rd 1960. an new sound for Elvis emerged with a challenging and diverse material which was combined with gospel, doo wop, gospel,blues and jazz and going further towards pop, improved recording technology which was 3 tracks and an band of session musicians including Charlie Hodge who was to be in the Memphis Mafia and played with Elvis when he went back on stage in the late 60's but guitarist Scotty Moore who played with Elvis in 1954 and drummer DJ Fontana who had been with Elvis since 1954 returned as well as the Jordanaires who had been singing on Elvis' records since 1956 as well as pianist Floyd Cramer. This album was released on April 8th 1960 and it went to number 2 in the USA and number 1 in th...

this is another new segment on Rockin Luke as we look at the rock'n'roll tours of Australia from the 50's,60's and 70's from the well known tours and to some that don't get a lot of mention so let's start off with the Buddy Holly tour of Australia in 1958. Buddy holly & the Crickets/Jerry lee Lewis/Paul Anka/Jodie Sands/Johnny O'Keefe and the Dee Jays- The Big Show promoter-Lee Gordon Buddy Holly and the Crickets-Buddy Holly,Jerry Allison & joe B Mauldin Jerry lee Lewis Paul Anka Jodie Sands Johnny O"Keefe and the Dee jays- Johnny O'Keefe , John"Catfish" Purser, dave Owens, Johnny greenan, Lou Casch and Keith Williams Dates- Sydney Stadium January 30th 1958 Newcastle January 31st Sydney Stadium February 1st Cloudland Ballroom Brisbane February 3rd West Melbourne Stadium February 4th and 5th This tour in 1958 was the only Australian tour that Buddy holly ever did as well as the tour of the UK an month later as he would be kille...

On Saturday night February 26th I went to Morningside Services Club to see Rockabilly Bop # 6 put together by Lori Lee an music promoter who runs the rockabilly shows throughout Brisbane and it was FANTASTIC night. the first band of the night were Knights Of Sin which they were FANTASTIC and played great doing an mixture of covers and their own songs which among them were the Worryin Kind and on the main band on the night were Pat Cappoci Combo which they were just FANTASTIC doing 2 sets and had Cd's on sale. Everyone had an great night and I saw Lori, Drea, Laura,Tracey,Emma from the sugar shackers and Rupert who plays with big Kitty and the scaredy Cats as well and also I met an lady named Shelley on the night as well. I am glad that they are having rockabilly shows @ morningside services club which it's not far from me and I can get there easily and get home as well. I hope there will be more shows @ morningside and an job well done to Lori for the night.

Last Friday Night February 25th I went to the Bleeding Heart gallery in the city on Ann Street and attended the rockabilly Flood Relief concert which was put together by Kat Creasey an young woman who runs My little Rockabilly . There was stalls and 3 bands playing on the night. The first band were the Vampers who I have seen live 3 times and were they were FANTASTIC which it was the drummer Cam's last gigs with them. There was an Burlesque dancing which 7 young ladies and it was very good but it was interesting. Saw an woman named Penny Cremin who I went to school @ Mt gravatt High School in 1996 and it was great to see her again as it was the first time i had seen her for nearly 15 years which I met some of her family that night as well her partner Gavin. The 2nd band on the night was Big Kitty and the Scaredy Cats which they were just fantastic and Kitty(Anna) sounded great as she had not performed for a while and I had not seen her live since Saturday April 21st 2007 at the ca...