ISSUE NO. 3 MARCH 2012

Tickets for Saturday night dance with Rockabilly All stars Featuring Rusty Pinto, Pat Capocci and Scotty Baker Available from RED HOT DANCE STUDIO lessons on a Monday night at Broadmeadow as well as http://www.stickytickets.com.au/6662 or

Excitement is building for yet another fabulous Kurri Kurri Nostalgia Festival. Each year the festival just gets bigger and better, and 2012 is looking to shape up and exceed previous records for “ fantastic” and “fabulous”. Maybe this year is the time to try some of the alternative events—like the Retro High Tea and Fashion Parade on Friday 23rd, or Murder on the Rock n Roll Express, held at the Richmond Vale Railway…, also on the 23rd. Sunday is often seen as the BIG day, but take a look at the programme for Saturday—Talent Quest, Jumpin Jukebox ( one of our favourite bands and not seen up this way a lot these days) playing in the Workers Club from 11am, and also you can step back in time from 11. 30 am..with the Fabulous Fifties Showcase...professional performers and musicians delighting the crowds with a tribute show to all our Favourite Fifties Stars—Elvis, Johnny OKeef, Marilyn Monroe and Buddy Holly—all fully costumed...that’s at the Main stage in Rotary Park…( and again on Sunday) Sunday—the huge show and shine…(no drooling on the cars boys and girls) Market Stalls, Dance Competition, and Danny and the Cosmic Tremors shaking the town on the Main Stage. The festival is a wonderful opportunity to introduce the 40’s 50’s dance and lifestyle to new people. It’s a time to put our lovely 50’s dress’s on ( girls!) and lads..get out that hair gel, the Kooool shirt and lets show everyone that the best fun can be had standing up, close and personal with your best squeeze or just a friend..swinging y’r hips while grovvin’ & moovin’ to the best darn music ever invented!

WANTED: PEOPLE TO HAND OUT FLYERS FOR ROCK TO IT AT THE FESTIVAL. Send me an email if you can help out. Thanks

MARCH 3rd—4th

DOWNLOADABLE GIG GUIDE If you find that the gig guide wont download or does not show up properly,

please let me know asap. I check when I publish it first time, not continually. Sometimes the link can break—some cyber glitch.

If I don’t know, then I don't know to fix it Thanks everyone

A “BIG BAND” playing all your favourite swing and dance music. Rarely seen in our part of the world - so don't miss this opportunity FRIDAY 3rd MARCH at TOUKLEY RSL. 8.00pm

What’s coming up.. (links on ‘events’ page of Rock To It)

Swing @ The Roxbury Sat 4th Feb Everyone is welcome and we always have a great mix of levels from begin-ners to advanced. Good meals are also available at the pub. The Roxbury Hotel 162 St Johns Rd Glebe From 8.30pm, Entry $6 Feb Roxburys: 4th and 25th JUMP, JIVE and WAIL re-turns on Friday 17th Feb-ruary. New venue is Level 1, The Lansdowne Hotel, Corner City Road and Broadway, Sydney.This is the monthly residency pre-sented by Limpin’Jimmy and the Swingin’ Kitten . 10pm to 2am free entry!

March 10th - "Rock the Dock" Cruise on the Hastings River Looking for something different to do on a Satur-day night? Have you tried dancing on a boat? Its great fun and a fantastic social night. This is our first subsided function for 2012 and this is what you get; Drinks and Nibbles before your board. Dinner and drinks whilst on board. Social dancing. Places are limited to 40 so you will need to be quick to secure you place on the SS Rocker. (not the real name of the boat). Meet your fellow cruis-ers dockside near where the sea plane takes off. Cost: $25.00 for Members $30.00 for non-members Time: 5.30PM for drinks & nibbles for 6.30 departure Continue the night with dancing at one of the local clubs.

LOCAL happenings... FLATTRAKKERS -

A message from Real Skins McCoy aka Bruce After many years playing with The Flattrakkers I’m hanging up my drumsticks and looking forward to

spending more time at home and in my shed. Back in 2004 when the Flattrakkers played their first gig, I could never have imagined what that would lead to. I’ve met so many awesome people, had heaps of

great experiences and I feel fortunate to have had the chance to play live music for this long to a count-less number of people.

With drums timing is everything and this feels like the right time…..so without much further ado I

wanna say thanks to everyone involved with the Flattrakkers over the past 8 years starting with Mark, Matt and Stewy, Trace & my two beautiful kids Ella & Jay (who was 2 when this started, now unbe-

lievably he’s 10!!), Pots and Cath and the rest of our families and friends, AND everyone who listened to the tunes.

See you soon, Skins….

PS. this is certainly not the end for the other boys……stay tuned for news and updates real soon.

Sorry to see you go, and we all wish you the best for the future. You and the rest of the Flattrakkers have given us some wonderful music—and something to be proud of —

A world class act from Newcastle (via Holmesville!)

Hey again! Well here it is folks the answer you've all been waiting for!

Drum roll please.....right after this commercial break! Just Jokes! This isn't Who Wants to be a Drummer!!!

It's .......... Cameron Overend!!!!!

and we know he'll definitely keep up the pace! We're lookin' forward to some hard rockin' times!!!

Welcome aboard Camio Sparkles (lol), enjoy the ride!

On Air By Mike James

The History of Rock & Roll The Girl Groups

While we have mentioned some groups in Rock n’ Roll in passing it would be very remiss of me to fail to mention the part played by all-female groups. As ‘coloured music’ was moulding into the R&B and Country genres, the all-girl groups were in the entertainment business, but not specifically musical. Burlesque was bawdy, irreverent, funny, down to earth and somewhat ‘hard’, and the performers in it were too. Many of the all-girl groups were of that fashion and needed to be in a time when female artistes were all too easily either overlooked or were considered ‘easy’. Many think of Burlesque as ‘stripping’, but that was only what it became in it’s final years on the stage. Burlesque?……think of the British ‘Carry On’ movies of the 60’s and 70’s. Vaudeville was the archetypal variety entertainment of the early to mid 20th Century. It never really went away, it just declined slowly and many of the more successful acts went into the movie business. It is from these backgrounds that the all-girl groups sprang. The Andrews Sisters were the first female group that emerged as stars in their own right. Their ‘Boogie

Woogie Bugle-Boy’ (1941) was massive hit. The ‘B’ side was ‘Bounce Me Brother With A Solid Four’ and while almost forgotten now is a classic of the time and listening to both you can hear how ‘Boogie Woogie’ became ‘Rockabilly’. The sisters survived many ups and downs and were still touring regularly until the death of Laverne in 1967. Patti said in an interview in 1985 that the Andrews‘ “had only one fight. It started in 1937 and is still going!” ‘Candyman’ by Christina

Aguilera (2007) is an absolute belter of a song and is based on the Andrews’ 1941 hit. The Fontane Sisters started working with Perry Como on NBC in the USA from 1948 until 1954 as singers on his TV shows and as backup singers on his records on RCA from 1949. They had a few releases of their own that did not make waves and moved to Dot Records in 1954

for who they had 10 top ten hits including their only #1 ‘Hearts of Stone’ in 1954.….a great track. They also recorded ‘Eddie My Love” (1956). This was also recorded by the Teen Queens (1956) and the Chordettes (1956). All three versions charted in 1956, the Chordettes being the most successful. Take a listen to all the versions..

The Girl Groups page 2 The Teen Queens version was their only success whereas The Chordettes had a string of hits through the 50’s until their final chart entry in 1961 with ‘Never On Sunday’, a whimsical track that lends itself more to Doris Day than serious rock! Their version of ‘Lollipop’ (1958) was a hit in many countries including UK where it was also released by British group ‘The Mudlarks’. Originally by a mixed-race duo called Ronald & Ruby and written by ‘Ruby’ (not her real name) it was a minor hit, the Chordettes version charted worldwide. Because of the race laws at the time in USA Ronald and Ruby’s version received little promotion and they never appeared in public or on any TV or press releases.

The Bobbetts were first known as ‘The Harlem Queens’, changing their name for their 1957 hit ‘Mr Lee’ the song being about their crush on their schoolteacher. The girls actually disliked the teacher, the original title and words being ‘I Shot Mr Lee’, Atlantic Records insisting they rewrite the lyrics. They later recorded the original version of the song for Atlantic who refused to release it and the girls went to the TripleX label, re-recorded and released the song from where it climbed the charts. Atlantic then released their track of the song, both versions appearing in the charts by The Bobbettes on two different labels! The Clickettes’ ‘Because of My Best Friend’ (1957) and The

Deltairs’ ‘Standing At The Altar’ (1958) and ‘Lullaby Of The Bells’ (1957) are a good indication of the popularity of ‘Doo-Wop’ at the time, but the standout song of the time was ‘Maybe’ by the Chantels featuring Arlene Smith as lead singer aged 13 years. The Cookies were the only all-girl group that spanned the 50’s - 60’s gap without breaking stride. ‘Chains’ (1962) and ‘Don’t Say Nothing Bad About My Baby’ (1963) were stand-out hits for them in addition to huge amounts of backup

work for Neil Sedaka and Little Eva amongst many others. They released many other recordings for different labels under the names of The Honey Bees, The Cinderellas, The Stepping Stones and The Palisades. The Honey Bees’ ‘One Wonderful Night’ (1964), ‘Baby, Baby I Still Love You’ by The Cinderellas (1964) and the Palisades’ 1963 song ‘Make The Night A Little Longer’ are excellent examples of their work. Must hear songs?…… The Cookies’ ‘I Never Dreamed’ The Cookies’ ‘Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys’ Many examples of great all-girl groups in Rock n’ Roll exist but now mostly sadly forgotten. As the genre morphed into pop and especially Motown the all-girl groups flourished. From The Supremes to The Spice Girls the all-girl groups went on to be unmatched. Try The Toys’ ‘Lovers Concerto’ and The Exciters’ ‘Tell Him’ too……so much to choose from! As always, all of these tracks can be found on YouTube. Go on….you know you want to!

What’s coming up.. (links on ‘events’ page of Rock To It)

NEWTOWN SWING PIT. 2ND AND 4TH FRIDAYS EACH MONTH ST STEPHENS HALL. 189 CHURCH ST, OFF KING ST 8.00 PM LEVEL 1. 9.00 PM SOCIAL DANCING TILL LATE HOSTED BY SWING PATROL SYDNEY.

Local happenings... Hi Linda & Laurie, A few names to add to your list of bands worth checking out. Ali Penney and the Moneymakers play great music you can dance to. You can find Alison Penney (Young) on facebook and like her page to find out where she is playing. Was at the Entrance on the weekend so you should be able to catch them close to home sometime. The other act we recommend is Pugsly Buzzard, also Sydney based..........an entertaining show http://www.pugsleybuzzard.com

A local Brisbane band who are playing in Goulburn this year who play jump blues are called the Morningside Fats. They don't travel to many festivals so might be hard to catch them. And of course, DJ Gosper is a great act, mainly down the South Coast way..........always plenty of new music to discover. Cheers……..Sue

Night Moves band is a rockabilly/rock and roll band based on the mid north coast of NSW, who are gaining a reputation for their authentic sounding dance music. Only a year old, the band has performed in most of the major clubs up and down the coast and are getting asked back! Night Moves are also enjoyed success at the Wintersun Rock and Roll music festival at Port Macquarie in July 2011. The band members are all experienced rockers and have played on stages all over OZ. The band dress’s in period garb from the fifties era, three members are vocalists to create the doo wop sound, as well as a raunchy rock to the sweetest ballads. Contact Brian (02) 6555 5076 or David (02) 65518787 for bookings or more information.

LONG GONE DADDIES are A FIVE PIECE ROCK N ROLL BAND drums/ keys/guitar /steel guitar, and double bass. contact brian on 65555076

WELCOME TO SOME ‘NEW’ BANDS to the ROCK TO IT family...look out for them in the gig guide and at your local venues.

The BAR-TONES are a five piece rockabilly/western swing band from forster the line up is slap bass/slide guitar/drums/keys and lead guitar.contact brian on 65555076

Pink Cadillac is a four piece rock 'n' roll band covering hits primarily from the 50s and 60s and sometimes later if the need arises. Based on the

Central Coast of NSW the band formed in January 2012 and also incorpo-rate some original material within their repertoire. With a selection of

around 100 songs to choose from you are ensured a variety will be per-formed to keep you entertained throughout the show.

Pink Cadillac - Good Ol' Rock'n'Roll.

Chris & Liz Bond PH: 042 299 620 or 0412 786 846