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Steve was born in Catford South London then the  family moved to Mytchett, Surrey where he stayed for the next nineteen years, within earshot of Bob Potter Entertainments.   Bob came calling many times. Not to sign up the ‘Mini Mega Mouth’ for instant stardom, but to collect the printing of flyers and leaflets his father George did for him. Steve later moved to Reading for five years. and recalls seeing  some great acts who appeared at Festivals, Forbury Gardens, Town Hall, Tech and Whiteknights Park etc

Always fascinated by radio, the music & the deejays, he knew what he wanted to do from the age of twelve, but had to wait until ’75 when  he joined Europe’s First Soft Rock station.  Radio Kaleidoscope, South London.  He was nabbed once during an (illegal)  London Music Radio broadcast from Barrow Hill; but talked his way through many hours of interrogation and confused them.   He had no choice, Home Office heavies and the police were playing his ‘Steve Hampshire’ shows on cassette at Epsom nick.  

About six months later, he received a letter from Waterloo House, saying no further action would be taken. He’s still waiting for his Oscar Award nomination, though. Steve was a founder member of Metropolitan Hospitals Radio, Whitechapel in ’76 after Kaleidoscope was voluntarily closed down.  In ’78 a move to Devon beckoned.  Plymouth Sound offered regular voiceover sessions and he later, became Head of Commercial Production. 

By ’83, Steve boasted a client portfolio large enough to risk a return to the voice circuit full-time. That is, until, Essex Radio & Airforce Music made him and moved to Southend.

Steve created many, many memorable jingle lyrics and campaigns as a creative writer, producer, actor, voiceover & sound designer and presenter. Other London Orbital stations copped for a cheerful earful of him on days off. July ’88, he moved to Ashford, Kent and immediately made a concerted effort to crack the lucrative and rewarding London Market. Sixty miles in opposite direction. Since those heady days, old ‘Tinsel Tonsils’ and his productions have been heard on virtually every U.K. Radio & TV channel.  Vocal talents lent to many TV shows, have been networked throughout America, Russia & Poland. In fact, he might inadvertently have started the second Cold War.

One software production he featured on went to over 48,000 studios worldwide.  In more recent times, you might have heard him as Steve Hampshire, ‘Garrotting the Ether’ at Wessex FM, EKR Rock Radio and on many productions for Radio Caroline.

Having played guitar in Bob Potter’s Big Bands in the Fifties, George became a bit of a celebrity in the Sixties; when his free-flooding submersible Explorer 1, was featured on many TV shows and related media including: Blue Peter twice When the fourth Bond film ‘Thunderball’ was released in ‘65.  Explorer 1 was on display in the foyer of a Reading cinema for the week.

George would like it to be known that many ladies in the foyer often mistook him for Sean Connery.  He’d like it to be known; but it just isn’t true.

As Diving Officer of Reading Sub Aqua Branch, he evaluated many a novice in the free ascent tower at HMS Dolphin.  Part of the training included: donning the very cumbersome and impractical Portsmouth Divers’ Gear. He often dived on wrecks in the Solent during the sixties and was the first to locate the Mary Rose

In the late sixties, George led a team of divers on a Treasure Hunt at Basing House.  Rumour had it, treasure was buried in the wells and underground tunnels.

Only modern coins were found and considerable lead flashing from the roof that dated from Oliver Cromwell’s siege. A move to Fort Bovisand, Plymouth in ’70, offered many more opportunities for his incredible inventions. Still very active at nearly ninety-one, playing in many jazz bands, performing solo gigs and giving talks about a remarkable life.

David, keep up the good work, I always read your clips with great interest but not having been in the Southampton scene much wondered when and where I can add my 10 cents worth until I read Shirley Gaye's piece. So if I may I'll just rabbit on a while..............

It was interesting to hear that Shirley Gaye was once with Barrie James. During 1962 I was invited to join Barrie James and the Strangers on bass, Gary and Lee were dancers singers, the lovable Fergie (Brian Ferguson-drums) in the engine room, I believe our lady vocalist then was Pattie Knight....or was that really you Shirley? Tony was on guitar. Tony had little amp...I think it was a Selmer 'Truevoice vox??'......something like that...BUT it had a fantastic sound.

We once supported 'Johnny Kid and The Pirates' at Rochdale Town Hall, after the show I remember  Mick Green (I think it was him) saying..."what the f**k you got in there Tone?" I think Tony just had one of those lucky amps....also he was a knockout guitarist.

 I agree with Shirley that the The Barrie James Show was one of the best bands around at that time and Barrie was superb, I learned a lot about production, presentation, music and show biz from him.....thank's mate-  I hope you get read this!  I still have a couple of dozen 35mm slides of us....I think they were taken at Boston Gliderdrome....the venue where that bloke in the audience had a baton and knocked everyone flying conducting the band!!!

Reading your news-mails reminds me of the time I spent in Southampton. I left Manchester as a young bass player who wanted to make my mark in the music biz, have some fun and travel. When I first arrived in Southampton I was met by Len Canham....and as you did in those days you stayed at his flat at The Royal Pier and rehearsed at the 'Beach Ballroom' until we hit the road....often to Scotland. I can hear you saying it now...'Red Shoes and 'Mrs McBeans'....salty porridge and happy days......and if you don't know what I'm talking about....your 're too young!!!!

At the end of that year I left, returned to Manchester and joined 'Mike Cadillac and The Playboys'....latterly 'The Manchester Playboys'. They were already doing a few dress up show numbers when I joined them, so I encouraged them to consider a few of Barrie's party pieces like Johnny Ray's 'Crying'. We also pinched Dave Sutch's Jack the Ripper act with our very own coffin and UV's....a great band.

Then along comes 'Neil Landon and The Burnetts' to our gig at the 'Bodega Club' in Manchester and I was approached after the show. They were already booked to start a tour of Germany and The Storeyville Clubs at the end of the month, 'The Playboys' ex bass man wanted his old job back....so everyone was happy. Also this was too good to miss and that's where I spent the last years of my pro music career until 1966. You can find many references to us on Youtube and Google. Our original guitarist was Mick Allen who has done that 'Kent Bands' thing which you can find through Google. He left and a Mr Redding took over-yes THE Noel Redding who eventually joined Hendrix played with us until 1966. During the week when the club was quiet we used to swap instruments....he taught me a bit of guitar and I taught him to play bass....handy as a few months later when we were summoned via Jack Fallon, Cana Varieties to meet Chas Chandler....Noel was going for Valentines old job but the Animals ll didn't turn up...and the rest as they say is history. Our drummer during the German days was Peter Kircher who eventually became Status Quo's drummer.

  I'm still busy playing 40 gigs a year with my current band of 22 years 'Shazam'.

BTW David, what are you doing with that piece I wrote to you about......possibly saving Denny Laines life in Koln at the concert below.

Kevin:

Hi David, here is something that I have not thought about for years until now.  On 3rd July 1965 I may have saved Denny Laine's life. As you know he was the singer with The Moody Blues in those days. On that afternoon in the Sportshalle,  Koln (see the poster above) a seedy evil looking guy was wandering around back stage and asked me where to find Denny, I pointed him the direction of the dressing room. When he walked past me I noticed the butt of a 38mm service revolver in his right clenched hand poking out of the top of his trouser pocket, my immediate thought was 'f**k me'  maybe he's after Denny. So I grabbed the security guys who brought him down, disarmed him and sat on him 'til the police arrived. It transpired that he was going to shoot and kill Denny. No idea why, by the time the case came before the courts we were all back in the UK and thought no more about it until now!!!! I don't know if Denny ever knew what happened.....but we're all still here to tell the tale and that's the main thing..

 

So if there' any 'brownie points' kicking around up there when it's my turn, I there's a few in my inbox for possibly saving Denny Laines' life.

 

That's it for now....rock-n-roll.

 

 

Hi David, thanks for keeping us all in the loop with these interesting snips of the fantastic 'never to be repeated again'  1960's days. So far I've not really been able to contribute much, but seeing this e-mail about 'Fergy' has nudged me into action. Also if I may I would like to do a bit on me.

 

Yes I remember Fergy very well, tall lanky guy....always looked like his stage jacket belonged a bigger bloke, he was the drummer in a tremendous band I had the pleasure to join in the early 60's....'Barry James and The Strangers', aka 'The Barry James Show' a fantastic Southampton based show band. Barry was a really talented singer showman, Patti our glam-puss singer was lovely, Gary and Lee the dancer singers were magic...it was just such a good show, me, Tony, Fergy were in the orchestra pit....and Christ knows how we all got in that 15cwt van!!!! I think I must have travelled thousands of miles in that van getting my backside roasted on the engine cover. Can you imagine if someone said to today...."we're driving 600miles....oh and by the way you'll be sitting on a hot engine most of the way"!!!....but we were keen.

 

'The Strangers' auditioned me in my home town Manchester and the next thing I remember; first time I had ever been away from home, was being picked up by Len Canham at a Southampton railway station. I stayed at Len's place on the Royal Pier for a while which was handy for the Beach Ballroom we used for rehearsals, very soon afterwards we seemed to be on numerous tours up and down the country.....having great success on the East Coast of Scotland. All the bands in those days stayed the famous B&B in Elgin run by Mrs McBean...who looked after us a treat. I can hear her now saying "you'll no be bringing and wee lassies into my house in the night"....I think I hired a caravan down the end of someone's garden for our stay in Scotland...job done!!! 

 

The band was....as they say.....as tight as a fishes what's-it, we went down great wherever we performed. Fergy was a nice quite guy, knockout drummer and good band buddy, I was sad to hear of his untimely death....and it's lovely that people remember him and mention him in dispatches. I don't have any wild parties stories to impart....apart from the caravan and they are unprintable, but I remember that this was one of the best band times I had been involved in to date. I learned a so much from Barry about stage presentation. I have loads of 35mm slides of the band, if anyone is interested in them I will work out some method of getting them to you.

 

When I left The Strangers I joined Mike Cadillac and The Playboys'....later to become 'The Manchester Playboys', they already were developing into a showy act and I was able to bring some of the ace material to them that I had picked up whist with Barry James.....and they just took off.....again forever touring up and down the country. Then the German scene was beginning to appeal to number of bands and as luck would have it a band named 'Neil Landon and The Burnetts' had a night off from their UK tour and came to see us at the Bodega in Manchester....and that was that, I was approached by their agent Jack Fallon of Cana Varieties, London and a short time afterwards I was freezing my conkers off in three foot of snow in Frankfurt, West Germany. Again another fantastic period, we played mainly the Storyville Clubs, Club E, Marburg, Haus de Musik, Wuppertal and  some bases also backed a few 'A' listers inc 'The Moody Blues' 'The Searchers' and 'The Merseybeats'. There's a piece by Mick Allen our first guitarist wrote about Kent bands that fills in a few gags http://www.kentgigs.com/musicbiz/Mick%20Allen%2020%20years%20band%20history.htm

 

Have a listen to our Bye Bye Johnny http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0jk6sjXWo0. On vocals is Pete Kircher who eventually spent a few years with Status Quo. Theres' a few more demo's on Youtube as well. Also in our last year together Mick left and was replaced by Noel Redding on leadguitar.

 

There's lot's more to tell which gets into the Hendrix connection but I don't want hog the stage any longer.

 

I am still gigging with a terrific band in Bath.....were I now live.....called 'Shazam' and I'll leave you with a few 'then and now' pics of yours truly....hope you enjoy. 

 

To Fergy's relatives...whom I cannot recall ever meeting, he was a great guy, a good friend, a talented drummer and a pity he is not with us today.

 

Dave thanks for all the effort you put in to your cyber news sheet...always great to see the old stages still out there strutting their stuff....and long may it last.

 

Last word for Brian...."Fergy me old mate....loved your friendship and your playing.....but I hope I don't see you too soon".....ha ha ha!!!!

I believe this was Tony House on the drums at one of our gigs back in the late sixties. We were then “The Change”. Formally 4 Hits & a Miss.
From left to right, I believe that was Graham Mintram on sax, Tony Lowe on trumpet, Tony House on drums, Terry Collier on bass and myself on guitar on the right. I think we were missing another sax player that night.          John Langford.

25 January 2012
As you all know I was taken ill whilst doing a gig in Germany in December. During my stay in hospital tests showed that in fact I have lung cancer. I am receiving chemotherapy treatment and at the moment not feeling too bad.
However I’ve had to call time on The Troggs and retire. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the cards and calls and for your love, loyalty and support over the years. A big thank you to Jackie for running the fan club and keeping you all up to speed, and a huge and special thank you to Chris, Pete and Dave.
I shall miss you all. Lots of Love
Reg.

Hello David

Having looked at your site recently, down Memory Lane, I thought you might like some information on 'The Senators' I played with them in Andover, before joining 'The Ten Feet Five'.  Incidentally, John Walker played with them as well.  When leaving the Ten Feet Five I went on to join The Troggs.

I've got my own web site (still under construction) www.petestaples.co.uk and they are mentioned on there, if you would like me to send you any information I'd be happy to. 

Pete Staples 

 I think most groups from Andover are mentioned on your site and I would like to add another ‘The Senators’, my first proper band.

I was in the Boys Brigade, playing acoustic guitar, with a couple of mates, when Bruce Turner asked me if I would like to play in his band, The Senators’.  This meant getting an electric guitar, amp and a 12” speaker (not in a cabinet!!) all to be put on the ‘never never’.  The band consisted of Arthur Smart, bass, me on rhythm, John Walker, drums and Bruce lead and vocal.  (See photo below)

I read John Cawley’s article about ‘Pete Mystery and The Strangers’ and having seen them many times at ‘The Anton Arms’ Andover- dreaming of having that sort of gear.  They did set the standard back then.

Our gear was very poor, with TV cable as guitar leads and match sticks holding the speaker cables in the back of the amps.  Arthur played a Rosette bass; I had a Hofner Colorama and Bruce a Vox copy of a Fender Strat.  The mikes were Reslo Ribbon and we could sometimes see the sparks jump from the mike to Bruce’s lips when singing – hence we were all reluctant to do any vocal backing!"

We played mostly around the Andover area and one place we were regulars was the Tidworth Country Club.  Sometimes Reg Ball (Presley) would turn up, and when we had a break, he would sit on the stage and ask if he could play my guitar.

 We also did a charity show at St Ann’s Hall and on the same bill was a classical guitarist called Chris Britton.  Never, in my wildest dreams, did I think that Reg, Chris and Ronnie, who I had never spoken to, would have the lucky break we did a few years later.

 Another gig we did was at The Fiesta Hall were we supported Jess Conrad.  By this time, we were better kitted out, with midnight blue glitter jackets, silver crocodile boots and the speakers were fitted into home made cabinets.  I always remember the wonderful sound of the Watkins Copy Cat, until the tape broke, then how flat it all sounded.

 Although driving to the gigs, setting up the gear, playing, packing up, saying goodbye to the groupies and driving home at 2 a.m. cold, tired and hungry I wouldn’t have missed it for anything

After looking at your site I see that The Troggs are mentioned quite a lot, but nothing has been said about the earlier activities of the band.As Chris and I joined forces with Reg and Ronnie to make the more famous version, I can only comment about that period.  When Chris and I from The Ten Feet Five joined Reg and Ronnie from The Troggs, we had about 6 songs that we could do with everybody singing at least 1 to 2 songs each.I did ‘Mona’, Ronnie ‘Jaguar and the Thunderbird, Chris ‘Little Queenie’ and Reg ‘Dimples, plus maybe a couple more.  After Weeks of rehearsals in Stan Phillips shop fitting workshop we started to do some gigs.

I remember one gig especially, Van Moppes Christmas party.  At the end of the gig we were told to help ourselves to any food and drink that was left.  As Reg and Ronnie worked in construction and the winter times was usually a lean period, we filled Ronnie’s drum cases up with salmon, chicken, cake etc and bottles of Champagne that we drank on the way home.  As Tiny Tim said ‘God bless us everyone’. I also remember rehearsing at Grateley Village Hall, where the caretaker looked after us very well.  When ‘Wild Thing’ got into the charts we did a free gig for the village.  This was the first time we experienced screaming for us!  When ‘Wild Thing’ was high in the charts we were still doing our day jobs.  Reg laying bricks, Ronnie carpentry, Chris lithographic printing and me an electrician.I remember working in a house with the radio on and heard a DJ say ‘This is The Troggs at number 10 with ‘Wild Thing’.  That evening we rang Larry Page and asked if would could give up our day jobs and he agreed.  I listened to The Trogg tapes when Ronnie and Reg were having a verbal swearing battle, this was not  an uncommon event, in fact, it was quite common.  But at the end they would carry on as if nothing had happened.I have been very lucky, but some of my best memories are in my semi pro days.  We were all privileged to have played in that period and I don’t think the like of it will ever return again.

Hi I have been trying to find some original info on the Les Fleur De Lys. Everything just says they had a lot of changes. I do have some photos of the original group when my husband was in there.

 My late husband was the organ player with that group with Frank Smith and Colin? (forgot his name).We lived in Totton and I use to go and watch them at the Empire Ballroom in Totton, and of course I married Roger Mabey.  Do you have any info, my grandson is now playing in a group and he wanted some info on his grandad. I now live the USA. My grandson is still in the UK 

Lyn Mabey.

Hi

You recently wrote about The Saxons  as Lyn Mabey asked you for information: "My late husband was the organ player with that group with Frank Smith and Colin? (forgot his name)."

Colin was Colin Lawson, my uncle, whose funeral was today. I wrote about him here http://www.brucelawson.co.uk/2012/colin-lawson-21-april-1946-9-october-2012/

Thanks for your site!

Bruce Lawson

www.brucelawson.co.uk