TWO Andover musicians are appealing to residents to come forward with information and stories as they work to piece together a book on music in the town from the 1950s onwards.
Bass player Pete Staples, formerly of Andover rock band The Troggs has joined with friend and former Ten Feet Five bandmate, drummer John Walker, on the project.
The Advertiser met the two men, who had also invited along fellow musicians, bassist Paul Newton, formerly of Uriah Heep, and Torn Off Strips guitarist John Penfound.
All four men originally began their musical careers in Andover, and have now spread out with Pete living in Basingstoke, Paul in Herefordshire and John Walker in Virginia, USA.
Pete said: “Somebody on Facebook was doing something about history in Andover and they asked me if I would like to do an article about The Copper Kettle, where The Troggs used to rehearse. I thought, there was other bands and other venues, and people would like to read about those. Then people asked why I was only doing the 1960s, and so it’s grown from there!”
He continued: “The music scene in Andover, it goes from father to son and is an ongoing thing. I started because I was in Boys’ Brigade and some of the lads would come together and play. We didn’t have anything else to do, we had to amuse ourselves!
“So I decided we would go back to the very early days, the Skiffle days.”
John Walker added: “Many bands of the 60s started off in the 50s, playing Skiffle - primitive, hillbilly music!”
The men’s book will begin with those early rock band roots, and follow the progression of music - specifically in Andover - through the decades to the present day, looking not only at the genre of music, but also who made up the bands and where they played.
“It will be a local record of the history of the music scene in Andover, a history reference book really” said Pete.
The musicians have begun interviewing people for the book, and are on the lookout for as many contributors as possible. For Pete and John, it’s been a trip down memory lane.
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“It’s been quite hard to interview people, because sometimes I will forget what the question was, and sometimes they can’t remember the answer!” quipped Pete.
“We would like people to come forward. What we find is people will tell us about other people, and it’s interesting. We know all about the 60s, but today we need information from others.
“It’s amazing what can come to light when you ask!”
If you think you could help Pete and John as they continue researching for their book, email Pete Staples at peter-staples@outlook.com.
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