A-G of 1960s bands from Norfolk in the The Anglian Beat

The stars of the new book The Anglian Beat, produced after many years of research by Kingsley Harris, of the East Anglian Music Archive, are the men and women who took to the stage at the dance halls, clubs, pubs, and other venues across our region.

From King’s Lynn to Diss ,most towns, and several villages, had a  group/band/soloists and most of us of a certain age grew up loving their music. Many were our friends.

A band the people loved The Brokers from Dereham looking very thoughtful in this picture (Image: R. Newell)

Let’s have a look just a few to bring some musical memories back as we begin our A to Z of the Anglian Beat..

A. The Ace of Clubs (Norwich/Wymondham), The Acid Test (Lowestoft), Carl Adams (Beccles), Akron Haze (Great Yarmouth), The Al Collins Band (Sheringham), Ambience (Norwich), The Alan Dennis Trio (Norwich), The AlleyKatz (Norwich), Charles ‘Chic’ Applin. (a Norfolk legend)

B.  The Barons, who later became The Rockin Preachers (Norwich), The Barry Carlson Combo (Norwich), The Barry Lee Show (Aylsham), BBC Gas Qnt (King’s Lynn), The Beat Routes (Wymondham), The Beathovens (Lowestoft), The Blazes Group (Norwich) which had a guest singer by the name of Sandy Kennon – yes the legendary city goalie), The Bohemians  (Thetford).

Meet The Blazes described by us in 1961 as the “city’s modern jazzmen.” Norwich City goalie Sandy Kennon on the mic with Paul Gunnell on keys, Peter Walker on double bass, Roger Bunn, guitar, and Dave Tooke on drums (Image: Newsquest Archive)

Jumping for joy. Band The Bohemians from Thetford. In this picture from the 60s we have Stuart Hood, Eddie Zipfel and Donald Hood (Image: Newsquest Archive)

C. The Cadillacs (Norwich), James ‘Jimmy’ Carter (The Singing Dustman) Gorleston, The Caste (Norwich), CBO Incorporated (Norwich) The Centurions (Great Yarmouth), The Charades (King’s Lynn), The Chattanooga Trio (Reepham), The Cheaters (Norwich), The Checkers C&W Unit (Feltwell) The Circuit 5 (Norwich), The Continentals (Norwich).

James (Jimmy) Carter, the Singing Dustman from Gorleston, well remembered for taking over from the Singing Postman at the Windmill summer show in Great Yarmouth during 1965 (Image: Newsquest Archive)

Dave Nicholas (Quinton) was a choirboy in Norwich before busking on the streets and then forming The Cheaters at Colman’s where he worked. Here he is with the rest of the much-loved group (Image: Newsquest Archive)

D. The Dark Ages (Norwich), Deep Purple (Great Yarmouth. East Anglia’s very own DP eight months before the other one arrived). The Devil’s Coachmen (King’s Lynn), The Detonators (Ellingham), The Diamonds (Norwich), The Disschords (Diss), The Directions (Wymondham), The Dominators (Swaffham), Dougal’s Roundabout (Attlebridge), The Down Bound SG (Palgrave).

E. The Easi-Beats (Pakefield), The East-Anglian All-Stars (Norwich), The Echoes (North Walsham), The Electrons (Fakenham), Emblen (Buxton), The Emperors (Norwich), The Escorts (King’s Lynn and North Walsham), Exhibit A (Acle), Eyes of Blond (Norwich)

Looking good. Eyes of Blond had a big following. The Evening News ran a competition to come up with the name for the band (Image: East Anglian Music Archive)

F. The Falcons (Norwich), The Fantoms (Norwich), FBI (King’s Lynn), Feel for Soul (Norwich), The Felines (Lowestoft), The Five Angles (Acle), Five by 5 (Aylsham), The Five Ferrets (Norwich), The Flintstones (Norwich), The Footprints SG (Norwich, The Four Deckers (Lowestoft), The Four Capitols (Norwich) and The Fugitives (Norwich.)

G. Georgia Wood (Norwich), The GKB4 (Acle), The Glass Wheel (Lowestoft) The Glorytones (King’s Lynn), Good Jelly (Norwich), Great Uncle Fred (Great Yarmouth), Group Anonymous (Cromer), Group X (King’s Lynn).

And did you know a certain Keith Skipper was the singer with a group which went by the name of Captain Boyton’s Benefit Band made up of Eastern Counties news reporters in the late 1960s? Apart from Skip there was Charlie Catchpole, Sid Langley, David Wakefield and on the drums was Dick Watts. .

Recognise him? Former choir boy Keith Skipper in full flow with Captain Boyton’s Benefit Band formed in the late 1960s (Image: Newsquest Archive)

The Anglian Beat featuring more than 1100 local acts costs £30 and is available on ebay and Amazon or from [email protected]