CHANGING SOUNDS
The sound of Mersey groups seems to be changing these days. Several groups are seeking saxophonists, including the one led by ex-Beatle Pete Best. I was talking with Pete's mother the other day and she said that the group were looking for two saxophonists. "Incidentally, Pete will be off to Hamburg again shortly," she told me. Since Pete first appeared with the Beatles, he has made several return visits - and apart from fronting his own group there, he appeared with Lee Curtis & the All Stars." Earl Preston's Realms, the Kinsleys, the Clayton Squares, the Roadrunners and Them Grimbles are other outfits with saxophonists.

COMMERES
Although female vocalists have been very fashionable during the last six months, female DJ's (commeres) are still few and far between. One of the most successful is Cathy McGowan. I often wonder if the several commeres who used to appear at Merseyside ballrooms last year, would have been successful if they had continued. The Locarno used to bill Christine Fryer as 'the world's most glamorous D.J' - and she certainly looked the part. Christine came to Merseyside from Wales (she was 'Miss Wales' at the time) and won several beauty contests before becoming a commere.

Another commere was Ida Holly, who was discovered by ballroom manager Kim Batty. Not only did Ida appear regularly at the Majestic Ballroom - she secured an appearance in the TV documentary 'Beat City.' However, she left for London shortly afterwards and we've never seen her since.

THE MOJOS- FIRST IN THE NEW LIVERPOOL R&B REVIVAL
Rhythm-and-Blues music has been part of the Mersey scene for several years, but the majority of groups who swept into the charts last year featured music of a more commercial appeal. They thought that the general record-buying public wouldn't accept R&B straight away. It was something that had to be introduced over a period of time. And Gerry, the Beatles, the Searchers did indeed pave the way, for their music brought about the recognition of Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and other U.S. artists.

This year the groups on Merseyside decided to take a chance on the music they really wanted to play and Liverpool's leading R&B outfit, the Mojos, found that it paid off. They didn't really expect 'Everything's Al'right' (the number they wrote on stage at the Star Club, Hamburg) to be the big hit it was. In fact, they told me: "We thought it would possibly enter the bottom end of the Top 50 and would help pave the way for a future release. Originally, the number which we had at first thought would be our second disc was a ballad, 'Seven Golden Daffodils.'"

Mojo manager Spencer Lloyd Mason signed the boys up when they were known as the Nomads. They had built up a fairly large following on Merseyside and recorded some titles for the Oriole LP entitled 'This Is Mersey Beat.' But no recording contract was in the offing.

Spen decided to be very firm in his management. He immediately forbade them to spend evenings each week in the Blue Angel Club - the rendezvous for Mersey groups - and told them that proper sleep was more important. Apart from curtailing their night life he ensured that they spent almost every waking hour rehearsing...and if they were so much as five minutes late for a practice session - he fined them! All this, of course, is now appreciated by the boys who acknowledge that the strict and firm control helped to give them the final polish that they needed. And they did, in fact, visit the Blue Angel regularly - but only in the daytime, for Spen hired the club for the boys to practice in.

His next aim was to draw out their personalities, and I felt pleased that I was asked to help him. I immediately spent several hours with the group discussing their likes and hobbies with them. These hours proved to be very fruitful indeed and I was able to tell Spen that Terry O'Toole was still interested in sketching, that Stu James was writing a novel, that Keith Karlson was a poet - and Nicky Crouch was interested in photography.

It wasn't long before they'd all decided to pool their talents and produce a pantomime. There was only one small problem: what part drummer Bob Konrad would have in all this? The solution was quite easy. He was to keep an eye on Terry, Stu, Nicky and Keith and see that they didn't lose interest in the project.

The boys' enthusiasm in their work grew and they worked hard to complete the plans for the pantomime in which members of different groups would take part.. In the meantime they continued song writing and found their compositions much in demand but so far have written only for themselves. Manager Spen set up a limited company for the boys and had a long discussion with them regarding the investment of their earnings. The Mojos decided that they would like most of their money invested and agreed to take 'pocket money' only, each week. They will soon be the proud owners of a record shop and a photography business.

The success of their disc has encouraged the numerous other Mersey R&B artists and several of them have decided to sign with Spencer Lloyd Mason including the Griff Parry 5, the Roadrunners and the Nocturnes.

Editor's note: I wrote scores of columns for the teen weeklies Marilyn and Valentine. Obviously, I had to change the style of writing to appeal to teen girls, hence lots of exclamation marks and short entries, descriptions of people being handsome or pretty and so on.

Sadly, I heard of the death of painter Bob Percival, who had moved to Canada quite some time ago. So much time has passed that I can't remember if the nurse gave me the photograph of Ringo peering over the bath! I also don't remember if the Mojos staged their pantomime. If you don't get the joke in the Billy Butler piece - all the people he refers to are pianists. I asked Howie Casey if he knew where Frank Wibberley was and he said he believed he had died some years ago. I managed to track down copies of John's 'Daily Howl' for him, they were in the hands of his former flatmate Rod Murray. I have only a few of the Marilyn columns. If any collector has issues of Marilyn and Valentine with my columns in them, I'd much appreciate some Photostats.

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