Ya da da, da da da, da da da, da da Sha-boom!
Born January 30, 1953 in Fulwood (Preston) Lancashire. 5 lb 8 oz Family immigrated to Vancouver (BC) in September 1958.
"I started to play drums in 1966 at the age of 13. My dad had a band (The Classics). They were a trio which consisted of drums, guitar and organ. Dad provided the bass with his bass pedals, which were part of his Hammond A100 organ. They sounded great! Unfortunately Stan (the drummer for the Classics) died suddenly from a massive heart attack. His drum kit ended up at our house and I played them."
"then a year later (1967) I borrowed a Hofner six string electric guitar from my high school's art department. That was it. I played it literally until my fingers bled. I was hooked. About a year later my dad bought me my own guitar, a Kenora six string with a little amplifier. Some guys that I went to school with and I formed our first real band. We were called … wait for it … Blues Purple! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha …… what a laugh!!! We were crap!!! But man did we love it! Things stayed pretty much the same until I left school."
"After high school I studied at the Columbia Academy of Radio, Television and Recording Arts for two years. Classes were taken at Water Street Sound recording studios where I honed my skill as a sound recording engineer and studio musician.
"After college I hooked up with a cabaret band called Levi Strauss and friends. We wore funny yellow suits and floral shirts. We looked like nerds but the sound was good with 4 part vocal harmonies. The group consisted on Brian Griffiths ..boards, John Stephenson on bass, Wayne Wicks on drums and me on guitar. We all sang! We mostly played 50's classics like Sha Boom, Love me Ronda etc.. We had the house gig in a big hotel and played every night for over a year plus weekend matinee's.
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