Articles

Poster of the 1967 Blenheim Concert

We are always looking for your memories to add to future programmes. Who did you go to see in the county? Were they big names or local groups? Maybe you were in a band yourself! What were your favourite venues, big or small? We’ve been researching the acts who played at venues like The Carfax Assembly Rooms, The New Theatre, The Town Hall in Oxford, The Winter Gardens, The Essoldo Cinema and The Gaff in Banbury, and the many town and village halls across Oxfordshire. Of course, the southern half of the county was in Berkshire at the time, but we’ve included them in this programme too. We had a good response from Oxford, Bicester, Banbury, Abingdon and Wantage, and now we're especially keen to hear from you if you saw bands playing in other places like Didcot, Thame, Witney and Chipping Norton.

Roy Young with The Beatles in 1962

Bringing Back The Good Times Producer/Presenter Mark Watson said "We were really pleased with the response we got from the first series from listeners from all over the county and the world asking us when the next series would start. Thanks to those people who got in touch, we've managed to track now more of the people involved with Oxfordshire pop music scene in the 60s. So if like me you weren't old enough to remember those times, I can guarantee you'll learn more fascinating stories about the counties musical past, and hopefully enjoy the music too. If you were there, make sure you tell friends and family about it and bring back those good times together. Many thanks again to local music enthusiasts and listeners Bob Dainty and Trevor Hayward, who were around at the time and have been busy interviewing and re-living their youth.” You can get a taster for the show by listening to the clips below?

Mark Watson in the BBC Oxford studios

My interest in Sixties music (and probably my presenting career) started when I was about three years old. I used to put my mum and dad's 45s on the radio gram and introduce the records, then sing along to them. In my teens, I learnt so much from listening to Fluff Freeman on Pick of the Pops and eventually when I joined Radio Cherwell in Oxford's Hospitals, my music appreciation was increased by doing record request shows for the patients which forced me to play songs I didn’t know and hear other songs I wouldn’t have chosen myself. Later I did a Gold show and played lots of oldies adding in local information I got from the micro film copies of the Oxford Mail and Times in the Westgate Library. Little did I realise that years later I would be doing it in more depth combining my love of Sixties music and local history for BBC Oxford.

Local music enthusiast Bob Dainty

My interest in music started when I was a boy, long before TV. All we had at home was a radio. The best entertainment ever was listening to Children's Choice, 2 Way Family Favourites and The Billy Cotton Band Show. Mum used to always sing along to the great tunes and so did I and still do to this day. Going to school in Birmingham, I used to see and play with people who later became stars like Roy Wood, Phil Cash, Jeff Lynne, The Fortunes, Rockin Berries etc. It was great seeing these groups before they made it, but you always knew they would make it in the end and are still going after 40+ years. Then I moved to Banbury with great local groups like the Astronaughts, The Alex Reed Sound, The Teenbeats and Roadknights were all good bands. We had great venues like the Winter Gardens, The Gaff, The Rally Club with live music, plus pubs such as the Admiral Holland. The music of the Sixties is still fresh today. I wanted to be part of Bringing Back The Good Times so people can remember how great the music and times were, and for the people who weren't there to see what they missed.

Local musician and author Trevor Hayward

Starting in 1969 and surviving the 24 bands and five decades I have been in music and entertainment in Oxfordshire, it made sense then to be involved with the Radio Oxford Sixties music series. When I started playing drums, CDs and videos were in a Star Trek future. These days a piece of plastic no bigger than a credit card can play hundreds of songs, and yet the love and enjoyment of music remains the same. Having talked to and interviewed many people for the series, music makes their eyes shine, remembering times and places, parties and people. It never fails to bring a smile. That’s music, that’s entertainment, that’s why I love it. I helped out on the Beatles programme and really enjoyed it and had already started researching Oxford's pop music past for a book I'm writing due out later this year, so I was really pleased to be asked to take part and share some of my memories and research.