The gig that changed your life...

In 1957 I went to see Terry Dene at the Liverpool Empire. He was one of the first Rock'n'Roll artistes to be discovered at London's famous '2 I's' coffee bar. He was described as Britain's first teen pop idol and ranked as our answer to Elvis Presley, that was before Cliff Richard or Billy Fury came on the scene. Terry did a great show with his backing group, the Dene Aces, singing R'n'R numbers including 'Mean Woman Blues' which had been a Jerry Lee Lewis hit. The following day I was in the Kensington Coffee bar with some friends talking about the show and i mentioned that Terry sang 'Mean Woman Blues' better than Jerry Lee whereupon, Billy Reid, a JLL fanatic, threatened to punch me on the nose because 'nobody sings 'Mean Woman Blues' better than Jerry Lee.' Unfortunately, soon after, Terry Dene, for several reasons, fell out of favour with the record buying public although he still does the occasional gig even now. He was on the Floral Pavilion, New Brighton, a couple of years ago on the same bill as Marty Wilde.