Roll Back The Years

Well do I have a great piece of news for anyone who recorded at Mat's Studio in Huddersfield? For those of you who don't know, Mat was the inventor of the Matamp which in the late sixties/early seventies became the Orange Matamp as used by many pro outfits and may I say still is. He was also an exceptionally good recording engineer and producer. Sadly Mat passed away in 1989 but fortunately Jeff Lewis took over the business and Matamps are still being produced today as you can see from their website. So the really exciting news is this, Jeff not only aquired the rights to manufacture Matamps but he also got with that all the tapes of all the artists who had recorded at Mat's studio. Now it gets even better, Jeff set about having all the tapes converted so that they are now stored on hard drive - brilliant. But even more brilliant is the fact that Jeff's belief is that the recordings are the property of the artists and to this end he wants all these recording artists to be reunited with their recordings, how fantastic is that ? All the tapes are numbered and the artists' names are logged against the numbers but because there may be more than one artist/group per tape the only way to determine which ones are yours you need to listen to them. Well how do you do that ? I hear you say. Well, that's simple, you contact Jeff and make an arrangement to visit the Matamp factory listen to the tracks on the tape which bears your name (and others), recognise yours and then they make you a cd of the tracks. It's absolutely brilliant and all the people are so friendly and welcoming. How do I know ? I'll tell you how. On Wednesday morning 14th September 2011 I drove to Meltham to the Matamp factory to keep the appointment I'd made with Jeff to collect my recordings. When I arrived I recieved a really friendly greeting and a magnificent mug of tea! Jeff had actually lost the details of my visit but it was no problem. In no time at all he'd arranged for his computer man, Michael, to come to the factory and sort me out as it were and within no time at all I was clutching a cd of the three tracks we'd recorded at Mat's studio in King Street Huddersfield over forty years ago!! How about that then? ( hope to have a link to those tracks on here soon ). But you know I've saved the best most brilliant fantastic unbelievable part 'til last and that is the cost of getting our old tracks. Well the cost was zero, yes Z E R O how about that then? How about that? I was just blown away completely knocked out that I'd not only been lucky enough to get copies of recordings which I thought I'd never hear again but I felt privileged to have met such a nice group of people and it cost me absolutely nothing!
Go on, if you recorded at Mat's, contact Jeff and get your recordings, I did.

Check this out a brilliant photo of The Victors just arrived from Stephen Gardner

Fantastic new site The British Music Archive check it out it's bril

roll back the years a web site by pete bradley

roll back the years to display pop groups of the past with bands and pop groups of the past who never quite made the big time

at the time of publishing this page roll back the years has got information on global village, a band of the late sixties who were the brainchild of bill nelson who went on to do much greater things. hot fish yoghurt a group with a strange name from the nineties playing covers. midnight express another nineties group gigging at pubs and clubs around the midlands of the uk.

mysty dgynn another strange name from an earlier time, the sixties in fact. fourth dimension a sixties pop group. xenophon a college band from ilkeston who it seems played many popcovers of the time which was probably sixties. flash packet a different kind of band altogether and electric folk group playing music for celidhs and barn dances. sammy king and the voltairs a really good sixties group who had some minor recording success. ronnie storm and the stormbeats from wakefield west yorkshire early sixties exciting music. rockface who played quality live music at pubs and clubs of the uk midlands during the eighties.

much lessinformation on this next set vince webb and the fontanas, jenny and the footsteps a group with a girl singer two guitars bass and drums. zacariah a band of the seventies from nottingham uk. origators creed a loud fuzz box orientated group from the north of england. zany woodruff operation a hammond organ band in the sixties who later on became museum with world renowned guitarist alan holdsworth. the outcasts from normanton uk , dave plum and the stones, peppers, the trevels.....the list goes on and of course we want it to.

Here are some more we've tracked down but you could add to your input if you've got anything Billy Campbell and the Mighty Sparrows - Cindy Ann Lee - Ellison's Hog Line - Funhouse - Inner Mind - Kingpins - Ladylillers - Midnight Train - Mo and the Rockets - Moldy Warp - Obo - Origators Creed - Ragamuffin - Senators - Skin Deep - Spiral Highway - Crawdaddies - Fairy Tales - Sons of Adam - Storms - Strays - The Victors - The Whales - Whisky Mac
contact pete @rollbacktheyears.co.uk

Fontanas and Friends Meet at The Black Horse Westgate

check out a few of the links and if you want to get on the site e-mail pete@rollbacktheyears.co.uk

4th Dimension
Tony Jay and the Jesters
Billy Campbell and the Mighty Sparrows
Cindy Ann Lee
Crawdaddies
Dave Plumb and the Stones
Ellison's Hog Line
Filthybeast
Flash Packet
Funhouse
Global Village

Green Ginger
Hobgoblin
Hot Fish Yoghurt
Inner Mind
Jenny and the Footsteps
Junkyard Angel
Kingpins
Ladylillers
Midnight Express
Midnight Train
Mo and the Rockets
Moldy Warp
Mysty Dgynn
Obo
Origators Creed
Peppers
Preachers Dream
Python
Ragamuffin
Rikki and The Ravers
Rockface
Ronnie Storm and the Stormbeats
Sammy King and the Voltairs
Senators
Skin Deep
Sons and Lovers
Spiral Highway
Synners
The Bluebeats
The Crawdaddies
The Fairy Tales
The Outcasts
The Randy Dandy Band
The Sons of Adam
The Storms
The Strays
The Trevels
The Tropical Boot Company
The Vantennas
The Victors
The Whales
The Xenophon
The Zany Woodruff Operation
Vince Webb and the Fontanas
Whisky Mac
Zacariah


pete bradley

Friends of Roll Back The Years

most wanted poster

cjbdance

mysty dgynn