If you’ve stumbled upon Ready Steady Gone via Google and you’ve got as far as this page, there’s a strong probability that you’ve got more than just a passing interest in the north east music life of the sixties.
If so, then I can thoroughly recommend a book that I’ve just read about Newcastle in the 60s. “It’s My Life”, published by Tyne Bridge Publishing is on sale through Amazon and other book shops. The book is a compilation of memories and stories by people who grew up in Newcastle in the sixties. There are also lots of photos, posters and newspaper cuttings from that era.
I met one of the book’s editors, Anna Flowers at the launch of the North East Beat exhibition. Anna was interested in using some of the images from the Ready Steady Gone site as part of the book. In the end she did not use any of the RSG material but she has collected lots of information about important north east sixties bands including the Animals, the Junco Partners, the Gas Board, Downtown Faction, Toby Twirl, Lindisfarne plus some of the early sixties jazz bands that played at the New Orleans Club, the Downbeat and the early Club a’Gogo. Some other venues mentioned are the Dolce Vita, the Mayfair, the Oxford Galleries and the Majestic. There are anecdotes and stories from band members and managers of some of the bands mentioned above.
“It’s My Life” isn’t just about the Newcastle music scene in the sixties. There are other chapters about street life, fashion and some of the shops that were around back then – shopping places such as Marcus Price and the Handyside Arcade.
There are over 19o pages of memories for those of us who were around in the swinging sixties, including the two pictures shown on the right, which were actually taken at the Club a’Gogo in 1968. At £10 it’s a real bargain.