Vince Tracy’s Music Ramblings
To Facebook or Not to Facebook-That is the Question
This Internet can be a great help and it can be a wonderful learning
curve. As a Cavern goer in the 60s I am always interested in the
musicians and DJs and cabaret stars who are appearing on Facebook
pages. When I first started using Facebook it was full of kids and I
wasn’t too sure how long to spend on the site. These days there are
far more computer-literate oldies who have great stories to tell and
opinions which are worthy of note. There are a number of Facebook
groups with music as their main theme and I have many contacts
on those sites. I try to follow what these sites discuss and then contribute when I feel it might be
beneficial to the members.
However, there are some very far flung members of groups who were great names during their
playing days. I wish I had been in the groups at the right time because many of the groups that
went to the Cavern are still playing on the cabaret circuits. My favourite area involves the 50s
and 60s music groups and there is a nice mix of expertise and enthusiasts. Whereas it was once
the domain of the DJ or station playlist to choose the music there are now many of the fans now
posting the music they like through Facebook pages. This is of great interest to me as it endorses
the music I was choosing when running my radio shows. I always tried to bear in mind who would
be listening and what they might like. Obviously, in the night clubs the public would tell you what
they liked or disliked. If the dance floor cleared it usually meant it wasn’t the most liked song. The
Motown songs were always floor fillers and I am happy to have been part of that era. Among my
early favourites were such songs as I was made to Love Her, Reach Out, Baby Love, I Heard it
through the Grapevine, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg, War, Stop Her On Sight...........I just loved Motown.
Other major periods for me included my visits to the Iron Door and the Cavern where the groups
were just wonderful. As we saw in the rent Cilla drama on TV the queues outside these clubs were
long. It was even quite interesting waiting outside to see which groups were arriving and how
much gear they had packed into their vans. This happened both at night time and at the lunchtime
sessions. One day I well remember the group playing was Herman’s Hermits and their front man
was Peter Noone. He was upstaged by Bob Wooller the DJ playing The House of the Rising Sun
when the group took their break. It was hailed as the longest 45 ever played on the radio. The
producers were a little afraid the radio playlists would not allow a 4 minute track but it became a
massive hit and I still sing this on my own gigs. Names that were plastered everywhere in those
days for future appearances are now Facebook friends. I interviewed Harry Prytherch,the drummer
with the Remo Four, for Onda Cero Radio some years ago. Last year I was in a bar on Poniente
Beach in Benidorm and one of Harry’s relatives was over on holiday from Liverpool. He introduced
himslf and told me he had heard the interview t H