Les, to Tony.

Les: When is this going to be over?

Tony: Lord knows.

Les: I'm losing the will to live here.

Tony: You can say that again.

Les: I'm losing the will to live here.

Tony: No ... er ... I meant ... er, never mind.

Les: And what about poor old Don? He was supposed to be back at work yesterday!

Tony: I would never have put my name down, if I had known it was going to take this long.

Les: Me neither ... oh, hold on ... our know-it-all friend is about to start up again ...

Reg: So there were Alvin, Leo, Roy and Pete. The Atomites. In 1960. They decide on a name change, and on getting a lead vocalist.

Pieter: They get in Ivan Harrison ...

JJ: ... who calls himself 'Ivan Jay' ...

Dave: ... using his middle initial, 'J', as a surname ...

DLM: ... presumably because he thought the surname of 'Harrison' wasn't 'rock and roll' enough.

Reg: Yes, I would agree with all that.

Bob: So they become his 'Jaymen'. A bit like a backing band ...

Victor: Ivan Jay and the Jaymen.

Glenn: Then The Jaycats.

Stan: Then The Jaybirds.

Reg: Yes. That's usually how the story goes. Although I have read one version where it's 'Jaycats' first - then 'Jaymen'.

Tony: We've noticed, Reg, that you didn't have any photos for us of Vince Marshall or Alan Upton.

Les: Ruddy useless.

Reg: But at least we've seen a few photos of Ivan ... if you've followed all the links ...

Lynn: Yes. With that group of lads in 1957.

Robin: By the way Reg - a few chapters back you made a mistake ...

Les: Not another one!

Robin: ... when you said the lads lived in Lenton, two kilometres 'south west' of Alvin. That should have been 'south east'.

Reg: I beg your pardon. Thanks, Robin.

Laurie: Then there were the photos of Ivan in his sixties.

Toni: And the two on 'another website' that show him performing in the very early '60s.

Reg: Yes, all of those. I just wish I could show you video of them performing. But I'm afraid I can't.

Les: Totally useless.

Reg: But I can get close ... sort of.

Toni: Keep going ...

Reg: You see, in the very late '50s and early '60s there was an interesting phenomenon in early British rock.

Sue: Go on ...

Reg: You'd get a backing band - usually a four-piece - all dressed the same. But the singer would dress differently. He'd be much more flammbo ... flambboy ... er, colourful. He'd be very much the showman. Oddly, he'd tend to have very fair, or blond, hair. Often in an exaggerated quiff. A bit like an early 'Brian Setzer' style. Those photos you've seen show that Ivan Jay and the Jaymen/Jaycats were very much in that mould. The influence was almost certainly American ... but for once, I can't quite put my finger on who it would have been.

Borje: Interesting. Are there any other examples?

Reg: Freddie Starr and the Midnighters, would be one. But not the best one.

BS: Well, who would that be?

Reg: Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.

DLM: Bub - from Liverpool? The band that The Beatles took Ringo from?

Reg: That's them.

John: And George Harrison failed an audition for?

Reg: The very same. The biggest band in Liverpool, from the late '50s until 1963. And we know who came along then.

Dave: So, what's the relevance of this?

Reg: Well, I reckon if you could see Rory Storm and the Hurricanes iin action, you would get a reasonable approximation of what Ivan Jay and the lads would have looked like on stage. The line-up, the co-ordinated footsteps, the co-ordinated guitar swinging ... that sort of thing.

Pieter: How do we get to do that?

Reg: Easy. First of all, if you Google 'Rory Storm and the Hurricanes', and then go to Images, you'll see what they looked like.

Pieter: OK.

Reg: But best of all, do this. Go to YouTube and enter 'Rory Storm and the Hurricanes' in the searchbox. Several videos will come up, but the one you want is the one that has been uploaded by someone called 'tunenito'. This is the best video performance of them in action. Only one drawback - of all the photos in Google Images' and YouTube, this seems to be the only one where Rory isn't dressed differently to the rest of the band. But apart from that, this is the nearest you'll get to having an idea of what Ivan Jay and the Jaymen/Jaycats would have looked and performed like on stage.

The passengers rearrange themselves so that they can all see an iPhone or an iPad.

Reg: So have a look and a listen, then tell me what you think. And then I'll show you a couple of photos that I think you might find very interesting ...

pick up some more brownies to go along with the photos.
Since we aren't stopping for a hamburger lunch,
if this gets to chapter 49, pass out some amphetamines from Hamburg.


Peace,
DLM

p.s.
you've kept my interst so far.

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I'm in no hurry to get off the bus. It's a great adventure! You're so awesome Reg to put the time, thought, energy, fun humour and great detail into this trip through time

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