Vipers, The The Vipers Skiffle Group, featuring a young singer called Wally Whyton, became the first group to earn a residency at the… They were once described as the "Solihull Sound", and Chris May and Tim Phillips [6] compared their music to the bijou doorbells popular in Solihull at the time.

We were later to move to the Gibson 335 Stereo guitars and I used a matching Epiphone Rivoli Bass - all in sunburst. I don't know what finally persuaded me to switch to the Epiphone but I seem to remember getting it for a price that I couldn't refuse plus, it was a new design and very much in fashion! TELL ME WHEN / WISHING WILL NEVER MAKE IT SO / OVER SUZANNE / HELLO JOSEPHINE / AS A MATTER OF FACT / TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS / MEM'RIES OF YOU / AIN'T THAT JUST LIKE ME / KANSAS CITY / I WONDER / THREE LITTLE WORDS (I LOVE YOU) / BABY JANE / NO TIME / SEE IF SHE CARES / WHAT'S THE MATTER LITTLE GIRL / WHAT'D I SAY / LIKE DREAMERS DO / EVERYBODY FALL DOWN / YOU'RE THE ONE FOR ME / I GO TO SLEEP Entire Decca output accompanied by new sleeve-notes featuring quotes from the band's bassist, Megan Davies We met Geoff and Les and were given a copy of their demo. The session was a Decca's studios, just off West End Lane. Mike Leander and Mike Smith were assigned to us by Decca. Mike was responsible for the piano intro on Tell Me When."I know Megan because I’m mates with one of her sons, Jake – or Jacob as she calls him. I met Jake at sixth form college and we played music together in bands over the years. Megan Davies joined a Brum group called Mongrel - the same band that provided members for Roy Wood's chart-topping "Wizzard" after he left the Electric Light Orchestra (see The Move). Megan later gave up music full-time to train as a radiologist after which she worked for many years at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London where she no doubt helped save many lives, surely a most worthy career for a former pop star. The amps at the time were those Leak/Grampian/Linear 'clone' basic amplifiers that had a metal cage casing, through which you could see the glowing valves. The valves were always coming loose. I'm not sure they were meant for so much travelling. I remember browsing for accompanying speakers in the Radio Spares shop which was situated in the Great Western Arcade in Birmingham. Speaker cabinets were made by various fathers who were also often commandeered as roadies or managers. When Martin got his first Watkins Dominator we thought we had arrived.

So, yes, you’re going to hear Megan talking about all of this, as well as other details like her other career as a clinical physiologist in neurophysiology in the National Health Service (that basically involves studying people’s brain waves) and just stuff about playing the bass guitar, how she’s still working on her technique and things like that. Right, without any further ado then, let’s listen to Megan Brady talking about playing the bass guitar and her story of being a pop star in the 1960s. They signed to Decca late in 1963 and their first single "Tell Me When" was released in February 1964 reaching umber 7 in the Record Mirror chart (number 5 in the much more influential Melody Maker chart Melody Maker chart listings here) The Scouting movement was a big feature of my upbringing. Dad was a Scout Master and mum, a Guide Captain. At the age of fifteen, I moved from Girl Guides to assist with Wolf Cubs and in 1960, the 1st Olton Scout Group were preparing a Gang Show and when asked "Can anyone play an instrument?" a few of us took up the challenge. Martin Baggott, Phil Cash and I possessed guitars and Gerry Freeman was the obvious choice as the drummer because he was the lead drummer in the Scout band. Upon later graduating to electric instruments, a bass guitarist was now considered essential. Megan recalled; "Cliff and The Shadows was definitely the way to go. It was obvious then, that one of us would have to change to bass guitar. "Well, you're the worst guitarist Megan. You can play bass!" I'm not sure that it was actually said in so many words, but that's the gist of how I got the job."

Like Dreamers Do" / "(BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM) Everybody Fall Down" (Decca F 11916) June 1964 (#20 UK) Tell Me When" / "Wishing Will Never Make It So" / "Over Suzanne" / "Hello Josephine" / "As a Matter Of Fact" / " Too Much Monkey Business" / " Memories of You" / "Ain't That Just Like Me" / " Kansas City" / "I Wonder" / "Three Little Words (I Love You)" / "Baby Jane" / "No Time" / "See If She Cares" / "What's the Matter Little Girl" / " What'd I Say" The solid body Hofners were an improvement, at least image-wise for a while but the dream of the majority of guitarists was to own a Fender. The year was 1962 and Selmer had just started distributing the Fender range of guitars (Stratocasters were 163 guineas new). "Monk" Mutch ( Johnny Neal and The Starliners) let me use his Fender bass at one of John Singer's Town Hall gigs and I was smitten (by the bass and Monk's playing). The 1960s was a really fruitful period in terms of modern British culture and I am proud of that part of our history. I find it fascinating, I like the music and I like the stories of the people involved, and I hope you do too.

Steppenwolf Canadian-American band Steppenwolf was formed by German-born guitarist and singer John Kay (real name, Joachim Fritz Krauledat) in 1967, playing…

I guess I could ramble on for ages about gigs and groups from the 60s onwards. I still do a few gigs but not in the professional sense. Got involved with a musician so one of us had to get a proper job! I have a good position in the NHS at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London. I miss my music.