August 4th – August 31st, 1134 Khz - 266

Backbeat Books Provides Big L 2001 With Great Giveaways!

The Radio London organisers were extremely grateful to Penaran Higgs of publishers Backbeat Music, who very kindly supplied a number of really superb books to be given away as prizes on Big L 2001. These fascinating books cover a wide range of musical subjects which are bound to be of great interest to the Big L listener. Goodies on offer are:

London Live by Tony Bacon, which covers British pop from the Fifties to the Seventies. The story of skiffle, rock 'n' roll, trad, R 'n' B, folk, psychedelia, pub-rock and punk is illustrated with 100 archive photos and 75 original advertisements. A bonus is a fascinating inventory of every band to have played London's Marquee Club from 1962 to 1979. A number of the lesser-known Fab Forty acts such as The Bo Street Runners, Factotum and Boz and The Boz People enhance the list.

Those fascinated by obscure bands will appreciate Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll by Richie Unterberger. The book paints engaging and detailed portraits of unknown rock legends. One of the groups profiled is John's Children, a band (renowned for containing Mark Bolan) connected to the final days of Radio London. John Peel played two of their tracks in his final Perfumed Garden and Chuck Blair bid them farewell in his last Big L Breakfast Show. Another of Backbeat's great give-aways is Riche Unterberger's follow-up book, Urban Spacemen and Wayfaring Strangers.

Knees Club hero Jeff Beck has his own biography, Jeff Beck - Crazy Fingers by Annette Carson. The only Beck biography in the English language, this is an in-depth musical and personal exploration featuring classic photos and hundreds of quotes from the man himself. What's the betting the only thing missing is Jeff's Knees Club membership number!

American Troubadours: Groundbreaking Singer-Songwriters of the '60s by Mark Brend. Illustrated with rare photographs, American Troubadours focuses on nine key figures who "moved through the teeming world of Greenwich Village coffeehouses in the '60s: David Ackles, David Blue, Tim Buckley, Tom Hardin. Fred Neil, Phil Ochs, Tom Rapp, Tim Rose and Tom Rush. These are the musicians who helped break down the traditional Tin Pan Alley divide between songwriters and performers."

Other prize titles were Cream - The Legendary Supergroup, by Chris Welch, Fuzz and Feedback - Classic Guitar Music of the Sixties, edited by Tony Bacon and Rhino's Psychedelic Trip a mind-warping tome from Alan Bosbort and Parke Puterbaugh.

Investigate the Backbeat catalogue at www.backbeatuk.com

We are pleased to announce that the winning entry for the competition set in Chris and Mary Payne's Absolutely Fabulous I, as picked by Tony Monson, was John Sales. John wins a copy of London Live by Tony Bacon. Well done, that man!

In the competition to win a copy of Jeff Beck - Crazy Fingers by Annette Carson, offered on Absolutely Fabulous II, Bank Holiday Monday, August 27th 1800 to 2100, the question set was:

"In May of 1966, two versions of the Stones' Lady Jane were side-by-side in the Fab and they both made it into the national charts too. Name the two recording artists. The answer can be found in the Field's Fab Forty section of our Radio London website".

Thanks to everyone who entered. Here is the winner, with an interesting story to add:

My answer for your competition for the Jeff Beck book is: David Garrick and Tony Merrick both had Lady Jane in the chart. The funny thing is, I found your web site (and subsequently BigL.com), only last week, by doing an Internet search on "David Garrick" and came across the very page that shows this info. What a coincidence! I have just bought his "Pye Anthology" after his interview last Sunday on Southern Counties Radio.

Regards, Rob Nunn

Congratulations, Rob. Your prize will be despatched shortly!