Peter Noone, Tommy Roe, Walter Trout

His granddaughter refers to him as the Justin Bieber of the 60s. And for very good reason. He was the king of Bubblegum music, and hugely popular the world over. But TOMMY ROE didn't set out to father a whole new genre of music. He actually managed to cut some pretty decent rockers along the way too. In this week’s episode Tommy tells us how he got into music in the first place, what drove him to write his first song, Sheila, as a young teenager and how he still laments the fact that the girl he wrote that song about, never knew of its existence. Tommy says he’d love to find her today, some 60 years later. 

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Tommy also tells us about how he had to compete with the British Invasion and had to come up with catchy tunes that he knew would sell. Hence of all his other hits. At first, he resented being the king of the kids but grew to embrace it as other musicians began to copy his sound.

Up next, you probably remember PETER NOONE as the lead singer and founder of that 60s English band, Herman's Hermits, but Peter is also an accomplished TV and stage actor. To my greatest surprise, Peter turned out to be one of the funniest and most uplifting guys I've had the pleasure of speaking with. I caught up with him just ahead of his 75th birthday and giggled my way through this chat. Peter jokes about how getting older has its perks. He also talks about how his band became famous, how the name came about, and about meeting Elvis. Peter talks about being 15 when he founded Herman’s Hermits, at a time when so many English bands were coming up around him and what it was like in Liverpool at that time. He also tells us about what fame and fortune did to the young lads in 1965 when Herman’s Hermits outsold every other band in the world.

Iconic blues rock guitarist WALTER TROUT knows better than most, that no matter how fast or far a man travels, he can never truly outrun his past. Walter joins us to chat about his experience with a liver transplant, and how the life changing event affected his music. He says he can’t believe he’s still here because he had been in hospital eight months with brain damage. He lost 120 pounds, didn't recognise his wife or children, lost the ability to speak, and didn’t have a bite of solid food for six months. Walter had to have speech therapy and re-learn how to talk. 

He had to re-learn how to walk but the worst for him was that he didn't know how to play the guitar anymore. He had to start over again from scratch and teach himself how to play chords and how to play scales and how to bend a note. He worked on it seven hours a day, every day for a year until he finally performed again two years later. Walter also regales us with the story of how he met his wife whilst on stage and despite his rocky start, says his life today is like a fairy tale.

If you'd like to find out more head for my website www.abreathoffreshair.com.au

Connect with me through my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SandyKayePresents or on twitter https://twitter.com/sandykpresents

To learn more about Tommy Roe https://tommyroe.com/

To read about Peter Noone https://peternoone.com/

And to get more info about blues guitarist Walter Trout head for https://www.waltertrout.com/