THIS STORY IS BY CHARLIE LOW,LEAD GUITAR.

The band originated in 1968 from the remnants of the "Memphis Soul Band", one of our first gigs was supporting The Who at Perth town hall and witnessing them smashing their gear up on stage brought tears to our eyes, as we were struggling to buy a new P.A.at the time. We went on to support The Searchers,Billy J. Kramer,Emile Ford,Ronnie Carrol,Alex Harvey and while we were resident at the "Birds Cage" . Del Shannon. But the real buzz was travelling in the group "Transit"to our regular 9 gigs a week in Edinburgh's Walkers,Friscos,M'goos,the Nash,The Place and Sundays at Bilston Casino and always with a young Bay City Rollers snapping at our heels.There was a real anticipation then that we would secure the elusive "record deal"and get on "Top of the Pops".The atmosphere at most of the gigs was electric largely due to the pubs still closing at 10pm and the clubs opening till 3am booze free! So we were assured a great audience when we came on at midnight. Girls and alcohol were not our main interests at that time(that came later!) it was all about the music.The band drifted apart in 1978 after various club jobs came to an end, only to reform after a birthday party in 1986,when we bought a small portable recording studio and lived our dream for a while.After yet another reunion last year when we organised a benefit evening for one of Edinburgh,s most famous drummers Toto Mcnaughton which many of our friends including Tam White,Bill Barclay,Rab Howat Band,Liz Mcewan,Happy Howden and Shorty Rogers ensured we had a sell out audience, we were back and still loving it! Although we never got the"record deal"we wanted so much,the band have had so many brilliant experiences together and still having,we feel we have missed out on nothing,and are as busy as ever.We are now arranging an annual "Edinburgh Musicians Ball"and are negotiating for the old "Place" in Victoria st as a possible venue(if it is big enough) and are about to start a six week run at the Caly Sample Rooms in Angle Park Terrace on Sunday nights from 12th Feb with special guests "Shorty Rogers" and introduced by the voice of "Wheel of Fortune" Steve Hamilton. These gigs will be filmed on DVD by Edinburgh based film company "Video Shoot" with a portion of the sales of the DVD going to support RNIB. Although we concentrate on 60s 70s music(the golden age of music) We strongly support young musicians and hope to introduce some of Edinburgh's new talent at our shows. We would also like to hear from any of our fellow musicians from that period, and to record at our gigs on DVD, anybodys memories(posters,photos,etc) of the Edinburgh music scene of the 60s 70s.Please e-mails to charlielow1@hotmail.com

SIDS STORY ALL HEART AND SOUL

WHEN I WAS JUST A LAD OF 15,MY PALS AND I WOULD GO TO A PLACE CALLED THE CASTLE IN CRAIGINTINNY,WHERE ANOTHER PAL OF MINE WAS PLAYING THE DRUMS IN A BAND,THIS DRUMMER PAL WAS A BIT OLDER THAN ME, A MAN OF THE WORLD,HIS NAME WAS BOB BATTEN THE BAND WAS CALLED BEBOP AND THE CHECKERS. MOST OF THE BOYS WERE LOCAL LADS JUST STARTING OUT.THEN THINGS MOVED ON,VERY FAST AS LIFE IS' A NEW BAND WAS FORMED THE MEMPHIS SOUL BAND,I HAD TO BE PART OF THIS I THOUGHT, AND I WAS, I USED TO BE A SO CALLED ROADIE FOR THEM, A STAR YES I WAS ONLY TO THEM,I WOULD TAKE BOB`S DRUMSTICKS TO GIGS, THAT WOULD GET ME IN FREE. SOMETIMES HE WOULD LET ME SET UP THE KIT ONLY IF HE WAS IN A GOOD MOOD,YES GOOD TIMES GOT ME OFF THE STREETS AS WELL.THEY WERE A GOOD BUNCH OF LADS, EXCEPT WHEN CHARLIE WOULD PLAY TOO LOUD AND BLINK HIS EYES BOB WOULD GIVE ME THE NOD, WE HAD TO TURN HIM DOWN.BUT LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE I GREW UP AND MOVED ON IN LIFE AS WE ALL DID AT SOME POINT,IT WAS ALL GOOD FUN IM GLAD THE BOYS ARE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN. PS GET READY FOR THE BAND ARGUMENTS GOOD FUN!