At their height, the North East Rock’n’Roll Society and Sunderland Rock’n’Roll Society had hundreds of members, they put on some of the major Rock’n’Roll acts and were regularly in the news. People like Carl Perkins were dropping in to visit! None of this - the clubs, the Hot Rod Gang Tommy and the Hot Rocks Vince St John And Red River Rock   bands that followed, would have happened but for the drive, passion and enthusiasm of Rockin’ Jim Newark, Tongue-Tied Pete Forrester, Ali ‘Skin’ Barber and Dave ‘Pianoman’ Heslop. Stewart Campbell

​