Portsmouth Music Scene


The Portsmouth Music Scene

Linn Evans




balinda evans thebirdpublicity

Linda Ashton- Evans

My recent on-line conversations with Linda DuPret /Ashton-Evans of Soul Parlour Oasis fame have focused my thoughts on Pompey’s DJs in the 60s. In my booklet “Here Come the Sixties” I quote from Spinner’s page that Parlour promoter Linn Harris suggested the scene was “played out”. She added “many progressive outfits are brilliant instrumentally but the youngsters cannot dance to them”.
I have to point out that Linn Harris should actually be Linda (above) – I plan eventually to update that booklet (very few copies left) and publish on-line so we’ll get that right. But talking of dancing, what I’m really interested in here is the names of the DJs around town and their roles in the various venues – including Linda (photo above). I can recall Pete Brady at the Birdcage very clearly where he played the latest, rarest soul and R&B between sets by Vagabonds, Action, Who etc. Lots of people danced to him. But what about other names and venues? Occasionally I went to the ‘Cage with Pete Cross who is probably best remembered for his years at the Tricorn and on the seafront (Neros?). At the Birdcage there was briefly an American DJ called Mad King Jerry and who was Prince Bustup on the Bluebeat/ska nights?
Oddly I can’t recall what went on between live sets at all the venues we played. What happened in the youth clubs? Was it just a record player? A couple of times I chose tracks for Rikki Farr at Kimbells on Sunday nights but they went through the band’s PA and nobody necessarily knew it was me.
Linda promoted at the Oasis but again I can’t recall what happened when Rosemary played there unless we were supporting or being supported. She was also a DJ (see below) – did you spin some discs Linda? With two bands the night was busy with live music but what about when we played on our own and took a 30 minute break? Were records played? (Did we get a break?)
What about Ricky’s? They had jazz record nights in the late 1950s but what kind of sound system and when did it become the Marina? Was the DJ initially Gary Buck? Following the quote above, that was the place for the dancers (and smart dressers). Occasionally the national guys like John Peel and Jeff Dexter turned up in Pompey but if people danced to them it was only that far-out hippy stuff.
This from Linda Ashton-Evans (DJ Belinda above)Head photo The Oasis club was a private drinking club, over a billiard hall in North End. It had a hall attached which the owners (Norman and Katie Loades, now long passed away) rented out for weddings etc and ran their own “members” dances , on Saturdays.
In early 1966 I rented the hall for a regular and ongoing booking every Friday Night, and re-named it “the Soul Parlour” because I was also managing “The Soul Society”. The club kind of took over, so I stopped managing the band and concentrated on the Club, re-naming it “the Parlour”. I used a mix of good local bands, but also started to bring in fairly “edgy” bands, like Skip Bifferty, Blossom Toes, Free (before their fame), Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera, Badfinger (when they were The Iveys), Human Instinct etc.
About 1968 I had to revert back to calling it “The Oasis Club” because the police started getting heavy about non-members of the Oasis drinking in the bar. We tried to get round it by having people who came to sign a separate book, and had members of the Oasis itself block-sign people in. It was difficult, but we managed. However, in the end, people drifted away to new clubs – it happens. However, we had some very good years there. I think from the end of 1969 a few other people tried things there, but nothing really took off, and a lot of money was lost.
(Dave: I loved the club – it was very kind to Rosemary. We broke the attendance record a couple of times and got our best paid gig there too. I also recall a Blossom Toes gig where they used smaller amps and sent everything through the PA with a mixer out front. It sounds obvious now but it was the first time I’d ever seen that (1969?) in a club.)

Here’s a fascinating letter (edited by me from three Flickr messages) from Linda Du Pret who in Pompey’s 1960s was better known as Linda Ashton-Evans
“Linda DuPret here, wife of John DuPret, formerly drummer of the Soul Society, Morgans Camel Train, and a few other Portsmouth Bands in the mid and late1960s.??John and I “put” Morgans Camel Train together, when we shared a house in Southsea with Mick Legg.?? I started and ran the Soul Parlour, in 1966, above the Oasis Billiard Hall in North End (which I re-named “The Parlour” after the first year) for quite a few years.
One thing that strikes me – the groups are mentioned, the clubs are mentioned, but no-one ever talks about the Agents. There’d not have been much work around without Dennis Sims, Len Canham, MMF, Stagecoach, and Marat (this John and Dave Martin). And even us DJ’s played a part!
Do you remember The Teapots (Dave – yes I do but have no pix)? They were a trio managed by Doreen Parsons. Dave Martin and John started the Marat Organization, that later joined forces with Chris Lynn.
I managed the Soul Society, started the Parlour then became a DJ. (The Bird). John was with Black Cat Bones, Soul Society, Morgans Camel Train, Worlds Apart (with Jackie), then moved into Holiday Camp bands, as it PAID and we had 2 children. And then we went to NZ etc. where I worked as a TV journalist for 10 years, John concentrated on his painting and did really well. In Australia I first worked in TV, then ran PR for the major Australian Primary Industry, and John had an interior design business. The USA and France were our lotus eating days – lovely, but not much produced!
Back in the UK, John concentrated on photography for a while (had a book published and contributed to numerous other books and magazines) and now concentrates on his painting and illustration work. We’ve jointly had a couple of books published,
On Agents – John started the Marat Organization with Dave Martin, in about 1969 I think. When he left in the early 1970s, Dave got together with Chris Lynne of Worthing (formerly Chris Valens). I think they became a very big agency, larger than the famous MMF. When we came back to England for a visit in the early 1990s, I think we heard that Ricky Martin and Dave Martin had formed an agency. There was also Vic Brown, Len Canham. I wonder if there are any yellow pages around from that time with lists of agents? Chris Lynne lives up the road in Lancing – I might ask him sometime who else he can remember….”


oasis-club-card

oasis club card


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