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On 16 May Stan Rofe, legendary Melbourne DJ passed away. All at ARRAS
offer our sincere condolences to Stan’s family and friends. In this
issue we present our tribute to Stan. I would like to thank all those who
contributed words of praise and thanks to Stan. We have contributions from
musicians, Johnny Chester and Bobby Bright, from Stan’s radio colleagues
Bruce Mansfield and Andrejs Nolle, writer Ed Nimmervoll, and from the
listener perspective Bob Hayden and David Cassells. Special thanks must go
to Ian B. Allen for permission to use his factually correct article on
Stan. We must also thank the Rofe family for permission to use this.
Thanks also to Big Beat writers Chris Haymes and
Wildcat. Chris introduces our tribute with
his own salute to Stan. Wildcat has written a
very moving coverage of the Memorial Service
held at Trinity College Chapel. Stan was
indeed The Man.
With the sad passing of Stan Rofe since the
last Big Beat, we have had to make some
changes to this edition. Part two of Rockin’ Ron Pickering’s
article on The Shadows will have to wait till next issue. Also we will
hold the Bettie Page article, which we promised on the back cover of last
issue. Bettie Page, pin up girl from the 50s has long held fascination for
many rockers, not just the guys either. Brendan Hancock has contributed a
great article on Bettie and it would be a shame to try to cram it into
limited space as there are some nice pics to look at.
We like to keep you up to date with all the hottest bands on the scene. In
this issue we have an excellent article from Larry Shell. His report on
this year’s Viva Las Vegas Festival with lots of pics, gives you an
insight into the cream of rockabilly bands from around the world. We have
our regular contributors, Chris Haymes with his doo wop, Wildcat keeps us
up to date with the Melbourne scene and Shane Hughes, and lots of pics
from Wintersun and ARRAS Mini Beat, and lots more invite readers to
contribute their thoughts on the types of articles you would like to see
in future issues.
I know some people don’t consider some of the current bands that call
themselves ‘rockabilly’ to be so, and would rather see more
information on original artists. Personally I believe, even
though ‘rockabilly’ is a much misused
word, we need to promote the bands playing
our music today, or the scene will die. I
welcome your views and we are here to do our
best to please our readers. In
the next issue I hope to have lots of CD
reviews, they might help you to drop hints to
your friends about Christmas presents. If you
would like to contribute a review of a CD you
have recently acquired, let me know and
it can be included.
Keep
rockin’
Keep readin’,
Peter
Scanlon.
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