The glory days of Taree's rock 'n' roll scene will never be forgotten while these legends are still around.
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Musicians and supporters gathered at Club West on Wednesday May 5 for a reunion and to celebrate the release of famed Newcastle musician Rick Pointon's new book Hey Rock 'n' Roll.
People travelled to Taree from as far as Brisbane, Sydney, Central Coast and Newcastle to attend the event.
It was set to be held in March but was postponed due the floods.
"A lot of people haven't seen each other for 50 odd years... it feels just like yesterday," Rick exclaimed.
"There are a lot of fond memories and good times. It's magic when you can get together."
While Rick was a staple in the Newcastle music scene with bands such as The Second Thoughts and Benny and the Jets, he has a long association with Taree and its famed rockers.
Many of the stories and gigs from this time, Rick's lifetime of work in music, the venues and artists who helped create the local scene are documented in the book.
There are also details about the Taree Aquatic Festival, the Aquatic Annual publications and Aquatic Queens.
Several queens, namely Sharon Sinclair and Velma Smith, attended the reunion.
"Taree had a really big reputation in Newcastle as a music scene," Rick said.
The Second Thoughts was one of the biggest bands in the Hunter in the 1960s.
Faced with a dilemma one night, the band had to decided- do we play at the Belmont Hotel again or head to Taree and rock out the Manning River Hotel?
The rest is history.
"We played at the Belmont a fair bit so we thought 'let's go to the Manning'," Rick explained.
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"Bands used to kill to play here (Taree). Truckloads of surfy guys and girls would leave Newcastle every Friday and the first stop would be Taree.
"We took the Manning, did that for a while and then we went to The Poplars (now the Waterfront Pavilion)... we might have been the first band to play their permanently.
"It used to be packed every Friday and Saturday. We were there for years and we loved it."
The Second Thoughts formed a strong relationship with Taree based band The Tellman. Member Jimmy O'Brien attended the reunion.
"When we came up to play in Taree, they took the job in Newcastle we couldn't," Rick revealed.
"We used to stop halfway and we'd have a yarn. We've always known them, a great band and musicians."
The rock 'n' roll lifestyle was both fun and hectic for the band.
"Two of us would go back to work on a Saturday morning and come back (to Taree) in the afternoon," Rick said.
"We used to play in Newcastle four nights a week and come up here too so it was a lot of work."
Over the years, The Second Thoughts supported major Australian acts such as The Loved Ones, Master's Apprentices, The Flying Circus and John Farnham and later shared the stage with Australian pop royalty the Bee Gees at a now famous concert at Newcastle Civic Park.
Taree had a really big reputation in Newcastle as a music scene.
- Rick Pointon
Once the band stopped performing in Taree in the 1970s, the music scene remained alive and well with big acts coming into town every week.
Rick later joined Keg and played alongside Sherbet and Hush.
His most successful years however came with the formation of Benny and the Jets in the mid-70s.
"We used to play between four and six nights a week, at one stage we played 310 nights a year it was just so much work," Rick said.
The band produced hit after hit and kept a certain Swedish pop group off the top of the local charts.
"We had two number one singles, two number two singles and a number one album," Rick said.
"I think Newcastle was the only city where we kept ABBA off number one."
The band was featured on several television shows, including the now defunct Sounds Unlimited and Midday, and was the first to play at the Star Hotel.
But through all the success, Rick didn't give up work at a record/music shop in Newcastle.
"I always had a day job but we had so much work in Benny and the Jets we just couldn't do it all," Rick said.
Benny and the Jets disbanded about 15 years ago.
Rick listens to modern rock bands and music but is saddened by the decline in quantity.
"There are good bands around at the moment and good records but there aren't as many," Rick said.
"Young people might think it was The Beatles and The (Rolling) Stones (in the 60s and 70s) but it wasn't. There were The Kinks, The Who, Manfred Mann, Small Faces... just heaps of good bands and they kept each other on their toes.The scene was incredible.
"The same was in the 70s with the Eagles, Doobies (The Doobie Brothers) and Steely Dan which were great album bands.
"These were good and different eras but today, there's also not the number of places to play."
He said modern and young rock fans would be amazed to learn the same bands played at the same venues each week.
"These days they'll be more likely to have different bands every week so that's changed a bit," Rick said.
Hey Rock 'n' Roll is available at numerous outlets in Newcastle or can be ordered at www.rickpointonmusic.com/
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