Bev Bevan - the rock star and the UFO landings

Been listening to this album ...

VINCE TAYLOR
Jet Black Leather Machine
(Ace)

Lionised by David Bowie and covered by The Clash, Vince Taylor was one of the most remarkable rock and roll stars to emerge from late 1950s Britain.

For David Bowie, the rise and fall of Taylor was the inspiration for Ziggy Stardust.

In 1996, Bowie told the BBC's Alan Yentob that Taylor was "out of his gourd, totally flipped.

He came out on stage in white robes and said he was Jesus Christ.

"It was the end of Vince - his career and everything else".

Bowie recalled meeting Taylor in mid-60s London, outside Charing Cross Station.

Opening a map on the pavement, Taylor got a magnifying glass out and showed the aspiring rock star the sites where UFOs would land.

Jet Black Leather Machine is the first compilation to tell the Vince Taylor story.

He composed Brand New Cadillac, along with Cliff Richard's Move It and Johnny Kidd's Shakin' All Over - the only three British-made rock'n'roll records of the late Fifties to stand alongside their American influences.

As well as that classic , there are Vince Taylor and the Playboys' powerful renditions of My Baby Left Me, My Babe, Sweet Little 16, Twenty Flight Rock, Memphis Tennessee, Hi-Heel Sneakers and Long Tall Sally.

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