I did my first gig when I was 14yrs old.
The line up was me (vocs) with Graham Scholes (gtr), Martin Emes (bass) and Ray Wrigley (drums).
It was on New Years Eve 1969 at a private function, upstairs at the Birch Hotel Pub, Whitworth near Rochdale.
We were all kids who lived in Shaw & Crompton near Oldham.
We needed a name for the group and Graham's mum Ida suggested "The Cromptones".
I said if that was going to be the group's name I wouldn't sing!
We did the gig without a name!

The set list I recall included:

Viva Bobby Joe
Proud Mary
Dock Of The Bay
Midnight Hour
Satisfaction
Dizzy
Honky Tonk Woman
Build Me Up Buttercup
Sugar Sugar
Get Ready
House Of The Rising Sun



What a selection! I hear people talk of going back to their musical roots. If I had to do that I wouldn't know where to go.  We all just picked things up as we went along.