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The Rockets were formed in
early 1996 when guitarist Graham Foster left Major Blues
consequently leaving drummer Geoff Britton and bass player Steve
Emery without a guitarist and singer
Geoff Britton moved to Spain at the end of the 80's and
has played in a whole catalogue of bands since he began in
the 1960's. Possibly his first big break was with
folk-rockers East of Eden, although he is best known for his
spell in Wings with Paul McCartney in the mid 70's.
Other names for his CV include Manfred Mann's Earthband, The Pirates, Chicken Shack,
The Mike Oldfield Band, The Wild Angels. In 1977 he was in
the 'supergroup' Rough Diamond, recording in London's'
Roundhouse Studios when he came across an eighteen old assistant
engineer called Jools Cooper
Steve Emery is known outside Spain as the bassist in the 70's band Stretch
although he had a stint with the Eric Clapton band on a US tour. During the
1990's he was also part of Spanish pop-rockers IO along with Jools and can
be heard on the album 'Fuera de la Ley' and the Jools Cooper penned single
'Porque Me Gusta'. Both Steve and Jools collaborated heavily on the album
'Sombras Largas' by Spanish pop trio Siete Leguas in 1998. Since leaving
The Rockets in 1997 he has had a spell in top Spanish band Revolver and is
now a much-sought after session player, preferring to concentrate on business
interests rather than be a full time band member. In 1997 Emery was replaced
with Derek Gill, bassist with Robert Palmer in the 1970's who stayed until the
band broke up at the end of 1999.
The re-launch came in early 2002 with the arrival of ex-Humble Pie bassist
Greg Ridley which also generated a great deal of interest in the band. The Rockets
entered the studio in summer 2003 and managed to complete six songs before Greg's
health started to fail, these tracks appear on the Greg Ridley anthology album
"All I Ever Needed" released January 2005. Sadly this line-ups last gig together
was on October 23rd 2003, Greg's birthday, he was taken into hospital a week later a
nd died of cancer on the 19th of November, the end of another rock legend.
The band sorely missed Greg but were able to continue with Brad Mariner taking up bass
duties until late summer 2004. Geoff and Jools had heard that Tom Duffy was now living
on the coast, after jamming onstage with them in Acuarela one night he was asked to join
the band and luckily for everyone concerned he did. Tommy spent over two years as The Rockets
bass player, bringing a different style of funk-based playing to the band as well as his
infectious smile and humour.
At the end of 2005 The Rockets finally entered Euromaster Studios
in Valencia to record that elusive CD. Sadly Geoff Britton was
absent from the sessions and Damian Garcia from the Graham
Foster Band played drums, Damian was no stranger to the music as
he had depped for Geoff on various occasions. The CD "Ten Years
On was released in April 2006 and a decision was made to feature
Steve Heald as drummer on the CD cover in order to present the
new Rockets line-up even though he didn't play drums on the
album.
It was during this period, despite over nine years of being a
major part of The Rockets, that Geoff Britton
decided to leave, for personal reasons leaving Jools as
the only surviving founder member. Steve Heald once
again stepped in to keep the band going whilst a
replacement could be found. Steve had been Geoff's "dep" on numerous occasions
since 1997 and therefore was very well known to Rockets audiences. Whilst Steve was initially
invited to join the band his busy schedule meant he was
unable to do so on a permanent basis until the end of 2005
The 2006 post "Ten Years On" line-up of The Rockets was arguably
the weakest in the bands history and Jools began to contemplate
finally ending the band. Things began to change for the
better however when Geoff Britton expressed an interest in
rejoining, and the band had a memorable come-back gig at the
Calpe Oktoberfest. In January 2007 Jools and Geoff played
a "one-off" gig with a certain Steve Emery on bass, and although
the unrehearsed show was raw at the edges, the power, the
chemistry and the excitement were still there
As from spring 2007 The Rockets hope to carry on in their
original line-up of Jools, Geoff Britton and Steve Emery...watch
this space!
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