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2011 Line up, JOOLS COOPER - guitar. STEVE EMERY -
Bass. LUIS el BELGA - Drums
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 now with Jools Cooper, Tommy Duffy and Steve
Heald. 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.
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. In their original formation The
Rockets continued for two years until Geoff Britton's departure at
the end of 2009.
As from early 2009 the band has moved on with drummer Luis el
Belga... but in true Rockets tradition anything could happen at
anytime...watch this space! | 
