when you reach an age when you start looking a bit silly trying to play rock'n'roll

Heh, heh. Been there and done that. And, actually, I still play the stuff (rock'n roll) in a pub on rare occasions - always gets the room rocking, and I don't give a toss what I might look like.

I worked for the Beeb in the late '60s and ran their folk club (Clanfolk) for a spell. I met up with like-minded souls through work and the club, and we formed a jug band, playing regularly at the Redan pub in Queensway. Gradually, more and more 1920s and 1930s dance tunes crept into the band's repertoire, and we got people like Bob Kerr and Diz Disley sitting in with us. When I moved down to Brighton in the late '70s, I went to the regular Sunday lunchtime jazz jam sessions at the King and Queen and then got drawn into the scene, joining a mainstream band for a few years. It was a great musical education in harmony, melody and improvisation. Then I started playing rock'n roll...