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History of the Band

Take a look at our Advertising flyer page showing some of the flyers used to promote the band in 1967.

A Short History

The 1960's saw a revolution in popular culture throughout Britain and at the forefront of that revolution was the music. Kirkcaldy was no exception. All over the town, small pop groups of young would-be hopefuls sprang up, rehearsing in front rooms and garages and borrowing equipment to play at youth clubs and local halls. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to play in a group and follow in the footsteps of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. In the early years of the Decade, whilst still at school, Jon Gillon and Bob Brawley were learning to play guitars and were already playing in a young R & B band, whilst John Stevenson was the lead singer in "Five By Five", a small five-piece outfit with Bill Reid (drums) and Jim Brown (Bass). Tom Morgan was then singing with a band called "The Acoustics".

In the spring of 1966, fate brought these six original members together and Gaels Blue was born with John Stevenson moving over to organ. The first real gig was to be a memorable Sunday evening in the cafe of the YMCA which was probably the most important venue in the area. It was the start of a long and happy association between the band and the club. Very soon after Bill Reid left and was replaced by John Clark whilst Jim Brown left at the same time allowing Jon Gillon to move over to bass. The remaining five were to become the definitive Gaels Blue.

As the band grew in stature, demand for them increased and a full diary followed. With a repertoire of driving Motown and Stax hits, the group regularly played all over Scotland - often playing at two (or sometimes even three!) venues in one night. You could often see and hear Gaels Blue locally at the YMCA, the YWCA, or at the Raith or Burma ballrooms as well as at many of the other local halls and hotels. Further afield, the band played at The Top ten Club (Dundee), The Caird Hall (Dundee), Perth City Halls, Glasgow Locarno, Montrose Locarno, Greenock Palladium, The Place (Edinburgh), McGoos (Edinburgh) and many many, more - often sharing the billing with such well known artists as The Searchers, The Move, Billy J Kramer, Peter and Gordon, The Yardbirds, Dave Berry, The Tremeloes, Simon Dupree, Cat Sevens etc., etc. Gaels Blue were also adopted by Radio Scotland as their own band and performed at many of the now legendary "Clan Balls".

At the peak of their success, Tom left to spend more time on his studies and Mike Starrs, who was the vocalist in the resident band at the Raith Ballroom, stepped in to fill the gap. The band played on until early 1969 when Mike decided to move to London to pursue a singing career.

Nearly 30 years later, in February 1998, John Stevenson tracked down the band members who, by now, are living all over the country, and after some arranging, Gaels Blue met on Easter Sunday 1998 for a nostalgic reunion. At that initial get-together (and in a moment of madness) someone jokingly suggested that it might be "a good idea" to play a charity gig "one more time!• and so the "Going Back" gig was conceived and was planned for Saturday 14th August 1999 at the Pathhead Arts & Leisure Centre in Kirkcaldy.

The Band today are:-

Tom Morgan - Vocals (Perth, Scotland)
John 'Stevie' Stevenson - Keyboards and Vocals (Essex, England)
Bob Brawley - Lead Guitar (Fife, Scotland)
Jon Gillon - Bass Guitar and Vocals (Dorset, England)
John Clark - Drums (London, England)
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