Music-Drop Magazine

Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, MC5, Mountain, Deep Purple and… Stray? The canon of hard rock and heavy metal is filled with founders and originators. Some argue The Kinks created the genre in 1964, others claim Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were the bands who ushered in the heavy era of rock.  But one band who helped define the sound Hard Rock is Stray who were made up of a bunch of teenagers from London who formed in 1966 and played together until 1997. To help indulge the music lovers amongst us, I decided that we should all be aware of the rocking impulsive sounds which come from Stray. To help me tell you about the band and its history I enlisted the help of Stray's guitarist Del Bromham. M-D M: Who were your earliest musical influences? Del Bromham: Well All my family loved music and my older brother Allan had a band so consequently there was always music playing in my house. I remember the first record that had a big impact on me even though I was ju...

It's impossible to count the amount of incredible musical giants who were playing in the London R&B scene in the early 1960s. There were The Rolling Stones, The Pretty Things, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, The Yardbirds and so many more. However history tends to forget some of the bands who participated in the scene, on such band are The Downliner Sect, who were possibly better known for their drunken antics off stage then their Blues Rock on stage. So who are The Downliners Sect? To help me I enlisted the help of their front man Don Craine. The band is probably best known for having two songs of the Nuggets II compilation; Glendora & Why Don't You Smile Now Music-Drop Magazine: Who were your earliest musical influences? Don Craine: Major influences were Lonnie Donegan, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley and Eddie Cochran. Where did you first hear the Blues? DC: My first taste of the Blues was watching a Saturday night T.V. sho...