Before the British music invasion led by the Beatles into the USA in the 1960s the Americans led the way with rock and roll, which was a very vibrant exciting genre still loved by many today from the late 1950s.

I thought I would look at some of the acts that came to the UK.

Did anyone attend the 1976 gig at the Palace Lido of a rock and roll legend? More about that later.

Did you go to any of the big name rock and roll stars when they toured the UK?

Bill Haley and the Comets first appeared in the adjacent island in 1957 on a 30-date tour. The nearest they got to the Isle of Man was the Liverpool Odeon on February 20.

Imagine the atmosphere with live hits such as Rock Around the Clock, See You Later Alligator, Shake Rattle and Roll.

They sold more than 60 million records worldwide and in 1987, six years after he died aged 59 Haley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Bill Haley and the Comets also did lots of dates in UK tours in 1964,1968,1969, a single date in Wembley Stadium in 1972, packed tours in 1974, two dates in 1976 and further tours to the UK in 1979 in March and November. In 1974 they performed in Jersey but unfortunately we were never on the tours.

Bo Diddley is said to have influenced, amongst others, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

Like a number of rock and roll stars, he had multiple marriages and was still performing on stage until shortly before his death aged 79 in 2008.

He first appeared in the UK in 1963 with a 31-date tour returning in 1965 with another busy schedule and carried on visiting the UK a further 18 times to gig up until 2006.

Another tour which would have been a winner to attend was that by Buddy Holly and the Crickets in 1958.

They did 25 shows and the nearest to us was at the Liverpool Philharmonic which I’ve been too quite a few times.

Tragically he lost his life in an aeroplane crash alongside Richie Valens and JP Richardson (The Big Bopper) and the pilot Roger Peterson.

The plane took off in inclement weather and crashed just after 12.55am on February 3, 1959.

Buddy Holly was aged 22 and had recently married.

A back catalogue which remains popular today included That’ll Be the Day, Peggy Sue, Every Day, Oh Boy, Rave On, Heartbeat and more.

The tragedy was the inspiration behind the worldwide hit of Don McLean American Pie … the day the music died.

Carl Perkins, who died in 1998 aged 65, was a prolific writer and was the author of Blue Suede Shoes, which he released reaching number 2 in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart,just under Elvis at number 1 with Heartbeak Hotel. He toured as the opening act for the King who also recorded Blue Suede Shoes amongst so many others.

He toured the UK in 1964, something Elvis never did. Indeed Presley only ever appeared live other than the US, in Canada on three occasions.

Fans of Carl Perkins included The Beatles, who invited him to Abbey Road where they sang his songs, later to be released including Matchbox, Honey Don’t and Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby.

Supporting Carl Perkins in the 1964 tour were the Nashville Teens, remember Tobacco Road?

Carl Perkins appeared on tours or individual shows in the UK right up to 1997 when he performed at the Royal Albert Hall. He appeared several times in Liverpool at the Odeon and Empire.

Duane Eddy first toured the UK in 1960 backed by the Rebels and his final UK Tour of 15 was in 2012.

By 1963 he had sold 12 million records.

In 1960 New Musical Express voted him Number one World Musical Personality.

He won a Grammy in 1986 for Peter Gunn. He also appeared in several movies including Because They’re Young from 1960. He is now aged 84. Liverpool was as near as we got!

The fabulous Eddie Cochran did more than 40 shows in a tour of the UK in 1960.

I would have loved to be there to see him perform hits such as Something Else, Twenty Flight Rock, Summertime Blues, C’mon Everybody.

Sadly he was to die in a road traffic accident at the end of the tour aged just 21.

Also in the car but survived was Gene Vincent who was also performing on the tour.

He had previously toured the UK a year earlier and returned each year until 1965 then again in 1969 and 1971 the year he died aged 36.

During his UK tours, he was one of the hardest working acts performing relentlessly over an extended period.

Fats Domino first appeared in the UK in 1967 and returned 14 times. Other than on two occasions he did only one show.

In 1973 he performed at six dates and in 1992 the tour comprised four dates.

He died in 2017 and had sold more than 65 million records.

He was influential to both The Beatles and Elvis. Among his records were Blueberry Hill, Walking to New Orleans and Ain’t That a Shame.

He was married from 1947 until his wife died in 2008. The couple had eight children whose Christian names all began with A!

Jerry Lee Lewis first appeared in the UK in 1958 and for the last time in 2015 a total of 30 visits.

He had a complicated private life but there is no question about his back catalogue including Great Balls of Fire and Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On. He had an exuberant piano playing style. He died last year aged 87.

My personal favourite rock and roller was Little Richard. His first UK Tour was in 1962 between October 8 and 28. He performed every night finishing at the Liverpool Empire.

In 1963 he performed almost every night between October 5 and November 13.

He returned on 10 further occasions with his final tour being in 2005. He died in 2020 aged 87. He had so many great records such as Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally, Good Golly Miss Molly, Rip It Up, Lucille and so many more.

So who was the rock and roll legend who appeared at the Palace Lido?

I was in the crowd that night on Sunday, June 6, 1976, and the acts were Remember This, Hellraisers, Crazy Cavan ’n’ the Rhythm Rockers and the headliner was Chuck Berry.

With a back catalogue of such classics as Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven, Sweet Little Sixteen, Rock ’n’ Roll Music, Johnny B. Goode, Nadine and more it was certainly a mouth-watering prospect.

He had a very long career and indeed in the 1980s was still playing 70 to 100 one-nighters each year.

His first tour of the UK was in 1964 starting on the 9th May and performing every night until May 31 with two gigs on 30th!

He did a 24 every-night tour in January 1965 and in most years in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and up to 2008. He died in 2017 aged 90.

So was it a memorable gig back in 1976?

Yes of course but it remains such a disappointment that the most popular performance of the night judged against his legendary back catalogue was ironically his biggest-selling single My Ding-a-Ling.