Sometime back in the halcyon days of 1958, a pre-pubescent Ken Strange was attending his local youth club when he heard a rockabilly song that piqued his interest in the new youth music that was rapidly transforming post-war society. That song was Be-Bop-a-Lula by Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps.

It was three years later when Ken, now 16 years old, went to see Brian Poole & The Tremeloes supported by Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers in Brighton and he decided he wanted to get on stage and sing in a rock ‘n’ roll band.

Relocating to Devon, Ken joined his first band The Royals who were based in Exmouth. Their first gig was supporting Kenny Ball & His Jazz Men. This led to Ken being headhunted by the Tiverton based group The Starfires (pictured on Dartmoor) who soon changed their name to The Guild after the emergence of a London beat combo with the same name.

The Guild turned professional and toured for over five years, not just the West Country but nationwide and into Europe. The Guild were supported by a nascent The Kinks at Streatham Ice Rink in front of an audience of 3,000 people and also shared bills with The Animals, Small Faces, Nashville Teens and Emil Ford. Ken also achieved his lifetime ambition to record a single Baby You Know he had co-written on Pye Records.

At this point, Ken came off the road and married his sweetheart Annette.

In the late 1980s Ken exploited his extensive record collection as a mobile DJ, expanding in 2003 to work again full time on the rock ‘n’ roll circuit as DJ Spinning Rock Boogie. Ken also formed a new band made up of fellow ex-DJs in 2009, imaginatively called The DJs.

Since 2007 Ken has been working with various stations across the UK. Currently, as well as presenting his show on Liskeard Radio, Ken is a presenter on Rock-it Radio which is based in the USA and a presenter on Prince Bishop Hospital Radio which is situated in Bishop Auckland UK. Ken’s show covers from rockabilly to soul and stories of some of the bands and musicians Ken has had the pleasure to work with.

Listen to Ken Strange’s show The Giant Jukebox live on Liskeard Radio every Wednesday 5pm at www.liskeardradio.com and catch up with previous shows on Mixcloud.