Star-Club Hamburg, Germany in the Sixties, the Mecca for British groups, mainly from Liverpool. Some made it big, some vanished away, some like Tony Sheridan, Kingsize Taylor, Gibson Kemp are still hanging around and one is coming back to Hamburg again soon for one big gig where it all began for the most famous beat band from Liverpool.

1964. It was the first time when a female beat band appeared on stage. We were standing in front of the stage and couldn't believe what we saw. Three of them with guitars, held like guns and a small girl hitting the drums very hard. The Liverbirds from Liverpool. I can't remember how many times they played the Star-Club and after some years when it was all over two of them didn't go back to Liverpool, they found a second home here.

Pamela Birch, the blonde singer was one of them. She passed away October 29, 2009 in Hamburg.

Pamela, rest in peace.

The Headcrash, dark and trashy room off the Reeperbahn in Hamburg. The bartender serves a couple. We are four in the hall. The stage is almost in the dark, the drums and the guitars are already there. It takes about one hour that a handful of people appear and another half hour before the show starts. We are about 30 now and the band is climbing the stage, while the lamps are getting a bit brighter like somebody lights a match.
The Reverend on guitars, his wife Breezy on washboard and his brother Jayme on drums start playing like hellfire. Jayme is hammering like he wants to nail the drums to the floor in a very fast rhythm and the Breezy is scrubbing the washboard in the same way. The Rev hits the strings hard and shouts out the lyrics in his deep voice. His fingers are running extremely fast over the strings and he shows us some of his brilliant guitar technique.
Almost every song is like that, the Rev changes to national steel guitar and plays even harder and faster and the rhythm section is making the pace like they've never done anything else in their life. Between the changes of the guitars the Rev tells funny stories about Indiana and life in general and the longer they play the wilder they get.
The crowd is enthusiastic and follows with joy the Rev's invitation to sing along. This is more than fun and we all have a good laugh.
At the end of the show Breezy sets the washboard on fire, holds it high above her head, jumps on stage, while the Rev is playing the shit out of his guitar and Jayme hits the drums even harder.
This was heavy gospel punk at its best! Thank you Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band. What a great show!

Sylvia war immer eine aufmerksame Zuhörerin im Harlekin, wenn wir bis in den frühen Morgen fach- und flachsimpelten, aber sie gab auch gern ihren Senf dazu, denn lange schweigen konnte sie nicht.
H.P. hat einen schönen, rührenden und berührenden Nachruf geschreiben und ich hätte gern ein Bild zugefügt, aber auf seiner Seite sind keine Bild-Kommentare erlaubt.
Dieses Bild von Sylvia entstand zu meinem 35sten Geburtstag, den ich im Harlekin mit Freunden und Freundesfreunden feierte. Ich weiß nicht, wer es fotografierte...vielleicht ich, vielleicht Heiner...ich weiß es nicht mehr.
John Vaughan war da, Steve Golly, Francis Serafini, Rick DeLisle, Greg Voss, John Thomas, Shelley Beale, Steve Miller, Mata, Klaus Tuschen, Sechserpack, Heiner, Geli, Hinz und Kunz...etliche Namen habe ich vergessen, Conny, Alfred, Raimund, Ernst der Zauberer, Philipp.....natürlich auch Bernd Feuerhelm. Es war eine lange Nacht...wie so viele.