Borders band frontman pens book about rock and roll past

Loudon Temple, who runs music agency Brookfield-Knights, has long had the intention of writing a book about his time on stage, but the coronavirus lockdown finally gave him the chance to sit down and do it.

“I never imagined it would be possible to give this damned pandemic credit for anything, but over the years whenever I’ve passed on some of these individual tales from my time on the road with bands, the response was invariably – ‘you should write a book’,” said Mr Temple.

“In recent years I had built up the Brookfield-Knights music agency and that became one of the busiest in the UK.

“When it all came to a halt in March and I made up my mind to busy myself on other things rather than dwell on the negative, that provided me with the opportunity needed to get this done.

“It might never otherwise have seen the light of day.”

Born in Selkirk, Mr Temple grew up in Hawick after his family moved there when he was young.

His father, Andy Temple, was also a musician who played in a well-known Borders dance band called the Arcadians, before serving in World War II.

Speaking about his dad, Mr Temple said: “He was a great musician and really inspired me to get involved in music way back in the 1950s and that ended up becoming a constant thread throughout my life.”

In his book, entitled The Music Goes ‘Round and ‘Round, Mr Temple speaks about his experiences in various bands in the Borders that came close to making it big.

In 1965, The Diamonds, a band that Mr Temple was lead vocalist of, won the regional heat for the nationwide Macbeat competition, designed to find the best beat group in Scotland.

They came fourth in the final, hosted at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow and were offered a recording deal by the manager of The Hollies, the popular rock group from the 60s.

Mr Temple’s next band, called The Ceiling Light Machine, caused controversy in the Borders and were banned from performing in various towns in the area.

When the band were due to play in Galashiels, the town council hosted a special meeting about whether to allow the “psychedelic happening” to go ahead.

Tragically, one of the band members, Tom McMorran, from Galashiels, drowned while away on holiday in Tangier. It was one of the reasons the band stopped playing.

Mr Temple later went on to front the Hawick-based band Lordy in the 1970s.

Before the book was finished, Mr Temple, who was a journalist for 50 years before retiring in 2018, invited people to purchase it to fund the design and production costs, which he describes as a “tremendous success”.

Like many businesses across the nation, Mr Temple’s music agency took a hit when lockdown was announced, with live performances cancelled leading to planned tours being scrapped.

However, Mr Temple says he has “really enjoyed dipping back” into his time in bands in the Borders.

“Everyone likes to look back on their happy memories and I have more than my fair share of those,” he said.

“Right now, people are more nostalgic than ever and looking to happier times for a temporary escape, and hopefully some light relief from what’s happening in the world.”

The Music Goes ‘Round and ‘Round, priced at £9.99, will be on sale in Borders bookshops from Saturday, November 14 and online via the beenandgoneanddoneit.com website.