One of their most prestigious events was playing at The Old Vic at a birthday reception for Laurence Olivier. He apparently enjoyed the music and even presented John with a £5 tip! "A lot of money in 1965!" Another abiding memory is a show at Chelmsford's Corn Exchange Before this particular show" said Ted, "I'd had a couple of drinks." The result" continues John, "was that he nearly fell asleep at the mike during a song."

Ted's sugar-tong tremolo arm was the subject of a One Two Testing magazine feature. "I made myself another tremolo arm not long afterwards. The arm was made out of gun metal, about half the diameter of a bike handlebar, and it used a large compression spring. It was bloody hard working it, but it did have a unique sound."

Ivor's drums provided a few memories. Such as the time Ivor signed a petition presented to him by one of his neighbours only to discover later that it was to ban Ivor from practising in his own front room! In the early days of the group, when they were without transport, Ivor hit upon a novel method of getting his drum kit to a local gig. "I piled the whole lot onto an old pram. It was a fair way and I came in for a lot of ribbing. The worst part was when I came to a very steep hill. The pram was overloaded and when I was near the top the cymbals fell off and rolled all the way back down the hill. Ted and John thought it was hilarious. They still do." On another occasion, the group was driving home in a taxi with a lot of gear on the side store. As the cab negotiated a large London roundabout, it shed their two Vox AC30 amplifiers and they had to tour around again to pick them up!

The Scorpions' collection of acetates and demos is a unique historical and musical document and there is some interest being shown by the leading reissue companies. They hope to return to the recording studios soon and an instrumenal EP should be the result. Their live shows are great and rehearsal time has paid off. Ted Barber: "I've had to relearn the old numbers. There are mistakes on the originals but I have to play them so that we still sound like we did on the records!" 

The Scorpions are back! Get to see them if you possibly can. As a live band they can still cut it, their influences include most of the early US rockers circa 1956-58. Guitar-wise Ted's main influences were the likes of SeoLty Moore, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Cliff Gallup, Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry. "Rockin' At The Phil" is Ted's homage to all of them. John Barber is no slouch on lead either, on rock & roll and when it comes to the Clapton/Hendrix-end of the sixties. As Dave Burke put it: " The Scorpions are back and they've still got a sting in their tails." Ted Barber's favourite quote is from a  recent review entitled "The Youth of The Wang Bar'-. It ended: "For sheer Eartha Kitt-like ferocity of tremolo technique, The Scorpions' version of "Riders In The Sky" on EMI in 1961 takes some beating." Amen to that.

With thanks to John & Bev Barber, Ted & Jenny Barber, Ivor & Kathy Knight, Alan & Sheila Taylor, Tony Hoffman and John Kirby.