Another photo of Aldridge pop group The Sundowners – they are ( from left to right) Colin Corbet – Dave Danks – Barry Peacock and Roger Mosedale. Image kindly supplied by Jake Williams.

I continue to be surprised and charmed by the genuine outpouring of warmth and fond memory shown for Roger Mosedale, guitarist and Aldridge lad who sadly passed away recently.

Roger’s sad loss was marked here a couple of weeks ago and following on from that, great friend of Roger, Jake Williams kindly shared some wonderful examples of Roger’s music. Jake has again shared some great period images of the Sundowners band and the Aldridge scene of the period which I share with you now.

Details of Roger’s funeral (August 12th at Streetly Crematorium) have been announced and you can find out about that in this post.

I also received this wonderful mail from David Danks, who also fondly remembers Roger:

Hi Bob, I hope you are well.

I simply wanted to say a massive thank you for the great service you bring to us all via your blog.

You recently reported the hugely sad passing of Roger Mosedale who as you know was a great musician and played with the Sundowners group during the 60s and part of the 70s.

I played with this group in the early 60s and you will imagine my surprise when I was scrolling through your blog the other day to see a picture of the Sundowners and a picture of a 16 year old ‘me’ staring out from the screen.

I cannot tell you how sad I was reading about dear Roger but without your blog I would never have known and of course I knew and played with Roger at such an important time of my life. At least I was able to leave a message and as we both wrote poetry, I dedicated a poem of mine to this dear guy and through you, I now have details of all of the formal arrangements.

So thank you Bob, to learn of the loss of a precious old mate from years ago is not what anyone wants but to have never known would have been so very sad.

I recall with great fondness my times with the Sundowners.

Bless you for all you do.
My very kindest regards David Danks

Thank you David for your lovely words, and I’d just like to say it’s an honour to know I’ve made a small difference – even in such a sad matter, but if it wasn’t for the community of readers around the blog, and the help and material they generously give, I couldn’t do it. This is a community project and I’m indebted to you all.

Thank you.

On with the donations from Jake – for which I can’t thank him enough – if you have anything to add, please do – comment here or mail me. BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Cheers.

What a cracking image of the period, again generously supplied by Jake Williams.

Jake said:

During the “Sundowners” time together – the band also played as Dante And The Infernos – on this photo – Roger Mosedale is 4th from the left on the front row. By this time he had bought himself a Fender Stratocaster. The audience all gathered ’round for the photo. I wonder how many Aldridge people will spot themselves or their friends.

The sadly lost Les Haynes of Aldridge, a familiar face of the period. Image kindly supplied by Jake Williams.

Jake said:

I’m sure the guys and gals who were hanging out in Aldridge in the mid 60’s, will remember Les Haynes.

He lost his life in a motor cycle accident – (1966?)

He was great guy – always had a smile for everyone – He used to frequent the Elms pub – the British Legion Club and the Manor House Youth Club – as well as drinking tea in Jean Cooper’s cafe. This photo was taken on the Croft not long before he died.

My sincere condolences remain with Roger’s family, friends and all who knew and remembered him. Rarely have I seen this strong a reaction to such news on the blog; Roger was clearly a very special and well-loved man.

Also, Jake sent a link to this interesting track on YouTube:

Another little gem featuring Roger Mosedale playing guitar.

This short song was recorded as a tribute to William & Kate – and once again – Roger puts his ‘Hank Marvin’ touch to the guitar solo.