Being part of a rock and roll band in the mid-1960s is something most gigging musicians can only dream of.
It was the decade when youth culture sprang to the next level, 10 years after American pop music royalty like Elvis, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis first attracted teenage rock and rollers to the dance floor.
And some of the best bands ever to come out of England took the lead in the decade they called the swinging 60s, with acts like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who imitating - and then developing - those early US rhythm and blues grooves.
Although London and Liverpool were the main musical hubs of the 60s, many readers will remember a lively little music scene right here in Uttoxeter.
Those who do will probably recall a four-piece guitar band called The Merlins, who were together for five years from 1964.
They filled Uttoxeter Town Hall to its rafters at dances throughout the decade that signalled the rise of young people breaking free from the conservative shackles of post-war Britain.
Lead guitarist and singer Bob Clarke grew up in Rocester and Uttoxeter - and fondly remembers those epic town hall occasions.
"It was all rhythm and blues stuff that people loved to dance to," says the 69-year-old.
"Often, we’d be playing a song the band on before us had played 10 minutes before, but no-one cared – they just wanted to dance and have a good time.
"There was a real sense that society was changing in the 60s – a sense of freedom that went hand in hand with the music.
"We felt we could go on stage and play anything and people would love it. If one of us heard a song we liked on Radio Luxembourg, we’d all sit down and figure out how to play it."
Bob, a retired engineer, is no longer able to play as he once did due to a hand operation which went wrong, hampering his movement.
As someone who had suffered from depression and was used to playing his instrument as a form of therapy, the condition hit Bob hard.
But he enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane to make a nostalgic return to the Town Hall earlier this year.
"We played quite regularly at the Town Hall and around the area," says Bob, who now lives in Endon with wife Betty.
"I visited the old place recently and was shown the main hall, but the stage we used to play on had gone.
"There were always rumours there was a big hole in the ground under that stage – I’m not sure if they were actually true, but it became folklore.
"We held no political allegiance, but we ended up playing a lot of Labour Party dances there.
"I also later became social secretary at Stafford College and obviously I made us the house band there.
"But playing around Uttoxeter at that time, the town was just buzzing. There was a dance at the Town Hall nearly every Saturday night and people used to do a lot of jiving and twisting.
"We played with loads of other bands at the time, including Unit 4, The Fontaines, The Shandells and The Rhythm Squad - there was a great little music scene.
"The most prestigious band we played with were The Bo St Runners, who had a number four hit in the 60s."
Former members of the Merlins were hit by the sad death of their lead singer, Robert Millington, in the 1980s.
He tragically died after a period of serious illness 20 years after the band finished playing.
But the three remaining rockers - including David "Tab" Hunter, and Philip "Chuck" Chatfield - are set for an emotional reunion next year after Bob's concerted effort to track them down.
Their locations could not have been more varied. "Chuck" was actually living in Bob's old stomping ground, Rocester, while "Tab" had emigrated to South Africa.
Now granddad-of-eight Bob is hoping the trio's liaison will conjure up memories of plugging his old Stratocaster copy into his vintage Vox AC30 amp and making some sweet noise.
And he cannot wait to show his musical brothers the scrapbook he has kept, full of pictures, posters and ticket stubs, to keep The Merlins' memory alive.
Among the occasions alluded to in this fascinating historic directory are dances at the old Bamford's social club, in Rocester; Uttoxeter Scout Hut; the Blacksmith's Arms, in Alton; Bramshall Village Hall and a host of youth clubs in and around town.
"To find Chuck on my doorstep was really quite remarkable after I’d been looking for so long," says dad-of-three Bob.
"And I found Tab when someone read a letter I’d written in the Advertiser appealing for help to find my band-mates and posted it off to him.
"He wrote to me, sending me a beautiful calendar of landscapes over there and a little note.
"The three of us have agreed to have a reunion – although I don’t think it’ll be a musical one.
"We all got on so well and it was a sad day when we split up, but we all had our careers to pursue. It’s 50 years since we were last in touch.
"We used to practice in Robert Millington’s parents’ back room when we first set out aged about 16.
"Our love of music brought us together and there was no feeling better than playing a good gig.
"You think 'we’ve made a good sound here and everyone’s happy' – it’s a simple pleasure but nothing beats it.
"We played for each other and had a great musical connection, even though we mainly played covers.
"Having said that, we never tried to emulate the bands we were covering. We used to play a lot of Beach Boys numbers with only two singers, so we definitely put our own spin on the songs.
"I wrote one guitar instrumental in the mould of The Shadows called Merlin Magic, but that was about it for our own material.
"We never had any ambition to make it big and just played purely because we loved playing. There was a real magic in that."
Back in the 60s, there was no X Factor, The Voice, Britain's Got Talent or any other springboard to instant fame.
The way to make it big would be to learn to write catchy songs, practice them and gig until your band was good enough to sell records.
And although they had a pretty busy schedule of shows, The Merlins never considered making their operation a full-time endeavour - much to Bob's regret.
"My soul tells me I should have been a musician instead of an engineer, but that wasn’t what my dad wanted," he says.
"He was called Leon Clarke and he was in the RAF at the end of World War Two. They put him up in Rocester, where he met my mum, Enid Hooley, and they fell in love and got married.
"He later became the Man from the Pru in Rocester and didn’t think trying to make it as a musician was a very sensible idea.
"I’d have taken that step if I could, because music means so much to me. The feeling I get when I listen to some players – my favourite being Dave Gilmour from Pink Floyd – is magical.
"I’ve taught guitar down the years and the first page of my notebook for pupils had a picture of a guitar and a picture of an AK47 on it, with the text 'pick this up and put that down'. If the world was filled with music, there’d be no violence."
