'People say they started in music because of us'
The days of the "dodgy old van" are long past. But Barrie Masters – lead singer of Eddie & The Hot Rods – looks back on those early years in the music business with fondness.
"When we started, we were bunch of kids from a quiet town," said the Southend-On- Sea-raised musician.
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'honoured': Barrie Masters, left, of Eddie & The Hot Rods. Picture: Alan Mead
"We could have just gone to the pub and got drunk but we liked music – we started playing and then writing our own songs and got a taste for it.
"We played everywhere we could. At the time, we were out every night in a dodgy old van, not knowing whether we were going to get back again, and were rarely paid much, if anything.
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"It was horrible then – but looking back now it was great fun."
The band, which are set to perform at The Ropewalk in Barton-Upon-Humber this month, forged their rock'n' roll sound during the mid-1970s.
Formed by a group of friends from the Essex resort, the band have – with a few breaks in-between – been performing ever since.
December saw them supporting Status Quo on a series of festive gigs – a group of musicians with whom, Barrie says, the Hot Rods share some similarities.
"We never looked to go out and be a certain genre of band," said Barrie.
"What we always did best was good old rock'n'roll."
The continuing affection for the band, which formed 35 years ago, can be pinpointed to its love for electric guitar and riffs.
Having arrived during one of popular music's creative slumps, the band aimed to put a bit of energy back into a scene that had become lethargic.
They were part of a new wave of music, pre-punk, which was dubbed "Pub Rock" – though Barrie said they never had any interest in being labelled.
"We knew we had something," Barrie said.
"At the time, it was more prog rock, or stupid pop songs with these wacky bands – and then us. We had the punk tag put on us, which was the closest thing they could nail our sound to.
"But it is the same now, there are a lot of bands that do not fit in with any other scene."
The band's back catalogue, including their best-known hit, Do Anything You Wanna Do, continues to inspire younger musicians to this day.
"People say to us they started in music because of us," Barrie said. "I think it was a combination of the music and our attitude.
"People thought to themselves that these kids came from the middle of nowhere to do this, so we can too.
"At the time, music seemed to be more about sitting down with your headphones on listening to a record but people will always want to go out and see musicians playing live."
That influence is something the singer remains proud of.
"I am honoured when I think about the bands we have helped on their way," he said.
"You are only on this earth a short time. When I die, as long as I have not hurt anybody or anything and made people happy, then I can be pleased with that."
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