AROUND 500 people turned back the clock to rock and roll the night away - and help raise £2,000 for charity.Bands The Hasbeens and Bits 'n' Pieces teamed up for the special event at the Spa Pavilion in Felixstowe - and are already planning another one next year.

AROUND 500 people turned back the clock to rock and roll the night away - and help raise £2,000 for charity.

Bands The Hasbeens and Bits 'n' Pieces teamed up for the special event at the Spa Pavilion in Felixstowe - and are already planning another one next year.

The two groups played skiffle and rock, serving up 30 years of hits.

Roy Gray, of The Hasbeens, said the evening had raised £2,000 for the East Anglian Children's Hospice.

He said: “It was a great night - we had great fun and I am sure the audience did, too.

“We just want to say thank you very much to everyone who supported the event because £2,000 is a really good sum to have raised and it will help a lot of children suffering from illnesses and cared for by the hospices.

“It was our third year at the Spa and we have had great support for all the concerts, but it was Bits 'n' Pieces first time and they really enjoyed it.

“They are up for doing it again next year so I think we will be back again.”

Music on the night spanned skiffle of the 1950s, when groups used guitars, washboards and tea chest bass to make music, to the guitar-driven pop and rock of the swinging sixties and glam rock seventies.

The Hasbeens formed ten years ago and have also raised more than £10,000 for charity. The group - which has an average age of around 70 - has featured several musicians over the years, including Tony Cropper, vocals and guitar; Roy Gray, tea chest bass; Jan Cropper, vocals and percussion; Brian Farrow, guitar and banjo; Jim Rhind, banjo; and Mike Parker, washboard and percussion.

This year alone they will have played 60 concerts, performing the skiffle music they first played to teenagers in the 1950s and which still remains highly popular today.

For Bits 'n' Pieces, used to playing in pubs and clubs, it was the biggest gig in their history. The band comprises guitarist John Spurgeon, his brother Derrick on drums, brother-in-law Mick Chennell lead rhythm guitar, and cousin Ollie Holloway guitar lead and vocals.

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