Fronted by Aycliffe’s very own Gary Allen
The Sureshots are playing a rare North East Gig at The Turbinia on New Years Day (4pm) £5cc after just returning from gigging in Italy.
The Sureshots started life as a trio called “The Atomix” in 1982, and set about rehearsing some of their favourite rockabilly, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Blues numbers from their various record collections from the obvious to the obscure. A name change ensued and ‘The Sureshots’ were born.
Within two years, press exposure lead to the boys first TV slot for the BBC news channel, “Look North” with Mike Neville, going out at prime time. Coincidentally a French promoter saw the show and booked the band for a festival in Bordeaux, so the doors to Europe were opened and to this day have very much remained open as the band still tour constantly, much to the delight of a never ending army of followers.
In 1987 the long-awaited album Four to the Bar was recorded for and released by the English Nose/ID label. Songs from this LP, like Broken Heart, Chinatown, Am I Blue and I’m Uneasy soon became Sureshots classics. Four to the Bar was a huge success, with releases in USA and even in Japan! More TV and radio work came along, the pinnacle being landing a spot on the now iconic show, “The Tube” for Channel 4 in 1987, about the same time they were informed by “Charlie Records” that they had reached number 3 in France with their first single, “Fire Engine Baby”, some achievement by any bands standards.
More TV work followed, Ben Elton’s “Friday Night Live” was next on the agenda in 1991 where shoulders were rubbed with “real media moguls” and after following their heroes from the 50’s, they now found themselves being followed and offered as backing band to the guys that started it all whenever they came to Europe.
The Sureshots have been booked to back or support some Rock ‘n’ Rolls greats like Sonny Burges, Jimmy Wages, Hayden Thompson, Charlie Feathers, Johnny Carroll, Jackie Lee Cochran, Sleepy La Beef, Tony Conn, Terry Dene, Johnny Powers, Freddie Fingers Lee and many more including the one and only Carl Perkins!
