a Lifetime in Rock and Roll
Chris’s music credentials are like a who’s who of UK pop groups of the late 60s and early seventies
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Chris at Christmas 1965 with his first Guitar
A Melting Pot of Talent
Working in a music instrument store at sixteen that was a hub for all the local bands of the day Chris worked with Phil Mitchel of Dr Feelgood and the great Rock and Roll song Writer and Perfomer Micky Jupp. Chris studying to be an electronics engineer was building sound systems and studio equipment for Stevie Marriott of the Small faces and Humble Pie whilst playing and rubbing shoulders with several of the up and coming local bands of the day. Moving to keyboards that Chris had taught himself to play on his grandmother"s piano Chris bought his first Organ a Farfisa from local musician the late Ian Gibbons of the Kinks who worked at rival music store .
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Getting Serious
Chris is an Essex boy brought up in Southend On Sea and went to school with
Radio 2 DJ Steve Wright, who he worked with on school discos and the
fledgling school radio station.
Chris worked and played in the local music industry from the late 1960s,
got his first guitar at the age of 9 and his first electric guitar at the age of 12
A futarama 3 that he still has to this day. Chris played his first gig with band “This That and The Others “at the age of 13 at the local roller-skating
rink and by the time he left school was immersed in the local music scene.
With encouragement from nearby neighbour Eddie Hollis instigator and manager of Eddie and the Hot Rods. Chris was rapidly heading towards a crossroads of either a full time career in music or in IT.
Chris’s first serious attempt at rock stardom was with Heavy rock outfit Stallion .The band was starting to gain traction but then broke up with drummer Alex Bines leaving to work with Wilco Johnson and then joining chart toppers the Rubettes with CO members Andy Cunningham and Chris leaving to pursue careers in the IT industry that they are both still involved in to this day .
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Chris Baldock GUitar and Keyboards
Early Beginings
Chris with his futurama 3
Back in the Sadle
Chris playing with the six five special
Chris far right with Eddie Hollis centre
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By the mid-eighties Chris had moved to Oxfordshire where a chance meeting with Peter Roberts led to Chris starting to play live again, playing for many years with the Six Five Special. Peter a protégé of the famous producer Joe meek had played with chart toppers the Honeycombs and cult 60s band the Children. The band toured extensively with a loyal following being extremely popular in the pub gig and corporate events market. With Peter moving to Norfolk in the late 1990s the band disbanded with sadly Peter and drummer Vince Blacker who came to the UK on the Windrush now having both died Chris is the only surviving member.
Time To Boogie
Chris then met up with boogie woogie piano player Ben Walters who was playing in a local wine bar. Ben who has played with everyone from Jools Holland to the Rolling Stones played with Chris on guitar every Thursday in a busy Oxfordshire venue before Chris moved back to Essex in 2000 moving again to Somerset in 2006 .
Joining the Frogs
After a busy period in building and selling a successful Bristol based IT business Chris resurfaced in the music world joining the Frogs in 2019.
Chris is a multi-instrumentalist who comes alive when playing rock and roll which is the core of the bands catalogue.
Whether on keyboards or guitar Chris plays these songs from the heart with the same energy as he did the first time all those years ago. Chris is a great raconteur and loves to chat with many tales of the old days of the British music scene.
