Books History

Sit Down! Listen To This! The Roger Eagle Story by Bill Sykes

Sit Down! Listen To This! The Roger Eagle Story by Bill Sykes
Sit Down! Listen To This! The Roger Eagle Story by Bill Sykes
Note that I independently write and research everything in this article. But it may contain affiliate links.

Looking for some reading for your summer holiday? Well, if you are going away after the start of August, Sit Down! Listen To This! The Roger Eagle Story by Bill Sykes should be on your list.

Yes, a Roger Eagle biography, published by Empire Publications. It charts the story of Eagle’s arrival in Manchester, his arrival at the Twisted Wheel and more significantly, his decision to play tunes by blues and R&B acts rather than the more popular beat acts of the day – as well as bringing those acts over to Manchester for live appearances.

That decision made the Twisted Wheel, eventually turning this mod hangout into northern soul’s first stronghold, with the club getting a name for playing rare and obscure soul of the era. A template for much to come.

It didn’t last, as Eagle turned his attention  to psych and then gig promotion in Liverpool. Not content with that, he later moved into ‘new’ sounds with Eric’s in Liverpool, then later returned to Manchester, promoting gigs during the Madchester era, as well as world music. Yes, quite a career.

That story is charted by long-time fan Bill Sykes, who has penned a 448-page book that features over 50 images. The release date varies a little, with the publisher promising hardback copies from this week. Alternatively, Amazon has the release date at 1st August, when the book will also be offered for the Kindle.

The book is available in hardback for £15.88 and on Kindle for just £4.79.

Sit Down! Listen to This! – the Roger Eagle Story at Amazon

Also, if you want to know more about the book, check out this excellent interview with the author about the book on YouTube. Also, a mix tape of Roger’s appeared online some time back. You can find out about that here.

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