Reunion was out of this world
Alan Gowland, Charlie Whyte, Allan Rowland and Terry Metcalfe
MUSICIANS who have not seen each other for more than 40 years have been reunited with a helping hand from the Hartlepool Mail.
Terry Metcalfe has regained contact with Allan Rowland after Terry appeared in Together Again last month asking for details of the whereabouts of his old bandmate.
The pair performed together in a band called Terry and the Orbits, which formed around 1963, and they have not seen each other since 1965.
They had an emotional reunion at The Cosmopolitan Hotel, on Hartlepool’s Headland, with other former band members Alan Gowland, Charlie Whyte and Derek Smith.
Former bass player Allan, now 72, who settled in Billingham after moving from Hartlepool in 1989, heard Terry was looking for him after Allan’s son Howard, 35, who still lives in the town, saw the article and rang him up.
Allan, who lived in Derwent Street in Hartlepool when he was in the band, rang Terry the next day and they spent an hour chatting on the phone.
Allan, who is married to Norma, 60, and also dad to Tracey Rowland, 42, said: “One of my comments to him was ‘good lord we’re all still alive!’”
Hartlepool man Stan Laundon, a former BBC Radio Cleveland presenter who was Allan’s agent and runs a nostalgia website about Teesside bands, arranged for the lads to meet.
“Meeting up was amazing,” said Allan, who has appeared on TV in cameo roles in Spender, A Touch of Frost, Auf Weidersehen Pet and Wire In The Blood.
“I couldn’t get over it.”
Allan, who is granddad to two-year-old Ryan Foster-Rowland, Adele Rowland, 24, and Annette Rowland, 19, added: “We reminisced about old times and were there for two or three hours. We haven’t changed much in appearance – I was amazed, considering we are all aged between 65 and 73.”
Terry, 73, who lives in Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, previously told the Mail that he had a recording of the lads playing at The Globe in Middlesbrough which he wanted Allan to hear.
He handed over a CD for Allan to take home and listen to.
Allan, who was a plater and was also a bassist in backing groups supporting acts including The Little Waster Bobby Thompson, and comedian Al Reed and is now a part-time driver, said there are plans for the lads to meet again.
Terry had initially been the group’s manager, but stepped in as singer when the previous vocalist left the band, which also featured Charlie Whyte’s brother Joe.
The father-of-four and grandfather-of-three, who is married to Sue, said: “We now have a full house thanks to the Mail and Stan.
“We had a great night and Stan deserves a big thanks along with Steve Pascoe who tried to find Allan for us.
“Now that we are all back in touch we are going to have a night out with our wives next time and soon.
“We may even get around to getting our gear out of hiding and doing a gig.”
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Weather for Peterlee
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
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