If you were around in the fifties to witness the skiffle phenomena you will be aware of the huge impact it had on British music. "Lonnie was the first pop idol, he was the man who started us all off " Says  Paul McCartney

 

 Lonnie Donegan Jnr. launched his band early in 2009 due to popular demand by countless Donegan fans. He performs his father’s best known hits along with some gems from the Donegan Catalogue.
 
 
" I have performed to Dad’s fans for some time now and it’s an obligation I readily embrace, and sincerely hope the rockisland line rolls on for generations to come " ~ Lonnie Jnr  
 

The nineties were kind to Dad and he enjoyed a comeback or the beginings thereof. Unfortunately, this was cut short by his untimely death in 2002 during a 30-date British tour.

 

 

Musicians and artists from Dad’s past enjoyed working with him one more time during this period of renewed interest and I was fortunate enough to have been present at some of the best live gigs Dad had on his date sheet for many years, touring with Jazz greats such as Chris Barber, Monty Sunshine, Van Morrison , Joe Brown, Adam Faith. Things could in fact quite easily have turned round for Dad had things not been cut short by the cruel double edged sword that had no doubt afforded him such good fortune.
 

 

 

 

 

 
In the following months, after dad passed, it was decided that myself and brother Pete would come to the stage to perform together  in the form of a musical to tell of the life and works of Dad. Wheels were put in place to ensure that all the skiffle fans in the land were made aware.
In the summer of 2004 brother Pete and myself along with cast of the musical were given the chance to show case the soon-to-come event at none other than the Royal Albert Hall. Many of the biggest names in music such as Joe Cocker. Van Morrison, Roger Daltry, Mark Knopfler, Jerry Marsden, Joe Brown, Chas ‘n’ Dave, Kenny Ball, Bruce Welch, to name but a few, had come together to show their gratitude to Dad all backed by world class musicians including of course the members of Dad’s band: Paul Henry, Mike Pace, Allan [sticky] Wicket, and of Chris Hunt. The show was a sell out, needless to say, Dad sure was gonna be a hard act to follow.
In September of the same year the Lonnie D Show opened in the north east and once more brother Pete and myself stepped onto the stage together in the name of all things Donegan, much to the delight of Dad’s loyal skiffle fans.
The Lonnie D Show continued to tour throughout 2004/2005, and performing at some of the venues where not so long ago I had watched Dad perform was a great honour.

Today Lonnie Jnr performes with his own band ,recreating the exitement that Skiffle induced in the audiance' of yesterday.                 He has found huge popularity with the latest generation of live music enthusiasts, apearing at various festivals,theatres' and clubs around the country , delighted fans of the skiffle genreation  along the way, allowing them to wallow in the nostalgic songs that were the soundtrack to there youth.  

2010 marked the 50th aniversary of ( My old mans a dustman ) one of the no1 hit songs that Llonnie had during his fiffy year carear.  Millions of folk will remember Lonnie Donegan for this song above all despite the countless  chart toppers Lonnie had provided during the preceding decade.It caught the imagination of the working class with its hummor's tale of an 86 year old dustman's antics at work.

 To celebrate its bicentenary  Lonnie Jnr has re recorded the song with his band and various musicians that worked with Lonnie during the Skiffle era, and indeed owe there visible existance to Lonnie Donegan and his huge musical influence  . It is available from Amazon, Itunes and most major download sites . You can have a preview here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxO2nmC1kNg.      

 
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