The Comets were almost certainly the first Bristol based band to make the enormous leap from Skiffle to amplified music, and thus paving the way for countless other local bands in the late fifties - early sixties. I remember being in a talent contest at the Glen Ballroom in 1958 in which the Sapphires, a vocal group I sang with, and the Comets were competing. Their sound blew me away that night and I recall thinking that we stood no chance at all against a band with so much going for them. They not only sounded great, they looked great as well, dressed like quintessential rockers of that era.

The fact that you got paid money for performing in those days was not what kept these guys going. It was more the sheer fun of going out and playing the songs that came 
from our heroes, Chuck, Elvis, Jerry Lee, The Everlys, and yes, Buddy Holly! There was of course, always the dream that you might get spotted, get a record deal and make it big, but what really kept the bands together was love of the music!

The boys grew older, got married, had kids and like nearly all of their contemporaries, folded in the mid sixties, and that might have been the end of our story had not some bright spark come up with the idea of a Bristol Rock Revival Show in 1983. Obviously everybody had a good time because twenty years later the band is still together thank God!

Anybody like myself, who has been privileged to be at one of their shows recently, has seen the years roll back to the days of bopping, Brylcreem and velvet collars. The musical standard, always high, is now superb and the 'feel' they get, 'oiled with a few brews' leaves me in a good mood for days.
(Roger Cook)